Debt support thread #2

[Nerfmother]

Here we are! Can't be bothered to think of an exciting title, sorry

ishe how did you get taken on to moderate? I exam mark, but have never gone beyond this.

Kinky - it is edexcel BTEC sampling. Applied direct with them I think .

Well done blue dog on the standing orders
Puffy poor ds
Got a letter from Lloyd's today telling me id saved 56 quid by making an additional loan payment! So will stick to my plan of paying the interest on top of the repayments.

He's ok bless him, enjoying the chance to watch lots of telly . He's one tough little cookie!

Yay to Lloyd interest, well done!

I know! So impressed with Lloyd's, actually writing to tell me how much if saved
Poor little arm.

Nerf great to see exactly how much you've saved. Will they write monthly or something do you think?

I am because I have just discovered on the frugaleers thread that I might be eligible for £27 a week maternity allowance. I really didn't think I was eligible for anything because my self employed earnings are so low. It's only £115 a month, but hey, it's £115 a month!

Nerf that is impressive!

puffy hope DS is okay now - A&E not much fun at all.

Possibly bonus on the mat allowance!

ishe I've emailed my exam board to see if there's any possibility of developing the role I do.

This thread seems to be slowing down. I'm still bumbling along trying to spend as little as possible. I know this is a 28 day pay cycle, but it feels like AGES since I got paid. 2 more weeks to go. Sigh.

Your all doing fab!

Life here is ok, im trying so hard to only spend on essentials. Things with pregnancy are so far going well. Worked out we will only need to buy a new mattress (£20) as we've been using the one from DS to sleep on the floor when DS wakes in the night. I've still got the majority of DS's baby clothes (all neutral because he was a 'it' until born) so realistically I dont think we're going to have to actually by anything.

Debts are going really slowly BUT we are in a position where we have that buffer now - which is great as the exhaust needs replacing at the end of the month. We are in big credit with electric and have a nice amount built up for our next oil heating delivery.

When I look back to this time last year, it was horrible. We had a massive electric bill to pay, no money for oil, and no money for food.

DP and I actually had a takeaway on Monday (£12) and you know what I wasnt stressed or feeling guilty. We havent had a takeaway for months and months and after the past week of hospital visits I think it was deserved.

My aim with our buffer is that when we have too much in there I will see if they will allow me to pay extra off our debts and then start again.

Winter that all sounds really positive, great news .

I am battling to earn enough for the one thing I need to have available in 'real' money' in the middle of the month (all other DDs come out on the 1st) - our rent payment. I currently have just enough with the (entire) overdraft, which is what I was expecting, but I have another three or four days, so I'm hoping to give myself a little wiggle room.

Kinky, I guess we are posting less often as there's such a long wait between pay days, so thread naturally going slower? Prob reflects the debt paying.
Orange - they write every time you make an additional payment.
Good news about mat pay x

Winter, so glad you have built up a buffer

DH's work are now saying his full time pay (supposed to have started in OCTOBER) will not be with him til April

This is why I want him to leave, it is the most poorly organized department I have ever come across...

Things aren't slowing down here, it's just that I have nothing to report until payday/day before payday when I'll hopefully be clearing the last of the debt of CC4.

Oh what a nightmare miss annersley. Can you last okay til then?

winter great news about your bugger, it's nice to look back on where you were a year ago and reflect on how much better things are now. I'm scared about doing that, as I rather suspect we are actually in a worse overall position

Missannersley - is there anyone you can speak to, ie citizens advice bureau, or get a solicitor to write to them? I'm sure you've probably thought of all this already.

missannersley (best username ever) - Does your DH have a supportive manager who could take things higher up the food chain to get the correct pay sorted?
I imagine this thread will have flurries of posts around paydays when we all see how much we can knock off the debt.
Am becoming a complete ynab addict. Can't wait until our net worth is positive!

DEBT TO DO TODAY: see if our old mortgage had any ppi (hope so) and make a claim.
find out when our 0% credit card deal ends, and work out what the monthly payments need to be to get it paid off in time
contact a new job prospect, and do some paid work (at least enough to cover today's nursery fees)

If they don't come through in April I will get a solicitor involved for sure. Every month we keep thinking it will be this payday that they get it right, and they don't

He has a pre-interview on Friday for a much better post in another institution, the proper interviews are on 1 April, hopefully he'll get that one and he can wave goodbye to all this crap!

They have said that April's pay will include all the FT hours from March, and all overtime accrued, so if they get it right we can use that paycheck to completely clear a whole credit card.

nerf yes, we'll be fine (he is getting paid, just still on the rate for crappy PT hours) but it just annoys me that they promised FT pay and hours 6 months ago and he started working FT but they haven't paid up. He went back to working PT this month on my insistence, as they had no incentive to pay him since he was basically working for free!

