newbie

katiebirdyoverdoneit

Hi all

My first posting on here and just finally realised I am out of control with my spending, have run up a credit card bill of £2720.37!!! first time I have acknowledged the amount, have been in denial and feel guilty and ashamed. any advice would be great. thanks kb

Tixy

Hi Katie and welcome

Is the credit card your only debt?
Firstly can you afford to pay at least the minimum payment each month?

Have you ever worked out a monthly budget to see how much you have coming in, what you need to spend on essentials (before debt repayments) and how much you have left for debt repayments? if not then this is a great starting point see this statement of affairs calculator - http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

katiebirdyoverdoneit

Hi there, thank you for your reply. Phew it is a relief to be honest about it. I have another debt to local council but that is in dispute at the moment but prob totals £1300.00 Yep I can pay the minimum payment but need to work out a budget as have just ignored how much I spend.

thanks

anh1904

Welcome abpard - once you do an open and honest disclosure of what you "think" you spend, there will be a whole raft of suggestions as to where it may be possible to make economies. There will also (undoubtedly) be a need to keep a spending diary, as you will be spending plenty without realisign it (newspapers, coffees, lottery tickets etc.) which add up very quickly.

Then the hard bit - the life choices about whether you are really ready to tackle the problem, or whether the lifestyle you are leading which is causing the debt, is more important to you than the pain of actually addressing it.

katiebirdyoverdoneit

Hi there and thanks anh1904, wise words and yep I actually need to address the underlying issues that make me so unmanageable with money.