Drowning in debt - please help!

Bestthingsinlifearefree

orton7 wrote: »

Help,
Mortgage £1,444
Council Tax £113

.

Hi Orton,

One question. Are you sure your figure for the council tax is correct?

You say your house is worth nearly a million pounds but you only pay £113 per month council tax?

This seems very, very low to me e.g I pay that amount yet my house is worth about 200K.

I know the level of council tax varies depending on area / council but your amount seems incredibly low.

Is it correct the £113 per month council tax?

nzmegs

I completely understand where you are coming from with your concerns. We used to be on a huge income too and always (and i mean every month) spent all of it or more. We simply kept thinking of how we would have more next month, bonus coming up, loads of equity in house etc etc. We thought our future would pay for our current spending and so we let the kids learn to spend it too. Joining clubs and so on. Then my husband realised he was so tired and stressed we weren't really happy and so he now works for himself on less than half our previous income.
We now have £18000 debt (some of it from before my husbands change in job and some resulting from set up costs for his business) but the difference is that we are now aware of everything.
We are not ashamed to admit that we cannot afford to do everything we used to do. The kids have learned the value of things and most importantly we see more of each other and we have lerned to enjoy being home - which is our only form of entertainment these days!
I too used to get Ocado delivered, now i go to tescos for £70 a week for the 4 of us. I have £10 a week spending money for papers, magazines etc. You simply have to set a budget and enjoy seeing the debt reduce.
The most difficult thing i have faced was Xmas last year when i realised I couldnt buy what I would have previously for everyone. I knew everyone would expect the same presents and i fell into the trap of spending too much because I felt ashamed really...this year I started saving in january and by xmas I will have a decent amount to spend and that is my limit. I have made it clear to everyone i know that we don't have the money anymore and so don't expect the presents and the "loans" anymore - we can't and won't do it.
I hope you have the courage of your convictions too because for us it is 3-4 years hardwork to pay our debt, for you it will be much longer and you have to be in it for the longterm. I have found this site incredibly helpful and I hope you will too - good luck.

3LITTLEPIGS_2

Hi and welcome!
I live in Hove/Brighton and you could have a beautiful 5 bed house for about 500k here!!
The support in these posts is great, it just shows that the more money you earn, the more debt you can have, it isn't just about poor people being in debt....
We have debt of around 30k not inc mortgage and i have mainly cut back on food bills, the B1G1F offers all make great savings and i will always buy the things on offer, i have 3 children 2 still in nappies and spend around £80 week on shopping, and believe me they eat LOADS!!( 3 BOYS)
my husband would also go ballistic if i got rid of sky, he has to have something to show for his money!!
Good luck and i will be following this thread!!

orton7

Bestthingsinlifearefree wrote: »

Hi Orton,

One question. Are you sure your figure for the council tax is correct?

You say your house is worth nearly a million pounds but you only pay £113 per month council tax?

This seems very, very low to me e.g I pay that amount yet my house is worth about 200K.

I know the level of council tax varies depending on area / council but your amount seems incredibly low.

Is it correct the £113 per month council tax?

Yup, we live in Wandsworth where the council tax is the lowest in the country. One of the few benefits (financially) of living here!

M20DAL

sorry to be rude but sell your house and move somewhere cheaper you have got so much equity i cant believe you think you are in debt

orton7

You're right, it's not just those on low income who can get into debt. The more you have, the more entitled you feel to spend. AFter all, we can afford it - or so the thinking goes. But failing to budget and a fistful of credit cards makes it difficult to keep on top of your expenditure, and before you know it everything is spiralling out of control. I think you're right about the comments about the children as well. It would do them no harm to learn the value of money, and that they can't have everything they want without having to save up for it.

Lucy1982_2

Hi Orton!!

Welcome to the boards. I don't really have much to add, other than you know how far you will go to beat your debt. Go that far and it will be worth it. I cancelled everything I didn't really need. Although I am about ti reconnect the internet at home, as I really need it (as much as I would like to think I don't!)

This is a journey you will enjoy, just think of all the money you will save yourself and also the lessons that you will teach your children.

Keep posting and let everyone know how you are getting on. It may seem like a mountain, but start off small and each target reached comes as a big relief.

Good luck

orton7

It might seem like the obvious solution, and you're right, we are fortunate in that we have a lot of equity in the house. But if you read back through the thread, I explained elsewhere that it wouldn't make sense to move, and fork out 50 grand just to do so (ie stamp duty, moving costs, legal fees etc), only to have to do it again in a couple of years time. We are not in a position to make that decision at the moment as we don't know what's happening to my husband's job, so would be daft to move now, only to have to move again in a year's time. Meanwhile I want to get to grips with our out of control spending - because even if we did move and clear most of our debt in one fell swooop, if we don't take control of our spending then we could easily find ourselves in exactly the same situation in a couple of years time. Not a situation I want to be in.

Bestthingsinlifearefree

M20DAL wrote: »

sorry to be rude but sell your house and move somewhere cheaper you have got so much equity i cant believe you think you are in debt

But if they move it will clear the debt but not change spending behaviour, the life style then continues and a whole lot of fresh debt is racked up.

Financial cold turkey is what is needed;)

M20DAL

fair enough i agree it will probably be best in the long run if you sort your spending out first

good luck