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Original poster

50k debt

52 replies

MiniChoc · 07/05/2020 21:03

I'm desperate to be debt free but it seems like a million miles away at the moment.

We're 48k in debt. Don't own a house. Can't even tell you how we came to it really other than a set of stupid mistakes and an expensive wedding Blush

We're using the snowball method so minimum payments on all the credit cards and then throwing everything extra at the one with the highest interest. We have about £1000 a month to throw at it right now. Which means I'm looking at 4 years of living like this to finally get debt free Sad

I swear when it happens I'll never, ever get anything on credit ever again. I can't believe we've been so stupid.

OP posts:
NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1 · 07/05/2020 21:06

Is that all on credit cards? Is there anything at all you can sell to try and recoup some of the loss?

There are tons of support groups on facebook for financial help such as Dave Ramsey and Mamafurfur - they are packed full of helpful advice.

4 years isn't too bad - depends how old you both are?

Original poster
MiniChoc · 07/05/2020 21:17

We're late 30s and early 40s.

Breakdown:
14500 - MBNA
9800 - Lendable
17000 - 4 credit cards
5500 - 2 overdrafts

OP posts:
Soontobe60 · 07/05/2020 21:25

Bloody hell, that's a lot of reckless spending!

However, rather than just paying the minimum off, set up a standing order to pay a set amount above the minimum. And stick to it. Are any of the cards on interest free? If so, see how many more months you have before interest kicks in, divide the amount owed by the number of months and pay that each month.
It took seven years for us to get out of debt, not quite as much as yours, but it was 20 years ago. Every year when I got a pay rise I upped the repayments that amount. We took great delight in seeing the outstanding amounts reduce rather than seeing it as a chore.

Original poster
MiniChoc · 07/05/2020 21:35

I know. We spent a lot on our wedding and (unsuccessful) IVF. Sad

None are interest free unfortunately. If OH gets any payrises we'll pay the difference into debt but it won't be much each year.

OP posts:
NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1 · 07/05/2020 21:47

Is there absolutely nothing you can do to shift even a small amount of that debt onto an interest free credit card. That's how I paid mine off. almost £12k but i'm single so it was just me.

I was making minimum payments and getting nowhere but managed to get a Capital One credit card and £1200 interest free and that was the beginning of paying it all off. The more you put on interest free, the more you can pay off your debt quicker.

ChewChewIsMySpiritAnimal · 07/05/2020 21:50

Don't pay minimum payments. Even £1 over the minimum payments will see it cleared much faster because the credit card company pisses about with the min payment each month to extend the time it's likely to take you to pay it to something stupid like 20 years. Have you stopped spending on the cards too? Have you spoken to stepchange? They're really helpful.

debtadviceflowerofscotland · 07/05/2020 21:52

Have you had any professional debt advice?

Bellebelle · 07/05/2020 21:54

Highly recommend that you try and shift what you can to interest free, there aren’t as many offers right now as there were at the start of the year but Sainsburys Bank, MBNA, Virgin and all the Lloyds brands (Bank of Scotland/Halifax) we’re still offering 0% when I looked last week. If you haven’t been missing payments then while you have a lot of debt you may still have a decent credit score. If you go to moneysavingexpert.com you can do a “soft check” which gives you a good idea of which cards you could get without leaving any trace on your credit file.

I’ve been moving credit card debt around 0% cards for a while to pay off quite a high debt and find that the soft check is always accurate and I get the card and terms indicated. Best to see if you can get one that’s offering a no transfer fee although even if they do charge a fee it’s likely to be a lot less that you’re paying in interest. It makes a massive difference to how quickly your balance will go down.

june2007 · 07/05/2020 21:58

Can you consolidate your credit card loans. I would contact moneyadvice service, or the citizens advice. Priotities your loans. Can you pay off any. Make any over payments?

HollowTalk · 07/05/2020 22:01

I would look into professional debt advice, OP. Are both of your jobs safe at the moment?

KittenVsBox · 07/05/2020 22:06

If my maths is right, 48k of debt, paid off at 1k per month will just pay off the capital, not any interest, so it will take more than 4 years to clear. It is so worth doing tho.
How has covid affected your finances? Are you in the group finding you gave more cash or less cash? Either is likely to affect your repayments.
Good luck, and bravo on making a start to a debt free life.

Bellebelle · 07/05/2020 22:10

If you can’t afford to pay this all back then I agree that some professional advice is a good idea although it sounds as if you’ve got enough disposable income between you each month to make the repayments so I’m not sure what a debt advice service would do. They’re also likely to be overwhelmed at the moment.

If it is unaffordable they can negotiate lower monthly payments for you if you can prove that you can’t afford to maintain the monthly repayments or even suggest an IVA which would give you a fixed term of affordable payments (think it’s normally 3 - 5 years) and then after that anything remaining is written off. It will screw your for getting a mortgage for a while but if that’s not a priority it would be a way of giving you some peace of mind.