Thanks themoneyone for directing me here!

I'm also in debt - just been really stupid but now want to get a grip and sort it out in the fastest time possible.

Not sure what info is needed but basic details are:

I'm 39 years old
Earn £63k pa
Have a mortgage

I owe £35k over 4 credit cards biggest balance is £13k (pay £350 a month) then £9k (pay £200) then £7k (pay £200) then £5k (pay about £130) I am paying over the minimum on each card but not much obs altogether pay £880) maintains the debt per month.

Hasn't helped that keep using them now and then so first step is not to use them ok so have managed that for 2 months now.

I'm thinking my best plan us to have DH get a loan ( he thinks he could get £25k) and then pay off my two biggest cards and abit off the lowest 2. Then do a balance transfer for the lowest balances to a 0% card to hopefully give me a year to be attacking the balance.

I have a bond maturing in November so will have £5k to put towards paying the now one credit card balance I will have left.

Hope to pay off loan in 4 years.

Does this strike people as my best plan or even a good one? Obv flaws is a) getting a loan b) getting a 0% card to transfer smaller balances to......

Thanks for any advice

Should add the figures are rounded up to give clean numbers ifkwim

Spanish I follow the Dave Ramsey plan - he recommends against consolidation or moving money around as he has found that it distracts from dealing with the actual problem.

The only time DH tried to "move" debt onto a 0% CC he ended up spending on the original one again anyway.

We've now listed our debts from smallest to largest and are paying them off beginning with the smallest - minimum payments + £10 only on the larger debts, all spare cash to smallest debt until it's paid off, then transfer all spare cash to next debt on the list etc.

We should be closing one if not two CCs this month (we only started this in January) and this means we'll then have 1-2 fewer minimum payments and thus more money to throw at the remaining debt.

I reckon the interest differential isn't going to make that much difference if you're really attacking the debt with all your spending power. There's usually a charge to move debt onto 0% cards too (a percentage of the total debt) which people often don't factor in.

Another thing I really recommend is selling stuff on eBay, facebook etc as this extra income will really boost your power to repay - every £1 helps! We are having a car boot sale later this month and all profits will go straight off the debt.

spanish I second missA's advice. Welcome aboard .

I have moved one cc to an interest free one but I also cut up the original card and will write to close it as soon as the balance transfers across.
Otherwise, temptation to spend is immense!

I have successfully paid off £16K of debt in the past 4 years and using 0% Ccs have been really helpful. I have been"stoozing" using 4 or 5 different cards, moving debt from one card to another - and sometimes back again- so don't close the accounts, they often will offer another deal in 18 months again.

Interest on a normal credit card can be typically 26%- so not insubstantial and a darn sight cheaper than the balance transfer fees ( often just 1.5%.
It's madness to carry debt on a credit card and just pay the minimum if your card charges high interest. You just need a little discipline to make sure you don't spend. I found it easy I was so determined to pay off my debt.

I paid the last of my debt 5 months ago and I am now debt free apart from my mortgaage, thing is my frugal ways have also seen my savings rise at the same time, so not only am I debt free I also have £17K in my savings account. Don't ask me how that happened!!

atthestrokeof that's great, congratulations! The thing is that most people aren't organized enough and disciplined enough to do this. The vast majority of people who consolidate or transfer debt end up running up the debt again anyway.

I've paid off £5,000 since October, now that DH is on board we will be attacking it together and it will go much quicker.

Note that I didn't recommend just paying the minimum - if you pay the current minimum + £10 (i.e. don't reduce the minimum from the first month you start, as they will try to do, but set up a standing order for the current minimum + £10) on all debt then it does eat into the principal.

It depends on the personality of the individuals concerned: if you know you can resist the temptation to spend on new 0% card then that's great, but for most the best thing is to cut up all cards and just pay the damn things off, never borrowing more money again!

missanne- i agree, but finding discipline is the key to recovery. It's hard to begin with but then it becomes a habit. As I type here I can see 5 credit cards, some mine, some OHs. Each one has a credit limit of about £5000, total balance on all together is a big fat zero. Am I tempted? Not one bit.
Once you adopt a thrift mindset it becomes second nature. I take a flask of coffee when I go out for the day rather than buying from Starbucks. I never buy magazines- they only tell you that you are fat and less than perfect anyway. I love ALDI food, I always meal plan and use leftovers. I buy the cheapest car and shop around for the best prices on everything.Some things I don't scrimp on- we love our fruit and veg and eat loads- but then ALDI is brilliant for that. We still have a summer holiday, but I never impulse buy anything. If I need something I take time to consider if I really do need it or not.

Stoozing is a great way of paying off debt once you have learned the discipline not to respend.
The pleasure of treating yourself to a new bag pales beside the pleasure and lack of worry that being debt free brings.