Can I pay off £7k in a year? Pls help!

kcmatt79

Hi

I've not been on here for a while now. I WAS going really well with my debt, paying off about £500 a month. Then my car broke down and I bought a second-hand car (still not sure if this was a good decision), adding an extra £2k onto my debt.

I'm now starting to get down about it all again. Given the awful media at the moment with the credit crunch etc. it's starting to freak me out even more! My salary has received a really nice bump starting in September, up by £225 a month, so I'm hoping to try really hard and put this towards my debt, increasing my monthly payments to £700 on my debts.

My debts so far are about £19,200
Monthly salary is £1,625
Current debt payments £450
Disposable income (if such a thing exists?!) is roughly £400 come September

I AM doing better, I know I am. I don't spend on credit anymore. But my spending is still over the top. A couple of months back I spent nearly £200 on clothes and !!!!!!ed up the whole month because of it. It makes me depressed, I get anxiety and can't sleep. I want this debt to be gone so desperately.

Can anyone give me some support/suggestions to get started and feel better about things? I would be VERY grateful. I feel like I need someone to help me keep on track.

notenoughcash

How about posting up a full SOA? Then maybe people can give you some tips on where you can cut back on your spending and free up a bit more to reach your goal of £7k in a year. How about starting a thread showing how much you are paying off when, how you are progressing towards your goal, and when you decided to pay that extra £30 off your debt rather than buying those jeans you didn't really need?!?

kcmatt79

Sounds like a good plan. I did an SOA a while back, but I will do a fresh one.

Thanks, a diary sounds good too. Will start one tomorrow.

hypno06

Also, remember to set yourself acceptable budgets. If you feel guilty because you are spending money, yet you need to spend money from time to time, set yourself a "spends" amount in your SOA - that way you need not feel guilty about spending a little, and you will then feel more in control of the rest of the finances.

kcmatt79

Actually, I think that's one of the areas where I fall down. I don't know what's an acceptable amount to spend, and I'm really bad at estimating how much something will cost, for example a few days in Edinburgh cost me over £100 which I hadn't really planned for. Now I'm considering going to a festival in a couple of weeks' time which tickets for are only £40. However, I can see that spending money etc. will cost me a lot more again, so now reconsidering. The difficult thing is explaning my situation to people who just think you SHOULD be able to afford it and think you are making excuses. My o/h won't be happy about me saying I'm not going, but I know I can't really afford it.

trogen3

Hi Call the consumer credit counselling service it is free and they give you great advice, they can also give you a debt mangement plan. I was £10.000 in debt and but for unemployment I would have been debt free at the end of this year. It took me 2 years but I was on a low wage. Hope this is of some help

kcmatt79

I might just do that. Although I'm not sure what advice they could give me? I've made sure all my debts are on the lowest rates possible.

betti911

Hello kcmatt!

I am on a similar sort of salary and had a similar amount of debt when I started.

Think the first thing to do is set yourself a strict budget esp for social things. I have set myself £50 per week. Some would say that is a lot but that is for all eating out, b/day presents, special events, clothes etc.

I would forget the Edinburgh Festival. Its going to be too expensive and you haven't saved for it.

Looking fwd to hearing of your progress.

Betti

Jacks_xxx

Well - Back when we owed £96,700 I felt so crappy about it that the only money I would allow us to spend on non essentials was extra money we'd earned on purpose to pay for the treat.

We babysat, eBayed or whatever to pay for the treat and then we enjoyed it guilt free.

Lots of forward planning helps.

And reminding yourself that in a few short months (ok 12 of them!) your life will be So-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o much better for having done this.

Feeling virtuous when you feel deprived can help.

Ask your friends to just understand that this is temporary, but it's the way it has to be for a little while. You still love them but you can't allow things to get worse in the current climate. Do they know that this stuff keeps you awake at night?

And book yourself in some little treats along the way and a big fat juicy one as a reward to look forward to at the end.

And forgive yourself if you slide off the wagon a bit now and then.

Ooh and the other thing that helped us was paying out the planned debt overpayment on payday and then managing on what's left no matter what. (an interesting new concept for us!)

As That little guy always says in the Adam Sandler movies (mexican accent essential!)

"You can do it!"

Love Jacks xxx

kcmatt79

Thanks guys. I will definitely post an SOA tomorrow and start a diary. I've bought a little notebook to keep records of everything I spend to keep a really good eye on everything.