Can we have a support thread for people who are massively in debt?

[Nerfmother]

Because you can't talk about it in real life? We owe 44k, reduced from 60k in a year. Not including mortgage.
It's so depressing.
Dh is determined to pay it off and so bankruptcy or plans isn't an option. I do think its doable, just hard hard hard.

I know every penny counts but modern 'A' energy rated tumble dryers are not expensive to run. See HERE for a link to a WHICH webpage. Which says it only costs £43 a year based on 3 cotton loads a week.

If you are saving money by keeping heating levels low it may be better to machine dry your clothes in colder weather to avoid humidity problems and make life easier.

"three cotton loads a week"

that excludes jeans, sweatshirts and the like
and do you really run it for only 3 short batches a week

I do keep my heating on low : my airer is at the top of the stairs so gets the updraft through the hous e: I'd NEVER up the heating for the sake of laundry
and always use the line in the summer

also, I have one of theose energy usage trackers and I very much doubt that most people's driers cost only £43 a year

but yes, DLA is to cover stuff like that

Lol, just trying to help .

I thought dryer balls were a myth but there is a definite difference using them. def dry quicker and also fluffier towels! I use my tumble dryer for towels, underwear and bedding. I sometimes use it for the odd load of clothes but that isn't very often and usually if I have a lot of washing. My house is also very small so constantly having drying racks is annoying. The whole house is also warmer from using the tumble dryer so don't need the heating on as much lol.

aha - yup, keeping the excess heat in the house will mitigate against the running costs !

Right YNAB done!
watched a webinar, sat down and tackled it again.

Od should be paid off in July.

Ccs by end of year

Then start saving at end of the year.

(Hopefully for another maternity leave)

I have a This www.lakeland.co.uk/21736/Heated-Tower-Airer?gclid=CK-sqrLZ5bwCFQkEwwodoBkAog&src=gpelc&s_kwcid=AL!49!3!44052812531!b!!g!!lakeland%20dry%20soon&ef_id=UpOVzwAAAUZqUSfu:20140224212347:s

LAkeland airer to dry stuff. It's ace, but does take up room!

We don't have a tumble dryer, but we do use a dehumidifier quite often (a couple of times a week) to keep on top of the laundry. It means when it's set we can bung it all on airers in one room and shut the door and not have to see it on radiators all over the house. Our dehumidifier seems to use very little energy (although in my mission to reduce our bills I am using it a bit less than before).

Hello all.

Feeling grotty and struggling into work with a huge pile of stuff to do. The positive of this is that I have no time to even contemplate shops, let alone step foot in one!

Pay day tomorrow. Had to stock up on prescriptions, drugs to get through day and cough sweets yesterday, so £22 I didn't want to spend. Saying that, should hopefully have some money left over this month to chuck at debt.

Hope you all have a good, and frugal, day .

I am loving the laundry discussion! I do try to stick to sheets and bedding , and dh is constantly sneaking the heating up from my miserly 18. Luckily he's out at work a lot!
I think I can justify the dryer costs with the dla; we also have to wash things due to this and replace mattresses / buy covers as well as extra bits.
I think the dryer balls might help
Kinky, sorry you are feeling poorly, cost of meds is horrid on top.

Ps thanks for the which link.

So is YNAB definitely worth it... and what does it stand for again?

I have been incredibly restrained and used my entire payment yesterday to clear my accountant's bill (which was hanging over my head, although they weren't charging interest) and pay £500 to HMRC for my nanny's overdue tax. I need to phone HMRC today and find out how behind I actually am with the nanny tax payments. I am terrified and really really want to bury my head in the sand about it. I suspect I owe at least £2k and I need to know how much it is so I can start tackling it, but I am really scared they will get aggressive about needing to make payments and catch up

YNAB is brilliant bumbolina. It has allowed me to take a real grip on my finances for the first time since I left uni! For me it combines the pretty hypothetical budgeting sheets I used to make using money saving expert and the actual reality of what we spend. It took a little while to get to grips with it, but I wouldn't be without it now.

Oh, and it stands for You Need A Budget.

Apologies for multi posting

Im managing quite a few NSD's at the min. Just paid my latest round of £5's off our debts.

