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

@Annonymiss123

Ooops had just posted in the other thread when I spotted the new link. Here goes again...

Hi All. This is a great thread. I’m jumping in because writing it down here will help I think.

CC1 = 1,773.68 (min payment this month 43.34)
CC2 = 2,573.43 (min payment this month 56.58)

I usually try to pay the interest amount plus 100.

I have a CU loan that is currently approx 10,000 - can’t check it right now. The repayments are 400pm. My DD is set at 410pm so I’m slightly ahead with my repayments.

DH car is costing 411pm but it’s brand new. He was driving an older car and his tax and insurance has reduced by around 1,000 per year.

Finally (!) I’m paying 400pm for DS college fees.

Full update:

CC1 = 0.00
CC2 = 0.00
Credit Union loan balance = 5,062.74
Savings balance = 3,339.26

My CU loan should be cleared August 2021 (12 months).

Yay!!

@Totallycluelessoverhere

Thank you everyone for congratulating me on being debt free Annonymiss 123 tour news re: clearing your credit cards is great news too. Do you have much to go on the loan and the car?

My loan is due to be cleared in 12 months, but I hope to have it done before then.

DH's car loan has around 3 years left on it, but I'm not including that - the payment comes out of his wage weekly and is very manageable.

I seemed to have fallen off this thread! We're still chipping away at the debt, amounts are estimates, but close.

CC1 $2,100 (was $11,000)
CC2 $12,500 (was $15,000)
Car loan $15,500 (was $22,000)

Other than the mortgage there is nothing else in debt. I am actually proud of the fact we paid for a trailer (for four wheelers and dirt bikes) in CASH using some of our savings. Usually expenses like that are bought on credit one way or another, and also managed to get a discount because cash talks!

Well done to those of you who have since become debt free, and keep going to those of you in the same boat as me, we just have to keep paddling.

Hi everyone. 1st of the month check in. Hope we are all doing OK.

Credit card - £712
Loan - £655
Overdraft - £700
Electricity - £862

Total £2929. So happy to finally get this under £3k! I have a 2 year goal to have everything paid off.

Just checked my first post on the thread from last October. I owed £4000 then and I have managed to more than halve my loans as I owed £1400 this time last year!

Unfortunately I owe more on my credit card than I did back then as I had to use it for an emergency and the interest is so high. I have been paying £50pm on one of my loans and the final payment is next month so I'm thinking that I should then start paying an extra £50 onto my credit card to get it cleared quicker. I just need to keep the mindset of "pay off the debt" as a priority instead of thinking now I've got an extra £50 fun money!

I wanted to join. I have been trying to pay off some debts for last few years. I have a 5 year car payment agreement and have two years left to pay off at £190 a month
I have a credit card with £2,500 on it but it is currently at 0% interest. I have been paying off small amounts - it was £3200 in January.
I have another credit card which I have £500 on - that is the one I am working on getting rid of it.
Also have another loan which is £50 a month (paying back £800) and £200 on my Next card I keep paying off and then building up again as I use if for emergencies when daughter needs clothes etc.
I cannot wait for my car to be paid off - that is the thing that will make a massive difference. Need to get Next and credit card with interest paid off and then work on the other one.
Seems so daunting but I am careful with my spending. I don't buy myself anything really. I only seem to buy for my daughter and bills and food.

Hi all and well done to everyone getting debt reduced. We are at one CC now but it has £9K on it (shared). Considering it used to be twice that after medical treatment it is a LOT lower. But still feels a bit neverending. Paying £250 per month and need to increase this. Would love to pay it off by end of next year but that would be a lot per month. Remortgage coming up next year - would it be better to lump it on the mortgage or just keep chipping away separately? Advisor didn't think it would worry mortgage lenders at all.

I make my last payment this week! Was over £7000 a couple of years ago (plus student loan) and now it is about to be zero. Debt was from legal fees dealing with abusive ex and it will so good to be free of it! I am already making exciting plans to spend the money on mortgage overpayments now

(not posting to brag, just because seeing people reach the end was motivating for me)

That's brilliant - and really inspiring! Well done 😊😊

onetwotree
Some people do find it works well for them to consolidate their debt when they remortgage so the debt is spread over a longer period, is more manageable and is at a low rate of interest.
I have never been keen on adding unsecured debt to a mortgage. Although the interest is low, the payments are for a much longer period so the interest still racks up a fair bit. And I have never wanted more debt than necessary secured against my home.
Different approaches work for different people and I think you need to figure out what you are most comfortable with because there is no right or wrong answer.
I would be inclined to try and move as much of the debt as possible to interest free or very low interest unsecured borrowing and pay it off as quickly as I could comfortably manage. Short term pain for long term benefit maybe?

1890 left and should pay off This month as done lots of overtime.

Hi everyone, 1st of the month check in!

