Help feel so sick amount of debt we are in.

Conor_3

angeleyes wrote: »

dont think I could handle a water meter, have washing machine and dishwasher both on at least once a day. (and dont like the idea of being stuck with it imagine later on with kids and even more washes to do !!!)

How the hell do you end up in the situation of using the washing machine every day? There's only two of you.

As for the dishwasher, have you not heard of a sink and washing up bowl? It probably takes longer to load the washer than to do it by hand.

Adrasteia01

Conor - some people only wear clothes once before they wash them. Plus with stuff like bedding, towels etc., it's easy to build up a load a day (or more).

rayday2

Even having a water meter and using dishwasher and washing machine you will reduce your water bill at that amount, unless you have a swimming pool or hot tub you have not mentioned

You mention children one day if you don't tackle things and make sacrifices now you will struggle affording children. Before ours came along we both worked in the same pub in the evenings its like being paid to socialise.

solventguy

angeleyes wrote: »

I will list a list of our debts and see if any one can come up with any miracles

My calculations on your SOA are as follows:

Total debt: ~ 21,500 (actually, a bit more since you didn't list car loan amount)

Income: 1600
Outgoings: 1696

So, every month you are going ~ £100 pounds more into debt. Also, it looks like you are paying ~£300 in interest every month. Just think of this, £300 for nothing.

You've got to attack this debt - today. Go down your expenditure list and ask: is this item worth going into more debt for? Go down the list again and ask: would I rather spend this much on this item, or use the money to reduce my monthly interest payments. Paying down your debt is a guaranteed way of freeing up future money - the lottery is throwing money away.

I wish you the best.

System

When you have a meter installed, they give you a year to trial it, and if it doesnt work for you, you can just switch back! Nothing to loose really.

angeleyes

13000 wrote: »

When you have a meter installed, they give you a year to trial it, and if it doesnt work for you, you can just switch back! Nothing to loose really.

thanks :beer:
didnt know that I will look into it now

dancingfairy

House insurance - is that the cheapest?
Food etc - need to get yourelf over to OldStyle and cut that down - I'm sure you can save some money there.
Wage overpayment - how long for - that £25 a month will really come in useful.
council tax- paying over 12 months- you still gotta pay it but might make budgeting easier?

Shineyhappy

Ok drastic times and all that.

If I were you, I would talk to the bank about going interest only on your mortgage for a while.

I think like others that the lottery has to go, food shopping needs to be kept as low as possible (see Old Style board), Sky has to go and the cancelling of the gym memembership needs to be chased up.

I would have a good sort out and try and Ebay as much as possible. Join in one of the challenges (have a read of some of them as there are loads of great tips to raise cash) and try and clear
barclays £7pm (min) bal £230 as you will feel so much better once that account is closed and you have one less debt! It really will help keep you motivated. It may only be a small debt but it will be good to know you can beat it!

angeleyes

just done the survey for the water meter and would be £200 worse off :eek:

so think stick to the normal bill.

got an interview for part time job on this friday --- hrs are friday or sat night 8pm- 4am then back in normal job on sat for overtime at 8am :eek: and sun 8am I have worked there in the past and you can usually pick an extra shift up so after tax that may be an extra £60pw :j (fingers crossed)

phoned the bank and apparantely I cant afford a loan to pay off my overdraft (really go figure but they will let me get £7k o/d and say they are responsible lenders) and am just paying the intrest off. I mentioned that they are not really giving me any option but to go down the cab/dmp route,and get wages paid into a sep account and they will get what the cab say I can afford !!
so they are reffering it on to see if they can come up with suggestions - have to wait a week to see what they come up with and before I sign i will go the cab to see if this is the best option.
if they change the o/d to a loan it would be £149pm for 5 yrs ( would rather they could come up with a plan ) if they could freeze the intrest that would be fab and make payments off it each month ( well they have had £900 of intrest off us so far:eek: ))I would then concerntrate on paying my credit cards off first then after that begin to make overpayments
I am canceling the saving DD of £40 -it was never really savings just a reserve or xmas

have been putting stuff on e bay ... I only got married 1 month ago and the other day put on my m& S wedding dress, shoes and veil on and the mens waistcoats etc have got a few watchers but no bids due to end next sunday. really hoping this will give £150ish or more

doing shopping online (searched for tesco codes but none that would work for me ) to avoid temptation and implus buying and spent £40 this wk - thats inc the delivery charge.. but by the time you buy pet food and salad stuff goes nowhere

thanks for your help - I know our own stupid fault in this mess but getting married and the house been bought and done up is so costly ... and waiting and saving is not built into me ...... lesson learnt.(honest)

zeddy_2

Conor wrote: »

How the hell do you end up in the situation of using the washing machine every day? There's only two of you.

As for the dishwasher, have you not heard of a sink and washing up bowl? It probably takes longer to load the washer than to do it by hand.

Conor, I too have one load of washing a day generally and there is just the two of us. My partner does a lot of sport (at least one club a day) so he changes his clothes at least twice a day - very annoying!! Also, with towels (one load) and bedclothes (another load) it is so easy to end up doing a load a day.;)

Angeleyes, unfortunatly you are going to have to make drastic changes to your life in order to clear your debt. Sorry to sound harsh, but complaining about giving up sky and things! That really isn't much of a sacrifice. You have got to be prepared to change your life dramatically in some way in order to get back in charge of your finances.
That's not to say that you can't do it, becuase you can clear the debt. :T You just have to be prepared to put the work in.

Sorry to sound like a cow, but I just don't think you can continue in this manner - it's not going to sort its self out - unfortunatly!:rolleyes: