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Time to stop pretending it will be ok!

1356741

Comments

  • At the moment you are nearly 1000 a month short of paying the minimums on your debt. A couple of ideas/suggestions
    1) take up the offerof the 400 a month overtime if you can
    2) can you take a mortgage holiday for a few months and chuck everything at the debts for those precious few months?
    3) is there any chance of transferring the really high apr debts onto cards with lower aprs? any space on anyof the cards? will any of the cards offer you a decent transfer rate?Personally you could try and clear the 2,000 pound one (either by taking the mortgage holiday or by transferring it onto another card and then they may offer you a decent balance transfer - worth a try anyway).
    Best of Luck
    df
    Making my money go further with MSE :j
    How much can I save in 2012 challenge
    75/1200 :eek:
  • nicp60
    nicp60 Posts: 457 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Hi there,
    I just wanted to say hi and wish you all the best - you certainly seem to have your head screwed on about it all!
    julie2710 wrote: »
    I had no idea that you could possibly not repay the CTC if it was their fault. They just said I needed to repay it and after reading so many scary stories about courts and possible jail I was terrified and agreed! Maybe I need to go back to them, although do you think that now I've started paying them they will make me continue?

    You must investigate this further. If they couldn't really enforce you repaying in the first place, I don't see how they could force you to continue paying. This would be worth maybe getting some free legal advice on - it's a massive chunk of your debt and would free up money to pay off on your higher rate debts. It has also no doubt caused anguish and stress not to mention you getting further into debt.

    All the best - you're in the right place for support!
    Fritterati Challenge for 2013:
    £2202/£3000 saved (73%) :j
    Take lunch to work and stop frittering!



  • nicp60
    nicp60 Posts: 457 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Oooh, another idea - when my delightful ex left me with a mortgage that was 85% of my monthly wage, I went on interest only for a few months. Would they let you do this, and would it help at all?
    Fritterati Challenge for 2013:
    £2202/£3000 saved (73%) :j
    Take lunch to work and stop frittering!



  • julie2710
    julie2710 Posts: 1,381 Forumite
    Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I've not had a very productive day today as I took the boys to the pantomime. (Had paid for the tickets at the start of the year!) Took packed lunches in the car so at least didn't spend any money :D

    I've tried the payment holiday with my bank but they said they wouldn't do it. I think because of the interest rate I'm on, lifetime tracker of 0.34% above base it makes them really inflexible on things! Probably kicking themselves for offering it in the first place. It's also the reason why I haven't remortgaged to get my ex off the mortgage and have ended up going to court twice to stop charges being put against it for his debt! (At least I'm keeping up with my repayments so far, although I don't know how sometimes,)

    I'm definitely going to take up the extra work. I can fit it in so I won't start until after my boys are in bed. Will mean late nights plus I'm up at 6 every morning but at least I get to spend early evenings with them, help them with homework and put them to bed. I've spoke to the boss and am going to start on the Thursday after New Year :D

    I know it looks as though I'm £1000 short each month but I haven't included my bonus in my income. Some months it's a £2k, some less. It's averaged about £1k a month the last year but was less the year before so I'm hoping for a good year this year.

    I'm going to get some eBay things listed tonight. Need to look into music magpie or similar too!

    Thanks again to everyone. I really am going to do this this year!
    MBNA [STRIKE]£2,029[/STRIKE] £1,145 Virgin [STRIKE]£8,712[/STRIKE] £7,957 Sainsbury [STRIKE]£6,870[/STRIKE] £5,575 M&S [STRIKE]£10,016[/STRIKE] £9,690 Barclaycard [STRIKE]£11,951[/STRIKE] £11,628 CTC [STRIKE]£7,629[/STRIKE] £6,789 Mortgage £[STRIKE]182,828[/STRIKE] £171,670
    LBM Dec12 excl mort 47,207/42,784 Dec13
    Excl mortg and CTC 39,578/35,995 Dec13
    Incl mortg 230,035/214,454 Dec13

    Extra payment a week:this week £0 / YTD£1,457.55
  • Hi Julie

    Just want to say hello and good luck on the debt busting.
    Emergency savings: £0 saved / £4000 target
  • 365days
    365days Posts: 1,347 Forumite
    It's going to be a slog!! But I'm about to start a slog too so I'll keep you company!
    Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam
  • vasseur
    vasseur Posts: 3,093 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker PPI Party Pooper Debt-free and Proud!
    julie2710 wrote: »
    Need to look into music magpie or similar too!

