A thread for people trying to pay off debt?

[moneyworries8]

Would there be any interest in this?

I'll start us off. I'm 30, a SAHM with 2DC.
Our debts are:

£4,000 loan that we've been paying off for 6 months.
£2,300 on a credit card

The debt is manageable but I've had the realisation that if something doesn't change, these figures are going to get bigger and bigger. I know it's a hard time of year to start but I don't believe in "waiting until the new year!"

We could post on here for advice/support as well as sharing our successes (and failures, but hopefully there won't be many of those) with each other. I feel like I need some people to help keep me on track.

So, is anyone interested?

No one interested?

I am! I'll have to tot it up. I have over 1000 on a very account and about 4000 on a credit card that I would like to clear.

I'm interested OP, I owe loads and feel so depressed about it, my OH would go mental if he knew 🤐

Me too! We owe about £2000 to parents plus £2000 overdraft and approx £3500 in loans. Actually quite a lot when I see it written down like that!

Owe about 6500 on a card. Interest free. 800 overdrawn.

Good... there are a few of us. This can be the day we start to change things. i really would love 2019 to be the year we get financially stable.

I like the idea of writing down what you're spending but the reason I never do this is because DH is spending too. I've had the idea though to create a WhatsApp group for just the 2 of us where, at the start of the month we'll have a set budget. We then put on there everything we spend. It'll only take a second each time but it'll give us a running total of what we have left for the month and will hopefully discourage some of the non essential spending. No idea if it'll work yet but we'll be starting this on Friday.

Me! I have a horrific amount of debt. So far DH and I have wrapped a loan and credit card into our re-mortgage. This hasn't increased our monthly payments thankfully because we're joining a lapsed mortgage term with one about to end so payments had gone up slightly when that fixed term ended. Not the best thing to do from an interest perspective but frees up much needed monthly income.

And I've changed the direct debit amount on the rest (on 0%) to try to make sure I'm paying more than the minimum and it won't just decrease as the main debt goes down. Have also increased my hours so need to stop relying on the credit 😰

I did the writing down thing, and it shocked DH and I beyond belief and assuredly changed the way we spend so would definitely recommend this to others!

I have about £7500 left where my dad paid for my divorce settlement so I could keep my house, and £5000 on a kitchen loan. Both have fixed monthly payments, but I'd like to hammer them down next year.

What plan are you going to follow?

1. Budget/Cash Flow Plan dons before the month begins.
2. Emergency fund, so no more taking out debt.
3. Paying off debt using the snowball method, smallest to largest.

Or are you planning on something else?

Tracking expenditure and cutting back on that expenditure is vital. Increasing income is also vital. Those two things together make more money available to pay the debt off.

I can't join in as I've been in the position before and got out of it. So good luck to all of you, it is hard but it is worth doing it. Have a plan, stick to it. Set small goals to help you feel you are making progress.

Me!

I’m in so much debt. £11000 all together.

I lost my job 2 weeks after going back from maternity leave (company went into liquidation) and I’m struggling to find flexible work (Ds has additional needs so have lots of appointments)

Have had to prioritise so credit cards/catalogues/loan/phone contract have just been left piling on interest. (Heads been in sand for 2 years)

Stepchange advised bankruptcy! But I can’t afford to apply for it! Trying to sort out a payment plan through them but don’t have enough coming in. Waiting to see if ds is accepted for dla and me Carers Allowance.

Barclaycard have just written off £1600 that I owed them due to mistakes on their side, and have sent me a £75 inconvenience payment which I’ll use to pay off some debt but I’m sinking at the moment.

Can I join this too please.
Have about £10000 spread over credit cards,family and overdraft.
Me and hubby changed jobs earlier this year for personal reasons and have had a huge drop in income 😔
Have cut back everything and just about surviving,not much money spare each month anymore.
Trying to juggle everything and constantly worry about money which I hate!
But on a good note we are acquiring any more debt 🤞

I am with stepchange.
which is a blessing, and takes the stress away.

We've got about £14k debt. Me and dh have a joint current account and a budget we go through every other month to see if we are on track. Just managed to get all dhs debt into a 0% card and half of mine too. We have cleared about £9k this year. Does everyone else know about the standing order trick with credit cards? There's a poster called talkinpeace who hangs around on the money boards who has done some spreadsheets to help with paying down debt. Very very useful. Also step change have been very helpful.

I would like to join in but our debt is much bigger than those mentioned here and whilst I am tackling the debt which is in my name I fear that DH is an ostrich when it comes to debt. I won’t combine all of our money due to our different approaches to debt. In my name I have £4200 on an interest free credit card (reduced from £7000 18 months ago) and I am usually in my overdraft which At the worst times of the month is £1100.
Realistically we need to increase our income to really sort our finances out but we can’t currently do that.

red the standing order trick is that you pay a set amount of your credit card each month instead of paying the minimum by direct debit. So if you can only afford the minimum repayment at the moment you set your standing order for that amount but it stays at that amount even as your balance reduces so your card gets paid off more quickly. I pay a set amount by direct debit but not all card companies allow that and some don’t take the direct debit if you make an additional payment that month.

We are in a tricky position due to a house move, illness and redundancy. We both have better paid jobs now but it never seems to end.

I think being frugal for a bit makes us miserable so we treat ourselves to a meal out but it's expensive and we are quite often disappointed with the quality which just makes us feel guilty.

I've got a monzo card now which I transfer a set amount of money to at the start of the month. This is used for shopping so my bank statements tend to just show DD for bills and it's easier to keep track. I've also set the card to round up each transaction so the extra goes into as savings pot.

Fingers crossed we will get accepted for a loan to wipe everything and we will work hard to overpay on this and shrink it as quickly as possible!

Tricky....card providers don't want you to pay more. Set up regular SO payments 10 days before your payday date ( info will be on back of bill) and they'll still get paid.
Minimum plus what extra you can afford.

With payday approaching, I've worked out that we have £500 to spend. Well actually £650 but £150 will need to be spent on Xmas shopping and posting Xmas cards & presents.

Spending £500 will allow us to make a bit of a dent in the debt. We'll be able to pay off a couple of hundred pounds. It's a good start. Now just to try to stick to the budget. This is the part I struggle with.

A couple of pressies for you .....

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/1987219-SPREADSHEETS-for-Debt-Control-Budgeting-Mortgages-etc

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/2465435-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

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/3114230-becoming-debt-free-in-2018

The Standing order trick is your friend

Thank you Talking, have finally had courage to add up my debt and it's about 8000 I pay back £450 per month at the moment, should all be cleared in a couple of years but it's so frustrating that I always end up back in debt again, so fed up with it

Oldgrinch
Have you got all your flexible debts on standing order rather than direct debit ....
it makes a MASSIVE difference

A couple of years back there was a series of big Debt threads on this board.
Using the standing order trick one poster cleared over £40,000 of debt in three years
without changing her lifestyle one iota

Recently just paid off 1,000/2,900 in credit cards from borrowing from Parents. Realised that I was hardly paying anything off with charges added so explained begged to them to give me a loan which would actually be paid off. Paid off another 1,000 solely by myself and have another 950 to pay in other debts. I know it's not as much as others but I feel like I'm always on the edge of getting myself into debt when I really can't afford it with being a student. Goal is to pay off all debt and start saving for a home in 5 years time but I feel like that won't ever happen.

Beeky
If its credit cards, have you moved them to Standing orders

I cannot say this often enough
freezing the repayment at this month's amount
reduces the repayment time from 18 to 2 years

@Talkinpeece they were standing orders but I have since cancelled because of I lost my current account cards etc I forgot to set them back up which led to more charges and taking a few steps back.