Help me become debt free!

Sunny_Bear

Ive just written a whole post and its gone, so heres another version!

Me an my husband split up on Friday, I'm not really sure whats going on but I'll be living with my parents for the foreseeable future. We have only been married 20 months and Im only 28 :-(

Anyway, we have a lot a debt and stupidly its all in my name so it all comes with me. We spent it on silly stuff like holidays, meals out etc and my husband also gambled a fair bit (sore point there)

The debts are:

6000 - Halifax CC - some is at 6.5% for LOB and the rest is around 15%
6200 - Capital 1 - 0% until October 08
13800 - Egg loan - 7.9% until Aug 2012 (eek!)
4500 - Car Loan (I think its about 8.9% and I need to check the balance as this is a bit of a guess!)
1000 - Joint Overdraft
1000 - my overdraft
2 x catalogues at around £500 each

I take home 1400 per month, and am due an payrise in August. I dont have to pay rent or bills, just petrol, living and mobile credit, so around £100 for petrol and £150 other.

I feel that getting the credit cards paid off will help me feel like something is happening first, rather than the loan that is so huge it will never end, also at least the loan has a end date, albeit a long way off!!

Any help and advice you can give me, I know im in a good position to trown loads at it, Im probably going to be at parents for around 4 or 5 months then will be house sharing with my sister.

Thanks!!

moneymabel

Hi Sunnybear,
My advice would be to throw what money you can at the highest interest debt first and then move down to the next lowest etc-i expect it would be your catalogue bills or credit card bills probably?
I'm sure there will be others along soon with some more advice for you,
best of luck on your debt free journey.

beer_tins

Is there any chance your husband can take on some of this debt? It is his in part after all! As a rule, always pay off the debt with the highest APR first. An exception is if it's a loan, there might be an early repayment charge. What are the APR rates on the overdrafts? They are probably highest and should be dealt with first.

I would seriously consider paying off your joint overdraft and closing your joint account immediately afterwards.

Sunny_Bear

thanks, I think doing the joint overdraft first would be best and then I don't have to worry about it, I could probably do it in 2 months if I am good!

dancingfairy

Is it worth going to relationship counselling? When you have decided on the course of action for your relationship I would consult a solicitor.
Not sure about the joint bank account - you don't want him to run up large debts and leave you to pay them.

Sunny_Bear

a couple of people have suggested marriage councelling, I think I might look into it and see if he wants to go. I just dont know what I want though :-(, all I know is we cant afford to live together as he isnt working which is partly why we ended up in this mess cos Ive been paying for everything.

beer_tins

Be careful though! Does he have access to this? If yes, save it up and pay it all of in one go an then immediately close it. Otherwise you could be putting money in and he could just say "thanks very much" and take it out again!

beer_tins

Sorry, my reply was to sunny bear's 4:22 post.

Make sure you have split all finances before sticking money into a joint account. Don't pay off any account he has access to or he can just run the debt back up again.

RAS

Sunny Bear.

With respect to the joint bank account and any other account on which he can sign, you need to write to the bank today and take the letter in tomoorow or send it registered post. Tell them that ALL future withdrawals must be signed for by both parties.

Also make sure that your salary is paid into another account, or explain to HR and get a cheque this month and put it through your parents account. Are their any DDs coming out of the account? Are they things that you will be paying for in the future?

Move them. And cancel anything else.

Beerworshipper

Hi Sunny Bear,

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles, but you sound really determined and to be honest thats a really positive attitude and will get you a long way to where you want to be.

I just wanted to remind you that if you have moved back to your parents then be sure to tell your creditors about your new address ASAP. That way any new cards etc issued on any of the accounts won't end up going astray. Also remember to change your passwords on any internet accounts.

I know it all sounds terribly untrustworthy but people can do silly things and act completely out of character during relationship difficulties so its better to be safe than sorry.

Best of luck to you.

tyllwyd

The whatsthecost website helps with snowballing (ie deciding what to pay first)

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx