Drowning in debt? Don't know how to get out? You are not alone. Come and share and find a way through ....

[Talkinpeece]

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.

Wow 84.... can't wait to reach zero balance on CC .... its a few months off but working towards it. Well done u !

ememem84
WELL DONE
its a wonderful feeling
and the buzz of being in control of your finances
beats any pleasure from shopping

Absolutely!!! Thanks guys.

I’m vowig to only use it again for stuff I can pay off straight away.

Well February is shaping out to be a bad month I've already spent £50 in hospital visits (car parking and petrol!) ds got the all clear on cystic fibrosis last Monday Tuesday he was back in the hospital we didn't get out until Saturday with a viral induced wheeze he nearly ended up back on a ventilator as his right lung almost completely stopped working. I ended up spending at the hospital too on chocolate and drinks thankfully as I'm still breastfeeding I got meals provided or I don't know what I'd have done.
DH had to take more time off work to look after our girls too. His bosses are being great so far but this can't keep happening he's used all his holiday all his special paid leave and is using next year's holiday. He's really starting to worry about his job but I can't keep a 4 and 6 year old at the hospital even is I could I couldn't get eldest to and from school. And I can't leave the baby at the hospital and care for my girls I just wish I could split. Myself in 2

By some miracle...

Bills paid, including nursery, no overdraft.

Just an additional £35 to pay and my CC utilisation is at 50%

CC balance currently £100- I can’t wait to clear that!

I’m applying for some jobs for more work. My main client has had a terrible few months sales wise and I’ve only invoices them for 9 hours these last two months.... compared to 80 I would usually invoice them for

CC1* balance

Onescaredmuma, sorry to hear your baby is so unwell.
It's so hard to budget when you have someone in hospital.. parking fees and eating on the go can't be avoided. Be easy on yourself and hope your baby is much better soon. Great news that the CF test was negative .

Best of luck Bisha with the job hunt

Hello, I’m wondering on some advice to try and put my mind at ease. Between myself and my partner we have quite a bit of debt. Between very accounts (paying take 3 payments monthly) we have around 2k spent between us. I have 1 £500 credit card almost maxed 😳 my partner has 3 credit cards all maxed totalling around £1.5k, my over draft totalling £1.5k (paying back £5 per week now) and his guitar £50 a month for 4 years.
I wouldn’t mind but we’re only early 20s and have a 1 year old who’s about to start nursery 1 day a week. At the minute we have next to nothing left over at the end of the month. Taken cut backs where possible and have quite bad credit rating. I work part time and would find it difficult doing extra as our hours would be similar and neither of us could pick our daughter up from nursery, with not much family to help. My partner is really

Sorry... really relaxed with it all but I can’t see a way forward. All advice welcome and thank you for reading!

You need to sit down and write down all your income and outgoings.
Then you'll know what u have left to live on.
Can you transfer any of the CC to a 0% and try to pay them off making regular payments and not using them.
I'm only learning myself and I'm not 40's , so don't be tough on yourself.

Not 40's = mid 40's

Dscarl07
Welcome to the gang. You are in the right place.
First up, get all the cards that are maxed out onto standing orders and cut them up
any that are in use, try to get them onto standing order

next, pop onto the spreadsheets thread and download the budget one
then you can work out where your money is going

its ALWAYS tough when kids are tiny
but it gets easier every year

Having young children is so tough on the finances.

I feel like my youngest are just getting to an age where we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel with nursery fees and the ability to work longer hours

Bollocks I forgot about gas and electricity which came out this morning and put me in my overdraft.

I'm not too horrified though-

Just a few months ago I was sitting £700+ in my overdraft consistently, even with all the incomings and outgoings; so this isn't terrible. There are child benefit and pip coming in this week, as well as one client definitely paying on Friday and another that owes me a few hundred for the last few months. So even though i'm in my overdraft today, tomorrow I actually wont be!

Bisha
THat is real progress.
Do you pay your utilities monthly or quarterly?
I do everything monthly as it makes my tracking simpler

@talkinpeece thank you. Considering that around September time my overdraft was £700+ AND I had substantially more on my CCs than I do now it's def improvement.

I pay my utilities monthly, same amount every month so that I build up a decent amount of credit for the increased usage over the winter

Well done. Have you found that your spending desires have changed?

I've been struggling with debt for years and sticking my head in the sand but after being brave last year and dealing with it I've managed to do a lot of saving by getting a starling account for every single thing other than direct debits.. if there's one thing that stops me from spending it's an immediate notification at the till in my phone of what I've spent that DH also gets...
We did a very frugal Christmas and a lot of over time and on Friday I made these payments

£500 credit card now closed
£227 credit card now closed
£700 on next account
£500 off big credit card
£600 overdraft now closed
And £330 overdraft now closed 

So I got rid of 4 debts and still have 2

My question is; the big credit card and next account are both at 23% interest and I can't balance transfer because my credit rating is shit (hopefully not as shit now) which one do I focus on? One has 3k on it and the other has 5.5k on it. I have 2.5k left in my bank account just for debt but I don't know how to split it, or if I should split it? Help would be very much appreciated

Hi there NewYoiker
You have made significant progess well done.

On the two remaining cards, if the rate is the same it makes little odds.

Make sure the bigger one is set up as a standing order - so that its getting whumped with the extra £10 a week that will rapidly clock up-
and then throw everything at the smaller one.
When the small one is gone, the big one will be small and you should be debt free within two years on a 23% card

Yes indeed. Very well done.

Been offered a solid contract today which will massively boost our finances. I have to extend the children’s nursery hours (and am currently trying to bridge a gap of a few hours there’s no space available) but I’m so happy. This debt (back in the overdraft before bills this month ) will be completely gone in no time!

Nice one Bisha
and once its gone, you have the tools to keep it gone.

@talkinpeece especially with the consistent income. Very happy bunny today! Trying to finalise the sums with childcare to see how much better off we will be per month