34 months til I'm debt free. SO LONG.

[34months]

Hi everyone,

We have a huge amount of unsecured debt (sadly). Fortunately we both have good earnings in our jobs for which I'm very grateful and we're lucky to be in secure employment.

At the start of the year we made a budget and have stuck to it religiously since then- we pay all bills, then pay £800 into a joint account, then some money into Monzo pots for things like car expenses and Christmas, then every other penny goes towards debt. This is working well and if we carry on as we are, we'll be debt free in 34 months.

However, that feels absolutely forever away. We could be living a much better lifestyle if it wasn't for the debt payments which is infuriating. I know £800 is a lot of money to some people but it doesn't leave any spare wiggle room. It also means no holidays. And I'm hoping and praying our cars survive the next 3 years too- OH's is 10 years old so will probably need replacing at some point, which will add extra months onto the 34.

I need to suck it up and be more positive!

It seems so long but its worth it. I had an IVA for FIVE years. Now that was horrible. I thought it would never end but it did. Well done for tackling it.

Sorry to be harsh but was it not living above your lifestyle which put you in this situation in the first place?

How much debt are you talking? It’s hard to give advice without the figures. Some people’s huge is other people’s peanuts!!

@crimsonlake lake really? How is that Comment helpful?

Could you try to make more money? If you take into account the future interest, even paying off £1 more now could mean several pounds less debt later. So if there's ever an opportunity to save a few pennies, take it!

A saying that helped me when I was losing weight was "don't ever be put off a goal by the time it takes to achieve it. The time will pass anyway."

Unless you work hard to clear this debt you will never be able to enjoy your life. Just keep going. The months will soon pass.

@crimsonlake

Sorry to be harsh but was it not living above your lifestyle which put you in this situation in the first place?

Helpful comment! We can chat merrily about how we're in this position but not sure it's relevant or helpful.

And no, FYI. It was IVF which we don't regret as we have our DS.

@SandysMam

How much debt are you talking? It’s hard to give advice without the figures. Some people’s huge is other people’s peanuts!!

Fair point! Although wether it was 1k or 100k, the bottom line is still that we have £800 to live on for the next 34 months.

It's around 40k.

Op could you try March betting?
I did this a couple of years ago as an extra to earn money to pay for new carpets and furnishings for the house.

Made enough and then stopped as we both work full
Time with dc so could get hard to do at times.

Things like proof reading online?
Transcript work online?

Have you looked on pay per hour?if you've got computer skills that could be a good little earner for any extras.

Has your expenditure changed because of covid?
Our food bill has gone up, but everything else has gone down. Is that 800 still right, or is there some extra money in there, or the Monzo account ts, that can be used to pay down some debt and knock some months off.
Keep going. Just think how fantastic its going to feel when that debt is paid off! You CAN do this.

It’s s worth it though @34months! You can do it!

What is the £800 supposed to cover? Is it mainly food and petrol, or is it free after those things? Even if it includes food, you could pare that back as much as you can bear (shop at Aldi or Lidl, reduce meat and fish consumption, eat cheaper fruit and veg, eg normal brocolli is about a sixth of the price of sprouting brocolli) and you'll be able to pay your debts off faster and/or eek out a little more fun money).

YY to reviewing your covid impacted budget - some people have seen costs fall massively (no commuting, eating out, holidays etc).

Have you transferred your debts to take advantage of any interest free/low interest offers?

If you haven't done so already, have a look at the moneysavingexpert debt help stuff. You might be able to increase your income and reduce your costs, so freeing up extra money - every little helps.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/budgeting-debt-help/

I know this will feel like forever, but just look at your beautiful child and remember why you did this.

Is there anything you can compare it to, like it took us 3 years to get from X to Y, or tell yourself that it could be worse it could be 60 months. Is there any way to remortgage to extend the term to reduce your monthly payments? Anything you could sell to free up some money?

As barbara says, shopping elsewhere, looking at the cost of some of your meals. There are ways to make small changes without feeling the sting of it.

I have worked in credit control and I have seen people's lives go to shit in a heartbeat. I think crimson is lucky they have never experienced it. The best news is, you know when this is going to end. This isn't your life forever, just for a little bit.