Could any that has paid off or made a big dent in 25k + debts give me some hope?

megisabel

Hi

I find reading this board great for motivation to deal with debts. I had "the talk" with my DH the other day and we are on the cusp of dealing with our problem debts.

We are starting to work out exact figures etc and its a really scary time but Im determined to do it.

I THINK it will be about 27k but could be much worse.

What I would love is if I can read a couple of success stories of people that have successfully managed to get on top of high debts like this?

Thanks!
Rebecca

medman

Hi Rebecca

I suppose we are a success story in that we owed about £30K on cards and loans and eventually cleared it and now have savings. It was a few years ago and hard work combined with good luck does the trick.

In simple terms clearing the debt has to be a shared focus. Once you are focussed on the debt then maximising income and minimising outgoings is broadly what you have to do. The rest is just detail. No expenditure should be regarded lightly every spend should be scrutinised and some sacrifices that you think you can't make must be considered, especially the big costs such as vehicles, smoking, pay TV, mobiles and the rest.

We both did extra work and shopped cheaply and only bought the things we needed not the things we wanted. I think the clincher was getting the cost of the debt down. If you can find a way to hold the debt in the cheapest possible way you should. This means ditching the expensive CC, store cards are an absolute no no!. We were very lucky that my brother gave us a very cheap consolidation loan and was very supportive and tolerant.

We didn't have MSE and this is a great place to get support and help. We still live in the same way and the spending bug that was, is now a saving bug.

Finally when you sit and work it all out it does look daunting and the road seems interminably long. But the times goes faster than you expect and you find yourself passing milestones that didn't seem possible just a few months earlier. When you do start to make progress the temptation is to spend again and you need to decide that you will not spend any money until the debt is cleared not merely affordable. You find yourself making up excuses for extravegance such as "we deserve it" or "we have gone without for so long".

I think this is becoming a bit rambling so I'll stop there, suffice to say it looks impossible but it isn't. It can be done and it makes home life happier and the furure brighter.

Good Luck and best wishes

MM

System

'Cusp' - good word BTW. I've paid off approx 7K since April 06 which is almost 15% of the debts. If I'm honest I've troughed lately but when I get sub 40K - my first milestone - I shall be reinvigotated I'm sure. The only way is up and if you take the advice and tips from other forums in this website - saving money and cutting back can be fun and in actual fact, open your eyes to how much money you have wasted previsouly. It will become an obsession. Juts air your thoughts and concerns here. DOnt worry about posting too much but as Southernscouser mentioined in one of my posts 'He doesn't take a sh!!t without posting on here first!

Lenny

itsarichmansworld

its not much but considering xmas anniversaries etc I've paid £2k off since the end of september.
see my sig.

Its just about focusing oh and becoming a DFW nerd helps as southernscouser to add you daft but it works for me and get addicted to these sites. I stopped myself falling off the wagon the other night as I wanted not needed a new car nearly landed myself back in it.

System

itsarichmansworld wrote:

its not much but considering xmas anniversaries etc I've paid £2k off since the end of september.
see my sig.

Its just about focusing oh and becoming a DFW nerd helps as southernscouser to add you daft but it works for me and get addicted to these sites. I stopped myself falling off the wagon the other night as I wanted not needed a new car nearly landed myself back in it.

The only downside about this website is that my marriage has taken a hit because I spend so much time on here and 'mi laptop is on its last legs because its always on!

chocaholic110

If it helps Rebecca, this time last year OH and I had debts of almost £29,000. Had our lightbulb moment in August when we still owed about £26,000. Have done a variety of things to get that down - extra work, cutting back on non-essentails, changing utility suppliers, Quidco, Pigsback, selling lots of stuff etc etc
Our debt level now stands at a smidgeon under £13,000 and is decreasing all of the time. I won't say it is easy but it is possible to "retrain" some of the habits that got us into debt to begin with.
If you want it badly enough you can do it.

Won't continue to ramble about how we are paying off debt but I do have a debt diary somwhere that gives more insight into what I've done.

You have made a good start in acknowleging your problem - hoping to see your progress soon.

lynzpower

Hi treasure :wave:

Im sure my original debt at its higest was about 22k, what with the 10k of student loans which has now gone - money to my parents which has fluctuated around the 8k mark and borrowing on CCs overdrafts, catalogues and the rest of the usual suspects.

Im now circa 5k :beer:

mountainofdebt

Well not much of a success story but I've managed to pay off £2000+ in 18 months.

I can bet my last £1 that I wouldn't have done that without this site.

sheraz2

Ofcourse you can do it. It is the acorn that goes onto be the chesnut tree.

There are a number of keys to it, from my experience:

Get your thinking straight, you are not losing with every payment you make, rather, you are gaining steps on the road to financial freedom and a good nights sleep. YOu are paying for you self-respect and dignity to be returned.

Minimise your expenditure - but remember, your not denying yourself, rather, you are enriching yourself. It is an insightful experience and it will liberate you from what I call 'the cattle grazing mindset'. The people who keep their heads down and continue to consume needlessly, companies regurgitating the same sh*t in different packages and you grazing on it again. in old English, another word for the devil was 'consumer'.

Maximise you income - it will keep you away from spending money. But more importantly, you will finally inculcate the valuable lesson that you must work hard to earn in life. You will invigorated by this experince and your application of it in every aspect of your life will make sure that you excel at all that you do.

NEVER delde yourself with the most common mistake. Many people fail because they start treating themselves after to alittle luxury here or there because they make excuses of how they have been working so hard and deserve it now. It will teach you patience.

Good luck, my family paid of bigger debts than you have now. And I remember the day we cleared them we didn't even celebrate, because we felt that an important chapter had closed. It was the learning curve which muted the celebration really. I remember thinking to myself, that it is a shame we are out of debt. Because I didn't want to lose the discipline it taught me. But we're on £10,000 savings now and growing fastbecause of all the tips and discipline we have learned.

taxi73

Hi there and wecome...I'm glad you sorted it with your OH..I read that thread...I only joined in OCT and haven't paid loads off yet and have a long way to go...but with the few chanfes I've made will pay loads off this year.
Firstly I got out all statements and went through them all...I made my SOA from that..so the nice people on here could pick at it!!!
I wrote everything out that was going out as of my bank statement...then my credit cards
I went through every DD ...phoning the companies first and playing the loyal customer card and told them I could get these services cheaper elsewhere amazingly most matched or beat the cother deals to keep me and those that didn't...I just changed...
I put all debt except my loans on 0% cards..so saved interest...give up smoking ...shopping was £100 p/w but now £30 or less...gave up lottery...cancelled gym and papers..this alone will save me just under £10,000
per year...add on pigsback,quidco,boots card and test and vote and not spending on loads of other unnecessary rubbish we're maybe talking £15,000...for simple changes and I will still be having a holiday once a year so am doing without...hope this helps you ...it's took me about 2 months to sort everything out and I always think before I buy anything...I think a spending diary is a must...good luck and don't worry you'll really enjoy the challenge when you get going

LookingAhead

Southern Scouser sprang to mind immediately for me. His signature shows his >£30k debt (wasn't it..?) tumbling dramatically over the last year.