Getting out of this debt sharknado

EmmaMicawber

Well it's the end of another month and the card total currently stands at £66,150. My emergency fund is looking quite sad as the work on the car a couple of weeks ago cost just over £500. I have a few things to ebay which might help but my real focus is finding work. I dropped DD1 off for her first year at uni last weekend and DD2 is now settled in school so I've no excuse not to get stuck in. I just need to get over my lack of confidence from not working for a couple of years and convince myself that someone would be happy to employ me
OH hasn't had a pay rise or bonus for two years but is hopeful that this might change for 2018 as the company has been doing better. We've agreed that any extra will go straight into paying off the debt.

The run up to Christmas has always been a bit of a spend fest in our house, it was after Christmas last year we realised how bad our situation was. I need to keep a tight rein on things and not lose focus.

EmmaMicawber

It sometimes feels as though this journey is one step forward and two steps back. In the last couple of weeks I got a payout of almost £200 from Topcashback but then the dog had to have an emergency op which cost over £300, she's fine now thank goodness.

I'm determined to stick to my YNAB budget so have been moving money between my pots to keep to my planned debt payment for this month.
This meant my food budget is down to the wire this month. At least DD has school dinners so I've managed on £15 this week by raiding the bottom of the freezer. The low point was old frozen leftover risotto. There are two more minimum card payments to go out this month then the credit cards will stand at £64800. I'm still paying £100 interest a month on these but will just have to focus on getting rid of the interest-charging ones first.
This time last year we were paying well over £500 Interest per month just on the credit cards- madness!!

Kittychick

Great to hear you're still plugging away at it. I find that the food budget is something I can make a real difference with. I have old see using up something from the depths of the freezer as a win-that's what you put it there for.. I love my Batch cooking, or more correctly I dislike actually doing it, but i like looking at it all parcelled up in the freezer and just being able to get something out in the morning and have an easy tea that night but not the expense of a takeaway on the way home..
Good luck in your journey x

Happierdays

Wow you are making great progress and amazing how much less interest you are paying - brilliant! :T

EmmaMicawber

Thanks for popping by Kitty and Happier! Last night's dinner was cauliflower cheese using frozen cheese sauce- the freezer is gradually looking emptier.

I can't believe it is half term already. I've not had any luck so far getting a job in the area I used to work in so really need to broaden my search. If I don't start earning soon things are going to get very tight as DD's uni costs will have quite an impact (her student loan doesn't even cover her rent and her savings are dwindling).
I promised DD2 that we would visit DD1 in her uni city this week, which I'm really looking forward to.
OH has remembered that he's got some old Avios points (worth around £200 I think) so I'm investigating whether we can use them for something nice eg meal, theatre but I think it's a bit late for this trip. It's nice to "mentally spend" them and decide how to use them. It feels like such a treat as I've been planning every penny for months now. It's a shame you can't use them for haircuts as I'd love to go to a nice salon.

The trip will mean petrol, parking and one overnight stay as DD1 can't fit us both in her minute room.
I'm listing some more things on ebay today to try to offset the cost. I know it's not moneysaving but YNAB gets you to think about your personal priorities and getting the DDs together is definitely mine.

DD also has a few friends coming for a Halloween get together, but she is scouring the internet for cheap ideas for costumes, food and games and has a strict budget of £20 (£10 from me). This is all good training for later on I'm sure.

EmmaMicawber

It was a lovely week last week and not too expensive. It was great to see that DD1 has settled into her new uni life really well although I think she is currently spending a lot on socialising at the moment. Hopefully things will settle down, I'll encourage her to go through her budget at Christmas. At least she is in halls which include food so she won't starve if she spends too much on a night out.

It was at uni that I OH and I both started on the slippery slope of student bank accounts with overdrafts, then credit cards so I'm going to do everything I can to stop the same happening to our DC.

Both OH and I decided will never take out credit ever again once this is all paid so we couldn't care less about our credit scores. However out of the blue OH decided to see whether he could change his existing loan for a better interest rate and shorter term (yes, I know it is a bit hypocritical as it is credit).

By some miracle, even though his latest MSE credit report said his score was "poor" (though it was "very poor" earlier this year so an improvement!) he was accepted for a loan at half the rate of his existing one (less than 3%- amazing!) and has shortened the term to 2 years. It doesn't make any difference to the size our overall debt but means we'll pay much less interest and will pay it off sooner. The only problem is that the increased payments leave less available to pay down the credit cards so the only option is to increase our income- aargh I need a job NOW!!

EmmaMicawber

The phone rang before I'd finished. Obviously OH has used the new loan to pay off the original loan so our overall situation looks like this:
New loan - £19,000 ends Oct 2019 (£50 per month less interest)
Credit cards 1-3: 4.9% life of balance - £16,800
Credit cards 4,5: 0% to end of 2018/ start of 2019 - £12,000 - should have paid these off by end of 0%
Credit cards 6,7: 0% to start of 2018 £17,000 - priority as 0% ends soon
Credit cards 8,9 : 0% to 3Q and 4Q2019- £19,000
Total: !!!

I did a bank account switch that should pay £250 last week, provided I can jump through all the hoops required. It won't pay out until February though.

motivated

Hi Emma

It’s good to see your DD has settled into uni life. Also nice to see you are paying less interest. Interest what a bummer isn’t it.

Anyway you sound positive and organised.

As for never wanting credit again, I can so relate to that. Our credit scores are atrocious but I don’t even care
Keep going
M

EmmaMicawber

Thanks for popping in motivated, great to see you. Yes, so many of us on here are learning the perils of credit the hard way.

My family and friends have no idea of our debt situation but have noticed my zealous moneysaving. and encouragement of the teens we know to avoid taking out "cheap" credit at uni (overdrafts/ credit cards) and being a slave to payments for years into the future (thank you Dave Ramsey!). Unfortunately I don't think there's a way to avoid student loans for most.

The only trouble is that they probably expect us to be well- off in a couple of years with all our moneysaving. I suppose, relatively speaking, we will be once the debt is cleared.

EmmaMicawber

Things have been going well - I've been having a clear out and have managed to sell £120 worth of old bits and bobs on ebay. It has gone straight off the MBNA card.

I'm debating how much to spend on Christmas. We have literally never had a budget and then stuck to it!
I would guess that we usually spend around £1500-2000 : £250-300 per child, £200 for each other, £60 per parent ×4, £30-40 per sibling and sibling-in-law and then ? £400-500 on food and drink (we usually have extended family staying so it gets expensive). So actually nearer £2000 .

I don't want to look mean and don't want people to know the financial mess we're in so it will take some planning to reduce this. I think I will budget £1000 maximum and OH and I have already said we will buy each other something to unwrap in front of everyone but keep the labels and receipts take them back so that is £400 less than last year. We both want the same thing- freedom from debt

I'd be interested to know what everyone else is planning on spending.