Better Late Than Never...

damo76 · 13 August 2012 at 1:51PM

2 failed marriages, 2 divorces. Expensive. Not using those as an excuse for 100% of my debt, but they didn't exactly help me while trying to sort my finances out.

I'd been burying my head in the sand for way too long and missed multiple payments. I decided to add up all my debts:

Lloyds TSB Loan £10,396.28
Lloyds TSB Overdraft £729.64
Halifax Loan £9,217.27
Barclaycard £5,661.90
Halifax C/Card £5,231.83
Black Horse £3,921.06
Diners £2,237.10
TOTAL DEBT £37,395.08

My monthly payments were adding up to £1,148.20, which only included the MINIMUM PAYMENT on my credit cards and I was sinking fast! So, first thing I did was cut up all my credit cards. It took me long enough to realise that I was being stupid by continuing to use them, while only paying the minimum amount each month.

Then, in April 2011, I took out an IVA with Harrington Brooks. I'd considered a lot of different options, but I wasn't able to shift any of my debt to 0% interest cards and didn't feel a debt management plan was right for me.

After all my SOA was completed, it was decided I'd pay £235 a month over 5 years, £14,100 in total with £23,295.08 (62%) allegedly being 'written off'.

After my first annual review in April 2012, and a full declaration of income/outgoings it was decided my payments would increase to £271 a month. That was 4 months ago.

So I'm now nearly 18 months into a 5 year plan. Estimated debt-free date is 1st March 2016, although I hope to have a windfall* to pay this off sooner.

*I'm lucky enough to have some Stock Options with my new employer (I joined them in November last year, 7 months after starting the IVA). My options haven't vested yet and the earliest I'll be able to do anything with them is Feb 2013, so I won't get my hopes up too much. But, fingers crossed, I may be able to pay off the IVA early. It'll depend on a number of things (how much my options are worth, how much my creditors would settle for etc).

In the mean-time, I'll carry on paying my monthly payments and use this website and forum to make cost savings any way I can to accrue savings for the future.

I should have signed up to this forum a long time ago. Who knows? If I'd done that, I might not even have taken out the IVA. But I am where I am, so the only way to look now is forwards.

Wish me luck!