I want to stop drowning

enthusiasticsaver

You should give yourself a pat on the back. You have paid off more than £4000 in around 3 months. If you keep this up then the debt will reduce by about £10-£12k over the year. More if you find work. More to the point. How is the budgeting going and are you managing to put something aside monthly for car repairs, presents, holidays? As the debt goes down the minimums will become more affordable so don’t worry too much if at the beginning of the year you don’t have much spare if any while you adjust to higher debt repayments. Just remember low minimums is why you are so heavily in debt as you would have been forced to deal with this 5 years ago when the debt was lower. Feel better soon.

debtaghh

Thanks for the % info.

This is my dilemma , if I do save for presents , emergencies etc it causes my major short fall. I have roughly worked out what I will need this year- tv licence, car tax , car servicing etc and divided it by 12 to work out how much I should be saving but that comes to over £300 per month. But I do have some money in the savings ( not enough to cover all this for a year). Shall I forget about saving for the next 6 months? Should I use some of the savings to pay towards debt which will then reduce my monthly outgoings?

If I don't save then my shortfall will be approx. £150 ( not accounting for me earning any money) which seems a lot more manageable.

I just never know what to do with spare money... pay debt or save for the above things!

Storm89

I think everyone will do things differently and will suggest different things. In the past when I have chucked everything at the debt , I've left myself short and ended up taking out more credit to pay for things I hadn't saved for. I didn't know how to work out the % either, that's a really good motivator! good luck with finding work that suits , even a little part time job can mean you can save for the things listed and continue paying down the debt as you have been .

enthusiasticsaver

Ultimately making the debt repayments has to take priority especially with debt as large as yours. You have little leeway so any spare money you do have I would keep aside for the expensive months so if you have money held back already I would hold on to it (I hesitate to say savings as I strongly suspect it is extra money you have balance transferred rather than saved from monthly income). The main thing is you must not spend on any more credit cards, you must not balance transfer extra money as that just adds to the debt and you have to make your budget balance eventually so you are making at least min8mums on debt repayment and saving for annual expenses. Once you get to that point and are keeping in budget for groceries, fuel, entertainment etc then it will all get easier.

debtaghh

Don’t worry I will not be balance transferring or using our credit card just to have money. I haven’t done a balance transfer in at least 2 months and am infact trying to close my accounts down.

enthusiasticsaver

That is great then you know what you have to do. I have seen people dig themselves out of holes bigger than you so with some dedication and determination, which you do have, you can do this. Read the front page story on MSE of the forumite who came back from £180000 in debt with just her income.

debtaghh

Wow, that is truly inspirational.

I think my problem is I want it cleared now!

I’ve applied for about ten jobs but got offered two interviews tat I had to turn down. I’ve I previously mentioned due to the hours and the second was due to location , parking and fuel. It wasn’t a lot of hrs and due to childcare and fuel etc I would have made hardly any money plus it would have caused problems with dh travelling to work.

enthusiasticsaver

How long did it take you to accumulate the debt? I am betting probably about 10 years if not more so clearing it now may be a tad unrealistic

You have to decide re interviews on jobs on their merit by weighing up pros and cons. However I would say rarely do any of us walk into ideal jobs at the start and it is easier to move jobs when you are already in one. Compromising at the beginning is almost inevitable. Initially when I returned to work I was paying 2/3rds of my salary to a childminder as my girls were 2 and 3 at the time with no help with childcare costs. I had no choice though as we could not afford the mortgage without me returning to work (15% interest rates!!!). Once they started school and I was promoted and rearranged hours a few times which my employer was open to once he knew I was a good worker it got so much more lucrative.

debtaghh

Very true about the debt!

I’m applying for jobs that I don’t even want to do as a compromise that it will work around the kids etc. I’m not bothered what I do but I can’t afford to go and work and be in a negative. Both these jobs were working 4 hours a day but half an hour away by car. I need local to allow less childcare costs plus if I could walk to it that would be even better. I know I sound like I’m making excuses but trust me I’m def making compromises by applying for any job. The things I won’t conpromise on is working part time due to my mental health and the kids.

Silver_Queen

Why are you applying for jobs that you won't be able to do? Surely it would make more sense to save the valuable time wasted on applying for the job to begin with. Well done on the progress you've made so far.