Where do we start?

Gaz76UK

My wife and I have decided that we need to clear our debts and live the life that we want to live.

We checked wife's Expieran report online, she has £5500 of debt, I cannot check mines at the moment, it appears I had it before so cannot get my "free trial" so need to wait till I get some money to access my report. But we can expect it to be close to the same as the wife's.

We also have £900 rent arrears and we need to find out what Council Tax arrears but I think its estimated to be about £5k. Plus we have an overpayment to pay back to Tax Credits, again unsure how much as we have basically shoved our heads in the sand the last 16 years we have been together.

My wife doesn't work, I am a Uni student. We have 4 children aged 1, 8 10 and 15. I still have 3 years to do at Uni, by which time I will be 41 and aim to be Debt Free.

The problem is we do not have a clue where to start, do we enter into a trust deed, a finacial management plan with a company that offers trust deeds, do we attempt to do it ourselves?

Any ideas or hints & tips?

[Deleted User]

First thing to do, is to find out exactly how much you owe, to whom, and what the APRs are.

Then work out exactly how much you have to live on, and how much you need to spend on essentials.

Once you have the figures, put them into an SOA, and the Snowball Calculator, so you know exactly were you stand.

Irrespective of the other debts, the Rent arrears, and CT arrears, are your absolute priority debts.

Maitane

Gaz, try Noddle rather than pay Experian. It's free for life - your wife may want to do the same and cancel the free trial with Experian in good time.

Then follow Bedsit Bob's advice - work out current incomings and outgoings and figure where you are. Then figure if there's areas you can make cuts on.

All the best and good luck with your Debt Free Graduation goal.

AlexLK

The first thing that popped into my head was the fact you are at uni and your wife doesn't work. What are you studying? I ask this as maybe you will be able to get a part time job to fit around your study time? And also why does your wife not work?