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.

Onescared
The best version of "prepping" is to think in terms of
5 day snow storm
So have in your house the ingredients to cook tasty meals for a few days assuming you were all stuck at home

• tins of tomatoes / - tinned fish / - frozen mince / chicken / - pasta / rice / - yeast, flour, salt , sugar / - UHT milk, non fridge fruit juice

Stuff that comes in incredibly useful when random guests turn up, that does not go off and can be used on a camping trip to the end of the garden if Brexit turns out just fine.

Credit card utilisation down to 61%

CC1: £240
CC2: (£1780 but waiting for £135 of payments to clear)

Aiming to get that down to 50% by the end of Feb by making £335 of payments over the next 2 months, But I do have 2 exams to take in jan which will cost £160 plus the girls needed new clothes so now have an additional £150 to pay next. Bugger- but I’m getting there and the clothes will last them about 6 months and the youngest will wear the eldest hand me downs when she outgrows them.

Also, all the bills will go out without touching my overdraft and I’m due some payments from clients so I’m feeling confident!

Nice work

Trying to sort out our debt this week. 6.5k on credit cards and 2k in CCJ debt. My credit rating is decent, DP's is now shit due to CCJ. (Fogotten overdraft on student acc, we moved and he didn't tell the bank, so no reminders= CCJ. Found this out today). Still deciding whether to do a 0% balance transfer onto a credit card or take out a loan to clear.Never had debt until now so a bit a clueless how to sort. Too embarrassed to ask family advice . Anyone been through similar?.

Devon1987
Never had debt until now so a bit a clueless how to sort. Too embarrassed to ask family advice . Anyone been through similar?.
Welcome to the gang
you are no longer alone

)))))) consolidation loans ((((((
nasty smelly things

Cards : standing order time
CCJ debt : can you manage it?

Hi @Tak1nPeace

Thank you

We can handle the CCJ. Would it be worth me transferring some of the card debt to a 0% interest credit card?

I'm setting up standing orders this weekend once I have gone through all our finances and outgoings. Already reduced mobile phone bills and wifi bill. Will continue to try to reduce further outgoings.

Hi..

I've come across this thread at a currently desperate time for myself. I'm in way over my head and I am feeling depressed about my current financial situation. I don't actually know how I'm going to make it through the month

I have been reading through this thread and understand that some people are in worse off situations but I've never been in debt before and now somehow it's spiralled way out of control.

I have a credit card that is maxed out, I have been paying more than the minimum amount due but still somehow at points in the month I am going back into it and using it for living costs.

I have 5 outstanding loans with obscene amounts of interest on them and I just don't feel like I'm getting anywhere.

I'm desperate for some help and advice at this moment in time.

Hi you've come to the right place. I'm not really in a position to offer too much advice. But I'm sure ta1kinpeace will have some really helpful advice for you.
What I would suggest is talk to all your creditors and ask them to freeze interest and lower the payments for now while you try and get sorted. DH did manage to get interest Frozen for a year on his before I found out and before he went to stepchange. I would also give stepchange a call for some advice they've been amazing for us. Do you know what your total debt is? Good luck

Hi there @clouise2018
You are not alone. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

How much are each of the loans for and what are the actual interest rates?
How much is the card debt and what is the interest rate?
Have you done a budget to work out your incomings and outgoings?

Living day to day on a maxed out card. Yup. Been there. Its horrible but it does end.

The main thing is to work out where you are financially
and then we can plan how to make you get to where you want to be

Hello,

I am not great at debt management and need some advice. I have just over 17k of debt over 3 credit cards all with 0% for 15 more months.

I'm not sure how to clear them without constantly doing the 0% shuffle. I have been reading about snowballing, should I concentrate on 1 card pay the min on the others, shuffle and start again until all 3 are paid off?

I'd really like to be out of debt this year!

Hi there @QueenofIce
If they are on 0% you are in a better place than many.
Put two of them on standing orders at £5 more than you paid last month and then ignore them till the summer.
The littlest one (by value) - throw EVERY penny at it.

Take the opportunity to declutter to raise funds - that go against the debt, not get spent
Take the opportunity to detox - throw all money saved on booze, coffee and fags against the debts

and most importantly - do a budget so that you know where your money goes and can stop using the cards

after six months you should have made a big hole in one card and be well on the way with the other two

Thank you @Ta1kinPeace I will sort that out. What would you suggest as a budget? I couldn't get my head around ynab. I've worked out that with my other debt which was a loan for the house I now owe in the region of 38k which makes me feel sick!

Really need to get a grip this year and handle my finances properly.

Queen
There is a HUGE difference between secured debt and unsecured.

