Eeeek!! I'm here!! Where do I start?!

gotomakemyselfproud

Okay...


I'm here!!


After a few *years* browsing this fantastic forum and burying my head in the sand I have had my light bulb moment and I am ready to tackle this problem. I've been watching a you tube channel called 'Sugamammatv' and it has really inspired me to get cracking and rid of this debt.


I'm not going to lie, it's a lot!! About 30k but I am managing all the repayments and making dents in it, however there are two credit cards that I need to get down asap as the interest is high! I wanted to ask what you guys thought of the 'Snowballing' method and what I could do to try and get some sneaky extra payments in. I have joined the 'Payment a day' thread.


Any other challenges that you think are brilliant? I'm feeling positive. I am going to do this!!!!! I want to get really involved in this forum


Cara xxx

redpete

Snowballing is good.

If you post an SOA there might be areas that people can advice for shaving expenditure and making extra payments.

andyfromotley

One of your first port of calls should be the £1000 emergency fund thread. This should be one of your first tasks in order to stop your debt increasing with every hiccup that life throws at you.

Snowballing is definitely the way to go. As you pay your debt down you may be able to switch some of it to 0% deals. which is a huge help althopugh not the answer to your problems (you have a debt problem, not an interest rate problem).

Posting an SOA is hugely helpful and focuses your mind.

Sanctioned_Parts_List

£30k of debt, but managing repayments and paying some down - chances are your credit rating is not at all bad, and you can move one or both expensive cards over to a 0% balance transfer card - just remember to shred it as soon as it comes through the door. And the old card as well.

Otherwise, SOA first, always - and while I agree with Andy the need for an emergency fund, I think the decision over whether to prioritise it over debt repayments is dependent on whether you judge the security of having a £1000 pot to be worth the extra interest on £30k over the lifetime of the repayment process (which could be more than the pot is worth).

I'd be tempted to prioritise debt repayments at risk of having to use debt to cover the things that go bang in the night, but YMMV.