Shifting a 24K debt in a year?????

Ceniza

Mine came in several stages.

Initially, I realised my debt levels were too high, I knew roughly just how much debt I had, but was in denial about the total, so continued paying the minimum etc.

Then I realised that I was still able to get credit, borrowing often from the bank in the terms of overdraft and the like, then I did something that I never thought I'd do. I called the bank and got them to block all lending to me, which they happily did. And fortunately for me it worked, there were a couple of times where I needed an extension on my overdraft, and it was refused, forcing me to deal with the debt and not get deeper into it.

Then finally, my girlfriend who I live with asked to see all my debt, on the table, exact amounts, payments, and the date I would be free of the debt. At first I was stunned, as I felt it was none of her business, however, we're living together, so kind of had the right to do so. It wasn't until I put it all out, that I realised I was over £23k in debt, I thought I was only £17k or so. Then I realised I was paying over £300 a month in interest, and would continue doing so for a VERY long time by only meeting the minimum payments.

That's when it hit me... That was my LBM, seeing my complete and total debt in front of me, the % of my salary that went to JUST interest, and the % that went on total debt! It made me sick that I would still be in debt well into my 30's over things I bought in my early 20's and had since sold, or didn't have anymore. So from this point I decided to tackle everything, grow up, own up to the problem, and get it sorted.

The first stage I believe is admittance (or removing ones head from the sand) to the problem that you have
The second stage is planning to deal with it, and keeping to a debt plan of repayment and control.

Good luck, I know it's hard to approach the subject with people, and it's not always easy to get the other person to admit it is a problem. For me I was casual about it, saying I earnt more than enough to 'service' the debt, but unfortunately that was not clearing the debt! Making people see just how much their wasting, 27% of what I earnt went to debt repayments, or better expressed as working over a week for just covering debt every month, or over two months a year!!!

Anyway, I'm babbling now - hope this might help just a little

Kepp

Thanks Adam, that was really helpful, and very honest too, so thanks

I like your idea of seeing what you earn as a percentage that goes on nothing more than repaying the debts.

I will see if this can help us tackle him from a different angle. I know that everyone has the right to do what they like with their money, and obviously I would never be one to preach about making 'mistakes' (I have made enough!) However, knowing how hard it is to tackle deby myself and seeing how hard we all work on here to deal with it, it would be nice to try and offer the support to him and to try and get him to stop before he makes it any worse.

We can do nowt but try

Thanks again Adam

Ceniza

Not a problem, good luck

steerpiker

Thanks Adam. Don't worry, you weren't babbling at all! I have to agree, sitting at a table with all your debts laid out in front of you is the best way to see the extent of your problem. It's like those photos in slimming mags where a person stands next to all these bags of sugar that shows how much weight s/he needs to lose!:p

The worst moment for me was doing an SOA and then writing a list of all my debt and seeing the final total :eek: Then working out how long it would take for me to pay it all back!

I think nowadays, it's "cool" to say that you're dealing with your debt.:cool:

Woowoo

I had my LBM when I realised my best friends Mum owed the exact amount as I did. It scared me that if I carried on the way I was, I would owe at least double by the time I reached her age.

Previous to this it was always 'when I get out of debt' but I was never actively trying to get out of debt and was still spending continuously on my credit card.

I never once looked at the interest per month, only what the minimum was I had to pay and if I could afford it all was well.

I still can't believe I ever lived like that.

jtr2803

Hello again! Thanks for the FB request, thos epics of you in Africa are awesome, at least you have some amazing memories to show for your debt, I don't! :rotfl:

I wanted to tell you how much I admire you for doing all your extra jobs and managing to still be so motivated! I struggle doing one shift a week at the pub and don't know how you manage it!

Sorry to hear about your brother as well, must be hard for your parents who no doubt are worrying about him. It's lovely of them to be concerned though and want to help, so many people bury their heads in the sand for so long. Actually seeing it all on paper can sometimes be the exact shock needed, I remember getting all my paperwork together to speak to payplan and being in total horror when it worked out to just under £17k plus my car finance :eek: I Hope your brother can see where he is heading and make some positive changes.

Keeping fingers crossed for you that you have a nice chilled afternoon shift

Kepp

steerpiker wrote: »

Thanks Adam. Don't worry, you weren't babbling at all! I have to agree, sitting at a table with all your debts laid out in front of you is the best way to see the extent of your problem. It's like those photos in slimming mags where a person stands next to all these bags of sugar that shows how much weight s/he needs to lose!:p

The worst moment for me was doing an SOA and then writing a list of all my debt and seeing the final total :eek: Then working out how long it would take for me to pay it all back!

