A support thread for people paying off debt #2

[moneyworries9]

Hi all... hope you manage to find the thread?

The last one seemed to be such a success 😃 I will be honest and say that I haven't cleared as much as I would have liked but I know if I hadn't been on here, the debts would most likely have increased rather than decreased. I currently owe

£3,355 - loan
£1,600 - credit card

We do have some cash in our bank accounts. I'm in the process of paying for driving lessons so have about £1,000 in our current account, most of which is to cover that.

On the plus side, when I started the other thread, I had around £2,500 on my credit card and £3900 loan so I'm taking baby steps in the right direction.

The other thread was a huge source of support and motivation for me and I hope that this one will be for many others.

Feel free to give a quick summary to introduce yourself

How is everyone getting on?

Urgh it's been a terrible month for me. My debt has actually gone up slightly as I had to put the car insurance, MOT and servicing cost onto the credit card I am supposed to be paying off, and all that came to slightly more than the amount I had put in as repayments. Not good. Will try to do better next month.

Not an amazing month but not terrible. I've written out a list of our outgoings and dates due and I've stuck it to the fridge. It's definitely focusing DHs mind. And it relieves me of the burden of constantly juggling it all in my head. It's our responsibility now, before it was just me that knew the amount and dates. Both our faults for getting into that pattern.

Money wise we have an extra bill from now on - child care. It does free us both up to work but there's a slight lag between us both working and both getting paid but creche bills are due for the end of last month.

I might have to take money from the credit Union this month as rent and car payment are both due 3 days before payday. We'll see how it goes. We usually pay the landlord any time the week rent is due but the car payment is a DD.

We also have a wedding to attend so that'll be a good bit of cash for the present (Irish wedding so mega bucks as a gift) .

But over the next 2 paydays we should be back on track . Only to be faced with Christmas. I feel like Scrooge when it comes to Christmas

Guess there are always some set backs, to be expected, just need to continue on. Christmas is a pain
I'm going to pay off lump sum this month then Nov and Dec I'll be back to regular standing order, then back to it in January

Can I join please? Our debt is out of control atm, we are trying to dig ourselves out, but struggling.

We have 3 cc; cc1 $15,059 (9%)cc2 $10,220 (18.99%) and cc3 $670 (0%- $100 per month, paid off before interest is charged). Loan for truck will be paid off Jan/ Feb (extra $309 pm), loan for car $18,152. Also have a mortgage $62,033. So total is just over $44,000 without the mortgage!

I finally have dh on board, we have cut spending down a lot, he has signed up for uber and door dash to earn some extra so hopefully he'll start to earn money that way as well. I have applied for a 2nd job part-time, waiting to hear back from them.

I need some accountability so planning on updating as I can.

Hi Hazel it sounds like you're taking great steps to reduce the debt.
Once the truck is paid off you can put the extra $309 towards what's left on cc #3 . That'll be gone by March/April at the latest and then you'll have another $400 give or take to put towards the other ones

Plus cutting down on spending plus extra from extra jobs. It'll be interesting to see where you are in 6 months. Well done for making a start

Thank you June I'm excited to see it all go down. We will also get a tax return in Feb/ March that can go towards cc2 so should drop it significantly. I'm just glad dh is on the same page now as I have been stressing over it for a long time.

Welcome @HungryHazelEyes
Really good to have your dH on board and get a plan in place. Being in debt is stressful so it's good you're taking control now you feel it's getting out of control.
This thread and the one prior really helped me. I've plugged away at my debt this year, worked crazy hours, probably went a bit too far however by the end of this year from January I'm on track to have paid of £8500.I will have £3500 left. I'm so happy I took control too

Thank you coffee I just found both threads and had a read through them. It is very motivating to see you reduce debt at the rate you are. I'm excited to have similar results.

Hi all, plodding along here, going to put the house move on hold as just got a BFP - gives us until June (all being well) to get in as many overpayments as possible, and not having the mortgage increase for a year or 2 will be a huge help.

Plodding on is the absolute truth of debt reduction
but you do get there in the end

I’ve got £2300 on one £2450 on another and £697 on another. I pay the minimum payment on each every month then whatever is left in the bank the night before payday I put half into savings and half as overpayment in the cc with the lowest balance. They are all in interest free so I see putting some money into savings as a good thing as it means I then don’t have to use the card again so it works. Balances are going down...

mummy
Move all of the cards to standing order tomorrow ....
whatever you paid last month on each, round it up to the nearest £5 and set that as a standing order
and ignore them
if you have spare cash, make that an extra payment
they will all be gone in less than three years

So, today I've paid another lump sum after working so much overtime. I can now say, my balance is under £4000 (£3969). In Jan was £11913. Huge progress this year. Keeping plugging away at it. I have kept a small amount back this month as I'm going to treat myself something small. Had to watch some videos on YouTube to keep motivated. Not going to any shops apart from food shopping works for me. Trying to keep in mind when I'm clear, which will be sometime next year at this rate

coffeechoc well done, that's amazing progress!!

