stuck in a hole!!

katydo12

I have posted here before but havent really stuck to any challenges or stop coming here because I end up feeling sad about my on situation even though there are so many other people in worse situations!!
Its not as if we don't earn a decent wage in our house, I have a good job as a nurse and my partner is a chef, alothugh he doesnt earn as much as me its enough for two people and a cat surely!!
I have approx £11,000 worth of debt, I say 'I' because its all in my name desipte the reasons its accumulated. When I qualified as a nurse I didnt have a student loan but I waas also in dire straits with not a penny to my name and no job, at that time I got a £4000 loan from black horse to pay back my overdraft and a small credit card bill and also to give me a bit of cash to tide me over until I got a job.
Now I have a barclaycard (£8000, crazy i know) the rest of my black horse loan (£1600) halifax credit card (£1300) and my overdraft (currently £1100, but keeps increasing as I struggle to pay bills etc each month! difficult circle) My repayments each month end up being approx £500 which is utter madness and its really getting to me.
My biggest overhaul needs to be our supermarket spends as I know I spend far too much there. other than that Im not sure where else to save! Our bills are to the bare minimum in my opinion and although we have the odd day/night out here and there I dont beleive its to excess.

Just need motivation and a huge kick up the !!!!!!

jobdone1

well i with you on the tough bit i'm on a good wage and my wife brings in around £550 but when i had my lbm last june i was about to have a heart attack we combined owed over £24500 so i did what most do panik and take a loan but the loan only covered 15k so i worked 70 hour weeks as we where short at work for around six months and now our debt is around 16k total so i have cleared around 9k in 12 months sold my car keep the wifes 30 quid to tax 200 to insure BINGO haggled with sky don;t have contract mobiles changed bank accounts cut me overdraft by half hope to have cleared by end of year I'M SNOWBALLING BIG TIME AND LOVEING I. Oand not to forget i signed up to noddle which is a free credit reff agency closed old bank accounts that i never thought i had a gained 6 quid motivate yourself with your husband and you will feel much better its very hard but also very rewarding when you don't have to budget for cleared and closed accounts good luck:cool:

katydo12

Hi Jobdone1 thanks for your reply! I've just signed up to noddle, I hadnt even heard of it but it seems much better than creditexpert etc in that you dont have to ring them to unsubscribe etc!
I wish I could work more as this would bring in a lot of extra cash, but it isnt worth it for me as I would end up even more burnt out than I already am! The place I work is quite stressful and overtime is there but it's generally a killer to do the shifts I do never maind extras! My partner has just had a 50p an hour payrise and is putting in the extra hours he can (its easier for him)
I forgot to mention we get married in 3 months so have that to budget for too!
Thanks for the support!! xo

jobdone1

you do a sterling job i work long shifts nearly killed me especially when i did my nights but the overtime has dried up now so just cracking on no choice realy try shopping in aldi much cheaper and not as big as your main stores so you will spend less as you will buy things you need rather than temptation into wanting rather than needing start with the highest intrest debt first snowball that one it takes time but you must look at all your bills and again do you need it or is it essential i.e do i need council tax answer YES do i need sky answer NO is it still in contract ?????? can i cancel so on and so forth ALSO YOUR BARCLAYCARD IS IT ON A 0% IF NOT TRY TO CHANGE IT TO ANOTHER PROVIDER ON 0% IT MIGHT GIVE YOU A GOOD 22 MONTHS INTEREST FREE BUT REMEMBER close the barclay card so it don't temp you to spend on it hope this helps p.s sorry about caps my caps lock was on.

katydo12

I feel like sky is an essential because we spend so much time in the house watching tele and using the internet etc. its £43 that I think is well spent! I havent been able to find a card to transfer my barclaycard to as its the cheapest around I beleive. I have cut the barclaycard up so havent used it for a good two months which I was very proud of but should of done it a long long long time ago!!

jobdone1

worth giving sky a ring go throught to cancellation tell them you can't afford sky during this economic time i did they gave me 33% off my bill every month for a year for being a loyal customer further your credit card virgin do a long interest free worth a look might be worth you doing a soa the ngood people on hear might be able to help with other bills such as gas and electric:D:)

flutterbyuk25

katydo12 wrote: »

I have approx £11,000 worth of debt,

katydo12 wrote: »

my overdraft (currently £1100, but keeps increasing as I struggle to pay bills etc each month! difficult circle)

katydo12 wrote: »

My repayments each month end up being approx £500 which is utter madness and its really getting to me.

I have quoted the key bits from your original post where you clearly say you are struggling with your debt payments, yet you then say this:

katydo12 wrote: »

I feel like sky is an essential because we spend so much time in the house watching tele and using the internet etc. its £43 that I think is well spent!

It is crazy that you are happy to pay £43/month for Sky when you say you are struggling to pay your bills.

I understand that if you are trying not to spend any money then staying in and watching tv/using net is your source of entertainment, but you do not need Sky.

I have a Freesat box - free from Freecycle - which has more than enough channels. And my internet/phoneline is with Primus and I pay £16/month for this. No other line rental fee.

If you did this you would have an extra £27/month (£324/year) towards your debt repayments.

Draw up your SOA and post so that others can give you pointers as to where you can save money.

HTH