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Getting my head above water

honey28
Posts: 1,546 Forumite

I'm wondering if any of you can help me. I'm not quite brave enough to put my SOA on just at the minute - I'm just coming to terms with things myself 
I've written it down though and basically my outgoings pretty much equal my incomings (i work part time and don't earn much, DH pays mortgage and electricity and I pay the phone bill and the shopping and odds and ends). There are no extravagancies (sp?) that I can cut back on.
I have a loan with Nationwide - there are 48 months left and a balance of £4500. I have £2000 on Nationwide credit card and an overdraft of £1900. Total debt therefore is £8400 and DH knows nothing about it
This has all occured in the past few years, about 5 years ago we took out a secured loan to get rid of my debt (this has since been added onto the mortgage) so I cant tell him it has happened again. I need to confront it myself and work out how I am going to start clearing up the mess that I have made. I dont have anything to show for the debt either - eg flash car etc. Once my pay goes in I remain in the overdraft and can never seem to get out of there - only winning the lottery is going to get me out and thats never going to happen, I'n not daft 
Do I take out a new loan to cover the OD and original loan, then work to repay the credit card from there or is that the wrong way to go about things?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. It just seems to have hit me and I'm a bit tearful, but want to work towards being debt free.

I've written it down though and basically my outgoings pretty much equal my incomings (i work part time and don't earn much, DH pays mortgage and electricity and I pay the phone bill and the shopping and odds and ends). There are no extravagancies (sp?) that I can cut back on.
I have a loan with Nationwide - there are 48 months left and a balance of £4500. I have £2000 on Nationwide credit card and an overdraft of £1900. Total debt therefore is £8400 and DH knows nothing about it