Credit card £686
Loan £580
Overdraft £700
Electricity £825.50

Total £2791.50

Down £200 from last month, I'm happy with that. My biggest monthly loan has now been paid off so I've just got the smaller one with the bank now. The biggest expense now is my 2 credit cards.

I haven't checked in in a while. NC too.

This is where I stand right now. I've just got my first paycheck in a long time (Covid).

€8,885 CU loan
€850 Credit card
€10,000 DM
Car loan ?? I don't know but I'm repaying the loan every month. I don't have internet access to that account. Still 3 and a half years left on it though

I have enough money in my account for all this months standing orders/bills, 300 aside for oil/electric bill and 150 aside for Nov bills which I'll top up to the full amount (1000) from my next paycheck. I also have another 600 for food/petrol etc

Paychecks will be more regular now (from no paycheck at all since June) and my pay will increase in Nov.
I'd like to have more aside, esp with Christmas approaching but I feel pretty good, especially compared to this time last year. I must go back and find my previous post.

I did some calculations. Car is probably at €13,000 to repay.
So total owed = €32,000 approx
Down from €42,000 approx last year.
So we owe a lot but it's reduced by 1/4

Checking back in as I went awol

Card spending (credit) has been a necessity unfortunately but I have plans to pay

Cc 0% 1231.91
Furniture 0% 663.52

Savings for mat leave £7000
Savings in emergency pot £6200

Got a masters to fund soon so will lose £1500 then.

Should add we can pay cc balance on payday.

Very late check in from me too...still consumer debt free and working the Dave Ramsey steps...currently working towards Fully Funded Emergency Fund which feels like it's taking forever :o( I know my future self will be grateful so keep plodding on with it.

Hello to everyone old and new in the group

Absolutely well blinking done everybody!
In 1995 or so I divorced my ex. He was being difficult, until I offered to take half the cc debt. Suddenly he signed that form so fast it had burn marks on it.
It took 25 years to pay that debt off. I worked an IVA, did Payplan, often I could only pay off £3 a month.
But I did it. My credit rating has gone from crap to mildly ok and is improving every month.
The mental freedom is immense.
Stick with it.

That's amazing that you stuck with it. Paid my card off. 8000 in 2 years so chuffed with myself.

My plan for the next month or two is :
Pay off credit card in 4 payments of €150 so between now and end of December.
November bills are covered already.
Put €1000 aside for December bills. (One full paycheck gone on December bills and cc)
Put €350 aside for food for Christmas.
Put €300 aside for oil/electricity over the winter. (Another full paycheck gone on cc and those money asides).
Then with my first Dec paycheck get Christmas presents.
Then with my second Christmas paycheck put it in savings.

Come January I would hope/plan to have cc paid off totally, €1000 in savings although that does not leave any money for January bills and I will also not be getting paid over Christmas so I may have to rethink that. I also get paid a different amount each fortnight so exact budgeting us tricky.

It might be a better idea to put €250 into savings each paycheck and build up the Dec bill money over a few paychecks

Ooh can I join

I racked up debt this year from moving house, and having car issues.

I haven’t kept track properly I’ve just been throwing as much money as possible at the debt - earlier this year I had around 2k on credit card, 1.5k overdraft 1 and £500 overdraft too. Doesn’t include furniture payment plans etc which are thankfully now paid off.

Last month I was at:

Overdraft 1: £480
CC: £1,358
Payment plans: £236
Total debt - £2,074

Now I am at -

Overdraft 1: £350
CC: £795
Payment plans: £70
Total debt - £1,215

Can’t wait to get under £1k total debt! Hoping to clear it by April/May. I’ve also managed to do most of my Christmas shopping so I’m glad I shouldn’t have any more big outgoings this year.

Has anyone refinanced their car? Mines on a loan and wondering if it would be best to pay off early but I've heard that companies charge more for this?

I'm just bumping this thread for @coffeeandpie in the hopes that she recovers from the brutality of AIBU and comes over here for some sensible advice.

Chunkyrun
Do you actually need a finance car
or could you hand it back and get a much cheaper second hand ?
I loathe PCP - its a massive mis selling scandal brewing.
Due to COVID I'm dropping my insured miles massively and folks round here are handing cars back ...

Hi all

Can i join? I need serious help, i feel lost in this mess of debt & hopeless with it.
Im a single mum, live in rented, really want my own cottage one day.

Anyway here goes & this mortifying & terrifying.
Credit card FD 3627 I pay 150 per month
Credit card BC 2000 i pay 50 per month
Credit card V 2228 i pay 25 per month
Loan 12061 i pay 167 per month

The loan is debt considation from marriage, (joint with exh that i consolidated in my name)

Credit cards are all 0% loan 5%

Im 39 it feels hopeless, i have no extra money no savings. Urgh.