26k in debt - we may have to cancel our wedding please help

TurnaroundSue

Hi again! Sorry thought I had already welcomed you to the boards before my post above, but notice that I hadn't - very rude of me!!!!

anniecave

£220 per month on car finance ? Have you looked at surrendering the car, paying off any balance due and buying a cheaper one?

border_collie

What about asking for cash for ALL wedding presents :j :j

chevalier

right to be harsh, i would cancel the wedding yes you would lose 2k but you would save 10k and sorry but you were paying WAY TO MUCH for your wedding anyway. 12k is insane sorry. Then I would ask you dad in law for the 10k to pay off the highest apr debts - be open about it - say you can't be spending this amount of money on ONE DAY when you have this much debt.

Also great that your OH is doing up cars and making that amount of profit, BUT he shouldn't be claiming JSA if he is doing this, AND he should be registered as self employed AND paying tax and vat on this SORRY. You could really come unstuck on this if someone shopped him.

He needs to get ANY job to help out with the bills. Even stacking shelves at Tesco on nights or something.

Then he could do the doing up stuff as a side line

good luck and sorry if I am harsh
chev
ps

to the other person who was wondering why we advise not to consolidate, there are two main reasons
1) people who consolidate often don't cut up the cards so run up debt on them again. Then you are in the position of having the loan AND the debt on top.
2) Loan interest is almost always front loaded, so if you consolidate it you are paying interest on interest, which doesn't look so cool really
chev

ixwood

You're 26k in debt with a much reduced income and you still pay sky £50 and £100 PM for mobile phones? Crazy. That's almost 10% of your income and a huge % of your "disposable" cash.

All your bills look very high to me. Shop around and switch via quidco.

bathgatebuyer

I'd agree with Chevalier, wonderful as a big wedding is, it really wouldn't be the best thing financially right now. You could go ahead with the wedding with a family loan, or maybe your fiance's father would be able to use that money to help tide you over until he gets another job?

I know it can't be easy but I would definitely think whether it is worth having such a big wedding right now given that you're £26K in debt. A big wedding is going to give you a great day, but it will also increase that to £36K and I'm sure that will sour any memory you have of your wedding day.

I'd also agree with the comments re satellite and mobile phones - I can't be too critical though of the mobile bills as mine used to be sky high too! But, I managed to switch to a different tariff and get 600 mins talk, free web browsing, unlimited texts (and I text the bejesus out of myself everyday!) for £35 a month. Yes it's higher than some on here, but it's still a good deal better off than the £80 I used to spend a month.

On the Satellite front, could you not manage with Freeview? I love my sports but have never had Sky (it's a Rupert Murdoch dislike thing I have) and manage to get by on Setanta. Ok I miss out on some of the big games, but for my £14 through BT vision, I get a PVR to record TV, all the Setanta EPL and SPL games plus my boxing. It depends on what you use Sky for but is it worth paying £50 a month for that or £50 a month on food or debt repayment?

And on the car insurance?! Wow! I'm £29 a month for a VW Beetle which is parked on a main road (fully comp). Really have a shop around? Or is this because you have an expensive car? If you do, then perhaps have a though as to whether you really need it and whether you can get something smaller.

Sorry if it all sounds really harsh, but there are so many of us on here who have been in these situations. I was £34k in debt 3 years ago and now I'm in £3,200 worth of remaining debt which I feel more than manageable for me. I'm about 8 months off being completely debt-free. I have had to cut back. No new car while those around me have bought new ones, no flashy holidays while listening to other people brag about theirs, eating on a budget, no nights out, no fancy clothing, cutting right back on everyday spending to not even buying a daily newspaper, using vouchers for things.....................all of these things apply. In all honesty, it has not been as bad as it sounds. I'd reached a point where I knew that once I started working again, I would have to fight long and hard to get out of my debt, but I'm nearly there now. I come off my mortgage fixed rate on April 16th and will have an extra £280 a month to put towards my debt which will help. It really has been hard at times, but not as hard as I thought.

You do have to make sacrifices though - if that means getting rid of Sky, using your mobiles less, either downsizing your car or getting a better deal on insurance, then so be it. Have a think about whether you really need another £10K of debt with a wedding added to all of this as well? I can only think it would take some of the shine off your big day knowing that it is giving you so much more debt and all of the time and hard work associated with repaying it that will have to follow.

benbenandme

Welcome to the boards, you sound very focused and determined and I wish you well with this journey One quick question though, how come you've got the car finance thing if dh can get cheap cars? Would it be worth trying to get out of the car finance somehow and stick to just one car, or could he get a cheap second car? Good luck x

Clariman

Hi Karlyjade

That's really tough luck about the job loss, just ahead of your big year. I think that you are right to stop to consider the cost of the wedding. However, let me make a comment on that - one that may come across as either dull, old-fashioned or a very male view - or possibly all 3! In recent years, people have spent a ridiculous amount of money on weddings - it had become fashionable to do so, probably much hyped by the media, celebrity weddings and the wedding industry.

Weddings don't have to be huge and massively expensive. In fact, I think the fashion for big weddings will disappear with the current credit crunch. Smaller wedding will become more fashionable.

However, the important point that i want to make is that a wedding isn't really about the big party, nor is it about the day itself .... it is a commitment that 2 people make to share their lives together. So while you may choose to cancel the major wedding day celebrations or to cut back on the expense, there is no reason why you can't make the personal commitment between you.

As for consolidation loans. Someone asked "why not consolidate?". The reasons are many and I have previously documented them on the makesenseof cards website here..

Clariman

wannabe_sybil

Don't know much about things like debt

But have you looked on the Wedding's board? http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=142

That may help you work out what can be done and what can't.

Good luck

Swans1912

Cable / SKY & Mobile needs to be looked at.

Cable / SKY should go to start with.