Getting out of this debt sharknado

EmmaMicawber

Paid this week : £546
Total paid in 2018 : £3421
£ to target : £26,579

I've only paid minimums this week as I've been puttimg aside the rest for DD's housing costs or the emergency fund if it turns out we don't need it. The emergency fund currently stands at £800.

There is a bit more car expense to come- one of DD2's friends yanked the door handle rather vigorously this week and the hinge has broken so youcan only open it from the inside now. The hinge itself is plastic (not the best build quality) but the garage wants £250 to replace the whole handle :eek: so OH is going to see if he can repair it himself usimg good old youtube and paying under £50 for the parts.
Until last year we would have just paid up. I do worry about car costs though. This is the oldest highest mileage car I've had and it isn't a make renowned for its reliability ('fix it again tomorrow').

DD ended up borrowing the money she needed for her ticket from her friend. I'm not too happy about that but not sure how to best support her to be money savvy and actually budget ahead. I sometimes wish she was at a more 'normal' uni.

OH and I are off for a moneysaving Valentine's date tonight from a two for one offer and some loyalty points crom his travel.

EmmaMicawber

Paid this week . £170
Total paid in 2018 £3591
£ to 2018 target . £26,409

The total hasn't moved much as it's the lowest week of the month for scheduled payments and I'm not paying off any extra this month due to DD1's possible housing costs.

Positives this week:
OH fixed my car door handle for under £50 so a couple of hundred saved there. Have had a great and pretty cheap half term with DD2. We have received free tickets to a show next week so very MSE. DD1 has been home for the weekend and is happy and healthy in spite of the student lifestyle, though running out of money. DD2 has an interview for a Saturday job to help fund an expensive thing she wants to do with her main hobby in the Summer so indirectly moneysavi g for us as we hopefully won't have to fu d it all!

Challenges this week:
Still no job- I've been watching 'The Job Interview' and actually wonder how some people, me included, ever manage to get a job if you have to be the best of a group at interview. Some people may never be the best at interview but surely everyone deserves the opportunity to work, earn money and do a good job.
DD2 is struggling with money- she is planning to sell her blood i.e. get paid for donating it foe medical research :eek: We could give her more but it would mean paying less off the credit cards. We worked out that the money she has spent from her savings, student maintenance loan (excluing tuition fee loan), part time job and us paying her is equivalent to a gross salary of £23,000!

The government is announcing the scope of the university fees review tomorrow- I hope they do something positive in time for DD2, and that DD1 won't be accruing interest at 6.1% for the whole time she's at uni- she's on a very long course. Our big loan interest rate is 2.8% - why on earth should DD's student loan be 6.1% - exploiting 18 year olds who have no choice and little understanding of finance makes my blood boil :mad:

EmmaMicawber

Paid this week £693
Paid in 2018 £4284

% target paid: 14%
£ left to reach 2018 target £25,716

The totals are looking a bit healthier this week!

enthusiasticsaver

A lot of people seem to be struggling to find work so don't feel too disheartened. Ironically the easiest way to find work apparently is if you are working already. I can't remember how long since you worked but having a long career break can affect job prospects. Keep trying.

Student debt will be a massive problem and I cannot believe the amounts on student loans these days. My niece is on the current system and will probably have around £45k of student debt when she leaves. My two DDs left with around £12k and £15k about 9 and 10 years ago. I look forward to reading review anyway.

Re your DD. Is she budgeting? Why not direct her to the soa on here? Presumably she is paying for rent out of that £23k. Is that net so just under £2k per month? Did she work in the summer as that is when my DDs earned the most and then saved it as a buffer for the year?

£4284 this year is a great start considering we are still in February.

EmmaMicawber

Thanks enthusiastic. DD2 got the job she was interviewed for last week so I'll be the only non-earner- there has to be something out there- I've just got to find it. We're not near a city which makes it harder I suppose.
DD1's budgeting has tailed off I think- I'll try to sit down and have a proper chat with her over the Easter hols, it's difficult on the phone. The main problem is that her new friends seem to spend a lot on going out and she ends up spending when she shouldn't as she doesn't want to miss out. Her sports club also seems to include a lot of buying rounds of drinks every week. Hardly necessities though!
I think part of the problem of student loans is that it makes 18 year olds think that debt is benign and unavoiadable and that attitude spills over into easily accessible overdrafts, credit cards and are then used to fund their social lives at uni. But that suits the agendas of the banks who have acquired a valuable 18 year old who will hopefully stay in debt and be a profitable customer for them for decades.

I was shocked a few weeks ago - DD2's school invited HSBC in to talk to the 6th form about "finance"
DD came away with these take-home messages, and queried them with me when she came home:
Student loans are fine - you only pay £30 or nothing if you don't earn enough.You don't notice the payments as they come out of your pay.
Everyone automatically gets an overdraft on their account at 18 (she asked the HSBC guysif you could opt out- they said they didn't think so!)
You need to get a credit card to build a credit history otherwise you won't be able to buy a house later.

All false, misleading and not a word about avoiding debt, or the dangers of the debt industry. I tried to call HSBC to complain but the customer services knewnothing about it. I should try again actually.

