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

butterfly_in_debt

hi firesidemaid
we've asked for a morgage break but as we've only had our morgage since july we cant have one yet.
thats a good idea about the barcleycard loan, once paid off ill ask. we have started ebaying so that will bring in some money, hopefully!

butterfly_in_debt

hi bathgatebuyer
thank you for your email, its so good to know im not to only person trying to do this! i will try everything you mentioned. it is the credit cards which have put us in such a horrid situation, if i could get them onto 0% or even a lower APR i could start to pay it off but even when we have paid off an extra £200 it makes no difference.
it is the cars that are a problem to, we have a 56 megane and a 52 seat, we have looked into seeling and buying cheaper cars but with the way money is at the mo our cars wouldnt sell for much and we would end up with an older car in no better situation, with petrol prices starting to drop will help.
i will phone car insurance right now to see what i can do.
many thanks

firesidemaid

re. car insurance

when are the policies actually due for renewal?

normally you only want to renew when you are up for it anyway as it can cost to cancel policies.

but if you can get really good quotes (?probably individually) it may be worth it to move.

check out the tab/tutorial on this site to get the best prices in the fewest searches THEN also check on quidco etc for cashback deals on top of this.

i have an 02 ford and have never paid more than £20 a month for insurance fully comp (that is after i had had an accident too). now its less than £200 a year plus £100 cashback too.

butterfly_in_debt

hi all
ive just had some lovely news but news which has really panicked me. ive just found out im about 5 weeks pregnant, although we werent trying it is a fab suprise and we are really happy.
although this has panicked me as you can see from above we are not really managing now so any help at all would be gratefully recieved x

firesidemaid

congrats! that is lovely news for you!

it is also probably that extra impetus you need to get yourselves on track over the next 35 weeks;) x

butterfly_in_debt

thank you, it'll definatly give us a bit more focus! i hope i get better news from 0% cards now!!

firesidemaid

hello again!

i just decided to read through this thread from the beginning again to see if i have any more ideas or thoughts.....re-read your first post re. having a baby!

i will just ramble out a few thoughts and reminders about some of the ideas already posted.

re. food shopping - meal plan before you go and include at least 2 meals from what you already have in cupboards and freezer - if you spend £40 a week (or less) that can all go off your credit cards.

re. budgeting generally - you have £160ish a month left after bills - at this time as much of possible of that needs to go off your credit cards. i even move my money about online between current and savings accounts to maximise interest on that money before the bills are due!

re . mobiles - have you rung them to ask if you can reduce your contracts to the minimum

when you do make money babysitting/on ebay etc or have some money left in purse, pay it straight off the credit cards as an extra payment - that way you won't be tempted to spend it and it will reduce the interest you pay straight away.

there was a great thread on here that you could search for titled something like ' what you never thought you could sell on ebay?' it was fantastic - try everything, including broken stuff, spares off your dyson hoover, childhood toys, unused toiletries, empty perfume bottles - the list is endless, and ebay really is a great way for you to take control and find money to overpay from the comfort of your own home.

you can actually try and sell anything on ebay for free. make it a new listing and if it doesn't sell you can relist it for free - the trick is that when you relist it you can edit the listing and change everything about it ie. you can change it into an entirely different item that you know will sell! i hope that makes sense!

take care x

hypno06

Congratulations, and as said above, It will hopefully give you the momentum you need.

butterfly_in_debt

thank you hypno06

butterfly_in_debt

ive earned an extra £80 babysitting this week which im going to pay off a credit card tomorrow. also currently looking at a better car insurance deal, i have phoned mobile contracts but will try again.
thank you so much for helping x