I have just come accross a stumbling block though... I found out yesterday im pregnant. I need to get it confirmed and tell DP. Its fantastic news BUT im not crapping myself over money.

Im the main earner, DP cant work at the min. We have 10.8K in debts. My job is currently through Agency, have been since Sept 13. Im due to be taken on as staff in april/may.

I guess i'll need to really look at my options now both with the debts and with work.

God my heads a shed, but best get ready for work. Only half a day to plod through then the afternoon with my mum and DS

Congratulations Winter

Thanks PossiblyOrange! We're doing pretty well with paying off, but are well aware that we could be doing just that little bit better. I'm wondering if that would make the difference. Might have to have a play later.

Joining!

I have £779 of personal CC debt, down from £3,500 in August 2013, should be cleared by end of this month.

DH - £17,544 of CC debt/OD debt and a small car loan, built up without my knowledge in the past 2-3 years when he has been working part time and studying. We are on the same page now but it is going to take a long time to clear it.

I am a teacher too wondering if it's something in the water...

Have signed up to mark exams in June/July, haven't been told how many it will be yet but anything I get will go straight off the debt. Have also signed up to work at a 2 week summer school which will get me £810, that will go off the debt too.

DH has taken on extra teaching and marking (he's an academic and works in an archive) and any ££ he makes will all go off his debt. Just based on our actual salaries it will take 18 months to pay this off but with the extra work hopefully it will be sooner.

The hard thing is saying no to people - I ended up eating out twice this month, both times with friends, who asked us out. I need to be sterner, as this meant at least £120 gone that could have gone off the debts.

Pulled on my big girl pants and phoned HMRC. The debt actually as bad as I was honestly expecting - £1,650, of which I was able to pay £500 straight away with my payment from yesterday, so only £1,150 to clear, and interest is 3% so I don't need to get in a complete state about it. Every time I deal with anything to do with this stupid debt I feel like another ounce or two of weight is lifted from my shoulders. Feeling positive this morning

Hello MissAnnersley, and welcome! It's a long and daunting road (I'm only right at the beginning myself, need to work out what my true debt is now I actually have all the numbers in front of me), but I'm sure we'll all make it with a bit of support. Great that you can both take on some extra work to hammer the debt away more quickly.

Happy Tuesday everybody !

Well I was all excited this morning as it is payday but somehow having done my sums it is all accounted for already without much left over .

Demoralising isn't it? I've been shopping at Aldi all month and slashed our food bill and yet we don't seem any better off. There are always bills that pop up unexpectedly.

Going to start my 34 trial of YNAB today as see if helps to see where everything is going.

Congratulations Winter!

Bumbolina and Burma - totally agree with Orange, YNAB is BRILLIANT. I have been using it for 20 days already couldn't be without it. For the first time in my 40 or so years on this planet I actually know what is in my bank account and available to spend (not just what internet banking tells me is the balance) and in the last 20 days I have paid an additional £280ish off my debt and saved £100ish, instead of increasing my OD or using my credit card. I have it in a wish list on steam to see if it goes in a flash sale, and I keep doing the classes to try and win a free copy, but honestly I am happy to pay the full £29.99 price tag because it has saved me that much already, easily.

NSD here so far. Went to and from my training day without needing petrol, will see how the gauge looks when I do the school run later. Would be nice not to use the last £15 of the petrol category, but I really don't think I'll make it to Friday on the petrol I have. Crisp £20 still in my purse though, last of the spending money budget for the month, and untouched since Saturday

Spoke too soon. Not a NSD as I did need to put petrol in. AND I overshot on the pump by 2p which has made my petrol category red in YNAB. Itching to get to a PC to move 2p from another category to sort it out - hate red numbers!

LOL at 2 p

Winter
you'll be fine : 7 months till you have to stop work - so lots of time to plan

possibly so long as you keep dribbling money through to HMRC they are fine and, yes, their interest rate is one of the lowest

burma
at least you've only spent your salary, rather than MORE than your salary

Congrats winter!

Miss annersley, hi

Good to hear the updates although bit disappointed in behalf of whoever posted about march salary being accounted for - that's really horrible when that happens, but hopefully little by little you will be slightly better off each month?