debt help please

asparagus1968

looks like in theory you could do it by yourself, but you have to be totally committed, and do a bit of work to get going, such as

swapping finances-put as much CC debt onto lower interest card, once one is paid off, close it, transfer that monthly payment to the next debt.use the snowball calculator
get rid of current tv/internet package, too high! landine and internet can be around £20 with talktalk for example.go freeview ASAP

budgetting-look up the envelope system for ideas, look at the up your income threads, look into dog walking/ironing/leaflet drops/pizza delivery shifts etc


shopping more wisely- groceries-that's a lot for three of you, look at where and how you shop, meal plan for at least a week in advance.
check out the old style board on here. use comparison sites and cashback sites for insurances-am sure you could could get contents AND buildings for { £20 ! (I use swintons, they also give cashback)

can cut clothing at £50 a month easily

mobiles-reduce package ASAP, make sure you stay in allowance.

sell any old handsets too, or sell new ones and use old ones:)

can you pay council tax over 12 months instead?

could you reduce the £15 hair money? invest in clippers, go to hairdressers less often?

I feel sad that you were able to get this much credit in the first place...

you are not letting anyone down, your family are a team ,stick together. Don't feel monetary days out/ treats are always the best for your son either, that is the guilt talking! get inventive ,look on local tourism sites, local libraries have free events, netmums website have loads of ideas. picnics, fishing ,camping, kite making/flying, paddling etc,all fun stuff.

good luck, keep posting

satchmo1

#subscribed.


Hope you feel able to include your wife in the debt-busting campaign, as it's important to get her support for meal-planning and dropping down from branded goods to economy labels, and easing back on buying unnecessary clothing. It's amazing how much you can save by doing that. I have a DH who likes to know what he's going to be eating ahead of time, so meal-planning answers that need. I like it, because I can whizz round Lid!, etc, very quickly without stopping to be tempted by extras. I spent £38 today in Lid! which'll last the two of us a week.


I often decant cheapo cleaning products into branded bottles, although DH is now starting to realise that the cheapo stuff does just as good a job - and that white vinegar cleans the bathroom as well as anything.


You'll learn lots of tricks from this board.


How old is your son? Is he able to join in with the meal-planning? My sons enjoyed doing this from about 10 because their input meant they got to choose at least one of the meals. They knew that they had to eat what was prepared, so they'd say "I really don't like mushrooms" for example, so they wouldn't be given mushrooms. That being said, I'd bulk home made Bolognese sauce out with lentils and vegetables. They didn't realise they were eating spinach.


Definitely try to move debts from your highest % cards onto the lowest, and if you are able to overpay on anything make sure it goes onto the highest % debt.


Re the date of your mortgage and card payments, get them moved to after payday so that you don't have that worry each month.

satchmo1

Oh, forgot to add - sell off clothes and toys that your son has outgrown. Try a local Facebook page to sell rather than eBay, as it saves on fees and postage. I've just sold two coffee tables via Facebook. Make everything "collection only" so you don't have to post or deliver stuff.

theoretica

desperado88 wrote: »

just did that debt remedy thing,it says that i have £640 available every month(must mean my wife and sons benifits)
anyway says that if i pay that into a das i could be debt free in 5 years 7 months!!!

gonna look at that again canny be right?

I presume this is instead of the £924 you are currently paying to your debts - not in addition!

Can your wife bring in any income while your son is at school? Perhaps she could start selling any spare or outgrown stuff you have on ebay as a start.

maganan

Very little to add except good luck we all understand your feelings of fear and guilt etc but you'll will come out the other side as you're taking action to deal with the situation

Just a thought but is your wife's "head in the sand" approach just to stop you worrying about her worrying? You'll crack this but it'll be easier with two heads You cannot be all things to all people all the time so please try and have a conversation, you can now present possible solutions and not just the problems

I do appreciate your son has disabilities and that obviously brings it's own set of difficulties, are you getting all the help and support you need and deserve? I'm sure you're not the only parents in this situation, maybe check out what's available locally?

Check out all the suggestions other posters have made, small changes quickly embed to become the norm and make a huge difference long term

Finally I hope your wife gets good results with her own health issues and good luck to you all

Keep checking in, good luck

Kate x

desperado88

thanks again everyone for all your kind replies... going to see cab tommorow to discuss my options,i just wish i could do it on my own without going down the dmp route.... i feel that i could be working more,i have four days off every week cant get overtime but feel if i could just get another couple of hundred a month i could deal with it myself i feel as if i have failed everyone by doing a dmp.
sorry for rambling but i feel so helpless just now.

lizzy23

desperado88 wrote: »

thanks again everyone for all your kind replies... going to see cab tommorow to discuss my options,i just wish i could do it on my own without going down the dmp route.... i feel that i could be working more,i have four days off every week cant get overtime but feel if i could just get another couple of hundred a month i could deal with it myself i feel as if i have failed everyone by doing a dmp.
sorry for rambling but i feel so helpless just now.

why??? just to turn things on there head a bit, if you do have to go down the DMP/DAS route, aren't you admitting that its a problem and sorting it out instead of trying to borrow your way out of it, and won't you be teaching your kids the value of money? and budgeting? after the initial fear its liberating living without credit, we thought the same about the car, but i currently have nearly 2.5k saved towards one when we need it, it can be done, just don't leave yourself too tight in the budget, going down this route is all about gaining your life back

desperado88

lizzy23 wrote: »

why??? just to turn things on there head a bit, if you do have to go down the DMP/DAS route, aren't you admitting that its a problem and sorting it out instead of trying to borrow your way out of it, and won't you be teaching your kids the value of money? and budgeting? after the initial fear its liberating living without credit, we thought the same about the car, but i currently have nearly 2.5k saved towards one when we need it, it can be done, just don't leave yourself too tight in the budget, going down this route is all about gaining your life back

sorry,you misunderstood me and i dont mean to offend anyone currently on a dmp ,i can assure you i have absolutely no intention of borrowing my way out of any thing.i will personally never borrow another penny from anyone it has affected me so badly.i just feel gutted that i need to do this and iam having serious problems getting my head around it,thats all....

woodformoretrees

I think it's more than normal to have these feelings. They're just a big part of coming to terms with the issue and making positive steps to get yourself back on track.
There's be something very wrong with you if you felt that everything was hunky-dory
x

desperado88

heres a thing that is really troubling me i have a cc with the RBOS and my mortgage which is a one account if i do the dmp and cancel all my direct debits can RBOS add that credit card debt to the mortgage ie when i go to pay in the money for the mortgage can they use it for the card instead.