£30k in debt! Where to start???

prout

Chris freelander: the way you found out about your debt really reminds me of how I found out about my weight... For years I had eaten what I wanted and refused to weigh myself... Finally took action in June and realized I was 16 stones and 1/2 !!
Have since managed to loose a stone so in all honesty if I can do this, you can manage to be debt free. Don't despair, you'll get there.

prout

Chris freelander:

I borrowed a book from my library recently and it's the best I have ever read on how to budget and save money.
The author recommends saving 15-20% of income (in your case this would go twds your debts) + making a weekly budget with one column for:
1) mortgage
2) gas/ elec
3)phone
4)council tax
5)transport
6)food
7) holidays
8) entertainment/leisure
9) clothes
10) savings (debt repayment)

Basically plan every week where your money has to go and include things like sky /tv licence etc towards entertainment. Take out the cash you need for non necessities (entertainement + clothes as a treat). Once it's gone, it's gone. Likewise, you must take from your entertainment budget for things like TV license etc.
Then I would suggest, if you haven't done it yet:
a) review all your services / utilities providers and phone them saying another provider has made a better offer and you are thinking of leaving. I did that with mine and got better deals matched each time (and as long as I was reasonnable, even the better deals I had invented lol!). Careful though as some companies will try to give you services... insist you prefer money, not "free" services you may forget to cancel later on.
b) try to save money on elec/gas bills by keeping the temperature down slightly. Remember every little helps.
c) join online surveys pannels + mystery shopping companies and earn treats so your entertainement fund can sometimes go partially towards your debts.
d) Are you sure you need 2 cars? I would sell one car and arrange to have a lift with a work mate and share petrol costs.
e) Cut down on anything from convenience shops, little treats etc or include them in your entertainment budget.
f) Join a freegle group in your area (search engine "freegle UK"). That will help you save a lot of cash.
g) Live frugally: buy big bags of potatoes, pasta, rice rather than expensive branded food or ready meals.

The book is by Justine Trueman, it is called "The Utimate book of money matters for women".

Best of luck, you'll get there.

prout

My bills (although I am sure you could get a better deal by "haggling"):
*£8.50/month for my mobile phone (100 texts, 100 minutes, 100 minutes to another Virgin number)
*£24.50/month for broadband 10 MG (unlimited), landline, free wireless router, free calls to landlines all week + international option to pay cheaper abroad (needed to phone my parents)
*£12/ month water
*£40 for gas + £20 for elec. with npower. I added up all the energy I consumed on average each year (kilojoules) and thanks to a comparative website I found the cheapest deal possible for me. I had to add "online billing" + "monthly direct debit" to be able to have access to the discount.
I review all my providers (including banks) every year and end up ditching them if they cannot offer me what their competitors are giving their new customers. Same for insurance providers. Loyalty really pays with them.
Good luck!!!

missworks2jobs

Just some activities ideas for the kids that my friends two (5 and 2) love to do (and the things I enjoyed when I was little)
Feeding ducks stale bread at the park
Going to the sunday flea market with my dad while mam was at work (we were given £1 each which was usually spent on tat anyway - this was about 25years ago mind-. If we didn't spend our £1 my dad would make us bacon & egg sandwiches when we got home as a treat (mam never let us have fried eggs).
Baking or being allowed to help make tea
Blackberry picking
Collecting shells on the beach (or pebbles near the river/lake) and taking them home to paint or cover in glitter.
Museums and or art galleries
Going to the library and seeing who could be the quietest for longest at "reading in your head"
Learning to play dominoes with my grandad
Climbing to the top of the local monument (we live in the north east so have penshaw monument and more recently the angel of the north)
Feeding the horses in the fields polos (or some smarprice carrots the more healthy option)
When we were little the local council used to hang fancy lights all along the coast (poor man's blackpool illuminations) so as soon as it got dark (about 6pm in November) my mam & dad used to take us in the car (in our slippers and PJS) to look at them. We had a sunroof so had extra good views. Then afterwards we used to pull over and my mam would run into a little cafe on the coast and get us a bag of chips to share and we'd take little flasks of hot chocolate and sit in the car, in the carpark near the beach looking for any boats in the dark. If you dont have a display nearby I bet you have an estate nearby with really OTT and often tacky christmas decorations. I used to take my youngest sister out for a car ride (there's a big age gap so she was still young when I was driving) round the streets looking at all the lights.
My friend's little ones love the local metro and went to nursery telling everyone about the big train they'd been on a really long journey with their mum (when really they'd only gone about 3 stops into town) but kids love buses and trains.
Making popcorn necklaces, some elastic and a plastic needle and a bowl of your own popped popcorn (much cheaper than the bought stuff) and the kids can make edible necklaces and bracelets. They could even paint them in sugar syrup coloured with food colouring. (do this on a washable surface).
Counting up the pennies from the penny jar into little piles of 10 so mam & dad could put them in bags and bank them. I was an easily amused child!

southantrim3

You may have already checked this out and are maybe at your current limit but would it be possible to add all the debt on to your mortgage since it's only at 3.5%, considerably less than your other loans?

Just a thought, it may not be an option, but thought I would suggest it anyway. Good luck.

dumpy

missworks2jobs wrote: »

Feeding the horses in the fields polos (or some smarprice carrots the more healthy option)

Please don't do this one if you don't know the owners and haven't checked that it is OK to do it. It encourages the horses to think of people as food and can lead to serious biting problems.

