Are we really in debt? YES WE ARE

tolip

Hello everyone

Firstly my apologies for not keeping my promise to post my update earlier, but i will explain all.

I was offered a job in Asia and we have decided to take it and thats where we are now.

Last time I posted we managed to clear off 2 credit cards.

Well after going at this very hard we have managed to reduce the Debt from £102k when we started to £54k today.

Its not been easy and we have went without some things but as I say to my wife I dont want to be paying this debt when our son is 10 years old.

I am still obsessed by the Snowball (www.whatsthecost.com)

The snowball have really made us focused, we stick in inside the wardrobe and it keeps the mind focused.

We did take a holiday this year in the UK, I felt that we did need a little time away, we set a budget and stayed fairly well within it, but it was nice to get away.

So why have we moved abroad?

Well we had considered it for some time. I applied for this job and attended 3 interviews and was offered it. We think that we can pay this debt off quicker by earning better money overseas, we can avoid other items that are costing us quite a bit like a car. In addition its an expat package.

We sold the car but kept out house which we have rented out.

We have been away 6 months now, whilst its hard being away from friends and family, we are settling in and making new friends here. I also feel that its a like experience and for out son it will be a new life, for us maybe its the breath of fresh air we needed. There is no doubt that paying the debt off is great but its hard work and takes its toll on a relationship.

I am now planning on clearing the outstanding debt within 2 years. Then we look forward to saving for our future and enjoying life. I will never have another credit card !

Whilst I had not been posting, you have all been on in my thoughts every month I update the snowball ! Thanks you very much.

I hope to be able to post more regulary now that we have moved.

Thanks everyone, your fantastic

Red_Fraggle_3

hi tolip

Read your story ages ago - and it was nice to see the update :-)

Good luck with everything else

WorkingHardDFW

Thanks for the update

Sounds like you taken some positive life changing steps

Good luck:T

Karmacat

:hello: Tolip! Hiya!

Omigod, £102k to £54k! Fantastic! Now *thats* the kind of update we like :rotfl:

How lovely that you're still going at it, and I bet its a life experience for you and your wife, as well as your little son, the expat life is certainly different from what we have in the UK.

Just a little confused by the snowball in the wardrobe..... but you know what you're talking about, obviously!

Great news - great plans. All the best.

TurnaroundSue

Really pleased to see your update and how brilliantly you have done:j Good luck to you all and glad to see you are enjoying your new life abroad. Keep us up dated as things progress especially when you hit the debt free life. Well done! :T :T :T :T :T :T :T

MrsPorridge

Hi Tolip. I've just faced up to my credit card debts. I had consolidated several times and always ended up with more debt still the same amount of credit card debt plus loans.

My problem is/was the same as yours I was overspending. I found great ideas on the old style boards. They have really helped me to see the sense of planning meals and cooking from scratch. I'm working full time but can still do it, so we are eating healthier meals as well - although sometimes we do have some funny combinations to use up the leftovers.:D

As you have found out already you will get loads of help and support from the foks on here.

hypno06

I was just thinking about you the other day tolip, so I am very glad to read that things are definitely moving in the right direction.

keep up the good work and I look forward to more updates in due course!

boredofbeingathome

Have just showed this thread to Mr.Bob, what an inspiration and just goes to show what team work will do..congrats, on the debt busting so far.x

debtfree4-09

hi
You earn a lot of money so the debt must seem more manageable to you than to people on lower incomes. However, it is still a lot!
Now, you mention your equity on the house, but not the value of the house itself. If you bought your house a long time ago then it would be in your best interest to try to keep it...but you may feel a lot happier if you have no 'debt' and just a manageable mortgage- this would depend what your current mortgage is for.
For example, if your house was about £350,000 and your current mortgage is £200,000 I would consider remortgaging to the value of about 50k and use this to pay of your cards etc, but keep the loan for now. That way you would just have your mortgage and a loan.
If you tried to live on just £1000k a month LESS than you currently do by looking at your spending and cutting back- as you have 5k a month i believe cutting your spending by a 5th is very reasonable and achievable if you REALLY want to, within a year you will be able to pay 12k off your remaining cards etc so by this time next year you could be down to just a bigger mortgage and one loan- a big loan, but it will probably feel quite maneagable for you...then you may feel under control at that point and happy to go back to your usual spending- minus the credit!- rather than trying to save to repay quicker.
But well done for realising this is a problem and i hope you & your wife manage to work through it together.

Karmacat

debtfree4-09, I'm not sure why you're advising someone who's managed to pay off £48k in less than 18 months about remortgages, in your very first post, but I think tolip is doing just great the way he is. Maybe you could start your own thread about your own money woes?