Help me get out of debt

[wishfulthinking25]

Hi all, I’m currently about 10k in debt and really need some help.

I work ft and earn 45k a year plus x2 annual bonus’ bringing yearly earnings to 60k.

I got into debt whilst I was on maternity leave and my partner lost his job, I was left covering everything he did not care about any bill (this is another story altogether) right now, my focus is clearing this and building savings. I have 2 young DC.

All bills/travel to work/ nursery and the money dp now gives excluding food I should be left with around £900 but I never am.

I’m not great with money I’ll admit, but I have 2 young DC so I NEED to be good with it. Please give me any advice you can.

Instead of a side hustle use you time to batch cook amd feeeze instead if takeawys it will save you loads. There are threads for this ik mumsnet if you search. It soon be gone its an expensive time if life with young children

I no you will probably think I'm daft but I just literally stopped spending. I had 3 ccjs.
No takeaways, no expensive coffees and anything else you can cut down. Even grabbing a sandwich for lunch is expensive. Take a packed lunch.
I realised that unless my then wife and me were on the same wavelength with regards to money it would never work. I stopped spending. She spent it like it was going out of fashion. Thankfully I'm now divorced and savings are adding up towards a house

Could you possibly let me know what apps there are?

Hi ok, every time you spend money, write it in a little notebook. The sheer fact you'll have to write it down makes you think twice and at the end of each day you can see how much you've spent..it really makes you think when you see it in black and white. Don't do it on a phone, writing it makes the difference.
If you're tempted to buy something, wait...if you still thinking about it in a week, ok...chances are you won't be!!
Cup of tea out £2.95 say....how many teabags is that?! I sound like my mum lol.
Flask to work, those takeaway coffees add up
Lunch to work....batch cook one or two days a week for the following few days.
Also you either want 0% balance transfer cards .but check the transfer fee..or low APR for life of the balance.
Cashback sites like top cashback when you spend online
Have a clear out, do a garage sale, sell stuff

It's not easy but it is possible. The single thing that changed my mindset was writing down everything I spent, I don't mean bills, I mean petrol, coffee, sandwich, newspaper, etc etc ...then I added it up at the end of the day and I was usually horrified.
Then I challenged myself to no spend days...can I do today without sending anything challenge
Also ..if I buy that coffee for £7 , how long do I have to work to pay for it?
Also call your bank, deactivate the contactless, pay cash as often as possible. Handing over real money hurts. Appreciate not always possible but I pay cash whenever I can it's more of an ouch lol

Good luck

The interest rates are something ridiculous, I haven’t looked out of fear but 1 credit card I have about £4500 on and my minimum payment is £170 a month, another is £2600 and minimum payment is similar to the first. Does the debt consolidation order effect your credit at all?

it’s common when in debt to shit your eyes to the reality and bury your head.

as soon as you can stop doing this, accept you’ve made a mistake and instead of punishing yourself - allow yourself to sort things out pragmatically- you’ll get out of debt

already you’ve mentioned up thread cause 2 of your debt, overspending in the supermarket when you pop in for milk. This is an easy habit, so take measures to stop.

buy 4 loaves of bread and 4 cartons of milk and freeze them - then that will save you £20 each

every week plan meals, plan 8 meals as this will reduce your grocery shopping bill - as you’ll only go to the supermarket 4 times not 5 a month

pay £500 of the credit card with the most interest first

thay leaves you £400

Not going to go into the EXCEL spreadsheet I started up for myself - but can say the best thing I did was change all my Direct Debits to come out the day after (or as close as) the day I got paid. It was then really easy to not get a surprises leaving my account.
The other thing was to divide what was remaining after the DDs into 4 and and allow myself a quarter of it each week to spend how I wished. But good luck- it is so satisfying when you have it under control. x

That’s a good tip re the DD’s.

I also have two bank accounts. One for all my bills and the other for my spending money. I like to keep it separate.

