Feel so alone

Popstess

Okay so my grand total of debt excluding my mortgage is a gut wrenching sickening
£27,484.51
But hey guess what? It's NEVER EVER going to be that again. What a complete idiot I have been.
So £250.00 of that will hopefully be gone by next week that's my next directory and once I've paid that I'm closing the account.
£1,035.00 is Very and that's the next debt I'm going to tackle I've broke it down into 1%'s to help me see it going down and my plan is to carry on making my minimum payments to my other debts while blasting very as its bnpl at the moment but if I don't get it paid off the interest will be huge. So my plan is budget budget budget, and tighten up as much as possible any spare money at the end of the month is going straight on my very account. Any money I gain above my budget from selling or gifts (xmas money) I'm going to use to pay off very.
Once that's paid I'll be blasting my Tesco credit card which will have interest building up.
I have a Barclays and an MBNA cc both 0% interest on them at the moment and my plan is to have next, very and Tesco cleared before the 0% runs out in the hope that I'll be able to apply for another 0% card and swoop the debt over before the interest starts. Then the plan will be to carry on doing what I have been and any spare money will go towards paying those off. My last debt that I'm concentrating on is my loan. As its a fixed term and payment it's not going to increase the longer I take to pay off so it's the last on my priority list. I'd love to be able to pay it off faster than what's on it but I can't get ahead Of my self.
My Goal is to be debt free (not including my mortgage) in3 1/2 years yes I know that's crazy ambitious and yes I know I'm in a lot of debt but if you don't make goals how do you know what you're aiming for?
Can't thank you all enough for reading my posts and replying and helping. I'm up and down but feel more in control than I did when I posted this first post.

tealady

Sounds like you have a plan! Well done for tackling the debts, before you know it you will be wombling receipts or be a coupon queen!
I appreciate what you say about being up and down, I was like that when I was in debt but you CAN get there, just have a read of some of the diaries if you want inspiration.
Good luck

Dizzy_Imp

Come and join us in the grocery challenge...I've been a bit rubbish this month but it definitely helps keep a mindful watch on what I spend on food and toiletries. I also do the PAD challenge, and some others to keep up my motivation. Your plan sounds good and like you're in control of the situation, which is great! Well done so far :T

Popstess

tealady wrote: »

Sounds like you have a plan! Well done for tackling the debts, before you know it you will be wombling receipts or be a coupon queen!
I appreciate what you say about being up and down, I was like that when I was in debt but you CAN get there, just have a read of some of the diaries if you want inspiration.
Good luck

Thanks TeaLady I do most defintley have a plan for shifting this debt ASAP with any spare money's possible. I haven't spoke to anyone "in the real world" about my debt problems up to last night when I opened up to a relative, they said they had been in a similar position to me once and although they had less debt they couldn't afford the minimum payments and had missed lots of payments. So ended up getting a DMP through a provider. They said this got them out of debt but they wished they hadn't gone down that route they said I was lucky as I'd always paid my minimum payments and not missed any and that I could according to my SOA's still afford my monthly payments on each of my debts. I had never looked at it like that before I was too busy concentrating on the final figure of debt and feeling like I just want rid of it ALL now (completely unrealistic) that I hadn't really thought about the fact I was in a fortunate position to still be able to pay my minimum payments also as two of these a real interest free cards atm those minimum payments although small are chipping a way at the debt not just the interest.

Can I ask what wombling reciepts are? I hope you're right, now I have a clear plan of how I'm going to tackle my debt I need to do ALOT of work around my monthly outgoings and wiggling down the essentials to as cheap and poss and weeding out the non essentials as well as cutting down on my gas / electricity usage and shopping. By chance I popped in our local supermarket last night and come across some yellow stickered scones 8p! That's today's lunch for work sorted. I can really we me getting into getting my shopping bill as low as poss and living off as little as possible to free up some cash to throw at my debt. I feel like I've had a complete shift in my mindset thanks to this board and all you wonderfully inspiring people. I love the diaries and I love hearing how people have managed to clear their debt after feeling how I do now. I actually can't quite believe how stupid I've been I feel as though I've just woke up from a daze and realised how bad I've been living probably for the last 5-10 years to be honest. I hope one things for sure my Son learns from my mistakes (not that I want him to be privy to the ins and out of my debt problems) but it has made me start talking to him abut saving money and how you can't have everything and you've got to live within your means. I'm going to start talking to him about credit cards loans and overdrafts too. Nothing heavy just drip feeding him it over the years lol. I've always encouraged him to save (yes I know hypocrite or what) because I'm terrified of not being able to financially help him out when he's older so thankfully I set up a savings account for him from money he got when he was born and Christensend and every year he's put a portion of any birthday money and Christmas money in there along with my monthly payment of £10 which I really really don't want to cancel and hoping that once I've cleared my debt I can increase it. He knows he has his savings account but knows he can't access until he's 18/21 and although it's his money it can only be used for the purchase of something or towards something important like driving lessons/a car/ deposit for a house that kind of thing.

