£35k+ in debt and not coping please help!

butterfly_in_debt

hi bonsibabe,
thats a really good package with sky, i will def try and sort that out. i am on HD, can i get iff it?
ive never heard of quidco before but ill have a look now, thank you for the tip!
my husband has a full time job and a second job already and i have a full time job and do extra days and babysits when ever poss.

ill look at supermarket tips now, thank you

butterfly_in_debt

our puppy is 9 months old, she is on purina beta puppy food which is what the breeder suggested, we do sometimes give her rice but anything else can sometimes give her a funny tummy. i will look into another pet food or maybe do half dog food and half rice?
thanks for your help

Maximillion

As your total unsecured debt is virtually the same as a years income for both of you perhaps you should consider professional advice.

https://www.cccs.co.uk
https://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk

butterfly_in_debt

ok, i will do. thank you firstcrowcounter

Maximillion

You're doing well, getting it all down on paper (screen) try not to worry but keep up the momentum. Get some advice and you'll feel much better.

bonsibabe

hi butterfly

checked with DH - yes you can get off HD - just phone sky and tell them you don't need HD anymore and you want to reduce your package. you are very welcome about quidco - i was told about it on here and i am just waiting for my first payment! it's only £15 but it's a little to go into our savings to try and build up to pay some debts off!! and no probs about the supermarket tips - i've cut our shopping bills just by buying supermarket own brands!

another thing I've thought of is you could sign up for some survey sites. many pay in vouchers and some pay into a paypal account (its free). if you have anything you don't want then you could try flogging on ebay/ebid/play/amazon - i'm starting that again this month.

to be honest we aren't far behind you guys - we are on £28K and DH has just gotten a job after a month unemployed (thankfully it wasnt long but long enough), so i'm doing the same as you - trying to cut what we spend and maximise what comes in!

Lots of luck to you both!

butterfly_in_debt

do you know of any survey sites? thats a great idea. we have started putting things on ebay, its amazing how much stuff we dont need!
its nice to know im not the only person in this situation! thank you for all your hellp

hypno06

The best thing to do is to spend some time mooching around these boards, read the threads through that mention challenges - "make £10 a day challenge" for example is a great one to help you get a bit of money in, and the "up your income" board is full of ideas.

The "old style" board has great ways of cutting back your shopping bill, and there are boards relating to pets, getting freebies, competitions and all sorts!

There really is no subsititution for finding your way around and reading through - you will pick up the ideas that are suitable for you quite easily. OK it takes a little time, but it all slots together to make things a whole lot more manageable for you.

The other thing to do is to address what you have been spending on - you say you paid for your wedding in cash, but £35k is still an awful lot of debt to have accumulated. There is little point in making an extra few quid, if you are not addressing the reason behind those balances in the first place.

If you have been generally spending without thinking of the repercussions, then make a big thing of drawing a line underneath it NOW. Cut up those credit cards, and make that commitment to yourself to stop spending.

If you have been spending for emotional reasons or to fund any sort of addiction, then these need additional help which you should seek as soon as possible.

You have to take control, it takes time and it takes effort, but it certainly can be done.

Good luck.

GettingThingsDone

Hi Butterfly, and welcome to DFW!

Ditto what hypno says above

The biggest step is to do as you've done and take stock of your situation. Writing it down can be a real shocker at first, but it's the best way of getting rid of the debt and getting on with your lives.

You've obviously been good with money in one way or another as you've paid for your wedding and bought a house so don't beat yourself up too much. You just need to apply what you did then to your credit card debts.

I don't know if you've tried it yet, but there is a credit card payment calculator at http://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx which shows you how long it will take to pay off your credit cards. It can be a bit of a shocker, but it's good to play with as you can see what effect over-paying your cards makes. And it can also help you decide whether it's worth shuffling debt from one card to another.

The trick I found was to budget £x per month for debt repayment and then just let the snowballer tell me what to pay to whom.

Also claiming back late payment 'fees' for the last 6 years (especially anything over £12) can help - in fact anything that helps you make a serious dent in your debt (anything you can ebay/carboot?) really helps, as you can start closing credit cards, and that's when they start making you offers to stay...

Good luck and keep posting!

gtd

debtfreesomeday

Hello butterfly

We are in a similar situation to you - we got married in April and unfortunately our car gave up on us six weeks before that and we really need a reliable car as we travel long distances regularly. We ended up having to get two loans out and already had a lot on a credit card so we were approximately £33,000 in debt.

First thing I would say, is to cut up the credit cards if you haven't already done so. I cut up ours, transferred to a 0% and/or low life of balance rate (virgin & barclaycard) and then worked out what to pay first on the snowball calculator at whatsthecost.co.uk. I left one credit card not cut up and took this out of my purse and put it away in the house. This will only ever be used if we are overseas and need it in an emergency.

Next I got rid of all direct debits we didn't need - we have freeview now, can't afford sky, as much as hubby would love it! Got rid of our gym membership etc etc. We have PAYG phones on which we spend very little now too.

You both need to sit down and type out a budget. We print ours out and stick it on the fridge so we know what's what. Keep checking it throughout the month and adjust where needed.

Looking at your SOA, I'd suggest you could try to reduce your food costs a little if possible. We set ourselves a strict budget of £150 for food and started to do online shopping twice a month. You can get free delivery codes for spends over £50 on these boards and it stops you from buying stuff you don't need or just fancy when shopping in the supermarket! We also get fruit & veg fresh from Lidl or our local farmer / market when needed. Look at planning some cheap and easy meals that can stretch to lunch the next day or leftovers can be frozen for a later date. Casseroles, pasta dishes, bolognaise (don't freeze the spaghetti though!) etc etc.

Your council tax looks high - is this correct? You can check online as to if you're in the correct band and sometimes get refunds if you've been overcharged - I'm not sure what the website is but sure you'll find it if you google it or someone on here may be able to suggest it. You are also able to pay over 12 months instead of 10 if you phone the council up. This may save a little bit monthly.

Do you have the internet at home? If so, we have a package with talktalk that includes all our calls, broadband & land line rental which comes to about £25 - £26 a month which is the cheapest we've been able to find.

Also, we've managed to make money online by selling books on Amazon, ebaying stuff (especially left over wedding stuff - it sells really well!), shopping through quidco, and doing surveys etc. There is also a place that trades you cash for cds - https://www.musicmagpie.co.uk if like us you have loads around the house. They range from about 25p to £3 per cd, not a lot, but it all helps. We got rid of about 60 cds and made £57 on them. They send you free packaging & its freepost to send them.

We also save £2 in a jar when we get them in change etc. It's surprising how quickly these add up! Bank them when you get to say £100 or £50 and use it for a debt payment or christmas presents etc.

Last thing and then I'll stop rabbiting on (!)... we take out X amount of cash a month for 'everything else'. Haircuts, gifts, a takeaway, cosmetics etc and that's all we have to spend. Once it's gone it's gone. I only ever use my debit card for food and petrol now.

By doing all these little things we've managed to reduce our debt down by about £6,000 in about 5 months so it can be done. We have a long way to go and won't be debt free for about 6 or 7 years but at least we're now going in the right direction. It really is achievable, but it's hard work and it's not quick and easy!

Good luck Butterfly, keep coming back to these boards as they are such a wealth of ideas and support. xx