Trying to get out debt

Chewbacca01

Hi there

I'm new to this forum and just wanted to post to say a little bit about me. Myself and my husband are up to our eyes in debt, we have been for years. We tried to pay bits of here and there, but sort of carried on trying to live a normal life too, which obviously hasn't worked. We're currently going through a Debt Management Plan as it got to breaking point last year but it could take us 10 years or more to pay off our debts unless we get on and actually try to overpay our debts. I feel like we've wasted so much time on debts and just want to be debt free more than anything. We're going to be doing what we can to scrape money together to make bigger repayments. I was just hoping to get some advice on here about how to make extra money to pay off debts and how do you keep focused enough to do it? My husband works away a lot so I can't commit to a second job at the weekends or evenings as I need to take care of our daughter. And because he works away, he also can't commit to that!

I've started a blog which explains more about our situation. I'm hoping that this will keep me focused, if I can update it now and then to see how much debt we've paid off. If you want to read it, the link is on my profile.

We're currently trying to find out again just how much we owe but expect it's in excess of £35,000.

Any advice or support would be much appreciated

Thanks

[Deleted User]

Usual advice - post an SOA.

crushed00

Cant give you any advice unfortunately, we know what your going through

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi and welcome

The first step is to know exactly where you are financially. You cant plan anything until you do. I would recommend downloading the last 3 months bank statements and going through them carefully. Then get all your credit card statements and find out balances and APRs. A SOA is a good idea but no point in doing it unless its as accurate as it can be.

Once you have got a handle on your incoming and outgoings you can budget for the future. This budget needs to be realistic and needs to allow for things like Christmas, expenses for your daughter, car servicing and MOT, some clothes, haircuts etc etc.

There are loads of threads on the old style boards for things like making your food shopping stretch further and making do with what you have.

I guess the hardest thing for me was accepting that I had to drastically change my lifestyle and there were things that I just couldnt afford. I think once you have really taken that on board it gets easier.

Oh and get into the habit of keeping accurate records of your spending. A spending diary for cash spends and spreadsheets for your bank account. Do it every day, seeing it in black and white makes it real.

Good luck, once things have got really bad it can only get better!