I have stuck my head in the sand long enough, debts now standing at £22,000

bexster1975

As regards the overdrafts, I would be inclined to open a new basic account with a different institution ( no overdraft facilities on these ) then look upon overdrafts as debts and service them monthly.

Bexster

ETA: couldn't agree more with andyfromotley buying a house now is a bad idea, and not just cos ov the debt

Andyfromotley is your day job a motivational speaker? If not you should consider a career change!

Andrew_P

andyfromotley wrote: »

Hi Andrew,

forget about buying a house for now. It would be a financial disaster for you at the moment. It would eat up any spare cash you have and i pretty much guarantee that you will incur a load more credit to furnish the house, make small alterations etc etc

You need to
1.learn how to live on less than what you earn. (a lot less until you get rid of this debt!)
2. Budget properly
3. Stop using credit to buy stuff (holidays) that you can't afford.
4. Repay your debt


OK first things first, you need to start using a budgeting tool. I and many others on here use YNAB but there are many others, find one that you like. Work it like a pit pony!
You then need to stick to you budget, with an iron will. Hopefully your other half is on board. Find free stuff to do, check on each others spending, hold budget meetings, you get the picture

Now the big question is how hard do you really want to go on this debt?? If you want to go 'all end of the world' crazy on it you could shift this inside a year? Impossible i hear you cry!! Really? Rent the cheapest place you can survive in, both get extra evening jobs, both get weekend work, get promoted, find a new better paying main job, sell everything that you haven't used for the last 6 months, throw every penny at the debt!! Still think you couldn't do it inside a year?

This is easily fixable for you and your other half with hard work and application, i'm guessing you are fairly young, child free, good health, low low overheads potentially. Sort this out now and you are changing THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!! You can live it debt free, happy and have the things you want. Go get it mate!

Fantastic post Andy as Beckster says you should definitely think about a career change as your post above is truly fantastic!

Thank you so much for your advice

I am currently 30 and the wife is 33 so I am hoping a couple of years time we could be out of this mess!

Andrew

owlet

Looking at your SOA , a few items stick out to me.
Haircuts
Entertainment
Car parking
Clothing
Prescriptions/dentist etc

Are these your real costs? They seem low for two people.

If you have estimated some parts of your SOA, you need to re visit it & be more accurate. Entertainment you have as £25 - is that accurate?

If they are accurate, then tell me to shut up lol. I'm just trying to pin point where perhaps your money is disappearing without you realising it.

It helps to write down every single spend & you can both see exactly where it's going.

As others have said, can you move & rent somewhere smaller and/or cheaper for a year? I know rents where you are living are high, so maybe just out of that area for a while?

Definitely open the new basic bank accounts. One for regular direct debits & bills and the other for incoming money and living. Much easier to budget. Your debts should be fairly easy to clear with a short term push.
Good luck!

Andrew_P

owlet wrote: »

Looking at your SOA , a few items stick out to me.
Haircuts
Entertainment
Car parking
Clothing
Prescriptions/dentist etc

Are these your real costs? They seem low for two people.

If you have estimated some parts of your SOA, you need to re visit it & be more accurate. Entertainment you have as £25 - is that accurate?

If they are accurate, then tell me to shut up lol. I'm just trying to pin point where perhaps your money is disappearing without you realising it.

It helps to write down every single spend & you can both see exactly where it's going.

As others have said, can you move & rent somewhere smaller and/or cheaper for a year? I know rents where you are living are high, so maybe just out of that area for a while?

Definitely open the new basic bank accounts. One for regular direct debits & bills and the other for incoming money and living. Much easier to budget. Your debts should be fairly easy to clear with a short term push.
Good luck!

Hi Owlet

Thank you for your reply

Your right entertainment and clothing i had under estimated so have updated these. I would say we go out to eat a couple of times a month. Having checked my clothing I did spend slightly more a couple of months ago due to going on holiday however prior to that I never used to buy that many clothes.

Thanks once again

Andrew_P

Well this evening I have made the first steps to hopefully pay a bit more off on some of my debts. I have listed my PC (Which cost around £1k, 6 months ago) and a recent TV purchase for the bedroom (This was about £300) so hopefully I can get in the region of £700-£800 for both. Hopefully all being well and both of the items sell. This will give me some extra along with next months pay to really hit the debt hard! .

Any further suggestions would be appreciated, but i am glad I have made the first step in trying to sort this mess out.

Many thanks everyone for all your help so far

Edit: Forgot to add my wife does suffer with depression and anxiety which can make things difficult, however she does agree we are going to have to do this together to make it work. We just have to make sure we are there for each other when the going gets tough! .

sugarcube84

Have you signed up to some survey sites, they don't bring in loads but the odd tenner here and there for prezzies or a shop always comes in handy.


Also cashback sites and remember to use them for all your insurance renewals I've made around £500 in the last 3 years and I use it for prezzies and clothes for the family.


Next....points cards like [EMAIL="nect@r"]nect@r[/EMAIL], b00ts, tesco etc make sure you have them. I try to use Tesco to buy my petrol not only is it cheaper than most places but I can get points as well...now scuppered by the fact that I have fuel card through work :-(


Internet plus landline seems expensive if it doesn't include any sort of tv package could you look at swapping (and earning cashback!)


