Need courage to admit my debt to partner

Superscrooge

Four credit cards isn't excessive and as long as you can trust yourself not to take on more debt than you can handle, the cards with a zero balance help to reduce your % credit utilization.

runforlife

Also with your cards there's a chance you'll be offered 0% at some time in the future. All you need to do is to cut them up. Well done on being able to speak to your partner

milobrulee

I wanted to close it because I didn't trust myself to not re-spend it.

I'm now totally and utterly broke but keen to get through the next week as I get paid a week tomorrow.

It wasn't a card that ever offers 0% so no luck there. Not bothered about my credit rating if I'm honest as I will sort that out when I am debt free (maybe with a partner-shared credit card or something).

enthusiasticsaver

I think it is best to close it too. I don't know why anyone would need more than 2 credit cards and it seems daft to hold on to it in the vague hope a 0% deal might be forthcoming. Well done milo

milobrulee

I think as I go through debt repayment, I may possibly keep one card at the very end. The one I've had the longest. Although I want to get to a point where I have no debt, having one card does make sense. I will just have full transparency with my partner about it.

I've offset some cash from this month into a savings account to pay for a new train ticket on Wednesday but it looks like I overbudgeted and will have a little left over I'm hosting a Christmas party on Saturday and was fretting about what food I can offer people but it looks like I'll be able to at least offer something! Going to set a strict budget and go to Iceland I think. BF is doing pulled pork in the slowcooker with apple jam and coleslaw and baps. So I'll just do £20 for some sweet treats.

sourcrates

milobrulee wrote: »

BF is doing pulled pork in the slow cooker with apple jam and coleslaw and baps.

Make sure that pork gets up to temp, otherwise your party will be remembered for all the wrong reasons !!!!

kindofagilr

bertiewhite wrote: »

On this point, can anybody suggest if it's best to close unused accounts completely or to keep cards with a zero balance open?

I have 4 cards with various limits, 2 of which have balances and 2 which have none.

The cards are purely for flexibility with 0% transfers.

We have ten cards with debt on (all 0%) and a further 4 that are empty, we are keeping them for 0% offers, they have all sent 0% offers but I dont need them yet xx

milobrulee

sourcrates wrote: »

Make sure that pork gets up to temp, otherwise your party will be remembered for all the wrong reasons !!!!

Good point, we have a meat thermometer luckily!

Lonire

Hey Milobrulee,

I am a newbie to the forum and your story is great so far. Well done for taking control and telling your partner. It is great that they are so supportive! I had a similar experience and have only told my partner recently the extent of my debt and told her about my quest to get debt free. She is very supportive and has pretty much said she won't hold it against me as such and that she will help me ensure I don't go out spending when I don't have it. Before when I had my debt as a secret she just assumed everything was ok and therefore when we were going out somewhere she just assumed I could afford it. One thing that Ive found is through office jobs sometimes they have an employee assistance programme where you can call someone up and just chat to them about problems in a confidential way. like a bit of counselling. so you could always check if your company has that in case you ever needed someone else to chat to.

For the xmas party, you can always suggest people bring a bottle or case of drink of whatever they want. If enough people do that, that'll be the drinks sorted for the night and maybe even a bit further after the party. Could maybe even have people bring different dishes. I know that might not be the best as you may want to do it all your self and put on a good show. There is always Iceland party food. Hide the boxes and no one will be any wiser

good luck.