Also I have a horse which has a very tightly controlled diet and feeding her sweets could trigger colic which can result in a huge vet bill or even her death. And yes "just a few" can be a problem.

That wouldn't be very money saving to me!

prout

More ideas for kids (I am a teacher but hush, don't tell anyone!!):

- borrow an origami book from the library and practise all day on paper you were going to recycle
- become a volunteer at your local RSPCA and offer to be a cat socializer / dog walker. Did this when I used to live down south. Amazing experience and great activity for kids!
- join a charity and do voluntary work with your kids at the weekend. It will help you meet loads of new people and take you away from shopping centers (it worked for me). Plus, because you do something useful it gives you a real lift!
- go for walks and picnics
- borrow craft/yoga books from the library and practice
- paint flower pots and teach the kids how to plant seeds
- make bird feeds for the winter using cool melted lard, cheap plastic cups, string and cheap seeds (my local B&M sell big bags of seeds for just 79p). = Hole down the bottom of the cup, put string in, add melted lard and seeds. Hang upside down.
- play board games / cards
- declutter the house and take the kids to sell the stuff they don't need anymore to the local car boot sell
- make collage using old catalogues (like cut out "eyes" and use them to create people/objects/monsters on paper)
- Teach your kids how to do friendship bracelets, knitting etc... lots of fun... contact your local freegle group to see if anyone has needles + wool they are giving away.
- Go charity shop shopping and set a limit on how much everyone is spending (my partner and I do that, amazing the amount of fun things you can find lol)
- If you know friends who own a dog, ask if you can take the dog for a walk
- Pitch a tent in the back garden and the kids can "go camping" (loved this as a kid!!!)
- Clean the house as a family then put a nice table cloth, posh glasses etc and have a family meal where the kids can be your waiters (then you can swap at a later date lol)
- Use old CDs to make scarecrows in your garden or use near your windows so birds don't come crashing into them
- Pick a village/town nearby you've never been to and have a day out there, walking and visiting. Bring a thermo and cooked chicken or a picnic that you can have near the sea etc. Then treat the kids to a coke in a restaurant or an icecream.
- Bake a cake or decorate a cake (think this was mentioned but it is always a favourite).
- Have a "no screen" day (no TV, no laptop) etc and find something fun to do
- Have a dinner by candlelights (no electricity allowed), the kids help prepare the table etc
- Tell the kids (if they are young enough) tonight is cabaret night and they have to provide entertainment for the adult (sing, danse, tell jokes, put on mummy's clothes and pretend to be a grown up etc)
- Visit a relative you have not seen for a while
- Volunteer to go and spend some time with the eldery
- Offer your services as babysitters (your kids will love having a "new friend" at home + you will be earning cash).

Good luck!

chrisfreelander54

SkintGypsy wrote: »

Just one step at a time matey. We had a big loan (consolidation!) that ticked over, then I transferred as much as I could to 0% cards. Paid of any high interest stuff first, and as each debt was cleared just increased payments to 0% cards. I love my egg money manager because I can see all my accounts in a row and gradually seeing the minus figures get less was really good motivation. I also budgetted for all my big yearly expenses in separate savings accounts, also online with egg. Xmas, holidays and car repairs never set me back as there was always money in the pot. Like I said, be realistic with your budget, or you will get frustrated and start to let things slide. The first year was hard, but then it all just became second nature.

Top tip, go through your bank statement and make a spreadsheet of your outgoings. As each one goes out of your account, tick it off. This should ensure you know how much you need to pay everything, including four weeks groceries and petrol, and then you will see how much spare you have. I always left a bit spare per month for treats, but most of the surplus was allocated to debt. Hare and tortoise.

Thanks for reply, you mention that you transfered yur debt to 0% cards, was this loans transfered to card or just normal balance transfers of cards. (hope u understand).

You also mention an egg account, do you have to have and accual account with egg to use this tool or is it available to everyone, not just customers.

chrisfreelander54

pennypusher wrote: »

Hi you've got a lot of money tied up in your car, have you thought about selling it and getting a cheaper one? Also your £10000, perhaps you could put that towards the debts so that you have lower payments each month. I would suggest you keep a spending diary, your figures look very tight which might not be realistic. Good luck with getting your debts down.

Unforunantly we can sell the car as I work in cheshire and my wife works in staffordshire, and then there is no one i can share a lift with either as my works have had a shift shake up, so now every one i work with live miles away from me.

chrisfreelander54

prout wrote: »

My bills (although I am sure you could get a better deal by "haggling"):
*£8.50/month for my mobile phone (100 texts, 100 minutes, 100 minutes to another Virgin number) - we pay £15 per month each for 350 minutes and unlimited texts, its also fixed so cant run over minutes.
*£24.50/month for broadband 10 MG (unlimited), landline, free wireless router, free calls to landlines all week + international option to pay cheaper abroad (needed to phone my parents) - who is this with as we are with virgin get 10meg BB, free evening and weekend calls to landlines plus free wireless router with virgin for alot more money than that, sounds like you got a bargain. :mad:
*£12/ month water
*£40 for gas + £20 for elec. with npower. I added up all the energy I consumed on average each year (kilojoules) and thanks to a comparative website I found the cheapest deal possible for me. I had to add "online billing" + "monthly direct debit" to be able to have access to the discount.
I review all my providers (including banks) every year and end up ditching them if they cannot offer me what their competitors are giving their new customers. Same for insurance providers. Loyalty really pays with them.
Good luck!!!

Thanks for your feedback