Another fine mess...

suetmc03

On Sunday I admitted my £30,000 credit card debt to my husband. Crazily he has neither left nor killed me. Are we better to follow a debt management plan - through such as CCCS or remortgage & clear or a combination or something else?

SnowyOwl_2

SuetMc03, can't answer your question but just wanted to put a note on here to say well done for getting the courage and honesty to talk to your husband. You must feel better (even if your hubbie felt bad) to get it off your chest. Better out than in, as they say.

And well done for deciding to do something about the debt. It's a horrible situation to be in but you've come to the right place and you'll get some wonderful and wise advice on here.
All the best

Snowy Owl.

nearlyrich

Hi Suetmc03 you must feel loads better having shared the problem with your DH, together you will get through it.

Have you done a budget? If not do one so you can see how much you have to pay off your debts. See Here for Martin's article on how to deal with problem debt, it also has a link to a great spreadsheet for budgeting.

Once you know how much you have to pay off your debts each month you can work out how long it will take, you might need help from the Citizens Advice Bureau or get a Self Help Pack here

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/e...nd_wales.php3#3

Have a read of the other threads on here, lots of good advice, read Martin's book and take a look around the boards for ideas on how to save money on utilities, credit card interest, shopping etc.

If you want to post more information about your debts and other financial information here there are lots of members who are and have been where you are right now and they will give you some sound advice.

Hope this helps a little and you have come to the right place to get started.:)

robnye

suetmc03 wrote:

On Sunday I admitted my £30,000 credit card debt to my husband. Crazily he has neither left nor killed me. Are we better to follow a debt management plan - through such as CCCS or remortgage & clear or a combination or something else?

firstly, welcome to the site.... there are plenty of people who can/will help with useful suggestions for you

secondly, most financial articles regarding debt, do not recommend using debt managment plans, unless done through one of the free/voluntary organisations........ the debt management plans actually increase your debt, due to a % being taken of every payment you make to them for their services
edit (this is if you use a debt management company)

as someone has already mentioned, go through your spending habits with a fine toothcomb , list down all expenses, debts (minimum payments and %)
use this board to find other ways of reducing expenses..... reduce electric/gas/telephone/insurance.....

good luck,

zml

Hi suetmc03,
I have been through a similar thing with my husband. Having remortgaged once it was I, not my husband, who went on to run up further debt on credit etc.
It all came to a head in October when I could no longer cope with the repayments let alone the stress of keeping it from him. He was very understanding but I decided that something had to be done so I contacted nationaldebtline who took all our details over the telephone, helped us set up a budget plan and then put us in touch with the cccs.
We have set up a "debt management plan" with the cccs and even after just a few months our debt has already reduced, only by a small amount but nevertheless is less than when we started.
It has been a very hard lesson but I am glad that I have done it. I can no longer get credit and probably never will but that is no bad thing.
My advice to you is that only remortgage if you are absolutely positive that you will not run up any credit again. If you cannot do that then you will be making unsecured debt into secured and you could risk losing your home.
If we had not remortgaged but had gone down the cccs and dmp route initially I would not have been able to run more debt and we would have been 2 years closer to being debt free. As it stands now we will in debt for many years to come but at least we are still together and happy.
I hope you work things out.