Secured debt - mortgages in particular -are an investment in that property. They need managing but not stressing over.

Unsecured debt is tougher as you have nothing to show for it.
Budgeting - have a look on my spreadsheets thread .... download the budget one to your own computer

its laid out starting with the most essential stuff, working through to luxuries

I know this isn't a brexit thread but I'm really wanting to stock up on a few items just in case I'm a bit of an over thinker. I'm doing my weekly shop tomorrow and want to start picking up a few extra bits I'm thinking calpol for the kids and tins more than anything else does anyone have any suggestions on the best things to stock up on I used to keep an emergency shelf in case of getting snowed in as we live in a weird village kind of, (think a council estate in the middle of the woods) we literally have one tiny corner shop in village and that's it. I have no idea what to get now though as the kids make things harder I need to think healthy as well as just keeping us full for a few days.

Hi there Onescared
Think in terms of four days of snow and cooking from scratch.

Tins, dried goods, frozen veg, frozen meat, basic medicines, loo roll.
Healthy will be eating less and more unprocessed so do not worry about that
There is a Preppers board but it can get a bit intense

Also, only buy things that you will use later easily, just in case it all pans out tickety boo.

I daren't go on the preppers board I'm already bricking it I don't think my anxiety could handle seeing what others are worrying about. I have a chest freezer in my garage and can usually feed us for about a week on boxed up leftovers from past meals (DH usually takes them to work) do you think that would be enough? I'm glad you mentioned Toilet roll though I used to keep a back up pack in the garage I think I'll go back to that! I think it's maybe time to sort out my garage and start using it for back up tins maybe I should just be a survivalist

do you think that would be enough?
YES
A chest freezer full of food is plenty
even if it hits the fan I think that basics will be available - its fresh stuff that will be lacking.

That's actually a relief I'm going to pick up some frozen fruit this week to go in the chest freezer as I didn't like having none last week but our aldi didn't seem to have any frozen blue berries just raspberries which are the only fruit my kids won't touch! I'll probably pick up some extra tins of soup too just in case as I really am a worrier I'm saving our Christmas money in an envelope in the house too!

I'd like to join this thread please. DH has credit card debt. He has 2 credit cards totalling £6700 and I have on me in my name (as I could get the 0% and he couldn't on a third card) for £2900.
So just under 10K. They're all on 0% and we over pay the minimum payments by £30/£40 at-least. We've cut back on frivolous spending, rarely go out, one takeaway a month, I feel like we're doing as much as we could.

Even though they're on 0%, does anyone think we should still be doing the snowball method? We do the standing order trick already but have been wondering whether 3 different payments each month is the best way to go or should we concentrate everything on one and then the other. It literally keeps me up at night and I'm torn between using my savings to just pay some of it off but then id be left without savings

Hi there Olivia
If they are on 0% and you are already overpaying above the minimum and on standing orders you are doing brilliantly
The only thing that might be worth focussing on is to make sure that they are all at zero before the 0% runs out ....

How much are your savings and what rate are you getting on them?
Just because headroom savings might be better for you at the moment
ie clear down the debts, get rid of all but one card and pay it off in full every month.
THat way you have space for emergency spending up to the card limit
but no physical savings.

Once the card debt is gone, pay the amount you were paying on the cards back into the savings account
if that makes sense ?

Well I cocked up again! I lost my purse spent all saturday morning looking for it cancelled my cards then Dd1 walks into the room and says mammy your purse is on the bookshelf can't believe how daft I am so days! Now I'm stuck until the 22nd with no cards I get money out at the bank with ID but live nowhere near the town! thankfully I've got my Christmas money in the house but I've already had to use £40for diesel for me and break fluid for DH at the weekend. I desperately need a food shop that will about finish the cash in the house I need a few monthly expenses this week plus my freezer meat is all gone. I'm not sure how I'm going to manage next week is it normal to take 11 days for a new card or is that possibly the latest it will be here by?!

THe latest.
Call them and tell them that you have the cards and offer to bring them into the branch once you have fuel.
If they know they are not checking for fraudulent transactions they work quicker

I called them straight back I was sooo embarrassed I was hoping they would be able to re activate the cards. Hopefully it won't be long then!

Lesson learned.
Use it as an excuse to make sure everything in your house has its "place" and then anything out of "place" will show up sooner
and yes the "place" for some things is in the heap on the bottom of the coffee table ... organised tidy

So glad to find this. Haven't yet RTFT but I will.

Have had my head in the sand about it for too long and am now terrified about what's going to happen.

Don't know where to start really, my ex-dp did all the budgeting etc -which sounds lame but I was with him since a teen and he was nearly 30, it became habit and now I'm fucked to put it bluntly.