New to the board & determined to rid myself of debt

john_boot

Hi everyone,

Ive been reading through various parts of this message board over the last week or so and thought Id sign up to participate a bit and hopefully get some moral support.

I currently have just over £31K worth of debt and Ive only fairly recently come to terms with the level of debt that I have and the realisation that I need to take some pretty strict measures in order to clear them.

In the past, I literally would build up debt, then consolidate, then end up building even more debt and thats how Ive managed to rack up such a huge amount... well Ive got myself into this and Im determined to get myself out.

A few weeks ago I put together a budget, I get paid on 21st of each month and so far Ive managed to stick to it .. my method is to draw out cash for expenditure such as food, petrol etc as it helps me to have a greater control... for bills that are quarterly or annual (such as road tax, car insurance etc), Ive worked out the average mthly amount of these and set up a 2nd current account and make a standing order into this so that when the bills come up Ill actually have the cash to pay them!...

My main concern at the moment is that my mortgage runs out end of Feb '09 (its a 90% interest only mortgage at 5.01%), about a year or so ago, I was thinking to myself that I would be able to roll the £13K secured loan into the mortgage, but with the housing market taking a dip, Im not sure what Ill get on my valuation.... also, Im hearing that 90% deals are on less favourable rates. If I was able to roll the £14K into a mortgage based on a similar rate to what Im paying at the moment, I calculated that I could clear all the debt I owe by the end of 2011... however, thats a best ase scenario... worst case scenario is that I have to roll onto SVR and mortgage payments shooting up

Anyway, I better stop writing now as this is turning into an essay!... just needed to put things 'out there', as nobody else in my life is aware of the level of debt I have so its good to be able to share things on here and amongst people who are in the same boat.

Thanks for listening, and any tips/advise etc will be more than welcomed

Jacks_xxx

Hiya John, and welcome to MSE. :hello:

We were the same as you honey. We consolidated loads of times.

Funnily enough, our debts didn't start to shrink until we stopped consolidating! :rolleyes:

We just didn't know any better until we got here and started learning.

If you post a SOA people will make helpful suggestions. I'd probably advise you to keep it general and leave the company names out just in case. (Maybe they read these forums?!)

Bank 1,2,3 Loan 1,2,3 and Credit Card 1,2,3 are more anonymous than typing Natwest, Provident and Mint Card given that you are going to be giving us the exact amounts that you owe.

The post for newbies at the top of this board contains all the relevant links.

What we learned on this board helped us to get down to a "single figure thousands" debt for the first time in about 20 years!

So keep at it hon, keep reading and posting and keep doing it!

Love Jacks xxx

poorandindenial

Hi John and welcome to the board.

Here are all the usual bits and bobs that we [strike]force onto[/strike] helpfully suggest to newcomers:

Put together a statement of affairs: www.makesenseofcards.com and if you are feeling brave post it on here (if you have been lurking I am sure you know the drill)

If you have a surplus of cash (oh the joy) then check out when you can be debt free on the snowball calculator: www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx and if you have a deficit then check out the free to use debt advice agencies: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help

Finally - keep a spending diary to see where you are still frittering away money on crud

These are all just the standard things but Ihave to say you sound as though you have really gone about this very well already. I do the same things with the cash (well I do it when I HAVE to and from time to time to remind me what I should be living on to keep me in check - a bit of a frugal refresher when I feel things slipping away from me)

Well done on your progress so far :T, see you again soon

Lula-Hula

Hi & welcome to you,

Sounds like you're already making good progress by sticking to a budget. Many of us ( me included) are being a 'discreet' about our debts as far as family & friends are concerned so in that respect it's great to be able to come here & share your experiences .

You'll probably have read that a Statement Of Affairs is a good way of seeing if more experienced memebers can help reduce your outgoings. Many of us also like to use www.spendingdiary.com to keep track of where it all goes, & it sounds like you're already familiar with the snowball calculator ? www.whatsthecost in case you're not.

Budget, budget & more budget :rolleyes: using the money saving old style board to help reduce your grocery spends & use www.quidco for getting cash back when buying stuff on line, from cd's to car insurance. Many people also do surveys to gain a few points which can then be converted into gifts or vouchers, there are also loads of challenges like the No Spend Days challenge & live on £4,000 a year challenge to name but a couple.

Most of all there's a never ending wealth of support & advice here which just about keeps a DFW sane,

Good luck & never hesitate to ask for advice/help/support

Lula xx

john_boot

Thanks for the warm welcome guys!..

Ill put together a SOA and my current plan up sometime soon to see if there are any specific suggestions people might have.

Ive kinda put together my own snowball spreadsheet and my general aim is to clear the the debt I owe the lowest amount on (which is a loan that currently has a balance of £1215 left and I make monthly payments of £70 on)... then once that is paid off, use the £70 + my surplus each mth to attack the debt that has the next lowest amount on it etc until they are all paid off.

The spending diary sounds like a good idea and I think I may have to be a bit more savvy when it comes to grocery shopping so Ill check the old board for that.

paybacktime2008

You would be better paying off the debt with the highest apr first. If you need convincing visit the snowballer!!!