Lightbulb moment

Old_iron_balls

Pat yourself on the back, you have taken your fist steps - congrats and good luck !

Marisan

Hi,

Don't be embarrassed..we're all in the same boat.You've taken the first step so good luck to you.I had my lightbulb moment a couple of years ago,and things are better although I've still a way to go (currently owe £17,000 - estimated Debt Free Day June 2008)

pollypocket

Welcome Crisis,

I have been getting MSE emails for well over a year but just recently started posting(just over a week)

In that time I have been getting a list together of everything re my debt - amount owing, APRs, credit limits, insurances etc. Due to doing this I have realised that I had a £10,000 credit limit on one of my cards(cut up ages ago thankfully otherwise would prob have used til knocked back!) - been in touch with Natwest and got lowered to 2,000

Done this with other cards and got another £3,000 lower (been knocked back on several cards recently so shaving off £11,000 in what I could access theoretically may help when applying in the future. )

Just off to Natwest to try and cancel the insurance on a loan (paying over £5,000 in insurance alone on a £21,000 loan.)

Sorted a list of cards to be prioritised in the New Year - highest APR first.

As i said earlier only been on here a week and I feel 150% better than I did re debts - Ive even talked it through with my partner which has helped enormously!(even though they cant help due to bebts themselves.)

Crisis - you will get there - the people who post on here are brilliant and I cannot thank them enough!!Good luck mate!!!!!

Polly

deputydawg_3

Was fed up with being in debt for past decade & having no money so decided to sell my house & buy smaller property. Also done lots of bootsales & sold on ebay to get debt free. Whatever you can do to help yourself will make you feel better. Good luck!

James240

totally agree with everyone on here mate, well done for taking the time to post on here, i had my Lightbulb moment too and have managed to get quite a bit of my loan down in this year......First was to cancel the insurance on the loan and then to start over-paying on it......

My inspiration on here is a user called Ms_London she helped me work out bits and pieces at the begining of the year and what direction i should be heading in, you will find that she is an inspiration to alot of people on here.

As every one has said try and do boot sales, flog stuff on Ebay as everylittle bit of money u can make will help u come that one step closer to being Debt-free which is the holy grail for everyone on this board.........good luck mate we will all be routing for u to get there :beer:

MSE_Martin

crisis, please ensure you read my Credit Card Shuffle article. Remember it isn't about applying for new cards its about better using your existing ones. Also you say you think you'll be rejected - and if you are - what happens? You're no worse off i suggest an application for the amex life of balance card is worth a try (see my Balance transfers articles) if you get it then do it in conjunction with the full four step shuffle, if not just do the four steps

best of luck

welcome on board

martin

pollypocket

Hope you are feelin a little bit better than you were.
Just thought I would let you know that I went Natwest and cancelled insurance on my loan - managed to save £5,000 - thought it would be a nightmare but sorted in minutes!

jamescredmond

crisis_management wrote:

Guys

I'm new to this and to be honest I'm embarrassed to start posting. I've spent the last 10 yrs getting deeper and deeper in debt, and I reckon I owe about £140,000 at present. I can still meet the minimum payments, but after reading your posts I've now realised I have to deal with the situation, and right now. I've listed my debts, and prepared a budget which I've managed to stick to for a month (about a third of my usual spending). It'll take me years to get out of this, but I want to thank you for helping me get started.
Hopefully by posting here it'll help my resolve (my face is burning as I type!).

Thanks again

Crisis

you'd be in even bigger trouble if you hadn't faced up to the problem. I'm not going to do the lecture bit about 'seeking professional advice' - you already know the score; just keep yourself logged on to this site. I've been a member for less than 6 weeks and Martin has already saved me 230 big ones!!
As for 'embarrassed' - don't be!! the great thing about this site is it guides you to debt reduction at the same time as it gives you the chance to put the boot into the b***ards who lured you into debt in the first place.

best of luck, mate.

System

Hi Crisis

You've certainly found the right place to start sorting the debt out - post it up as soon as you're ready and you should gets loads of help.

Fully understand if you're not yet ready to discuss it, but does your £140k include your mortgage, as most people usually just list their debts excluding their mortgage. (Although of course you'll get lots of help towards mortgage debts if that's applicable to you.) Will all help gauge the exact situation you're in.

Best wishes
Dave

keefyboy_2

Crisis
well done my friend as the others have said, you have faced the first hurdle and jumped it, don't forget that if you do meet the difficult company that does not want to accept what you are offering, go and pay the CAB a visit, most have financial advisors who are there to help you. I have got debts of over 15k, now having to remortgage the house,(luckily got the colateral in it and can afford the repayments) I kept turning my back on my debts and then the nasty letters came, one credit card company would not accept my offer even though the figure was worked out by using the CAB formula (which the majority of courts accept) and got really heavy. A visit to the CAB (book an appointment first) make sure you have all your figures, proof etc with you, signed a form after going through the details with the Financial lady, she wrote letter, exact same amount as I had offered and wot a surprise they accepted it.

Be careful though, some of the credit card companies use a panel set up to realisticly sort out figures for repayment to the debters, they say it is not biased, but how can you trust a group that is paid for ONLY by CC companies...

Anyway keep your head up high and face them head on and get rid of the big ones first.
Good luck