Up to your eyes in debt? Share our glasses and get it into perspective - a does get smaller problem shared

[TalkinPeece]

This new 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.

Glad you are feel more positive Anxiouslady I’ve had panic attacks, they are horrible.

I've always read the Debt Free threads but I had to name change to post.

I didn't think I had a debt as I used to be good at managing money but this past year I amassed about 4K in CC. It all just sort of spiralled. I was in an unhappy job and buying things online made me happier then it became a habit and now I'm struggling to stop. I need to clear the CC NOW and I'm throwing £500 a month at it but still spending so it's not coming down.

I know I'm still spending as I don't want anyone to know anything is wrong and I can't cut out much without DH noticing. I've unsubscribed to most shopping emails and am staying off the S&B boards. We are moving soon and I need to have this cleared by April.

bigblu
Welcome.
And well done for recognising that you need to change.
Have you removed your card details from all websites so you cannot impulse buy?
Have you tidied your makeup bucket to see what you might be able to sell
ditto clothes ?
just that every penny will help
and the checking will help you pull your head into the right place to support your wallet

Thanks @TalkinPeece I'm starting to go through my clothes and I might have some shoes to sell on eBay. I was really struggling mentally before but I managed to clear one CC last year and now I need to refocus on this one. Thankfully it's a 0% card but that means I need to be careful.

I'm posting here as we have £23k of debt on credit cards at 0% and about £10k on over drafts. We did a build.which went hugely over budget and combined with the fact dh for made redundant and had a pay cut and then lost out on his bonus.

I feel.sick just typing it and kind of despairing as to how we are ever going to pay it off.

Our outgoing are ridiculously high and I sat down the other day and tried to swap life insurance which went up and gas/ electricity could.save £50 a year of we swap to npower but their customer service is so shocking that I don't think it's worth it.

After all the bills we have £900 a month left over with £300 put aside for birthdays Christmas and clubs etc.

I have started shopping in aldi but don't seem to get away with spending less than £100.

Just feel totally fed up.

Bigblue can you not tell DH, if he notices your lack of spending, that you have enough clothes/perfume/gadgets or whatever it is you buy? Obviously telling him about the debt would be the best thing to do, but surely he wouldn’t view a pause in buying as a problem?

Re the CC, remove it from any websites where it’s saved and put it somewhere you cannot easily access. If you have get up from the computer and go all the way to, say the loft, the make your purchase would you bother?

I accidentally messed up the PIN on mine, thought I had my bank card in the terminal and used the wrong number 3 times, so my CC is blocked until I phone them. So I haven’t phoned them. That makes it impossible to use.

That sounds bloody stressful Blackscreen, in your shoes I would cancel Christmas shopping for adults. Just tell family that after the build etc there isn’t scope for presents so please don’t buy us presents. Same for birthdays other than your DC, token presents only until you get the debt paid off.

There is a thread in Credit Crunch, budget recipes needed, there are some good ideas on there.

blankscreen
£300 put aside for birthdays Christmas and clubs etc.
£300 a MONTH ..... £3600 for Christmas ??????

Sorry but you need to cut your cloth to match your income.
That £300 a month should be going directly off debt.

Our outgoing are ridiculously high
Cancel sky, cancel everything that does not have a penalty including phone contracts
cancel any and all extended warranties
cancel the vast bulk of charitable giving until you can afford it
cancel all but the cheapest (time / usage) activities

You need to look at what you need rather than what you want
Its not fun
but its essential

F

Ok.im going to.go through everything at the weekend.

The £300 month is clubs for 3 kids,.birthdays and.christmas oh and.school.dinners for 2.

Ah OK Blankscreen I misunderstood

But you still need to really critically assess everything you spend.
A year or two of tough choices will save you a lifetime of stress.
Also on a really important point, its a chance to teach your kids the value of money.
Be open with them and explain WHY you are making the changes and WHAT result you want to get.

Things like Sky are an easy saving.
Clubs : work out which ones are really important and give the most hours per pound spent
Christmas : you will need to rein right back - do it honestly and you will all come out of it happier
because you'll be in control.

How are people doing as we creep into February ?

Hi TalkinPeace. Feeling quite calm as we start to move into February. Made a plan aimed at chunking debts into mini targets and I’m now one month into that. Trying to start focused and avoid any unnecessary spending. I have managed to open another 0% card for remainder of large balance I had on a card which was 26% (). I’m just waiting for this months statement to check no interest owing then I’ll close it. Must not leave it open or I can see me spending on it and being back to square one! Though it frightens me as feel like it’s a security net in an emergency! Stupid thinking I know! How is everyone else doing?

Oh and I’ve started selling on eBay- my old clothes and my children’s so that I can use the cash to buy them new clothes- instead of my credit card!!

Anxious
Close the 26% and then every penny of unused limit in the 0% is your "savings"
so if you have £200 unused in the 0% you have £200 in available funds
which is a good thing

Didnt think of it like that. Very true. Thank you!

I told DH about the CC debt. He was a bit annoyed but glad I told him and understood why it had built up. We are due to get some money and he agreed we could some it to pay it off quicker.

I can't wait to see the back of this debt. I won't be this silly again. It's never happened in the 10 years I've had ccards.

BigBlue
If you keep focused it will all be OK

Just found this thread today and will be following in future. I have an old debt £5.5K which is with Stepchange and I am paying this off monthly but do try to pay off a little extra every month but thanks to reading some of the threads on Netmums have realised I would be better off paying that extra of my credit card which had got to nearly £2k.
I used this to make myself feel better by treating not just me but Family at Christmas. Looking back it was a bit like trying to buy their affection.
Anyway I have taken myself in hand, revamped my own spreadsheet, taken my credit card out of my purse, set myself a budget and my card balance is reaping the benefits.
I have also managed to get a 0% card from Sainsburys which is also my local supermarket so hopefully the majority of my credit card balance will be on this soon. My plan is to pay the minimum on the 0% card for as long as it takes me to clear the high interest one then tackle the 0% one.
I have also been going through my home listing all the little things that I don't need, never used on selling sites and this money goes straight into a pot which gets banked once a month and paid straight out to my credit card.

The plan is to get it all paid off then I would really like a proper holiday, one that doesn't involve worrying whether you have enough money to cover days out, meals, drinks and treats.

Good luck everyone

well done elsie
and yes, its a lovely feeling when a holiday is not stress afterwards

Can I join please?

DP and I are currently sat at £30k owed. Most of this is through loans that we took out to pay off our credit cards the rest of it is on credit cards that we had paid off but have then built back up again due to having no money because we're paying £300pm each just on the loans.

The credit has now been moved to 0% for the next three years and today we've decided to move out of our flat that all in costs us £1300pm in to a house share for which we will pay no more than £600 all in.

All the left over money will be used to take huge chunks off the credit cards and I'm going to speak to my bank about early repayment charges to make sure we aren't worse off for paying it back sooner.

Once all this is done we will start properly saving for a house and should be able to put huge chunks away and buy something lovely-hopefully

Didn't realise how much better I'd feel for writing it all down

Well done and welcome fakeplants
Yes, sharing the problem / clarifying in your head exactly where you are - makes a massive difference.

The loans may well have repayment penalties
but if you throw everything possible at the card debt and then find out the terms on each of the loans and repay any without
and then when the borrowing is gone, immediately transfer that cashflow into savings
you'll be fine.

moneygoatcoaching
I have no concerns. You are a scammer. Reported.