Popstess

Dizzy_Imp wrote: »

Come and join us in the grocery challenge...I've been a bit rubbish this month but it definitely helps keep a mindful watch on what I spend on food and toiletries. I also do the PAD challenge, and some others to keep up my motivation. Your plan sounds good and like you're in control of the situation, which is great! Well done so far :T

Thank you Dizzy, probably sounds like a stupid question but how do I join the challenges? I had a look at the DFW challenges but I got confused as they're really long busy threads and I don't really understand what's what. Sorry for being a bit dumb!

Dizzy_Imp

Popstess wrote: »

Thank you Dizzy, probably sounds like a stupid question but how do I join the challenges? I had a look at the DFW challenges but I got confused as they're really long busy threads and I don't really understand what's what. Sorry for being a bit dumb!

Don't be silly - you're a newbie - it's all a bit confusing to start with (Im always learning new stuff) To join any challenge just go to the last page and introduce yourself and you're off! You'll get lots of welcoming posts and ask any questions as someone will always be able to help. Sometimes (always) it's worth reading the introductory posts about the challenge as it usually has all the info you need. Or PM the thread OP (original poster) and chat with them.

Wombling receipts (or any found item) is claiming discarded tickets/receipts from supermarkets and uploading them to cash back sites for financial reward or to claim points or collect money-off coupons. Boberella is a master womble and she runs a great thread where you can find out more. Hope this linky works... https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5141110

I'd recommend subscribing to threads that interest you, and lurk without posting for a while, so you can see how things work. I'm a regular lurker, only uncloaking once I'm confident x

Good luck x

Butti

Popstress

What you may find is that as soon as you start setting a pattern of paying off chunks of debt suddenly creditors have a better view of you and start to offer you 0% deals. This is what happened to me!

Popstess

Butti wrote: »

Popstress

What you may find is that as soon as you start setting a pattern of paying off chunks of debt suddenly creditors have a better view of you and start to offer you 0% deals. This is what happened to me!

Well I do hope so butti, this is what happened with my two 0% cards I consolidated some debt into a loan (Hence my massive Halifax loan ) and paid off some cards then got offered the 0% balance cards.
Obviously I hadn't had my LBM at that point so was still massively into my overdraft had a huge very bill and other cc's. Hopefully I will get some more 0% deals and can swoop some of the debt over when the other deals run out that's the plan anyway.
Thank you

Popstess

Dizzy_Imp wrote: »

Don't be silly - you're a newbie - it's all a bit confusing to start with (Im always learning new stuff) To join any challenge just go to the last page and introduce yourself and you're off! You'll get lots of welcoming posts and ask any questions as someone will always be able to help. Sometimes (always) it's worth reading the introductory posts about the challenge as it usually has all the info you need. Or PM the thread OP (original poster) and chat with them.

Wombling receipts (or any found item) is claiming discarded tickets/receipts from supermarkets and uploading them to cash back sites for financial reward or to claim points or collect money-off coupons. Boberella is a master womble and she runs a great thread where you can find out more. Hope this linky works... https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5141110

I'd recommend subscribing to threads that interest you, and lurk without posting for a while, so you can see how things work. I'm a regular lurker, only uncloaking once I'm confident x

Good luck x

Thanks so much I will have a look at all them. I'm still in a bit of a shock / daze / realisation of my situation right now so getting my head around what's what is taking me a bit of time.

KJJM

I had a similar problem and found having talking therapy actually helped me to lessen my spending, and made me feel less alone. Alongside doing all the normally recommended things to get on top of your debt, speak to your doctor and see if therapy might help you mind a better outlet.

Really wish you all the very best.