Do I take out a new loan to cover the OD and original loan, then work to repay the credit card from there or is that the wrong way to go about things?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. It just seems to have hit me and I'm a bit tearful, but want to work towards being debt free.
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Comments
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My first suggestion would be to apporach OH and admit - this is going to bite you on the !!!! one way or another.
If you can get another loan to cover the debt then do, but is has to be on a favourable interest rate and it has to be for the exact amount of your debt.
Do not what ever you do - of you speak to OH - add it to the mortgage you will pay more than double back.
I think you need to look at were you can reasonably save money - without your SOA I cannot advise - but you have to be ruthless with yourself.
CAn you afford any more hours to work maybe that will help?Credit Card Debt
Dec 10 £15500
2011 A Year for considerable debt reducing.
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Well done for taking the first step honey28, and welcome to Debt Free Wannabe!
If your income is equal to your outgoings, but you need to increase your debt payments to get them cleared, your only realistic options are a) to somehow increase your income or b) to decrease your outgoings. (sorry for stating the obvious)
Bearing that in mind, can you increase your hours at work? Find a better paid job/2nd job etc?
Or if you would like any help decreasing your outgoings, please don't be nervous of posting your SOA - we're all here because of money issues of one kind or another, so no-one is in a position to judge you or laugh at you. Generally people on here are helpful and friendly - if anyone goes a bit too far, it's usually because they REALLY want to help, rather than because they want to have a go at you.
Edit - I said 'welcome' as if you are a newbie, which you clearly aren't - I'm a bit dozy today, sorry!"I wasn't wrong, I just wasn't right enough.":smileyhea97800072589250 -
Thanks. I was worried about posting, thinking I would be criticized, I guess we are all in the same boat. Well done on reducing your debt so much. I know I need to tell him but just atm can't. TBH I think he would leave me this time, he came close to it the last time. Adding it to the mortage isnt a possibility either - we learnt that the last time. As for working more hours, its a no go-er just now. I work the hours my kids are at school, saving on childcare. Working more hours would mean I had to pay for childcare. DD has just started school, in a few years she will be in for longer and I will be able to work longer hours then.0
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I'm wondering if any of you can help me. I'm not quite brave enough to put my SOA on just at the minute - I'm just coming to terms with things myself
I've written it down though and basically my outgoings pretty much equal my incomings (i work part time and don't earn much, DH pays mortgage and electricity and I pay the phone bill and the shopping and odds and ends). There are no extravagancies (sp?) that I can cut back on.
I have a loan with Nationwide - there are 48 months left and a balance of £4500. I have £2000 on Nationwide credit card and an overdraft of £1900. Total debt therefore is £8400 and DH knows nothing about itThis has all occured in the past few years, about 5 years ago we took out a secured loan to get rid of my debt (this has since been added onto the mortgage) so I cant tell him it has happened again. I need to confront it myself and work out how I am going to start clearing up the mess that I have made. I dont have anything to show for the debt either - eg flash car etc. Once my pay goes in I remain in the overdraft and can never seem to get out of there - only winning the lottery is going to get me out and thats never going to happen, I'n not daft
Do I take out a new loan to cover the OD and original loan, then work to repay the credit card from there or is that the wrong way to go about things?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. It just seems to have hit me and I'm a bit tearful, but want to work towards being debt free.
I agree with EnglishBrainIrishHeart - come clean about it to your DH. He'd rather find out about it from you than from somewhere else e.g. seeing statements from the loan/CC companies.
I'd arrange to speak to someone at CCCS or CAB - they will probably be able to help you negotiate lower monthly payments to your creditors.
Borrowing money to pay off loans rarely works - I've stupidly done that in the past by adding it on to my mortgate, and what I now owe is far more than I ever borrowed in the first place, due to all the interest charges (i.e. paying off old debts and the interest they accrued, together with interest on the new loan)
You'll feel a lot better when you've told DH exactly whats happened and show him that you've got a sensible plan in place to repay those debts.
all the best
Pam0 -
Can you get another cc at 0% or low lob? That would help you in the immediate term.
I see that you don't want to tell your OH about the debt, but you may just have to.
Somehow you need to get to the point where you are able to pay off these debts. Have you been onto https://www.whatsthecost.co.uk and done a snowball.
This would show you when your debt-free date is.
Obviously you know that you have spent too much money in the past, have you had your LBM where you are able to stop spending otherwise moving your money around will just make your position worse.
Its too easy just to add the debt onto the mortgage, did it twice ourselves and increased from £90,000 to £120,000 to £150,000 and even now are just paying interest while we try to get the cards paid off.0 -
I have def had LBM - today :eek:
I've just successfully increased my loan today with Nationwide - this will pay off existing loan with them and OD - I want to actually have my wages paid in and be in credit! I have an egg cc which I forgot to mention in OP with a balance of £150 so that will be cleared too, just leaving the NW one. Last year I reclaimed some bank charges and have still an old Halifax cc (closed) to try - will give that a shot too in the hope of getting some cash back.
thanks for the replies.0 -
From your first post, you're together at least 5 years, and you've been together in the course of time that these debts were run up. If it's not gone on "extravagences, these are not your debts, even if you were the one who actually spent the money, the debts belong to both of you, and both of you need to sort them. To date you seem to have been managing the finances, maybe he should do it for a while or maybe you should both do it.I've written it down though and basically my outgoings pretty much equal my incomings (i work part time and don't earn much, DH pays mortgage and electricity and I pay the phone bill and the shopping and odds and ends).
Now in most cases accomodation costs 30% - 40 % of income. If your husband is working full time and you're working part time, then his 2/3rds (roughly) of the family income is only expected to cover this amount, and you're 1/3rd is paying the rest?
I suppose what I'm trying to say is why is this "your fault" and not a mutual problem?0 -
Mindy - I see that you have reduced your debts a lot - how have you done it? Has this only been since March
Am I doing the wrong thing by increasing my loan to clear the OD and smaller cc and then concentrating on the other cc? Or is there a better way to go about it?0 -
From your first post, you're together at least 5 years, and you've been together in the course of time that these debts were run up. If it's not gone on "extravagences, these are not your debts, even if you were the one who actually spent the money, the debts belong to both of you, and both of you need to sort them. To date you seem to have been managing the finances, maybe he should do it for a while or maybe you should both do it.
Now in most cases accomodation costs 30% - 40 % of income. If your husband is working full time and you're working part time, then his 2/3rds (roughly) of the family income is only expected to cover this amount, and you're 1/3rd is paying the rest?
I suppose what I'm trying to say is why is this "your fault" and not a mutual problem?
I see where you are coming from and in a round about way I agree with everything you said. My DH earns a lot more than me and I guess my original problem was trying to keep up with his spending. He pays all the mortgage and doesnt ask for a contribution - its expected that my wages pay for food, kids clothing etc. I don't mind this! Asides from the already existing loan for old debts if I didnt have an overdraft my account would probably run ok every month in that what I spend give or take a few pounds would equal what was in the account.0 -
I tried the snowballing - according to it my debts will be paid off by 2024 :eek: Just wondering how this is when some peoples debts are larger and have a shorter time to DF
I tried putting in all of my debts as they are, then as an increased loan and just Nationwide Cc and the dates are roughly the same.0
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