OK...deep breath.. jump in. (SOA added)

causey25

Helloo
I've been browsing for a while & am finding things a tad difficult today. I'm 39 & have been in debt since that first student overdraft in 1988. I've juggled & dodged - paid a fortune in interest & minimum payments, but never missed one of those payments - oh those cc companies must love me.

I am finding it quite hard to get over quite how stupid I have been for so long. I had a lovely irresponsible time in my 20s but it was marriage,mortgage & maternity in my 30s that really saw my debts climb.

I have really only just noticed where my debts have come from.

I have never budgeted - I didn't think I ever wanted anything unreasonable.
Yeah but - ok - £1.89 a day on pret hot chocolate soon adds up - especially if you buy a sandwich aswell. I also smoked 20-30 a day for 17 years - mmm that probably adds up too. Stupid amounts on white wine/organic food/books

Once I became a mother I got sucked into lunch in John Lewis with baby (they carry your tray for you!). Playmobile guilt buying & Boden lazyshop. We don't have holidays or nice things for the (falling down) house. In fact, we don't really have anything to show for the debt.

I am ashamed of myself - I come from respectable no debt stock & really should know better.

I did fill out a SOA but lost it all - will try to keep my bottle & post it again.

I owe £10600 on MBNA card - 0% til april 09
£3300 on HSBC card - 0% til oct 09
£8000 - northern rock loan - 110/mth for about 8 years. (first foolish attempt at consolidation)

I'm not expecting anyone to solve my money problems for me -I am obsessed with paying my debts off & it's kind of my new hobby.- since using this site I have halved my AA membership - saved £9 a month on my home insurance & stopped B gas from doubling my monthly DD & I've made £90 in 6 weeks on Amazon. Plus I have £12 in £2 coins I'm rather proud of.

Today it really hit home to me how few choices you have if you are in debt - my plan is to get rid of the cc debt in 2 years but it will be really tough going so I plan to hang around here for soup recipes & the like if that's ok.

Plus I expect I'll be panicking in about March 09 when my 0% rate runs out & will need advice then... :wave:

poorandindenial

Hi Causey - it sounds like you would enjoy playing on the snowball calculator:

www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

It tells you when you can expect to be debt free based on how much you can throw at your debts.

Flower08

Hi and welcome, well done for taking the first step and posting on here :T

Things will only get better from here, and your debts will get smaller now!

If you pop you SOA im sure a lot of knowledgable people on here will give you as much help and advice as they can.

Good luck!

GotNoRhythm

Hi Causey - I posted yesterday for the first time too, and like you I've been hiding in the shadows for some time. I thought I'd pop across from my own thread to say 'hello'. Perhaps we can help keep each other on track? I hope so. It's quite scary, writing it all out, isn't it? Everyone seems really friendly and supportive on here, though.

I just wanted to say good luck, WE CAN DO THIS!!!!

GNR
xx

Miss_Piggy_2

Good morning! And well done for posting.
As I always say, putting it all down in black and white is the scariest thing. Once thats over and done with you can get round to the real business of working out how best to deal with your debt.
When you have your SOA sorted post it on here and we will see if theres any suggestions we can make.
The 0% interest ending on those cards will come hard so its best to put something in place now before that happens.
Look forward to seeing your SOA!

Miss P
xx

doodledo_2

Welcome to the form and well done on making your first step towards being debt free. The advice available on here is invaluable and so is the support. I know without it I wouldn't be making inroads into my debt like I am.

The best first step is to pop up your SOA. Hopefully some of the peeps on here will be able to help you shave some money off your outgoings.

Good luck

TotallyBrassic

You sound like you know what you need to do....and you will with the invaluable advice from all the learned peeps in here. I never thought debt busting could be so much fun
Good Luck to you with it all,
xx

esbo

Your debts don't seem that bad if you look at them long term.
Could you eventually secure your credit cards loans on your house if you have equity in it to lower the payments? I say that because apparently they can force you to do that
anyway if you miss payments, so why pay the high rates in the first place?
Also can you switch to other 0% cards when the 0% rate runs out?
If you can't give up smoking can you switch to blackmarket cigarettes? That would save you a lot, I mean maybe £2 or £3 a day if you switch to handrolling.
Also if your go to belgium yourself they are even cheaper.
http://www.day-tripper.net/pricestobacco.html
For example "Golden Virginia is now £3.80 in Luxembourg." That's for 50 grammes which is the same as 4 packs of 20 which will cost you £20+ at least. (need to buy
papers and filtlers for another £2 or so).

milliemonster

No no no, don't secure your credit card debts to your house as esbo has suggested!!!!!!! totally bad advice, there is nothing in the OP's first post to suggest they can't meet their payments anyway and even if they can't, securing unsecured debt is nearly always a bad idea.

oh, and going to belgium to buy ciggies??? surely the cost in getting there defeats the cost savings you'd make anyway????

Causey, I loved your opening post, welcome to the board, you will get some fab advice on here (and not so fab sometimes!)

mintymoneysaver

Looking forward to reading your SOA. The only thing that jumps out at me is your comment about British Gas. Gas prices have gone up hugely so watch out that you don't end up with a massive bill if you don't increase your direct debit. I've just upped mine by £23 and I'm hoping that will be enough!

Happytogetdebtfree

hey and welcome to the boards, the first step for many of us, in 4 months alone ihave noticed abig difference at 24 i feel cheated that i am in such a big number for debt but quite proud that i am dealing with it with my oh in tow i think this will be one of the greatest achievements for me that willmould my outlook on things and ensure i make a good impression when i have children this is something i wouldnt want them to be facing..... ive had the consolidation loans to no avail lol but we llive and learn, and im glad im doing it this way im happy at how my life is going i dont particularly want for nothing after all i now cut my cloth accordingly so it suits me... alsoits funny just ow cuttingback makes a difference i will be just as careful when i dont have debt apart from a mortgage enough of my rant goood luck with the dfw journey xx