New here, epic debt and suprisingly calm!

GVP_2

Welcome aboard. It's strange, I only joined last month, and like yourself I've got quite a high debt compared to most on here, but equally I seem quite calm about it too.

Good luck with making progress.

GVP_2

Trollfever wrote: »

But........................................

How many days a month do you have to work just to pay the interest on all your debts?

I've never looked at my debt like that before. That's really got me thinking, and made me more determined to sort things. :T

WorkingHardDFW

Well done on posting and facing up to your debt - its the start and thats what matters.

My advice for whats it worth and having had considerable debt myself is that part of the getting to be DF is understanding what causes you to get into debt in the first place. Keeping a spending diary, writing down and analysing everything you spend helps in this considerably along aside a budget for everything. The difference is usually your debt. I found that when I thought I was budgetting for everything in fact I was missing out huge amounts of 'stuff' which needed to be paid for as as such ran up debt.

Keep a spending diary you will be amazed how it helps get a handle on what you spend.

Good luck with your DF journey, keep posting you will get such support :cool:

brokemedic

Apologies if this isn't board etiquette (asking another poster a question on OP's thread) but having just seen your signature WorkingHardDFW, how did you manage to pay off all that debt?? It's so impressive.:D

brokemedic

WorkingHardDFW

Thanks for the question BrokeMedic. Just hard work I guess. Reducing outgoings where we could and increasing income as we could, using the occasional bonus to throw a the debt, snowballing to pay off the most expensive cards first, cc tarting to use existing cards 0% offers etc etc. Just plain old hard work has got us to this point.

I guess we were lucky in that we had our LBM whilst we were still solvent and had never missed a repayment etc. But we were only just making endds meet. Realising where we were overspending and budgeting properly has made such a difference as well.

gfplux

Make out your SOA (link - http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html ) Try not to guess at the figures, dig out the paperwork! However remember a partial completed one is better than none. It is in fact one of the most important things you will ever do to start on the road to recovery. If you want a lot of help on this forum, posting your SOA is the first and most important step. After it is done it is very easy to keep it up to date. In my opinion everyone should have an up to date SOA even if you have little or no debt. It is a great tool to manage your life with.
If you post it on the forum answer the obvious questions before they are asked so you get immediate feedback, such as :-
If you have other Income explain what it is
Mortgage – interest only or not.
What is the age of any children.
Council tax over 10 or 12 months.
Electricity and gas any arrears.
Water rates meter yes or no.
Mobiles, how many.
If your pets cost money, what are they.