Just seen what I owe - need mural support!

[Adamsappel]

Hi,

I guess I’m posting more for moral support than advice. I knew I had lots of debt but had buried head in sand. Just accessed my credit report and I owe 37k in non- mortgage debt. This has shocked me and I now really have to sort this- I earn well, so this is unnecessary!

is anyone else in this situation? I don’t know anyone else in this extreme level of debt

I have been there, it's scary to add it up but you've done the hard bit.
See if you can make the debt as cheap as possible, low rate loan, or zero percent credit cards etc so you are paying as much off as possible rather than just interest.
Then make a budget and try your best to stick to it.
If you have a good income and can service the debt you will eventually pay it off, just need to be careful.
Use any windfalls- bonuses etc to pay down the debt.
Also if you have any savings it's probably better to use a fair chunk of them to pay off the debt.
If you are struggling with the repayments then there's a charity called step change that can offer support.
Do you know what the money went on? ( no judgement here!)
Is it emergency repairs / something tangible like a big holiday or new furniture or lots of small purchases or a combination?
You will get through this, just make a plan. Good luck

It’s just years of overspending in non-essentials and never really dealing with it. No excuses- I am fully accountable. There’s no sob story, or difficult circumstances, just stupid behaviour on my part

Head to MSE debt free wannabe boards - lots of moral support (and also advice) available there!

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forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/debt-free-wannabe

Look up Dave Ramsey’s debt free steps on YouTube.

I don't understand why you had to access your credit report to see how much debt you have. Surely, you just get a bit of paper and add it all up from your statements, the credit report may be out of date by a few weeks, so you may owe more, or less than on the report. I would start by listing who you owe money to, and what interest rate each one charges. Make sure you pay at least the minimum on each account to avoid penalties, then start to pay the debts with the highest interest first.if you have some on very high interest, see if they can be transferred to accounts with lower charges.

You have to learn to tell yourself no. I'd like a holiday, no. I'd like a weekend away to see concert, no. Just keep telling yourself no until you have paid down £10k then allow yourself one treat then get back into no mold again. It's no nice and you'll miss out on stuff but it's what you have to do to get rid of debt. Once you are deb free and it might take years, rejig your budget to work out how much money you have each month to spend on yourself. I helped my sister get debt free many years ago and what she found hard was to say no to herself.