Huge credit card debt

hypno06

OK, so next year your mortgage will change and you have some 0%s coming to an end......that is why it is so good that you have come to MSE at this time - because you can spend the time in between now and then facing up to things and starting to make some of those necessary changes, rather than waiting until it is upon you and too late to do any hunting around for alternatives.

Sorry you have not felt well, but you are quite right, it may be the stress coming through, or maybe the relief at having faced up to it!

If it all seems too much to tackle at one go, do one thing at a time - I would strongly suggest sitting down with your bank statements and seeing how much you truly honestly spend on groceries in the course of a month. I would bet that there is one area right there that you are about to say you can't cut back on, but that the MSE bods would instantly be able to suggest ways of reducing quite significantly.....and quite often we are talking about a couple of hundred pounds saving each month - not just a few quid!

So that is my challenge to you - be honest about your supermarket spends, share them with us, and let us help you reduce them.

Poosmate

Hi Kingston, sorry to hear you are feeling unwell and hope you get better soon.

Not sure I can add any more to be honest except to reiterate what Hypno said about the fact that you have a year to get into the swing of MSE'ing, cutting back and making the changes to your lifestyles to make your lives better.

If you think things are bleak now, imagine how it would be next year if you hadn't had your lightbulb moment now! You are fortunate in a way to have foresight, you have some absolute definites to work to. Many people who find themselves in your situation don't get a year's grace. You know you can do something about it and the time to start is now.

Once again, best of luck to you and I'll keep popping back to see how things are going.

Poo

Poosmate

Just realised EagerLearner has a thread about the £3 per day "click" earning right here on the Debt Free Wannabe forum!

Here's the link:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2132075

Hope that helps.

Poo

InaPickle

hypno06 wrote: »

^^^^^ So good, she said it twice :rotfl:

Blimey, Hypno, I have no idea how I managed that! I've deleted the second one to unclutter Kingston's thread. But thanks for thanking me twice, anyway! Bon voyage back to your thread (and in real life as well!) x

InaPickle

Hi Kingston!

You seem intruiged by the idea of matched betting, but you could also play online bingo to start with, which requires a lot less thinking (although you don't always win). There is a lot about this in Hypno's latest thread (I now feel like an advertising agency! ) The best site at the minute seems to be BingoBritain . com which requires a minimum £5 stake, but gives you a £5 bonus every day for 30 days to spend which means you could potentially win quite a lot. I joined about 3 or 4 days ago and placed the minimum £5 stake, but won £20 that same day, so I'm £15 in profit. I don't know if you would have that same result, but the chances are definitely in your favour that you would at least make your stake back, and probably a profit. I haven't won since, but the £15 was gratefully received. The normal disclaimers count, or course...

And I'm really sorry to hear you have been unwell. I was just thinking you were staling posting your SOA. Get well and then post it, but take care of yourself as the priority. xxx

EDIT: There are other bingo sites which require no outlay. I tried Foxy Bingo where they give you £20 credit for signing up, but I didn't win a thing. (Boo!)

