The secret to my failure....

Orsonwelles

Right now the time is 12.20am, sunday 5th July and i guess i have had my Light Bulb Moment...... I am in debt and I am spiralling out of control to a position where i fear i wont be able to get out of. Today I spent nearly £300 on items that i didnt need and on general living costs. I used my credit card to pay for it all because there is only enough money in my current account to pay off my direct debits. Things have never been this bad before and now I must put a stop to it. I must start now and not hide away from this problem because it will not go away.

Right now I dont know exactly know how much debt I am in (not a great start) but i think it is around £7500. Most of this is on two credit cards where I pay high interest rates. I also have a small loan which will end in november and another family loan which will end in november too.

I realise that too clear that debt and get a grip of my finances i must work extremely hard, make sacrifices and never give up. I have been inspired by the people on this forum who have tackled their debts and been successful. I can do it too. I have established this diary to keep me motivated, get ideas from others and chart my progress.

My plan of action:

: Recognise that i have a spending problem and get control of it
: Do an SOA and go through my finances to find ways of cutting down
: Work out a plan of action to start paying back my debt
: Make money through other ways and become more financially savvy

I hope that by working through many of the tips and ideas on this site that i can clear my debt. It would be one of my greatest achievements. I just need to belive in myself. Wish me luck.

Thank you

"Just do it. Its far easier to apologise than to gain permission"

southernscouser

The first thing to do is get a calculator and work out exactly how much it is you're tackling.

PinkTwirl

Hi,

What is causing you to spend in this way? Do you buy things you like but aren't essential or are they necessary costs e.g. petrol etc?

cocalls

Hello there
Any chance you can take the £300 worth of stuff back to the shops today if you didn't need it?
Good Luck

elf06

Hi just popped on for a quick look around this morning and say your post. Well done for getting the lightbulb moment - now you can start to tackle the problem
Good luck

Lemon_Tree

i was beaten to saying was there anyway you could return what you've spent?

Welcome to the boards, fingers crossed it won't ever feel so bad again, there's a lot of helpful hints and people on here so you will have all the tools and support you need to tackle your debts

PNPSUKNET

I did a similar thing in 2005, but some reason last year I decided the same and trust me feels so much better

westiedog

Good luck with your journey xxx :T

Orsonwelles

Today i recouped around £150 of what i spent yesterday. That is probably the first time that i have ever done anything like that and it felt really good!! The ball is slowly rolling.

I earn just over a £1000 a month and these are my outgoings:

Rent - £160

Moble phone - £45

Sky package - £37

Car insurance - £65

Account fee - £12.95

Football - £10

Mags - £10

Petrol - £120

Loan - £70.10

Family loan - £150

Credit card 1 - £55

Credit card 2 - £60

Line rental (every three months) - £36

The total comes to £821.05. The two loans that i have are set amounts each month and both end in november this year. My fuel bill should go down because as of tomorrow i will be getting a lift to work which will help greatly. Im also going to look into my mobile phone bill. A few months ago i had it lowered but now it seems to have gone back up to the original price!!

My debts:

Credit Card 1:
Balance - £3,636.40

Credit Card 2:
Balance - 2,700.66

The total of these two = £6337.06

Credit Card 1 is with virgin after i balance transferred to them but i missed the a payment and so the 0% deal ended and now i pay interest. Last week I tried to transfer both to a 0% deel but i was refused the card. I checked my credit history and their didn't seem to be a problem.
I was thinking of maybe transferring both to a "life of balance" card. Hopefully i will be given one.

My next challenge is to set up a plan of action on how to pay it all back.
I want to do everything i can to earn a little bit more £££ and put towards my debt.

Fire_Fox

Congrats on your Lightbulb Moment and welcome to diary-land!

You have missed a lot off your Statement of Affairs - no MOT, road tax, repairs, council tax, utility bills, TV license, food?? This is the budget template we use:
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Could you cancel or downgrade your mobile phone and Sky packages? Do you need the account fee and magazines?

claire0788

Orsonwelles wrote: »

Today i recouped around £150 of what i spent yesterday. That is probably the first time that i have ever done anything like that and it felt really good!! The ball is slowly rolling.

I earn just over a £1000 a month and these are my outgoings:

Rent - £160

Moble phone - £45

Sky package - £37

Car insurance - £65

Account fee - £12.95

Football - £10

Mags - £10

Petrol - £120

Loan - £70.10

Family loan - £150

Credit card 1 - £55

Credit card 2 - £60

Line rental (every three months) - £36

The total comes to £821.05. The two loans that i have are set amounts each month and both end in november this year. My fuel bill should go down because as of tomorrow i will be getting a lift to work which will help greatly. Im also going to look into my mobile phone bill. A few months ago i had it lowered but now it seems to have gone back up to the original price!!

My debts:

Credit Card 1:
Balance - £3,636.40

Credit Card 2:
Balance - 2,700.66

The total of these two = £6337.06

Credit Card 1 is with virgin after i balance transferred to them but i missed the a payment and so the 0% deal ended and now i pay interest. Last week I tried to transfer both to a 0% deel but i was refused the card. I checked my credit history and their didn't seem to be a problem.
I was thinking of maybe transferring both to a "life of balance" card. Hopefully i will be given one.

My next challenge is to set up a plan of action on how to pay it all back.
I want to do everything i can to earn a little bit more £££ and put towards my debt.

Hiya, I think your pretty much on par with my on debt and wages (although mine can change depending on my 2nd job). A few things I have done to help ease on the outgoings. Do you need the full package you have on sky ? If you dont watch all the channels you could maybe go onto a basic ? Im with Virgin Media and I get all the channels (bar films), on demand (which is meant to be £5), free music videos on the on demand, unlimited broadband & home phone for £30 a month so you could use that info to get a better deal, say virgin media are offering such and such and see what they say. I think they are pretty likely to give you a better deal, also say you dont want to leave but as with the credit crunch you may need to shop around but would rather stay with a company you have been loyal to (since whenever you have been with them since). With the mobile, if you have been with the same company for a while or are at the end of your contract soon you can also use the same method.

The account fee, do you really use the features you get with it ? Even if you do could you not get the free travel insurance and whatever else cheaper than 144 a year ? If you decide you dont need the special features with the account sign up to quidco and apply for a new account through them which youll get about £50.

£10 a month is £120 a year on mags, why dont you pick a magazine and get a subscription if you really need a magazine (I have a glamour sub but that was paid for before I realised how much I owed so its my monthly treat and since its delivered to my door I have no temptation to pick up a few mags in the shop just avoid it !)

Also for the car insurance shop around and see if you can get a better deal using moneysupermarket or another comparison site, then use quidco if the site is on it to get another wee bit of cashback.

Really you just need to get to November and then youll have £220.10 extra to hit your debts with and two less loans to pay out ! You can totally do this. Ill even be your debt buddy if you want since we are at a similar number

Plus the people on here are great and they will help you anyway they can. Dont let this get you down, if needs be have a long bath/shower cry your eyes out and then get on with it (thats what I have done when I realised how much debt I had =P)