Drowning in debt and cannot talk to people in Real Life? A problem shared is a problem brought into perspective - come and join the lens.

[Ta1kinPeace]

This thread is loosely linked to several previous ones on the same topic.

We live in a society that makes it horribly easy to get into debt but makes it incredibly hard to admit you have a problem and even harder to get out of debt.
Everybody is welcome to share problems, ideas, solutions, but not be judgemental please

I am not in debt, any more.
Here is a link to some spreadsheets that might help explain how
SPREADSHEETS-for-Debt-Control-Budgeting-Mortgages-etc

and lots of people use this
YouNeedABudget

The important things to remember are

• yesterday is as past as the Crimean War

( we will not judge how you got into debt, but we will support you on the way out )

• this is an anonymous forum

( we will not tell your employer, family or friends of the reality of your numbers and we are here day and night )

• this thread is about supporting people through the huge mindset changes needed to come out of debt

( feel free to offload all of the feelings that drive you to want to spend, that make it hard to save and that generally make life crap at times, including getting those closest to you to recognise the changes needed )

Join in, bare your soul and come out the other end.
Its worth it.
You are worth it
The long term results for you, your partner, your children, and your friends and family are worth it.

I have passed on the above, thanks TiP. This sort of thing always happens when he's away! He drives me nuts, I've asked and asked him if it's sorted, to make sure he doesn't pay late etc but it's always 'it'll be fine'
I guess if they refuse to do anything he'll have to apply for a balance transfer card with (yet) another provider. I'm so cross, he's so disorganised but this is important!!! It's the one financial thing I've let him keep control of and he's ballsed it up!

Other thing to do is RIGHT NOW set up a standing order for the minimum monthly so that it cannot get missed again even when stuff is being sorted

and rule of thumb is that as soon as you get ANY new card, set up the standing order that day, just in case.

Done. He's phoned them, and SO set up, apparently the 0% issue is being looked at. Part of the problem was that because he'd had no texts from them we didn't know when the payment day was to set the SO up for!

Keep on their case till you KNOW its back on track
but well done on taking control of the situation fast and not letting it spiral.

Thanks. Lucky for DH he's not home until tomorrow night, I may have calmed down by then!
They have refunded the late payments. To me this suggests they acknowledge that it wasn't DHs fault as they hadn't sent the texts with statement due etc which then suggests to me they should reinstate the 0%. He's said he'll ring tomorrow to double check they've done what they've said they'll do and to chase what's happening about the 0%.
Never does anything the easy way my DH!!
Thanks for the moral support TiP, having been on the verge of tears after opening those letters this morning, I appreciate it

Bloody hell
If they have refunded already they know they cocked up BIG time.
Now to have fun.
Speak to them tomorrow and ask how much they are willing to credit the account to stop you reporting them to the Ombudsman

I'd suggest around the £100 mark - enough for a nice dinner for you and your DH
but let him squirm till coffee when you tell him the card company paid.

Go for it

Hello all .

Still ticking on, trying not to spend on daft things .

Kinky...well done. It's all gone to hell in a handcart here! :)
Both DC seem to have had a major growth spurt.
Ds1 needs new football boots - fil is getting him some for Xmas thank god.
But I had to get him the under armour for training (£40!)
Both needed new jackets, and new pjs.
I can't keep up!
Am asking for pjs for xmas for them, and pants. They will be thrilled :)
Thought ds2 has broken his iPad this morning! Poor thing was desolate as we left for school. It's an old ipad2 so I wasn't hopeful but I went on the apple forum and fixed it! Yay!
We won't feel the benefit of Dhs promotion til April - when the second raise kicks in....I have applied for 2 more jobs.
We have had to pay for 2 holiday deposits for next year, lots of meds for me :( and obv some Xmas spends.
Also 3 school trips for ds1 totalling £40!
Add to that 2 lots of school photos and we are broke!!
Just had to find £5 for raffle tickets this morning too.
I keep losing my poppies. I've bought loads of the damn things but they just don't seem to stay on my jackets!
Sigh....

Good to hear that people are still hanging on in there.
This is a tough time of year.

Badders this time of year is bad enough without pesky growing DC. I know how you feel as DS was telling me his pants are getting tight... then I notice that the jeans are creeping up his legs... argh! He is the ever-growing child. He isn't 7 until December but is the size of a 9 year old. Bless his little lanky legs . Poppies never stay on - I buy the pin ones as I'm a pest for losing them.

