A bit of moral support required!!!

Flowers2015

2015 was a bad year in terms of finances - buying another house, another baby, my husband setting up a new business, having to put in a new kitchen at new house (the other one was literally inhabitable), the clutch going in our car.... The list goes on!!!
This time last year, we owed £2000 on 1 credit card. A year later, we are in £12500 debt :-(

We have definitely overstretched ourselves financially, but too late now. We just need to spend a few years sorting this out.

We are in the very fortunate position that we have about £100k in equity in our houses, so if absolutely desperate we could sell our rental property and be debt free. But that's not what we want to do!

Our credit cards are all on interest free deals so we will keep moving them around to hopefully keep it that way.

Do other people lie awake at night and feel sick with worry about it? Wondering how on earth you're ever going to pay it off? I do, every night I've even started to take sleeping tablets

I won't post a SOA because all the figures add up and we can just about afford the repayments.

I just want some moral support and people to tell me that they have managed to get debt free!

This year, we should pay off £2700 off just on minimum payments which is a huge dent in it!

crazy_cat_lady

I managed to get df. It wasn't easy but I have learned a huge lesson from it and am pretty confident I can survive whatever financial stuff is thrown my way now.
There's a ton of good advice and moral support to be had on here as well - you've come to the right place.

hydrangea_2

I did it too! It is 100% possible, just a matter of having a plan and chipping away at it. Maybe a SOA would help, we could take a look and see any areas you could make some savings? Also, are you using the snowball/avalanche method to tackle your debts? They offer quite a lot of reassurance I found.

You've got this. We've got your back

Bobarella

It is scary how life can just go side ways. Have you got any emergency funds at all? If not then it may make you feel better to start one. Even putting £5 in per month would be a start. And reassure you that you didn't need to hit up the credit card the first time something went wrong. I completed my EF in May of last year and haven't needed to touch it but I feel so happy knowing it is there. I do have days where I think I will just pay it off the debt but I should clear mine this year if I stick to my payment plans.

Half the battle is trying to see the future and how good debt freedom will feel, whilst plodding along and at times making small progress. Maybe join in some of the challenges on the debt free challenges board as the act of joining in will make you feel less alone in all of this.

Bob

Flowers2015

Thanks so much so far everyone.

I will do a SOA later. It is a bit complicated though as my husband self employed and we have 2 mortgages and rent coming in etc. But I'll still do one :-)

We have a bit of an emergency fund - £200 and we are starting to add £25 to it a month. We are also putting money aside for Christmas 2016 already. This Christmas just about finished us off and I never want that to happen again.

Flowers2015

Ps. This snowballing thing - where do I find out more about that?

hydrangea_2

Snowballing is when you extra money towards debts with higher interest rates, therefore saving money. Avalanche is when you put any extra money to the smallest debt first - meaning that you have one off your chest quicker... A little psychological boost! Here's the link: http://whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

YORKSHIRELASS

I go through phases with my debts, sometimes I feel OK about it, sometimes I worry. I think so long as the total is going down and you are not using credit unless it is an absolute life or debt emergency then you are heading in the right direction.

We have a £500 emergency fund which does give me some comfort. Once I had saved £500 I stopped adding to it on the basis that £500 would cover most things such as a big car bill or a new washing machine.

When the day comes that we are debt free I will save in earnest but at the moment the priority is clearing the debts. We have reduced our totals a fair bit but still have some work to do!

theoretica

Flowers2015 wrote: »

We are in the very fortunate position that we have about £100k in equity in our houses, so if absolutely desperate we could sell our rental property and be debt free. But that's not what we want to do!

Do other people lie awake at night and feel sick with worry about it? Wondering how on earth you're ever going to pay it off? I do, every night I've even started to take sleeping tablets

Is keeping your rental property really worth sleeping tablets? Seems to me like you have an emergency fall back position for how to pay it off if just plugging away at it doesn't work or causes too much anxiety and upset.

Willy_Nilly_Milly

OOh this sounds so much like me. At the beginning of this year I had £15,000 in savings and now I'm £15,000 in debt due to the house. Sort of planned but still worrying. I have just done a spreadsheet and its depressing when almost as much of our monthly income goes on debt repayments as on our household bills. I also go through phases. I'm excited at the moment because it feels like a project I can get my teeth into and I love having goals. However when I'm doing overtime at work and feeling guilty for not seeing enough of the children I will be a different matter entirely.
A SOA really does help even if its just to see where all your money is going, plus the eagle eyes of the MSE crew always spot ways to save and make you question all of your spending.

Tyrone_Black

Sell the second home to someone who's struggling to buy one home. Then you're out of debt and someone else gets to start their life properly. Everybody wins.