What sort of financial education is this? It is like inviting a tobacco industry CEO to talk to teenagers about smoking.

enthusiasticsaver

EmmaMicawber wrote: »

Thanks enthusiastic. DD2 got the job she was interviewed for last week so I'll be the only non-earner- there has to be something out there- I've just got to find it. We're not near a city which makes it harder I suppose.
DD1's budgeting has tailed off I think- I'll try to sit down and have a proper chat with her over the Easter hols, it's difficult on the phone. The main problem is that her new friends seem to spend a lot on going out and she ends up spending when she shouldn't as she doesn't want to miss out. Her sports club also seems to include a lot of buying rounds of drinks every week. Hardly necessities though!
I think part of the problem of student loans is that it makes 18 year olds think that debt is benign and unavoiadable and that attitude spills over into easily accessible overdrafts, credit cards and are then used to fund their social lives at uni. But that suits the agendas of the banks who have acquired a valuable 18 year old who will hopefully stay in debt and be a profitable customer for them for decades.

I was shocked a few weeks ago - DD2's school invited HSBC in to talk to the 6th form about "finance"
DD came away with these take-home messages, and queried them with me when she came home:
Student loans are fine - you only pay £30 or nothing if you don't earn enough.You don't notice the payments as they come out of your pay.
Everyone automatically gets an overdraft on their account at 18 (she asked the HSBC guysif you could opt out- they said they didn't think so!)
You need to get a credit card to build a credit history otherwise you won't be able to buy a house later.

All false, misleading and not a word about avoiding debt, or the dangers of the debt industry. I tried to call HSBC to complain but the customer services knewnothing about it. I should try again actually.

What sort of financial education is this? It is like inviting a tobacco industry CEO to talk to teenagers about smoking.

I think you are correct on several points. Debt is now considered acceptable mainly due to the fact we inflict it on very young adults via student loans. As you say "free" overdrafts lure them in further. No mention of budgeting or how to manage debt.

Talking to your DD about financial self discipline would be useful. She will come up across many temptations so learning how to say no, I cannot afford that early is wise.

EmmaMicawber

Ha- it's great to vent on here as I can't really in RL. I guess I get so angry as OH and I were foolish enough to fall into the debt trap ourselves but it seems that our children's generation is at even more risk of these sharks.

On to more positive plans for the week:

OH's payday tomorrow and then the one after that should include a bonus - yay!
Ebaying a new batch of stuff- hope to make £100
Do another bank switch for £100
Look into the PPI thing- OH definitely had some so need to find what details I can.
Job hunt- make more speculative phone calls. Update linkedin.

EmmaMicawber

Paid off this week £588
Paid off in 2018 £5,125
Credit card balance remaining £52,875

I'm feeling really positive this week. We're still in a humongous hole but at least have a decent-sized spade to dig ourselves out with. It looks like OH will get 3 bonuses this year (though he hasn't actually had one in a few years so I know I'm counting our chickens before they've hatched) and I'm still (blindly) optimistic about my job hunting so we've upped our target to

Pay off ALL our credit cards by the end of 2018.

That will just leave us with a loan of £8,300 to sort in 2019.

I'm plugging away at surveys, ebaying andbank switching and keep wavering between thoughts of "every little helps" and "these are drops in the ocean".
The car has been behaving itself and DD and I managed a long drive to see an amazing play - it was such a treat and we experienced such a massive range of emotions in 90 minutes, it felt like an emotional workout. It might not sound very moneysaving but the tickets were £20 each and petrol £20 so money well spent. No treats for us next week!

EmmaMicawber

Paid off this week £275
Paid off in 2018 £5,400
Credit card balance remaining £52,600

I haven't paid much off this week but only two weeks until OH's bonus will be paid (hopefully) -can't wait to pay off one of the cards fully. It is so tempting to think about how great it would be to put some money aside for a holiday but we both agree that every penny will be coming off that debt- gazelle intense (though that does sound a bit weird).

I applied for a job this week that would be perfect for me so fingers crossed that I get an interview. The pay isn't great but it would still make a difference to our debt plan.

I'm going to make the simnel cake today, and try to come up with some cheapish ideas for Easter pressies, preferably non-chocolate.

EmmaMicawber

Hello diaryworld, I hope your Easter was good. We had a fab time with family - my food bill skyrockets when everyone's here but it's worth it. I'd have pdeviously estimated that I spend around £50-75 on Easter usually (including extra food) but my strict YNABING this year tells a different story.
Easter Meals: £80 Easter eggs: £30 Easter clothing for the children: £90 Extra cash for giving £40 Total: £240 !! We also have 2 family birthdays in April so the Christmas/ Easter/Birthdays pot in YNAB is now sadly empty so needs some attention.
On the work front I failed to even make the interview list for the job I really thought I'd be perfect for with the right skills and experience so was actually really sad about that one. OH has had the first part of his bonus thoigh so the totals are looking healthier. The second part should arrive soon. I hate relying on him financially, especially now the kids are older- my little side hustles bring in around £200 a month which is a drop in the ocean given our level of debt.

This week's updates:

Paid since last update: £7,398
2018 total: £12,798
Left to target: £45,202
% paid: 22%

We still have a humongous hole to get out of but a decent-sized shovel to tackle with this year.
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