BEANBAG765 · 07/05/2020 22:17

@MiniChoc Another way forward - each of you can get 15K personal loan. That is 30K at about 3% interest. For 5 years each of you will be paying around £300 monthly.
Use it to repay your overdraft first and highest interest cards.
I have been there. It is doable.

PlanDeRaccordement · 07/05/2020 22:29

Lots of good advice. Wont repeat it.
But consider get second/weekend jobs. Extra income coming in to pay it off. I once used to earn over £1k a month just on waitressing tips as a moonlighting job for the dinner hours two nights a week and on weekends (4 nights total).

Lightsabre · 07/05/2020 22:54

@MiniChoc, the debt free wannabe talk forum on money saving expert is the best place to post. They have experts on there who can advise and you can read the accounts of other people who've had a similar experience. Good luck, you sound motivated.

Original poster
MiniChoc · 07/05/2020 23:01

Thanks everyone so far for the advice! In reply;

-can't get a 0% card as both absolutely maxed out with shit credit ratings now, from taking out so much credit in such a short space of time, also I had missed payments from before we got together (6 years ago)

-we don't spend on the cards. They're cut up.

-the advice we got last summer was to do the 'snowball' thing which I'd never heard of before then, from the CAB

-I'll check out the moneysavingexpert boards, thank you

-We're lucky to be in secure jobs so our income hasn't changed. No chance of second jobs for either of us though, we barely make it work with childcare for DS as it is and we're both key workers so knackered!

OP posts:
Original poster
MiniChoc · 07/05/2020 23:03

@KittenVsBox we're paying minimum payments on everything which covers the interest. So the balances are going down a teeny bit on each of them. PLUS bunging 1k at the debt too? So surely it's just under 4 years? Or am I thinking wrong...

i.e MBNA's minimum payment is £350ish, the interest is around £230 so the balance is going down by £120 pm.

OP posts:
SpideyMom · 07/05/2020 23:07

Oh credit cards are evil arent they. But they've been my lifeline at times. So dont be hard on yourself.
A few years ago I was left in somewhere in the region of £25k debt which was kindly left to me by my DS now absent Dad who basically abused my credit over the course of our relationship and ran it up in my name.
It was around the time I was remortgaging too. I was a new Mom, out of work on income support so money was limited. For me though, it was mine in the eyes of the law to pay, so though it was hard to accept I set out a plan.
Luckily not soon after I secured a permanent job that gave me a steady income albeit low.
I remortgaged for 5 years. With that I told myself I had to be debt free by the time I came to remortgage again. I consolidated everything onto a loan at a low rate of around 3 percent which just made it easier paying out to 1 thing rather than 6. I have had to use a credit over the same period which is silly I know but sometimes it just gave me that extra help.

I know your 4 years sounds a long time but you just get used to it. You have to make inevitable sacrifices, I virtually have no life because money doesnt allow it at the moment but the debt does go down.
I could see a light at the end of the tunnel and early next year I would have been clear, however now I am not too sure after being hit with huge and ongoing Vets bills and currently being on a reduced wage due to my work being closed. So who knows but I will try not to over worry about it as I know it will get paid at some point.

My point it's you will get there. You are putting my monthly take home pay towards your debt. Look into ways of reducing that amount by shifting onto 0% cards or a low interest loan. You probably dont have to pay that much if you secure better interest terms.

Good luck

FreckledLeopard · 07/05/2020 23:15

If you don't own a house and don't work in a job where some kind of insolvency would be the death-knell for your career, then maybe get specialist debt advice and perhaps consider bankruptcy or an IVA? That's a huge amount of debt, particularly if it's not 0%. I would certainly take professional advice. Good luck.

Theyweretheworstoftimes · 07/05/2020 23:17

You need to look at the rates of interest you are paying on each card/ loan.

You can put it all into a spreadsheet

Amount of debt
Interest
Monthly repayment

Then look at see if you can he consolidation loans to make reduce the interest which will enable you to repay the debt faster due to the lower interest.

The lower the interest the faster you can repay it.

Have a look at how compound interest effects a debt.

Theyweretheworstoftimes · 07/05/2020 23:18

www.debt.org/blog/compound-interest-how-it-works/

StylishMummy · 07/05/2020 23:20

OP have you considered complaining about being offered the facilities in the first place? It sounds like you have credit set across several lenders and accounts, at some point before now, lenders should've asked questions about you opening new accounts with that level of debt. Did any of your credit card companies do automatic increases? This could be something to look into as the financial Ombudsman Service are now making rulings about this for irresponsible and unaffordable lending

therona · 07/05/2020 23:29

Have you spoken to the money advice service? You may want to consider a debt management plan or IVA, as that is a lot of debt.

MrsMoastyToasty · 07/05/2020 23:36

Has it be of you got less than 20k of debt? If so a debt relief order might be the way forward.

NoSquirrels · 07/05/2020 23:56

Use undebt.it/ to play around with what happens if you can add a bit extra to some payments etc.