discodriver

Good on you Kingston!
I have been reading the forums for a year or so, knowing I'd have to do something about our debt, but never having the courage to own up to £100k on credit cards!
Have now had the LBM and taken the plunge with National Debtline and Business Debtline, who were both brilliant - helpful and positive with no hint of shock/disapproval/horror!! Now going forward to CCCS for a management plan. The relief is HUGE, trust me, and now here I am posting for the very first time!
I guess we have made all the classic errors so not going to bore anyone with the whole sorry story, but here are my top tips, for what they're worth. All you old hands can smile quietly and think "told you so"!
1. Work out your figures in minute and painful detail before you start, and be prepared to justify your pared-down budget. The helplines do have reasonable guidelines for living expenses, etc, but they can rattle through the figures very quickly and it sure helps if you know what you've agreed to! Also there are slight variations between organisations, but they will help you allocate expenses to take full advantage of what's allowable.
2. Try and get a cut in every area of expenditure. I am (apparently) the world's most pathetic haggler, but even I managed to get some ridiculous savings - e.g. mobile contract renewed on a sim-only deal rather than upgrading the handset too, £28 per month now down to £9, with 3x the calls/texts!!! Does make you feel you are doing something positive.
3. We now shop at Lidl for half what we used to spend in Sainsbury's, and it's all good stuff! Aldi similar I hear but not as handy where we are. A year ago you would not have got the OH in there.....
4. When next changing the car, get one that runs on LPG. No difference to drive, but half the cost. We live in a rural area and are stuck with a 50 mile round trip commute into Edinburgh, so the fuel saving is A LOT!
5. If you are going to deal with cc companies etc, know your rights. We have contacted all our creditors in the approved fashion but we're currently getting a lot of very persistent calls, as the DMP is not fully set up yet. It makes it a lot easier to deal with them if you know your position, e.g. they are NOT allowed to intimidate you, and you should not be bullied into settling with one company in preference to others. Worst offenders - Egg, M&S and MBNA. Surprisingly good - RBS. Well I suppose we ARE part-owners of it! And if you would rather avoid the calls, get Caller Display!

Thanks again Kingston, and good luck to you and all the others who have chipped in on this thread, Spirit, Hypno and Ramblingtree and others. I feel a whole lot better now I'm a fully fledged "poster"!

InaPickle

:hello: discodriver - nice to see another newbie! Best of luck with the debtbusting! :T

mitchaa

Apologies for being new to this, but how is it possible to rack up £100k on credit cards?

Were alarm bells not ringing at £10k, if not £20k, if not £30k? Surely by the time £50k come it was time to get the finger out and stop spending?

Im not judging, just finding it difficult to understand how such debts can accrue uncontrollably?

Perhaps the O.P does not want to go BR due to his/hers professions? In some it would probably get you the boot and or damage career progression.

ramblingtree

Hi Mitchaa
I can only speak for myself of course. Mine wasn't reckless spending as such, but OH and I studied for too long, had small patches of unemployment, we moved a lot, all of these things cost money. We borrowed a little to help, then when times were hard again, had to borrow a bit more to cover living costs as well as the original debt. It snowballs and increases. Yes we did realise at much lower levels. Firstly (not an excuse) credit was very easy to get. That makes it seem almost ok (stupid, but true in my case). Also, because we were just starting out in careers, you know your salary will increase and times will be easier, so its easy to think, I'll deal with it later. Later never arrives until you realise they've increased your APR and there's no one to switch it to! So you begin to sort it out.
Thats what happened with OH and me anyway. No flash holidays or cars or anything. Just not being very good, and thinking tomorrow will bring some good luck as well as a better paid job etc. Stopping spending would have been easy for us if it had been on extras. But it was basic living costs while we tried to forge careers we wanted.

euronorris

mitchaa wrote: »

Apologies for being new to this, but how is it possible to rack up £100k on credit cards?

Were alarm bells not ringing at £10k, if not £20k, if not £30k? Surely by the time £50k come it was time to get the finger out and stop spending?

Im not judging, just finding it difficult to understand how such debts can accrue uncontrollably?

Perhaps the O.P does not want to go BR due to his/hers professions? In some it would probably get you the boot and or damage career progression.

Denial can be very powerful.

Especially if you have a large income, 10k, 20k, and even 50k probably doesn't seem too bad if you earn 200k gross pa (for example). So, you can continue kidding yourself that it's not that bad and that you'll sort it out next month. And then, of course, it doesn't happen.

I find, often, the LBM moment doesn't happen (at least not fully) until everything starts crashing down around you. I've seen more than a few people come on here, with much smaller debts, who simply won't listen to the advice because they are still in denial about the problem and the real issues at the root of the problem.

It can be frustrating, but everyone has to learn for themselves and then we can all help them find their way through it all. I think sometimes, some of us, just have to learn the hard way. I know I do!