LBM at last

EmmatheOstrich

Well...here we go. The LBM has finally happened. Hubby woke me up this morning to say that we were £200 over our overdraft limit with no money until Tuesday. Total, nauseating panic. He then admitted that he can't cope with doing all of the finances any more. So, as of today, I can no longer be an ostrich and keep my head buried. I noticed the diaries and am going to aim to post 4/5 times per week in an effort to keep focussed on the goal at hand.

The only slight problem is, as I now feel fired up, he has not left me with any info about passwords to access online banking or the (rather overblown) spreadsheets that he has been using to manage the money until now. I a desperate to set up on budget brain and to do a SoA but lack any concrete information!

Can I ask advice? We have about 20k debt excluding mortgage and I am unsure whether we should look at getting a loan or keep plugging away at individual credit cards. My inclination is that the latter will be better for the soul and may leave us less likely to spend more on credit cards in the future. What have others done?

Thanks from the newbie.:think:

LAM2011

Hi Emma and welcome -

I had my LBM a year ago and as I already had a loan (20K) and credit cards of approx £8k I tackled the cc first. started with the highest interest rate and put EVERY spare penny in. Did online surveys, ebaying, car boots and soon the first ccard was paid and I then used the money I had been paying into that one for the next on the list (all the while still paying min payment on the others).

I now just have my loan to go which I am throwing all my pennies at - even if its only £3 from a survey - its great watching the interest amount coming down too.

Good luck in your debt busting - I love my spreadsheets and am constantly examining them There are loads of diaries / stories for lots of ideas and inspiration.

EmmatheOstrich

Thanks Lam! I found the MSE website this morning and it's made me feel that I'm not the only muppet in the world! I think just knowing that other people have had to start somewhere helps.

I think the first thing is to check the interest rates on the credit cards and see where we're up to - thanks for the advice.

J4mes

Hi, welcome to the start of your DF adventure! I'm a relative newbie as well, I've found that having a diary helps me as although my OH is fully supportive, she doesn't want to hear me talk about it everyday, so I subject everyone on here to it instead!!:)

I'd say, to make a good start you need information, amounts of debt, % interest rates, income, expenditure, everthing!!
Once you have all that you can make a precise plan of attack! An SOA may help with all this...

Anyway, good luck!!

James.

GreenSaints

Hi

Welcome to the world of DF diaries. I have one, and even if no one reads it, it is a great way of keeping track.

We always used to go over our overdraft, so I know how you feel. But you are in the right place for help and advice. I have more debt on my own then you have combined, so don't feel that your debt is the hugest in the world! I had to learn that not to be ashamed of my debt - its happened so you have to move forward

I would concentrate on the highest interest card first and get rid of that. Some people like getting rid of ones that are small though, so it's personal preference.

I look forward to seeing what 2012 brings for you

EmmatheOstrich

Well. Sigh. I have had a really productive day. I now know all of the relevant figures and (excluding mortgage and HP on the cars) we owe £17661.65. Could be worse but could be better. I have also budgeted for all of our monthly outgoings and cancelled our cleaner (sob). We should have £326 per month after minimum payments to knock off the debt.

I also rang the bank and completely failed at the security questions! I felt like I was in that nightmare where you walk into the exam naked and have to answer questions on something you haven't revised! HSBC were very patient with the village idiot and managed to sort me out with all new security etc so that I can now use the phone and internet banking - phew!

I also went through all of our finances with them and have managed to sort out a credit card for £3200 at 0% over 23 months so that I can move the balance from the most expensive credit card and start t make some inroads on the balance. They are also looking at giving us a consolidation loan for £10k which will take care of all but £300 of the remaining credit card debt at a much lower interest rate and costing over £100 less a month. I'm not sure whether or not we'll be approved though as ur current outgoings are still very high. If not we'll take the slow route!

I think I feel much better now though, it feels good to know where we're up to and see a way forward.

Thanks for the support folks. I think hubbie has got to drowning point now with money and would rather become the ostrich for a little while so it's good to have somewhere I can share the triumphs and disasters!

GreenSaints

Hey,

So, how's it going?