It's all fun and games until ...........

Eager_Elephant

Welcome back debs.

The debt might have gone up but at least you have come back to start afresh.

Some people need more than 1 lightbulb moment before they truly start debt busting.

Feel free to post again and all us lovely people will be here to support you.

scotdebs

Thanks Eager E I have shamefully updated my signature to reflect the true horror. I really believe I am in here for the long haul this time as I will be getting made redundant in approx. 18 months. Whilst I'm likely to get a decent package and another job it will pay much less that this one - so need to reduce the amount of our salaries we are using to service debt significantly. Also I'm in my early 40s is this not the time in my life when I'm supposed to have my !!!!! together and be overpaying on my mortgage etc.


Anyway enough of the pity party positive things I have done today - some balance reshuffling - all but £5k is on interest free until at least next summer so that £5k is my first target and I would like it gone for end of the year so that's the target - not easy when we have a holiday coming next month that I booked when I was still firmly head in sand mode, 2 big family birthdays and Xmas before the end of the year but I think I can dot it.


Also went to Aldi for shopping last night and joined the grocery challenge again - food shop, takeaways and eating out are the biggest areas we overspend in.....


Just trying to brace myself for the horror of trying to sell on ebay again

Chrystal

Hi Debs :hello: I've read your diary from the beginning and I'm sorry it's all come apart for you.
I'm sure that if you take the advice offered on here you'll be able to get your act together and get your money sorted
First thing to start thinking about is that 'big' family birthdays and Christmas don't HAVE to involve enormous outlay. I'm sure, if you ask, that people will be forthcoming with great ideas that don't involve loads of money:T

Good Luck with it all - I've subscribed X

Eager_Elephant

You have got it down before debs and you can get it down again.

Do you know where the increased debt has come from. I think last year you had got it down to £37k? Is it big expenses like car repairs/roof repairs/appliance replacements or is it just overspending generally?

I think having a goal in sight is best, rather than saying I want to pay off my debts, you need something to aim for such as the redundancy - how nice would it be to get the redundancy money and actually have choices as to where it is spent/saved?

How much extra do you need for the holiday?
How much is Xmas going to cost? Work it out and then divide by 3 and make sure the money is put aside. I put £50pm aside for Xmas which covers DS and DD. we don't do presents for each other and family get a small gift each like pots of gold and that's it.

Have you looked at your budget going forward and do you know how much you spend on everything?

Once you have your budget and you know what you need to save into pots for non-regular expenses could you transfer the rest to debt straight away rather than thinking 'I'll just keep that in my account until the end of the month just in case' and invariably it gets swallowed up by some expense that seemed important at the time.

I think food is a huge one for everyone - if you are spending £600pm then maybe set the target at £550 and then £500 rather than thinking you can get it to £200 straight away (well you might in month 1 if you are trying to use up things from the cupboard/freezer).

scotdebs

Hi Chrystal and Eager E thanks for popping back am sure there are plenty that would be saying here she goes again .....


Initially the debt was racked up by just generally having a good old time of it - then when the payments were more than we could handle everything like xmas, birthdays, car repairs ended up going on the cards. now we are both earning good money when I do my SOA there should be a healthy few hundred quid left over to throw at the debts some months it happens and some it doesn't. We now save for things like the car MOT, xmas etc and a small general savings pot. The overspend is mostly due to overspend on grocery shopping, meals out and takeaways.


The redundancy has very much focused my mind as I want to do so much more with that money than just pay off cc debt


Have set myself 3 short term targets as if I think of 18 months away it will just lead to further denial.


By 31 Dec 2017 down to £43.5k reduction of 10.5%
By 30 Jun 2018 down to £33.8k reduction of 30.4% ( I get a bonus in Feb so hence big reduction)
by 31 December 2018 £26.9k reduction of 44.6%


Any further is too far in the future.........

Eager_Elephant

I think those goals sound really good and achievable - no point setting a goal that you will never reach and it just disheartens you.

Good luck with this new journey.

Eager_Elephant

Its very spooky but yesterday I meant to recommend that you read TreadingonPlaymobils diary as she has a brilliant diary, they have a very good income and are used to a good lifestyle but now the budget is very tight and they are starting to turn things around and to stop running up debt.

Forgot all about it in my mad rush to type a reply and I see you have found her diary - its definitely worth reading from the start if you have time.

Chrystal

scotdebs wrote: »

Hi Chrystal and Eager E thanks for popping back am sure there are plenty that would be saying here she goes again .....

Debs stop putting yourself down. There are loads of people on here who try, try and try again - numerous times- before they get it right. It's so easy to say ' to hell with it' when it seems overwhelming. The great thing about this forum is that nobody judges, everyone understands and tries to help.

I agree that short term goals are easier to get your head around, and achievable. They also give you a massive sense of achievement when you get there. X

scotdebs

well not too much to report on the debt busting front - have reviewed all insurances, broadband utilities etc but I do that as a matter of course now so wasn't expecting it to throw up any big savings. Did a cash flow from now to next payday going to be tight with 2 family birthday including DS1 and that fact both our cars needed a new tyre last week but am determined that nadda will be going on to those credit cards and I do have a wee savings pot for this month as we always have extra expenses during this month so that's been raided.
Went to the shops for butter last night and only bought butter !!! Its a first and I will take my debt busting miracles where I can find them.
So just plodding on but will report in every few days to keep myself accountable - oh have meal planned for the weekend to avoid the takeaway temptation

brizzledfw

Weyhey she's back.. sorry you're back cos of the debt, but great you're back iyswim

My fatal flaws are the same - food and holidays and the nice stuff I guess... but gotta remain positive that we can get there. All of us. The focus of a sharp decline in income is a good one.

Have a good week and keep posting!

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