Paying all your bills as you get paid is a good way to organise your finances

i have an annoying bill set on the 18th of the month so I have a standing order into a picket account - so then I just move it over on the 18th

you obviously need to be paying more than the minimum payment on the credit card with the highest interest, to get that down as much as possible, then work on the other - pay these on pay day

what you have left over you need to divide into 4 and a half as there are more than 4 weeks in the month apart from feb. If you’re being really strict divide by 31 and that’s your daily allowance so multiply by 7 for each weeks smount

you need to be pedantic with all your money

I don’t understand why you need a side hustle when you get a £15k bonus every year!

Surely your salary is £45k and so your budget is that.
Then the £15k is extra - so use that to pay off any debts every year.

Do you have a mortgage ? Could you release some equity ? Probably the cheapest loan you’ll get .
Then do an income & expenditure calculation, get rid of everything that’s not essential. Change to cheapest providers for utilities etc & then stick to your budget . CAB can help with this .

List EVERYTHING on your budget sheet not just bills.
income
Pay
Partners pay
Benefits
Other income

outgoings
Mortgage/rent
Ground rent/Building maintenance
Council tax
Gas
Electricity
Water
Sewerage
TV licence
Life insurance
Building insurance
Contents insurance
Car tax
Car insurance
MOT
Car servicing
Tyres
Petrol or Diesel
Pet insurance and annual jabs
Pet food and grooming
Union fees
Professional membership fees
Personal hygiene
Haircuts
Food
Cleaning products
Footwear
Clothing
Christmas
Birthdays
Prescriptions
Spectacles or contact lenses.
dentist costs
Phones
Broadband

List your debts

Look at where you can make savings.
Phones-are they out of contact? Go SIM only.
Water &Sewerage- look at a meter if you're on rates.
Shop around for cheaper insurances and utilities (then put a diary note in your phone to do the same a years time).
Christmas and birthdays. Don't buy for anyone who isn't immediate family. Don't buy Xmas cards. Don't buy too much food. Your DC are small so don't need much.
Council tax- you can't get it reduced but your council may spread the installments over 12 months instead of the usual 10.
See if you qualify for a prepayment for Prescriptions. Useful if you are paying for something every month.
If you are in a union see if they do any employee deals.
Go longer between Haircuts. I now average 8 weeks between trims.
Sell stuff that the youngest has grown out of.
DC dont need fancy clothing while they are growing so fast and making a mess. Clothe them from handme downs, supermarkets and charity shops.
Identify the difference between NEED and WANT. Eg you may want new shoes, but you don't need new shoes because you have 20 pairs at home.

Don't do a consolidation loan. All it does is move 4 or 5 debts to one place.
Don't borrow more on the mortgage. Who would even consider buying a new coat etc against a secured loan.
Look at some of the repayment suggestions above and if still seems impossible then get help from a debt advice charity or CAB.

Hi @wishfulthinking25

Firstly you are not a failure of a mother
2 under 2 is tough, financially and emotionally .

Sounds like you are shouldering the financial burden here ?

The obvious option would be to whack it down with your bonuses
? 15K = 2 x 7.5K
I would just bite the bullet and get rid

Can you post your invome vs outgoings
We can help shave money off

Oops sorry quoted the wrong poster!

There's some good advice here, but I would strongly advise making contact with a charitable organisation called Step Change before doing anything. They will give you free, professional and confidential advice on how you can manage your debt and get to grips with your finances. You'll find their excellent website to be very helpful... Do be wary of consolidating your debts either through a loan, credit card or into your mortgage as there are pitfalls in all of these. I wish you the best of luck - hopefully you'll be back in full control of you finances within a year or so.

I’d be interested to know more about the

app that pays play time on mobile games, only get about £150 a month

How long do you have to play to receive £150 pm? And what’s it called?

I’d like to earn more as I have 2 DC to put through Uni. Every little helps, as Tesco says! 😂

Use loyalty cards so if you do spend on food you can get some of it back by spending vouchers or points. Agree take packed food for lunches, cook a little more than you need for dinner and make up a pasta salad, for example, from leftovers, take tea and coffee in a mug so you are not tempted to buy on the way. How much is your childcare and are you claiming funding? Speak to Stepchange about tackling the debts and freezing interest so your payments at least start to reduce the capital rather than just servicing interest. Do not spend on the cc though.