how can i do it

poprocks_and_coke

hi
im new to these boards i haved lurked around abit and have decide it time to deal with my debt problems a little info im married have two kids school age and dont work i have 3 debt and although there not huge they are to me and i need to sort them out the 3 debt are

littlewoods 194
kays 621
choice 1257:eek:
i need to sort these debt out and get rid of them as the credit crunch is worrying me and i dont want any debt when it really takes hold the thing is though as i make a payment of the debt i go and order somthing else i dont need it i just do it it usally somthing like toy for kids or aftershave for oh i dont know why i keep doing it but i do so im hopping with your help i can get debt free and stop spending other peoples money lol

lonestar1

Do you know the APR Rates ? Concentrate on clearing the one with the highet APR first
Cut up the cards you dont need them to make payments amd that should stop you impulse buying

Bowski_1011

Well done on making the first move to becoming debt free. I'm not very good with the advice but there will be plenty along later with some.

It's probably best if you start with your SOA, sorry I dont know how to put the link in here but if you've been lurking then I think you'll probably know where to find it.
Try and join in some of the challenges because they usually stop you from spending money unneccesarily. They really make you think about whats worth spending your money on and what isn't.

You've made the first move yourself by coming here so well done. I'm sure with a bit of hard work and determination you'll soon be debt free.
Is your partner in with you on this?

Pollycat

Hi and welcome
I'm sure somebody will be along soon with lots of advice, but I think you maybe need to confront exactly WHY you keep ordering from catalogues.

as i make a payment of the debt i go and order somthing else i dont need it i just do it it usally somthing like toy for kids or aftershave for oh i dont know why i keep doing it but i do

Is it boredom?
Would it help if you threw away the catalogues you have to avoid being tempted?

Good luck with clearing the debt anyway.

liuhut

Just a thought, could you ring them and ask them to block your accounts so that if you are tempted you would not be able to order??

Good luck XX

bargainbetty

I wouldn't ask them to block it, could be a warning flag - just throw the damned things away, and if you feel the urge to buy something, sit and work out how much it will cost you once you add on all the interest that will mount up.

Also, try doing an inventory of what you already have.... all the toys, all the aftershaves, perfumes etc. Then when youa re tempted, you'll know that you already have stacks and don't need it.

You could also think about selling some of the hoarded stuff on Ebay. Claim back a bit of space and money??

Good luck x

(Land_of)_Maz

I don't even take the cellophane wrappers off the catalogues now... and i only go online to check my accounts (now all zero'd yay me!!) i used to go straight to my account, and straight out again.....

It's taking away the temptation entirely that's the hard part...

also you could ask them to drop your credit limit a little each time you phone to make a payment, so you don't have the credit available...

sounds like you know what you have to do....

and as bargainbetty says, think about all the toys, aftershave, whatevers, you already have at home and start using them...

poprocks_and_coke

hi thanks for your replys i do chuck the catoulogs in the bin but they are all on line so when i go into my acount to make a payment i think to my self well i just paid 50 of my debt so if i brought that toy for 25 i still paid a bit of my debt and so it keeps happening

my oh is not to botherd about the debt he knows about it but dosnt coment on it ethier way as long as he has his petroll money for work i dont think he cares what happens with the money strange really as it his money

it may be bordom what makes me spend i hadnt thought of it that way before
aprs:eek: i dont know what the apr are on the catologs but the min payments are
littlewoods 50
chioce 65
kays 80

i will try and do soa in alittle while kids to pick up from school now thanks again everyone

(Land_of)_Maz

Sounds like your OH is a gem... but you need to nip it in the bud... you only have to work on paying what you can and not spending more on the accounts, as you're in a good position and these aren't actually unmanagable at the moment with no defaults etc.....

maybe discuss it with one of the agents and say you would like to limit your account to no more incoming orders for say, 6 months... this will allow you to get balances down... check with them that in doing so you're not affecting any credit ratings or anything... do a self limiting type thing while you feel strong and that way you can't do anything about it when you have the next urge.........

better still, next time you pay your account, nip out of the website right away and don't browse... come onto MSE and join in the daily chat here....... it stops most of us from online shopping sometimes (unless mealplanned groceries with free delivery coupons! lol)

There's always someone on here during the day to help take the urge to shop away!!!

Pollycat

Hi
from what you said in your original post you can currently manage to pay these debts, what is worrying you is the future.

From the figures you've quoted, you're paying £195 to these 3 catalogues per month.
So, if you did clear these debts, you would have an extra £2340 per year to spend on things that you REALLY want.

Maybe a good family holiday, change your car sooner, redecorate your house, buy new furniture.
Wouldn't that be much nicer than buying expensive items that you don't actually need?

If your kids are at school, could you perhaps consider getting a part-time job (maybe school related to leave you school holidays free) to get you out of the house and reduce the time you're in the house and tempted to spend money? Assuming of course that this wouldn't impact on any benefits you're receiving.

poprocks_and_coke

hi thanks you are right my oh is a gem so easy going im lucky i still trying to work out my soa at the minute so will come back to that later the spending thing i still trying to controll it but im so bad with money lol i i will try and speak to someone about puting limits on my acounts

i think we are ok at the moment for money we pay our debts ok but as i said before i am worried about the future we have no savings so that another area i need to deal with

when you put it like 195 to spend on what we want it sounds great i never seen it like 195 on debt its allways been paid stright out of of our account so i never see it in money it just numbers on paper so mybe i should stop paying by debit card and pay with cash so i can see how much cash i am handing over each month just for junk what do you think