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?

Hi - just checking in. I start the extra £250 monthly payments this month which I have been worrying about. Have been scrutinising my outgoings really closely and I think I might just be able to scrape through each month. Phew.

I will have to be super frugal to make sure I can still keep paying a bit extra off the debt and not slip into more. I'm aiming for a slightly reduced SO but still £50 above current min monthly payment.

Aldi food shopping has been good and, combined with trying not to waste food, has resulted in saving about a third on weekly shop.

I live in a flat (no outside drying area) so use the tumble dryer a couple of times a week. Will try to use the airer more, especially now weather is better and can have the windows open or put the airer out.

Looking at how to make a fun but cheap Easter school holiday now! Lets hope the weather is good...

BishaLisha things all sound really positive for the future for you. That's great news

Turquoise glad you're enjoying the new duvet ☺️ a good nights sleep is worth it's weight in gold

Bobinks hopefully the weather will be nice in the holidays. Nothing beats a trip to the park in the sunshine. So much easier to spend less when it's sunny ☀️

Mamabear standing order trick - most credit card providers give you 2 options when setting up direct debits. Either "pay full amount" or "pay minimum payment". Most of us (on this thread at least) can't pay the full balance. The problem with paying the minimum payment is that each month when you make the minimum payment, the card balance reduces so the minimum payment for the next month is a lesser amount. It's a percentage of the card balance/interest if that makes sense. The problem is, this payment covers little more than the interest in many cases and so you could end up paying the minimum payment for decades before your debt is gone. If you set a standing order up for just more than the current minimum payment, the amount you pay will never decrease and you could end up clearing the balance in a couple of years instead. I hope that makes sense.

Bad news here. DH was reading DD a story in her toddler bed this morning when one of the bars that runs along the side which the slats also sit on, snapped. I called to see about spare parts but it's an old model so they couldn't help. I scoured the Internet to try to find one for sale but there was nothing. £89 later, we have a new cot bed arriving from John Lewis on Friday 😩 last thing we needed!

Anyway, we'll keep plugging away as best we can. This thread is really helping me to stay focused on the end goal.

I skidded this morning in the car in hailstones and crashed slowly into a high kerb. Our car is old and not worth repairing, it's throwing good money after bad. So it looks like we'll need a new (to us) car. Sigh... I don't know where that money will come from

Checking in too. So I'm making good progress, at the moment but still a long way to go. Must remember it has taken quite a few years building up the debt and card hopping so it will take the same to pay it down. Numbers are coming down, it's slow though isn't it. Don't want to fall off the wagon, just want to keep motivated.
@Turq, hope you're ok? I know the feeling off being set back due to an unexpected expense recently due to storm damage.

Well done to everyone making a dent. DH and I both had the opportunity to work some overtime last month which was helpful so debt now starts with 34...; coming down by more than 1000.

Turquoise, I'm in the same position with the car. impending expensive repairs would cost more than it's worth have had it for over 10 years and knew this was coming but was hoping I would get another couple of years out of it.

Debt control is a goal that you will never regret

Great progress @Msdebt. I'm liking getting to the next number too
very true @talkin. I feel like I'm getting into the swing of it more. I'm also doing overtime. I felt low at first but now I'm making progress I feel better. Joining the gym is my only 'pleasure' but figured good for mental health, somewhere to go etc rather than spending!
how is everyone getting on?

Debt control is a goal that you will never regret

Thanks for this Talk. Something I'll need to keep at the front of my mind. I've felt like giving up and spending a few times lately. It just seems like such a slog just now but I know it will be worth it.

There are so many things I could do with buying... we really need a parasol for our patio. Our garden is small but it's such a sun trap and being in the south, it's unbearably hot in the height of summer. We made do last year without one (we were away a lot visiting family) but I can't bear the though of another year without one. Our patio table has also collapsed, we have a lovely set of garden furniture so it's unfortunate. The replacement table will cost £60. I desperately need clothes. So do the DC. We're just trying day by day to get by but it really is soul destroying at times. Sorry for the moan. I'm just having a bit of a lull today.

Hi all, just wanted to check in. Anxiety in creeping in today. I’m keeping to my spreadsheets etc and trying to throw every penny at cc debt. I read on Martin Lewis about 0% CC deals disappearing and mine finishes in Feb. That seems like a while off but even with throwing everything at it between now and then, I’ll still owe about 7K I think. I’m sure there will be some sort of deal out there but for some reason it’s it’s made me feel really anxious today. Sigh! But at least debt is reducing. Must be postitive!

Hi anxious
Do not stress too much about 0% deals
remember that even with high rates, the standing order trick whumps debts in two years
the key is to not drop your repayments as the balance drops
you will be fine

CC1 and next account are done!

Just £1210 on CC and the £10k loan I’m going to have to take out to go

Still plodding along here. Redundancy effective end of June. Have had severance figure through, more than I was anticipating which is fab. We're pretty much agreed that CC and loan will be repaid in full and the rest put aside until I secure a new role. Will have enough aside to cover 14 months of outgoings so not feeling too stressed about it. Also DH has over £8k worth of gigs between now and December...we never rely on his gig money so it will be extra into the pot

@mum that’s all positive. How are you feeling now there’s a plan in place?

