Massive debt and don't know where to start

[hayser33]

As the new year is coming I'm really keen to have a but of an overhaul of our life in general bit my main concern is money.
We are in alot of debt ( £ 26000 to be exact ) we have enough to cover paying it off but we always overspend every single month and any excess gets put on credit card . For example last 2 weeks before payday the food shop any petrol etc getso put on there.
I'm trying to budget with the food shop we are doing dry january so hopefully that will last save 200+ a month
Also my daughter has a big school trip that we are commitied to so that is 500 pound we have to find by end of January.we have moved house and have been stuck with key meters for gas and electric for last few weeks and they are costing a small fortune..I have rang up the supplier and they are taking them out so that should cut that bill in half.
Has anyone been in this much debt before and managed to get out of it? ..it just feels so overwhelming

I definitely cannot consider getting rid of car I need it to get to work as I do nights the children's schools are quite far away too. I have one of those tiny economical cars anyway it's only 20 pound a year tax and very cheap to run.
I'd never cancel school trip either but everything else you have suggested we are doing .

Sounds like you're doing great.

I completely understand the money spent on alcohol. I stopped for a different reason a couple of months ago. Very random - and most people now assume I'm pregnant . The difference it has made on our finances is incredible. I haven't asked dh to stop or cut down, but he has ended up drinking far less. Win win.

I'm not sure if/when I'll start again tbh.

I'm a huge fan of Dave Ramsey. Took a while to get used to the biblical stuff (I'm an atheist) but the way to tackle debt and then build wealth is brilliant.

We've gone from 46k in debt down to 5k in 2.5 years. Should be debt free in February. Basically we sold stuff, and increased our income. There was no quick fix just budgeting and spending less than we made.

Hayser before you take the car for the MOT checklist from gov.uk.
Before you take your car to an MOT centre run through the checklist and fix those things you can do yourself. eg Wipers, lights, etc. You can then take it to a council test centre. They don't fix what is wrong they just tell what work needs doing. you can then take it to a cheaper non MOT garage and have those things done & then you can have it retested.

Great advice on mot thanks!!
Wow u got yr debt down really quick that's amazing .

Stop buying wine! I buy a bottle of peach schnapps from Lidl for about £5.50 and their lemonade is 19p a bottle! Lasts me the whole month as I drink very slowly. Me and DH charge phones at work to save electricity, everyone I work with does it now I think about it
As others have said bulk out meals with kidney beans, onions, carrots etc and freeze whatever is left
Still have friends over, you cool and they bring wine or one friend bring wine another bring dessert and you make the main

Just realised how old the thread is