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Original poster

A thread for people trying to pay off debt?

983 replies

moneyworries8 · 27/11/2018 18:37

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?

OP posts:
Mum4Fergus · 16/02/2019 15:42

Would it be heartless of me to pursue the payments x owes me? It's £300pm which he hasn't paid me since September...

TalkinPeece · 16/02/2019 15:46

Fergus
No, it would not be heartless.
He owes you that money. He needs to get his arse in gear, PTSD or not
otherwise things just get worse long term

gruffaloshmuffalo · 16/02/2019 15:46

Hello everyone

I had 8k worth of debt. I took out a loan for 4 years paying off £300 a month to clear it all. I know it's a high interest, in total I'm paying off 16k. Which is extremely high. However, because I've closed everything down now, I'll be able to pay £500 a month towards the debt instead of the £300. Meaning It'll be paid off in 32 months instead of 48. Probably sooner because I'll be paying less interest. That's before my dh's hours are doubled next month so we'll be at least £600 a month better off.

I've cancelled sky and other "nice to haves" and that frees up £100 a month.

It was horrible looking into how much I owed and why. I realised that my lack of impulse control, and my husband's low hours and lack of interest in money, was to blame. We had a frank talk and he is doubling his hours. They don't need to be so low now our children are in school. He's also taking more of a notice of money.

I never want to be in this situation again. DH has debts of £2800 which is manageable too. He's cancelled his DD and set up SOs. He cut up his cards and I cut up mine, leaving only one card free for emergencies. That card I've left at my mom's house. So I can get it if I need it, but not have it immediately to hand.

I also deleted all saved cards from my phone. So I'm feeling good

gruffaloshmuffalo · 16/02/2019 15:48

I forgot to add that the debt was a spiraling payday loan situation. It got to a point I couldn't pay the minimum payments for everything as it was more than I'd have left after paying rent

TalkinPeece · 16/02/2019 15:53

gruffalo
Well done for grasping the nettle
debt free day beckons
and if you keep budgeting under control it will be for ever

Mum4Fergus · 16/02/2019 16:24

Hello Gruffalo...I hear when about the hard truth hitting home when you realise the extent of your commitment...but it sounds like you are making progress and that is what counts.

Ok...email off to x re his intentions to repay arrears and outstanding balance. Nearly £4K all in so not something I can (or indeed should) write off...especially with my current financial challenges. I'm not expecting anything other than a) to be ignored or b) to be abused...however I think it will at least shown my attempt at being reasonable if (when!) I have to resort to Court.

TitsalinaBumSquash · 16/02/2019 20:18

Another debt paid off - Very account the interest was huuuugggeee! Another £60 a month saved.
Next will be next month and then all the smaller ones are gone and it's just the loan to start ploughing into. I'm so pleased I'm really doing this rather than burying my head in the sand and making minimal payments forever. Smile

TalkinPeece · 16/02/2019 20:42

Titsalina
WELL DONE on getting rid of that Very account
a few people on these threads have them and they are horrible
APR up in the 50% range is just killer

NeverTwerkNaked · 18/02/2019 16:38

Well done titsalina that’s great progress Smile

moneyworries9 · 18/02/2019 17:12

It's bad news for me today unfortunately.

DH gets his monthly payslip online mid month and paid at the end of the month. He checked his pay today for the end of the month and it's £500 less than we were expecting. He did get paid extra previously having been underpaid before so I'm worrying that they miscalculated the payment and are now taking money back. I'm really not sure what's happened but I'm just hoping there's been an error 😩

moneyworries9 · 18/02/2019 17:14

It's come at a bad time because I'm doing an intensive driving course next month which will cost me around £1000. Really not what we needed!

TalkinPeece · 18/02/2019 17:19

Check the calculation and check with HR
The BACS run will not have been scheduled yet so if there is an error it can be adjusted

moneyworries9 · 18/02/2019 17:28

DH is away just now (he's in the Army) so I'll send him a message to have him speak to his clerks ASAP, would be great if it could be sorted before pay day 🙏🏼

The trouble with him being in the army is there are so many variables in their pay and it's virtually impossible to make sense of the pay slips. I hate the fact I can't always make sense of them because it makes it impossible to ensure the pay is correct.

Really hoping this is an error which will get sorted quickly 🙏🏼

gruffaloshmuffalo · 18/02/2019 19:42

moneyworries I work for the NHS and something similar happened to me. I told HR it would cause undue hardship so I paid it back in installments instead. Hopefully they can do similar.

Livedandlearned · 18/02/2019 20:51

I've been catching up on this thread a couple of times a week and when I need a bit of a boost.

It's great to see that people are making a dent in their debts or facing up to debts and making a plan Thanks

I'm ploughing away very slowly and applying for more work in the hope I can pay my debts off sooner.

TalkinPeece · 18/02/2019 20:56

Lived
Have you got any card debts onto Standing Orders - so that the payments whump them that bit extra each month?

Livedandlearned · 18/02/2019 21:21

Yes, I've done that. My main issue is that my eldest son has left sixth form and got a great job which is fab for him but means that I'll get no tax credits at all now. So in the last two months I've gone from getting £350 a month to £165 to £0. I know I shouldn't rely on tax credits but I have to rethink all my finances now.

I'm self employed and I have to find that extra cash from now on to pay off all my debts before they spiral.

Just having a vent really.

TalkinPeece · 18/02/2019 21:27

Ouch. That is tough.
But on the other hand, how much rent are you charging him?
Because if you get him into the habit of living on less than his wages NOW then he might learn good financial habits
and never go into debt

Livedandlearned · 18/02/2019 21:33

He hasn't started work yet but when he does I'm going to have a think how much to charge, probably a percentage of the rent we pay ourselves.

He's the only one of my kids who is good with money, it's ingrained in him from when he and I struggled through together with him as a young child. I wish my other two were as clued up.

NeverTwerkNaked · 18/02/2019 21:34

lived I agree with talk you need to start charging him some rent. It will be better for him not to get used to spending a whole pay packet.
Also I wish my parents had done what some of my parents did and charged them rent but kept some aside and saved it up to be able to give them a boost towards a house deposit

TalkinPeece · 18/02/2019 21:39

One of my friends recently moved and is mortgage free (dead parents)
and she charges her son the going market rate for a bedsit in this city
and puts the money in a savings account for when he comes to get his own place.

If you do not charge working kids a proper rent, they are in for a nasty shock when they move out

Livedandlearned · 18/02/2019 21:42

It happened to me, i had the nasty shock.

I too would like to save the cash he gives me but i want to put it into a help to buy savings account as he has some compensation in a court fund account to add to it when he's 18.

TalkinPeece · 18/02/2019 21:55

I would not bother with a help to buy account - just use a normal ISA as then he can use it for wherever his life leads
but remember to keep enough for his food and board and then save the bit that is "rent"

Livedandlearned · 18/02/2019 21:58

Good advice, thank you

Bohbell · 18/02/2019 22:16

Can I join please? I am impressed by how determined you all are and how some of you are managing to hammer your debt. Me and DH are mid 40s and have approx 20k debts, on cards, loans and overdrafts. We are so used to being in debt we hardly worry anymore and are still planning holidays. We never learn although shop much, just spend on the house and trips. The only conselation is that we have 500k equity in our house. But we are not going anywhere so false economy. It makes us complacent as temptation is to remortgage or sell rather than be disciplined.I just want to learn to live within our means! Am determined to knock 8k off by Christmas.

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