What have we done? Too much debt so young

chivers1977

Hi Kat

I have noticed that you are saving clubcard points for a holiday. Do you do all your shopping at tesco? If so, STOP. You will save a fortune at somewhere like LIDL. You do not need another holiday at the moment, even if it is "free". Also if I were in your position, I would consider getting a full time position and leaving the business for a while. You have not said yet the income that you both bring in but I would guess servicing debts of your size takes up a huge whack. I think, and I know that I am preaching, you need a job with guaranateed income to ensure that you do not end up with no money to repay the debts. Also, I know that you know this already, all of the discount voucher code forays need to stop...... Sorry to be harsh........

Mrs_Sparkle

Hey Kat, welcome to the board. Well done to you and your husband for coming clean about the reality of your debt at such an early age. Yes it's a huge amount but you CAN deal with this and have it all out of the way while you're still young. The peak of your earning power is yet to come and your mortgage won't seem so daunting once you've had a few pay rises and paid off a few years. Don't worry about the extension to 35 years- I know lots of people who are doing that.

I second the suggestion of doing Pigsback and Quidco- look at my signature. And seriously, flog anything that's not nailed down in your house- if you could make £600 from selling old CDs, clothes etc you'd be able to knock your store card on the head.

C x

Bewhoyouwanttobe

Just a quickie about your business, would it be possible to work part time and carry on with your business, it means it isn't such a scary prospect. My friend has a very successful business, but she still teaches at the local college and does sales job, so that she can clear her debts quicker and invest more money into the business.

KatrinaC_2

Hello again other Kat C :wave:

yes, you have a lot of debt, but you also potentially have a high income. Yes, you're having to cut back, but it's not the end of the world that you have to scrimp and save a bit to make ends meet.

Have a look at SouthernScouser's Sticky at the top of the page for new posters and put up an SOA. Even though you've been about MSE for a while now I bet that there are still areas where we can trim your expenditure back still further.

Oh, and stop feeling down. You've been incredibly strong to face up to your debts and to come on here and admit them to us. If you've got the courage to do all that then you've got the strength to do most things.

Kat

tyllwyd

Apart from the house, have you got anything else of value that you could part with - like an expensive car, anything like that?

katchambers

We don't have expensive cars, but we have considered downgrading to unlock a thousand or 2, however, that means getting an older car and our cars are already 8 years or so old, so it might be a bad idea in terms of the chance of older cars costing more in maintenance, we have thought about it though. Not sure whether it will be worth it or not. Hubby needs a reliable car because he travels far to work.

Our winter holiday to centreparcs is also my birthday present and is already paid for so no need to worry about that. It will be the last time we do it though as we won't be able to afford it next year.

Our free hol to alaska that I am hoping for isn't costing anything as I only get points on things I would normally spend, I am not buying loads of wine or extra food, just doing it the cheap way like recycling old phones, getting extra vouchers by joinging the clubs etc. I think it will take more than a year to have enough points and to save spending money, but we are not going to be silly about it, if next year we don't have enough spending money or vouchers we will simply collect again for the following year.

I spoke to hubby last night and told him what I said about how I am bringing him down and how guilty I feel coz I think it's my fault, and he totally made me feel better and convinced me that it is both of us, we choose the expensive wedding, our families didn't help out so we got a loan, hence the £18k loan, then 10k was deposit on this house, 3k was to turf and pave the garden, 3k on furnishings, 6k on hot tub, 6k on a car for my dad who lost his car in an accident and needa a car for work

So at least some of the money spent was for real things, I thought it was all wasted but I guess not all of it, makes me feel a little better but still horrible because we are in so much debt.

I told hubby that I am going to transfer money from my business, any that is left over after tax and stock etc purchased I will put into our savings account, along with all my quidco, topcashback, ciao money and then over pay on our northern rock loan which is flexible, and pay off the store card, hopefully we might be able to do that every now and then to reduce the debt a bit quicker.

Kat

Bluelad_2

Hi Kat,
You must STOP spending and obviously cut back on everything that is essential. Your debt is HUGE but you can do things to get reduce it. Personally I think if running your business full time means initially increasing your debt then I would advise against it.

I notice you are collecting TESCO points. Again it depends how much you want to reduce your debt. If it was me I'd be getting DEALS and selling the goods instead of holidays.

I'm honestly not trying to criticise anything you do, just highlighting what I would do in your position. Good luck with all your decisions!!!

katchambers

I am fully aware that I need to cut back which is why we are not paying for holidays anymore and I hoping to get one for free with tescos. There isn't really anything in the deals that would save us money except for rac cover and car maintenance national autocentre so we have to use the points on something so might as well use them on a holiday. The thing is that our debt won't be paid off untill 2014 so are we really not allowed to have a holiday for 8 years? If that were the case I would just end it all right now, because life is too short to not have any fun. I thought that by getting a holiday for free rather than spending £3k a year on holidays was a step in the right direction. Hmmm I feel even more depressed now.

Thanks for your advice tho, guess I will take it under advisement

kat

Bluelad_2

I won't reply on the holiday thing.

Like I said I'm not trying to criticise. I am a strong believer of it's each to their own and like I said Good Luck.

My point with the DEALS is you could get stuff from MFI and flog it to make some good money. I haven't done this but are moving house and effectively getting a new bathroom and kitchen for Free (a word I love)

pennylane99

wow...how much do you need to spend at Tesco to earn 12,000 points per quarter to claim for a free holiday in Alaska.....:eek: