Deep breath, pulls head out of sand....

cakeforbrains

Under 'secured debt' it says 1600. Is there a 0 missing? If not, then that loan should come to an end soon?

twiggy86

Agree with the above re groceries. I've recently started to meal plan and that is saving us a lot of money, thought and waste! Rather than have to come up with a random meal with random ingredients, I know exactly what we're having! Also, may sound silly but again it's something I've just started doing, actually check your cupboards before you go shopping! I write my meal plan, write my shopping list and then go through all the cupboards, fridge, freezer to double check!
I also shop at Lidl and some of their products both me and my OH prefer to the main brands!

northerner999

The grocery bill can easily be cut. How much do you have in your freezer or cupboards now? I periodically make a concious effort to use up things that have been lacking. I spent £70 on food in January, without particularly scrimping.

Do you need to spend £1200 a year on presents? You and your other half know the financial situation so could you consider imposing strict limits on gifts to each other? And how old is your child? In my experience, they don't need expensive gifts.

I have a gift box in the back of a wardrobe. Whenever I see something that would make a good gift that is cheap, I buy it, regardless of how soon it is til the likely recipient getting it. IMy local charity shop has some great stuff and I rarely pay more than a couple of quid.

satchmo1

You've done the hardest part by coming on here and listing the debts and outgoings. Looking at your budget, are your mobile phones paid by work or have you missed them off?


In terms of reducing your monthly outgoings, start with ditching the cable TV, halving the food budget (do a food audit and draw up a meal plan) and cutting out the clothes-spending. That will free up £340/month immediately to put to the highest interest rate card. Any extra money should go on that card.


Don't despair, Martin says he's never come across a debt problem that can't be solved, some just take longer than others.


Hugs

patchwork_cat

Can you find out the interest rates on the other credit? Your groceries are high, join the grocery budget thread on old style and cut it by say £50- £75 in month 1 increasing when you manage that. Have you checked you are on the best electricity tariff ( try Uswitch) and the cheapest phone, broadband and TV package, there are also lots of alternative tv packages these days (freeview and Now e.g) Is there any balance available on some of the lower interest cards?


By my calculations you are only paying off £25 per month out of the £550 you pay every month to OPUS, it is more than double your mortgage.

foxgloves

Well, the good thing about your SOA is that there's quite a bit which can be cut to free up some money.
*Groceries: £500 is huge. If you plan the week's meals, prioritising food you already have in stock, then write a list which you stick to like glue, you should be able to cut this in half. Shop around, use local markets for fruit & veg, etc. Cooking more from scratch also saves money, as does using your freezer to store extra portions for another meal. We now use Aldi, Waitrose & local independent shops for groceries, but it's the planning which is key to success here.
*Extra TV channels. A luxury you can't afford while you owe so much money. We changed to Freeview & have never bothered going back.
*Presents. £1200 a year on gifts isn't viable at the moment & needs cutting while you sort yourselves out.
*Clothes. £50 a month might not seem a lot, but it is when you owe a lot of money, so perhaps this year you could just buy essentials....things like new underwear for you all when needed, shoes for your child, etc, but make do with what you have so you can free up at least half of that £50 to go towards your debts.
Basically, every £ you save is another £ to chuck at those debts. As they start to come down, you will feel increasingly motivated. People who have a lot of debt often have a lot of stuff (I know we did!) Is there anything you can sell to free up more money for debt repayment? I was surprised how much we made just selling old clothes on eBay. Every £ helps. It won't be forever. When you are solvent again & have an emergency fund, you will be able to decide which luxuries you'd like to reintroduce, & you'll enjoy them more because you'll be using your money, not credit to pay for them. I wish you all the best with it all.
F

satchmo1

Just wanted to add that when you do your meal planning, involve your child so that you aren't faced with a refusal to eat what was planned. I did this with my two sons when they were about 8 and 10, and they really enjoyed the family activity of writing out the weeks menu. From there it was an easy task to write the shopping list.

On_my_way

Hi,

Although your debts are high, so are your earnings and disposible income. You could clear your debts very quickly. You don't need or want an IVA, DMP etc as they will ruin your credit scores.

One thing that you do need to do is to study this forum, learn lots of new tricks and get your £1000 a month disposible income to more like £400 per month income and put the £600 "spare" against the debts. You should quite easily be able to do this if you cut your food bill in half or more by careful shopping, not buying clothes, holidays etc for a few months. You could quite easily pay off £10k per year.

Good Luck,

mrssjs

How old is your child? I think you've missed child benefit off your SOA unless one of you earns £60k

Seanymph

I think your electricity is quite high. There would certainly be savings to be had there.

It looks very doable on those figures - brilliant that you earn so well.

The task is to pick your most expensive card, pay the minimum on everything but that, and throw the kitchen sink at that one.

Can you ebay things? Do you have cupboards of clothes your littley has grown out of? Or things you don't love any more?

Once you see the first £1,000 (and believe me that isn't so hard!) you will be really motivated.