Groceries I spend the same and there is 3 of us plus 2 dogs but its not over the top for just the 2 of you, do you shop at @ldi and l1dl? might be worth looking at if you don't already.


You need an emergency fund.


Looking for somewhere cheaper to rent seems a good idea especially is if the plan once debt free is to buy your own place.


Then last as other people have suggested you need to see if you really do have that amount left over each month as if you put that towards your debts you could be debt free in as little as 2 years. So I would suggest a spending diary or budget tool.


Good luck

KxMx

Look at maintaining things you already do but use your money better.

For example if you're paying a Sky subscription, would Freesat or Now TV be suitable?

If you eat out a couple of times a month, would it be cheaper on one of those occasions to have a takeaway delivered? Are there places doing meals just as good for less, keep an eye out for vouchers/deals special offers etc.

Presents: shop during seasonal sales and put the items away until the birthday rolls around.

Use Card Factory and not Hallmark to buy cards for example. Look at Funky Pigeon/the photo printing sites who often have discount codes and offer great quality cards- Snapfish currently have 30% off everything plus totally free delivery.

How about getting wine on offer at the supermarket and giving that as a gift? Are you buying for everyone you need to or feel you should do? In which case stop or downgrade the spend for those people. Some of my best received presents have been the cheapest but chosen with a great deal of thought.

Write your grocery list (and stick to it!) AFTER taking stock of what you already have in the fridge/cupboard/freezer/ fruit bowl.

Make your own coffee and invest in a thermos instead of using takeaway chains.

Consider giving up real luxuries like a holiday until you are debt free and have then saved enough to fund so it's not going on credit.

nicp60

Hi Andrew_P and welcome!
You need to address this surplus on the soa - do you have £500 a month spare?

If you don't have £500 a month spare, then you need to re-do your SoA
Then you need to look at snowballing and throwing everything at the highest apr debt. Here's the snowball calc - http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/snowball-calculator.php
This should keep you motivated to clear that debt, and give you some debt free dates to help!

Andrew_P

sugarcube84 wrote: »

Have you signed up to some survey sites, they don't bring in loads but the odd tenner here and there for prezzies or a shop always comes in handy.


Also cashback sites and remember to use them for all your insurance renewals I've made around £500 in the last 3 years and I use it for prezzies and clothes for the family.


Next....points cards like [EMAIL="nect@r"]nect@r[/EMAIL], b00ts, tesco etc make sure you have them. I try to use Tesco to buy my petrol not only is it cheaper than most places but I can get points as well...now scuppered by the fact that I have fuel card through work :-(


Internet plus landline seems expensive if it doesn't include any sort of tv package could you look at swapping (and earning cashback!)


Groceries I spend the same and there is 3 of us plus 2 dogs but its not over the top for just the 2 of you, do you shop at @ldi and l1dl? might be worth looking at if you don't already.


You need an emergency fund.


Looking for somewhere cheaper to rent seems a good idea especially is if the plan once debt free is to buy your own place.


Then last as other people have suggested you need to see if you really do have that amount left over each month as if you put that towards your debts you could be debt free in as little as 2 years. So I would suggest a spending diary or budget tool.


Good luck

Thanks for your advice sugarcube84

In terms of my broadband and phone I am in contract with BT until January 2016 unfortunately as when I signed up they were only doing 18 month contracts .

Will certainly bear in mind @ldi and L1dl as currently we go to Asda and we don't find them too bad for prices.

Will certainly look into cashback sites although typically we don't have any renewals coming up until next year!

What would you say is the best way about getting an emergency fund?

Many thanks

Andrew

Andrew_P

KxMx wrote: »

Look at maintaining things you already do but use your money better.

For example if you're paying a Sky subscription, would Freesat or Now TV be suitable?

If you eat out a couple of times a month, would it be cheaper on one of those occasions to have a takeaway delivered? Are there places doing meals just as good for less, keep an eye out for vouchers/deals special offers etc.

Presents: shop during seasonal sales and put the items away until the birthday rolls around.

Use Card Factory and not Hallmark to buy cards for example. Look at Funky Pigeon/the photo printing sites who often have discount codes and offer great quality cards- Snapfish currently have 30% off everything plus totally free delivery.

How about getting wine on offer at the supermarket and giving that as a gift? Are you buying for everyone you need to or feel you should do? In which case stop or downgrade the spend for those people. Some of my best received presents have been the cheapest but chosen with a great deal of thought.

Write your grocery list (and stick to it!) AFTER taking stock of what you already have in the fridge/cupboard/freezer/ fruit bowl.

Make your own coffee and invest in a thermos instead of using takeaway chains.

Consider giving up real luxuries like a holiday until you are debt free and have then saved enough to fund so it's not going on credit.

Thanks for your advice KxMx

We just have Freesat at the moment and also a Now TV box so making huge savings there although just the internet and phone need to sort when contract ends in January!. Although I think I read on MSE that due to BT Sport now charging from August and if you have BT Broadband only you can leave penalty free? (Not sure if this is correct though).

Takeaways instead a good shout!