My progress has stalled, I wasn't working over the summer and I haven't got a regular paycheck yet. DH is SE and his payments are sporadic.
I'm repaying the minimum on cc atm and am paying off car loan as per agreement. I had to take another £500 from cu to pay the car loan, as it fell due just before payday but then I didn't get paid enough to put it back in. That's a slippery slope I don't want to start on. But I think my next paycheck will be small too. DH should be getting more money next week so that might help

We are hoping the debt goes down faster real soon. I just got offered a second job part-time, and should be starting training next week, so that will be nice. That will all go towards the credit card once I start getting paid.

DH is earning extra with door dash and I was able to pay $120 on the credit card after one busy week. Hopefully that will continue and can chip away at the balance faster.

coffeechoc that is impressive! Keep us updated on your progress, it is motivating seeing others able to pay down debt.

I have
Cc1- £296 out of 300
Cc2- 257 out of 300
Cc3- 200 out of 650
!!!

Hi all. Jumping on board if that's OK as I'm too embarrassed to tell anyone IRL what I owe!

Current debt is -
Credit card £640. Interest quite high, not sure what exactly.
Loan - stands currently at £1400. Paying back over the next 3 years.
Electricity bill, this is due to many mix ups and miscommunications but ashamed to say I owe roughly £1300. Just agreed a 3 year payment plan with the electric company for this at just over £35 a month.
Overdraft - £700 facility and I'm between £600-£700 in the red by the end of the month. Fees are about £20 a month but that's the last thing I'm going to pay off as I can't manage it right now with all the rest!

So in total about £4000.

I am hoping to pay this all off over the next 3 years, I'm a single parent so only have one income to do this. I can't work any more hours than I already do so I have been browsing the "Make £10 a day" threads for inspiration!

I was on the original thread but I stopped posting when there was repeated data breaches on the site. i found the thread very helpful when I was posting and writ8mg it down was helping me to keep on track.
I started the year (and when I first posted on the thread) with £4200 on a credit card and £1100 on an overdraft.

My bank increased its overdraft charges so I did a money transfer and put my overdraft amount on an interest free card.
I’ve found it difficult to stay on track due to limited income and life’s unexpected expenses but my debt has reduced a little.

Starting debt total £5300
Current debt total £3700

I had hoped to be below £3000 by Christmas but will probably just miss the target.

Coffeechoc, that is amazing and it always feel good to have an end in sight and know that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Hi all

My debt includes:

CC: £2871
car on finance: £9200
Store card: £140

Thanks to this thread I just got accepted for a free balance transfer credit card with 15 months interest free so going to really try to chip at the CC.

I’m a student and it’s really hard to curb my spending can anyone share with me their best saving tips they apply week to week especially with Xmas coming up

potter check all your DD standing orders utilities etc so your not overpaying / not using things like Amazon etc.
No out coffee takeouts etc.
Don't buy tit for tat stuff for Christmas, tell people your not buying for grown ups.
Christmas is one day don't buy loads of food drink etc.
Top &. bottom of it is don't spend what you don't have.
We don't have debt but I called time on giving this year as I know others can't afford it

potter this year I'm planning to spread my costs out, so I plan on buying a couple stocking stuffers this weekend (Terry's chocolate oranges- if in the stores yet), in a couple weeks, something else. I'm reducing how much we buy - usually overspend a lot, and trying not to feel guilty.

I'm planning on putting together gift baskets for couples/ families, with mainly homemade treats (truffles, cookies, pumpkin bread etc).

We are going to an event for Christmas (in April) so will just be a small token gift to symbolise the trip, to surprise the dc and will pay for it later, after tax returns. I also reduced what dc get from these categories - something they need, something they want, something to read, something to wear, something to do (I added the last one, can be baking cookies, going swimming, anything like that).

Ooh, so my dh has been able to earn a little more through door dash, I have paid an additional $250 the last 2 weeks on our credit card. I start my new 2nd job on Wednesday, so hopefully we'll be in a better place financially soon. Only 3 more pmts on our vehicle, I think, so that's something else we're looking forward to!