Thanks for the good wishes coffeechoc

Everyone seems to be doing well, tipping away at the numbers.
I'm a little disheartened tbh. We absolutely need to get another car now and that means more debt. But the one we have is just not safe and will be too expensive to keep and repair considering its resale value is precisely zero. Can't put any more money in. Dh has said he will be earning more money as his business expands. He's getting it off the ground right enough but I don't like relying on future projected income.

And on a smaller scale, I was hoping to get to 500 paid off the cc but I got hit with government stamp duty which I had forgotten about and that means my figure paid off is still 4something. But I'll get it next pay day.

As someone said up thread, the debt took a few years to build so will take a few years to come down

Turquoise
see what you can pick up cheap at a local independent second hand garage
go non trendy and in a vile colour
that way you do not add to your debt and the car is a constant reminder to be more careful

a friend of mine bought a green automatic Honda civic with 40,000 on the clock for under £500 - 12 month MOT
the car looks vile but drives like a dream (he cannot see the colour from inside)
and just got through another MOT with no bills

@Turquoise. The car is an investment and necessary so try not to be too disheartened. But look around at options as @Talkin says.
I think there will be times of feeling disheartened, when the figures don't seem to be coming down as fast as we'd like. A bit like losing weight!
Next month my figure will begin with 6, I was hoping that would be this month but i have to pay insurance excess. My figure did begin 11, so I try to think how far I've come rather than how far to go.
Heard the news, I will get no payrise this year too. It all seems a worry. Plus being single I'm doing this in my own. But I'm grateful for being able to check in here.
KOKO

Talkin I love the idea of the hideous car serving as a reminder to be careful, makes me smile
And coffeechoc the debt/weight analogy is a good one. Well done on getting from 11 to 6! amazing!!

A million years ago I drove a shit brown austin allegro that leaked oil so badly that I carried a litter tray with me when I went out to clients offices

my bosses hated it so much that they gave me an interest free loan to buy something presentable

I now drive a deeply flash convertible
that I bought cash

This is such a motivating post , can I jump
Onboard?? I've been following this post since March and since then I've made the big step of setting myself some really tight goals for this year! I've been burying my head in the sand for about a year and it's just made things worst! I've worked out that we are spending £600 a month on credit cards and I cried! I feel soo stupid but at least I've done the hardest thing and I'm going to try to be really good ! I do like niaice things and socialising so it will mean saying no a lot but I'm ready for the change .
I've set short term goals for a few debts and have managed to meet March thus far!!! 2 years and 11 months to go!!
Thanks soo much to everyone who's shared their experience and for giving me the push to open my eyes - I've been in denial for soo long - so glad I found this post !

Hi cherry ☺️

I know it's disheartening to realise how much you are overspending, but now you can take steps to change this. There is so much support and advice available on this group to help you along the way. I've made a lot of progress since starting the thread. Don't get me wrong, there have been bumps in the road but there are habits that I have broken that I know I won't fall back into.

My first piece of advice would be is to really scrutinise the direct debits you have. Are there any optional extras that you really don't need? Are there any services you can get from another provider at a cheaper price?

Also, for the credit card debt, are you on a 0% interest card? Could you possibly move the debt to a 0% card if not (bearing in mind, there will be a small fee to do so). Have you heard of the standing order trick? If not, scroll back to my last post and that should explain it (hopefully)

Can I join please.

We were ticking over quite nicely when 2 years ago we found out we had over £7000 overpayment of housing benefit (long story) it would of been much higher but I called them to enquire about something and when they looked into it further found out they'd overpaid us 🤦🏻‍♀️

Then less than six months later got a letter from hmrc saying we had a almost £5000 overpayment to pay back 😩

In 6 months we'd accumulated £12000 debt.

In 2 years our debt now is £25000.

I'm waiting for my cab appointment to talk about this and see if they can help us.
Dh wants to declare bankruptcy then stress has affected are mh tonnes and we are both on anti depressants and it's almost caused us to split.

We've cut back as much as possible, but with 5 children it's difficult and extremely hard on them because they can't go on school trips ect because we just can't afford it. Our outgoings are more than what we've got coming in. Non priority debts aren't being paid because the cost of living and keeping a roof over our heads is not leaving anything left over for them. Our council tax and rent is up to date but everything else with just have to wait until we've sorted out what we're going to do.

hi all,

I was on here back at the beginning in December and life took over (we got married, and now 10 weeks pregnant with DC2) Have managed to go from £25k to just under £21k in that few months. NO added debt for wedding which is amazing!

Today i have cleared my Next and Very accounts which were the killers with interest. I also have reduced my OD to £450, dipping in each month but paid off every payday so don't mind so much (£450 is the limit of a free OD)

Still have -
Loan - £6916 (paid at £212 a month for 3 more years)
4 x CC totalling £14000 - god that's depressing! but it's heading in the right direction, we never miss a payment and the balance goes down by around £500 a month.

DC2 conception was much quicker than anticipated so are now also putting £70 a month into a savings account to try cover some bits and pieces while I'm on mat leave (SMP only) This will be our 2nd and last child so at least we know that once things are finished with this time around we can sell (we kept most things from DC1 so no big expenses with this one thankfully) Not the best situation to be in but we will make the best of it I'm sure.