We will get there.

Hope everything is good with you TIP .

Kinky...that made me smile :)
Both my DC are 91st centile for height and it's driving me nuts!
No idea how...I'm very short :)
Off to yet another parents evening tonight.
Pils are doing a bonfire at the weekend (it gets rid of their laurel bush clippings!) and a few fireworks for the DC.
I will take a cake.
Shouldn't need much grocery wise this week, thank goodness.

Talkinpeas

Do you know of any funds to help a Lp get children to school when a parent is struggling? there's a mumsnetter on the current credit crunch frugal thread who is really struggling and waiting for probate.

I think one is at grammar and another is going to that one next year but they have to go by car.

I'll go look

Hello, wondered if anyone could advise...?

My dh and I both have excellent credit scores but are trying to get a 18k loan out to consolidate debt/home improvement but have been refused for 2 loan application's .

Assuming it's due to available credit/them not knowing for sure if we will really consolidate, but I don't really know where to go from here.

Currently have 5k of that owed to Santander (long standing customer Inc current account and mortgage) so assume that the best bet would be to apply to them!? (the only reason we didn't, was due to better rates/longer terms elsewhere)
But I don't want another application in file if it's not likely to be accepted l and I need something sorted fairly quickly as 0% ends on the credit cards soon so interests going to be horrendous!!

Consolidation loans are the spawn of the devil. I hate them.

Do you have your credit cards on standing orders rather than direct debits so that they are paid off PDQ (see the link in the opening post about spreadsheets) ?

How much of the £18k is new borrowing and how much is rolling over?
What are the terms on the new?

TBH a higher rate that you will actually get and then aggressively manage is better than a low one with high fees and marks on your file.

Do you know why you were turned down - was it just computer says no or have your circumstances changed recently.

Feel free to PM me the real numbers and and I'll reply with general ideas here on the thread

Thanks TalkinPeas

No idea why we weren't approved, was all online so literally a case of 'no'. Nothings changed recently but last time we applied for any credit was most likely pre dependants (2) and I was working full time rather than part time. So overall probably circumstances have played a factor somewhere.

I'l pm you some figures but generally the 18k is pretty much all consolidation apart from a little over 1k to finish off the garden.

Terms of the loan we were denied was the £18000 over 48months at 4.4%.

We can easily afford the interest on the cards to be honest, its just we're paying very little off the actual balance as it is- out of laziness more than anything, as it's always been set at minimum and if I want to pay anymore I have to do it over the phone so have rarely bothered! So with interest added on it'll barely touch the sided of the actual debt!

The idea behind consolidating was to hammer the payments (which is a manageable amount) and be debt free at the end of the term.

How negative would a second search be on our overall credit score if we were declined from Santander?

We can easily afford the interest on the cards to be honest
Right, sod the Santander : whack the credit cards with a standing order - use the spreadsheet method to check the amount
get the borrowing gone in a year and THEN use that same amount of repayment each month to do the work on the house
sorted

Thank you!! It's so hard to see through the haze of it all sometimes!!

Nice to have something to work towards!!!

I was turned down for a consolidation loan many years ago so I saved and hit the most expensive one first etc.

I haven't gone back to cards and loans since except the mortgage.

sardines
one of your cards is on the sheet at the moment .... 16 months and its gone ....

fluffy
glad to hear its still working for you

TIP

Where would you look if you wanted engineered wood flooring?. I looked at bamboo but it wouldnt be the right look for the room and the ew is cheaper bizarrely.

I tried ebay but the re-claimed used stuff was £110 psm and I could have gold thread carpet with platinum carpet gripper for that.

Thank you.

I searched all over the web for mine till I found what I liked and could afford

Hello, felt it was time to join in after lying here unable to sleep with worry again! No specific advice needed at the minute, just glad to be here x

Hi there jhm
Knowing there is a quiet corner you can let off steam is often helpful in itself

Where are you at - roughly- and then sharing the problem might help put it in prspective.

Hello new people!

I am finally starting to feel better after weeks of being ill. I am now attempting to get the house in order as it has gone to ruin around me. Having fun decluttering toys at the moment and shaking my head at the sheer cost and waste of it. DS has far too much stuff.

Ages ago, there were links on here to becoming minimalist. I still follow his posts and enjoy his writing. It has helped me to shift perspective over the past year or so.

www.becomingminimalist.com/becoming-minimalist-start-here/