I think nowadays, it's "cool" to say that you're dealing with your debt.:cool:

Woowoo wrote: »

I had my LBM when I realised my best friends Mum owed the exact amount as I did. It scared me that if I carried on the way I was, I would owe at least double by the time I reached her age.

Previous to this it was always 'when I get out of debt' but I was never actively trying to get out of debt and was still spending continuously on my credit card.

I never once looked at the interest per month, only what the minimum was I had to pay and if I could afford it all was well.

I still can't believe I ever lived like that.

Thanks guys, it's all useful stuff to know. Of course we all know our own reasons but when trying to help someone else it really helps to know other people's reasons as that might be theirs if that makes any sense at all?!

Anyways, in short, thanks!

Kepp

jtr2803 wrote: »

Hello again! Thanks for the FB request, thos epics of you in Africa are awesome, at least you have some amazing memories to show for your debt, I don't! :rotfl:

I wanted to tell you how much I admire you for doing all your extra jobs and managing to still be so motivated! I struggle doing one shift a week at the pub and don't know how you manage it!

Sorry to hear about your brother as well, must be hard for your parents who no doubt are worrying about him. It's lovely of them to be concerned though and want to help, so many people bury their heads in the sand for so long. Actually seeing it all on paper can sometimes be the exact shock needed, I remember getting all my paperwork together to speak to payplan and being in total horror when it worked out to just under £17k plus my car finance :eek: I Hope your brother can see where he is heading and make some positive changes.

Keeping fingers crossed for you that you have a nice chilled afternoon shift

Hey Jody!

It is those pics that keep me going in a way - I can always look at them and remember what a great time I had and also remind myself that once I am out of debt then I can start saving to go travelling again, and that's good motivation.

And thank you, that's lovely. It can be hard to manage all the hours - I do sleep a fair bit in my free time!

Will update on the bro situation in a bit - it's a bit of a mess!

Kepp

So, my Monday update!

I called MBNA on Friday night after being told I needed to speak to the interest people team. She looked at the account and actually said, wait for it…computer says no! :rotfl: After stopping laughing I asked if she could tell me why as 29.9% is very high for a card that when I took it was 7.9%. She said well it has been 29.9% for a year now. And I said so the fact that you’ve been ripping me off for a year makes it ok then? She didn’t have an answer for that! Anyway, the short of it was she couldn’t help me but I could speak to the ‘proactive’ team who might be able to. But guess what, they finish work at five! Gonna try and get home today and phone them but not sure if I’ll be able to, it may have to wait till Friday when I finish work earlier.

No idea if it has anything to do with this or not but I noticed this morning that since last week they have reduced the credit limit on that card by £400 now. I don’t want the credit anyway, but seems a little odd.

Have also picked up a third cleaning job! So that’s another £60 a month to throw at the debt, watch out Adam for that 1st September challenge!

Didn’t get out of the pub till gone two on Sat night (or morning!) so that was a long shift. I was mopping the guys loos at bout quarter to two (sorry guys, but your toilets are disgusting!) and I actually started laughing to myself. I suddenly had the thought that if in the past when I’d got my credit card out to pay for something if someone had popped up and said you do realise that you’ll be mopping up pee at two in the morning to pay for that how quickly I would have put that card back in my purse!!! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Had a nice chilled shift on the Sunday afternoon though. They have a meat draw in there on Sunday afternoons and one of the old guys who is a regular there and a really sweet guy gave me his prize as he didn’t want it. So we had a lovely lamb joint for Sunday roast yesterday.

Also made by batch of soup for lunches for the week – pea and mint, tastes lovely!

My brother has agreed to let my Mum help him. He has agreed this a year or so ago and then backed out but she said that this time she is determined to make him stick to it. She found out he has taken loans with those people that loan for £100 a time and then charge 300% interest. :eek: Still waiting to find out the full extent of the damage.

Other than that I’m still chipping away, one of my cleaning jobs to do tonight to keep those pennies coming in

miggy

beccie wrote: »

My brother has agreed to let my Mum help him. He has agreed this a year or so ago and then backed out but she said that this time she is determined to make him stick to it. She found out he has taken loans with those people that loan for £100 a time and then charge 300% interest. :eek: Still waiting to find out the full extent of the damage.

Ouch! Poor him.

Good to see you making such good inroads into your debt though . As to mopping the floor at 2am :eek: :D:D! Maybe you should start running a class along the same lines as those where teenagers have to look after a baby doll for a while to make them think twice about conceiving? Do you think someone would pay you to make them stay up and mop?