Personal Challenge : Clear £42k in 6 months

zharrt

I have a golden opportunity to try and clear all my debts (except my mortgage) with in 6 months, and I hope to keep a little diary on here.

BACKGROUND:

I have had a bury my head in the sand philosophy when it comes to my debt and I am now in a bit of a mess, but I have taken a stand and am ready to rumble! No CCJ’s yet but lots of defaults and chasing letters. However a change in employment circumstances means that I have a chance to hopefully clear everything, with a bit of luck, some negotiation and lots of hard work!

DEBTS:

(1) £16k
(2) £8k
(3) £7k

(4) £3.2k
(5) £2.5k
(6) £1.8k
(7) £1.8k
(8) £1.1K

(Misc) £700

PLAN:

I reckon I can have between £3.5 and £4k a month to throw at each debts so this is my plan. £1,000 a month to (1) and £500 a month to (2) & (3), I am hoping I can get them to agree to settle over these terms in 6 months, I have already paid £2k to (1) and they have agreed to wipe off another £5k already. With the remaining £1500-£2000 a month I will take each of 4-8 in turn and get them to settle for a one off lump sum, however in the first month I will settle all the misc debts (range between £10 and £350 pounds) and pay my car insurance.

Wish me luck people, I think I am gonna needed it and please feel free to send me coffee as Its gonna be 12 hour days with no days off between now and August 26th!

supersavershal

Good luck, that sounds great.If you can manage it in 6 months time you will be debt free.I wish I could do it.
I also like to pay off all the little misc debts off before tackling the big ones, I lack the discipline needed.I look forward to hearing all about your journey if you have time to post that is, it sounds like you will be very busy, look after yourself and keep healthy.

Triangle

Wow - what an amazing goal to have! :beer:

Wishing you loads of luck

T
x

Mothermercury30

I wish you all the luck in the world! keep us all posted!!!

zharrt

supersavershal wrote: »

Good luck, that sounds great.If you can manage it in 6 months time you will be debt free.I wish I could do it.
I also like to pay off all the little misc debts off before tackling the big ones, I lack the discipline needed.I look forward to hearing all about your journey if you have time to post that is, it sounds like you will be very busy, look after yourself and keep healthy.

I too lack discipline, that's why I'm in the mess I am, but thankfully I got my parents helping me, I earn it, they negotiate the repayments!

nic_santorini

Good luck, although a large wage packet like that, makes £42k seems smaller than it does for others on here, nevertheless go for it and glad it will be a far easier ride.

rictus123

Good luck with that! Then save £42k in the following 6 months and never be in this position again!

IndigoBlue_2

I wish you the best of luck. I wish more people in situations like yours had this philosophy.

zharrt

nic_santorini wrote: »

Good luck, although a large wage packet like that, makes £42k seems smaller than it does for others on here, nevertheless go for it and glad it will be a far easier ride.

The income is not guarenteed, and trust me it still seems a very large amount, I am just trying to capatalise on an opportuinty.

zharrt

rictus123 wrote: »

Good luck with that! Then save £42k in the following 6 months and never be in this position again!

Its not quite £42k I will be earning, I am hoping I get get around 50% knocked off if I agree to pay lump sums, thats the part I can't control and the bit that scares me the most!

I have been living "within my means" for 18 months without using credit of any sort so I am hoping that I will never get in this mess again, I have also learnt that its best to face these sort of problems head on rather than bury my head in the sand.

spendingmad

Can I ask why would a CC company knock 50% off your current balance if you are managing to make the minimum payments?

We have a large debt and I wouldn't dream of ringing the CC companys and asking to reduce the amount we owe - we spent it we have to face the consequences.

I really feel for people who can not manage finacially and have to arrange DMP's etc I really do, but I have a feeling some people take on an attitude of spend it and renegiotate payments when their decide not to pay it back. It is going to backfire on the majority of people who pay their bills. I have already have interest hikes on 2 CC's and I pay on time and a little over the minimum payment each month.

I do wish you lots of luck in the debt free journey and hope you achieve your goals. I am sorry if the above sounded negative - I am angry at the CC companys more than the individuals involved. Make sure you have some rest and dont work yourself so hard that you end up ill - somethings are more important. x