When does the knot go

peaceandfreedom

Itsnowornever wrote: »

Thank you, yes we intend to pay them all of over time so probably best not to bother, oh well.

You could look into moving some of your credit-card debt to 0% balance transfer cards - there is a big section on the main MSE website on these and you can do a 'soft search' credit check to check your eligibility:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards

All my remaining CC debt is on 0% - makes such a big difference to the speed in which you can repay it.

As for the 'knot' - for me, it went when I finally gained control of my budget and my spending, even though I was still in debt. I had a plan and I was sticking to it. I use the budgeting software 'YNAB' (You Need a Budget) and this has transformed my approach to money management.

Scale_Rule

The knot will undo itself over time, stick to it.

Ellieseleven

Like others, for me it was once I had entered into the DMP and had set a realistic budget which we could stick to.

I'm five years into my DMP and these days I find that I have feelings of excitement at what the future will now hold rather than the dread and fear of how I would cope with owing so much money in my retirement;)

Take care
Ellie x

SeduLOUs

Itsnowornever wrote: »

Thank you, yes we intend to pay them all of over time so probably best not to bother, oh well.

The best bit is to shift as much as you can onto 0% balance transfer cards, but I understand completely that in the initial stages of debt tackling they can be hard to get accepted for.

There's absolutely no harm at all in asking for your interest rates to be reduced - they can only say no! I phone all of my card issuers every 6 months to ask for limit increases/interest rate reductions and most oblige, usually knocking around 0.5-1% off each time - I don't actually pay interest at the moment as I'm on BT deals, but I got into the habit and figure there's no harm getting the rates as low as possible just in case.

Tyrone_Black

For me the worst bit was just adding it up and coming to the number, even though I'd already put things in place (spending cuts, 0%, opening regular savings account) to put it right. Then the massive anxiety disappeared over the course of a week or so as you come to the knowledge that you've done what you can and now it's just time and discipline. It still worries me but not excessively.