    If it's CDs you're selling don't bother with mus1c magp1e - you'd be better off selling on eb*y and start them off at 99p (you get 100 99p listings free) - I've sold loads this way - MM pay far less per CD.

    Good luck - sounds like you have a plan!
    It's not how far you fall - it's how high you bounce back.... :j
    Happiness is not a destination - it's a journey :)
  • julie2710
    julie2710 Posts: 1,381 Forumite
    Well today I had to grab a few things at the supermarket. Coffee I went for Tesco own brand at £1.79 and the same for the drinking chocolate at £1.50. I managed to stick to my list except I had to add Calpol on at the last minute as DS2 is poorly! So I went for the Tesco own which was over a £1 cheaper!

    I really need to get on top of the advertising stuff. eBay tonight I think!

    I also decided that the £25 my Mum and Dad gave me for Christmas would be better used towards a debt than buying something for me. There's nothing I really need, plenty I would like but new priorities from now on, so that's £25 off the MBNA. One of the smaller cards but with a high interest rate.

    Little steps! £10.47 on its way for Topcashback too so that will go the same way :D
    MBNA [STRIKE]£2,029[/STRIKE] £1,145 Virgin [STRIKE]£8,712[/STRIKE] £7,957 Sainsbury [STRIKE]£6,870[/STRIKE] £5,575 M&S [STRIKE]£10,016[/STRIKE] £9,690 Barclaycard [STRIKE]£11,951[/STRIKE] £11,628 CTC [STRIKE]£7,629[/STRIKE] £6,789 Mortgage £[STRIKE]182,828[/STRIKE] £171,670
    LBM Dec12 excl mort 47,207/42,784 Dec13
    Excl mortg and CTC 39,578/35,995 Dec13
    Incl mortg 230,035/214,454 Dec13

    Extra payment a week:this week £0 / YTD£1,457.55
  • julie2710
    julie2710 Posts: 1,381 Forumite
    Polesalot just wondering what postage you charge on a CD? Don't want to end up out of pocket. I was thinking they would fit in A5 size?
    The sort has started and I have a box full of CDs might be more brutal on a second sweep. Also going to go through DVDs. Do you think eBay too?

    Thank you
    MBNA [STRIKE]£2,029[/STRIKE] £1,145 Virgin [STRIKE]£8,712[/STRIKE] £7,957 Sainsbury [STRIKE]£6,870[/STRIKE] £5,575 M&S [STRIKE]£10,016[/STRIKE] £9,690 Barclaycard [STRIKE]£11,951[/STRIKE] £11,628 CTC [STRIKE]£7,629[/STRIKE] £6,789 Mortgage £[STRIKE]182,828[/STRIKE] £171,670
    LBM Dec12 excl mort 47,207/42,784 Dec13
    Excl mortg and CTC 39,578/35,995 Dec13
    Incl mortg 230,035/214,454 Dec13

    Extra payment a week:this week £0 / YTD£1,457.55
  • vasseur
    vasseur Posts: 3,093 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker PPI Party Pooper Debt-free and Proud!
    I think I used to charge about £1.25. Do you have an iPhone? There's a really helpful app called Postie which calculates the cost of parcels once you have input the weight. You could always list each CD for about £2.25 but have no delivery charge but you won't get the free listing then. Also get the ebay app for the phone - you can scan the barcodes on the backs of the CDs/DVDs and it will bring up the details and makes listing a doddle. The paypal app is a big help too so you can see when people pay you.

    I have sold quite a few childrens DVDs - they seem to go quite well.

    I've got quite a bit of stuff I need to list on ebay soon and am kicking myself that I haven't done it this evening because I think it was free listing up till 1 Jan....:doh:
    It's not how far you fall - it's how high you bounce back.... :j
    Happiness is not a destination - it's a journey :)
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