Been in debt all my adult life, this madness is going to stop!!

TeaRex

Just wanted to update with this months figures

£20 paid to my defaulted Barclaycard account (£4707 balance remaining)
£209 paid to my Argos card (£1300 balance remaining)
£185 paid to my Lloyds CC (£1800 remaining)

It feels good knowing I only have £3100 of 'live' debt left to pay. The Barclaycard has obviously defaulted so I don't count it as a priority as its on my file until 2023 and Ill obviously have it paid off way before then! My main priority is to pay off the Argos and Lloyds so we can move and I can put that £400pm towards rent for a bigger place instead

Aiming to get the £3100 paid off by end of March 2018 latest!

Newstart3

Hi TeaRex

I've subscribed to your diary after reading your post on another thread. Sounds like we have loads of common! I'm also 30 & came on here for support after I split up with my partner and had my LBM (£20k) it's been a hard road so far but hoping to be debt free next year.

Best of luck xx

Lacherlich

Hey


Also subscribed - similar age/ back story - and super determined to clear my debt now!


However just at the beginning of mine so still £23k to go!!

Newstart3

Lacherlich, good to know we're all in this together! I owed a similar amount about a year ago. It's amazing how quickly it starts to come down once you put your mind to it! Good luck xx

TeaRex

Hi all, haven't been on here for a little while as been busy!

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer! In fact its so close that I will be pretty much out of this hole by Christmas Day fingers crossed!

Ive been paying 400pm off of my debts. I sold something I had of value but wasn't ever going to need or use for £800 so £700 of that went straight towards my Lloyds CC so I wouldn't be tempted to fritter it away. The other £100 has been withdrawn and put into my xmas savings pot. This will be the first year I don't put christmas on credit and Im thrilled! Im hoping have £500 in cash by November to cover presents and food etc.

I also work on a 35 hour week salary basis but can do anything between 20-70 hours a week. As my work owe me a lot of hours I am taking an extra week off and then getting the rest paid to me, this should be around £700 extra after tax so this will also go straight towards the Lloyds CC.

So these two lump sums plus my payments of £400pm will leave me owing around £100 by christmas. I will still have the Barclaycard debt but as this has defaulted, it is not a priority to up the payments massively. Ill probably increase it from £20pm to £50pm in the new year and then see what they say when it comes to review. I would start making £400 payments but we need to move to a bigger flat so would rather put my wages towards that instead!

Good luck with your journeys

TeaRex

Another little update

I currently owe £1950 on my Lloyds CC and Argos card. I have only paid minimum payments so far this month as we have seen a new house we want to try and rent. We are in a one bed flat and this is a three bed house so we are viewing it today.
The only problem is that the fees and deposit will be around 2k to move in. Ive been so focused on paying down the debt, I don't have any savings apart from my xmas pot. So I may have to go cap in hand to my parents and offer to pay them back. The upfront fees seem so crazy when its only £700pm to rent!

Im also worried that they won't rent it to us as I have the default on my file and my partner only works part time but it is deffo affordable. Just got everything crossed as it would be so amazing for us all to move into a bigger place and my partners kids can have their own rooms when they stay with us!

Does anyone know how strict estate agents can be? Im planning to be honest about my default with them when applying, or is that a bad idea?

Newstart3

I think they can be pretty understanding, if you are upfront with them. Depends on the agent though x

TeaRex

Another update!

I didn't manage to pay off my debt by Xmas day! And we are still looking for a new property to rent.

I found out I was pregnant before Christmas. Im now nearly 27 weeks! So this is really exciting but very scary as I always wanted to be debt free before having a child! Because of this and wanting to move and so I could afford Xmas without using credit, I only really paid the minimums on my debts for Nov/Dec.

My current figures are as follows
Argos Card - £1006 owed
Lloyds CC - £650 owed
TOTAL - £1650 owed

Barclaycard debt has now been passed on to the PRA Group. As this has already defaulted in Feb 17, I don't count it in my overall total owed, it will get paid off eventually. I have agreed £50pm with them for now which they seem to be ok with. The total on this is £4550 owed. Once my other debts have been paid off I will pay considerably more towards this. Hopefully around £200 pm but we will see. I can go on to their website and pay any amount i want at any time so can make overpayments etc.

Once baby is here i imagine my debts will go down a bit more slowly especially when I go to statutory pay for 3 months of my maternity leave. Im lucky in that im getting full pay for 6 months with my work! But I finally feel under control, the interest each month is only around £30 whereas back in the beginning it used to be around £200!

Thats it for now, Ill try and post a bit more regularly

enthusiasticsaver

Well done on nearly getting out of debt and congratulations on baby. 6 months full pay is very good.