Am I a fool?

enjoyyourshoes

If its beyond realism to negotiate much better terms, better timeframes or amended quality outcomes then you seem to want to quit. Then quit.
It merely means loner time to be debt free, unless there are any unintended consequences for this action (higher interest rates, end 0% period, negative effects on credit rating, wanting mortgage etc.) then so be it.

Again there seems to be some underlying pressure to set yourself too high target/standard/timeframe. If your confident in ability to repay and happy with the ;eight of time this will be extended then so be it. (are creditors happy with payment plan and revised timescales?)

I would discuss with partner as its good to get two views and each can support other.

milobrulee

I am honestly happy to see it go longer if that is the case. I am not in discussion with any creditors, just paying back over the minimums each month for my credit cards, none of which are 0% or anything. I have my snowball and my spreadsheet and I pay off a set amount every month. I just last month concluded and closed one credit card so that felt great! I have £15k spread across three credit cards and two overdrafts.

I do have a pretty high income. I earn £50k and the extra job takes me up to £56k. Losing that £6k would mean cutting back on some "fun" stuff but I'm more than prepared to do that. I do find it hard to keep up with my partner. His annual salary is closer to £95k hence why he can afford to support me but he often wants me to keep up with him in regards to holidays, house things and so forth. He is desperate for us to buy a house and thinks it is imperative that I am debt free so I can contribute to the savings, which I agree with, but I often try to temper his expectations that I do not have the ability to save as much as him and I still have my debt to pay off.

I am not sure I would find more employment which is less stressful really. It is hard to find work that can be done between 7pm - 11pm during the week and that is when I am free!

I'll try and post an SOA, I have updated my spreadsheet and I can see that I will be able to continue paying off my debt (about £1700 a month at present but would drop to £1200 a month if I quit this job, meaning a repayment date closer to Christmas 2018 than summer).

I will try to have a discussion with him about how it's making me feel. I know that he does care about me but when I try to explain "the stress of doing two jobs is really beating me down and making me very anxious for getting things done on time" he sort of just expects me to be able to "get on with it" and "don't worry so much". It's hard to convey the true feelings of anxiety to someone who has never experienced them.

milobrulee

enjoyyourshoes wrote: »

If your confident in ability to repay and happy with the ;eight of time this will be extended then so be it.

This is the problem. I am happy to extend it. My creditors will be (I just pay off the credit card) but my partner is not happy. He wants us to start saving for a house, and he knows I can't save until I am debt free. Therefore, extending my repayments in his eyes means we are further away from home ownership which is his priority at the moment. (We are 26 and 28).

Gladioli

Just looking at it from a different angle, have you looked to see if you are eligible for any 0% offers? as that would reduce the time and also the amount you pay if you were.

milobrulee

I don't think I am. Too many missed payments here and there. I don't want to risk trying to apply because I am concerned it would affect any prospects of applying for the next few months or so. I am hoping that by next summer I would have had a good enough track record to get something, and I want to keep my searches to a minimum in that time.

I am hoping to apply for a consolidation loan that is offered through my employer in January. That has a really great rate as it's tied to my employment and comes out of my paycheque rather than me paying the bill. It is 9.9% APR at the worst which is much better than my current rates (between 19.9% - 34.9%) so I want to try and keep my searches empty so that I have more chance of getting that.

thegrind

Over 150k salaries is a very good joint income indeed.

It would be helpful to post a SOA to see where your money is going and why you need to be saving and paying down so aggressively.

You don't need to be debt free to get a decent mortgage your full time income is more than enough to comfortably cover the debts in the eyes of a mortgage application.

Don't put yourself under so much pressure to keep up financially with your partner, he should be conscious of the income gap and be a little less ignorant. As all that will happen is you'll feel like your not towing the line in the relationship or being left behind and the longer it goes on the more resentment it will create for you.

System

milobrulee wrote: »

This is the problem. I am happy to extend it. My creditors will be (I just pay off the credit card)

You'll use your credit card to make the repayments? So you'll pay interest at say 14% on the debt you currently have which you'll put on the card? Personally I think this is mad.

OK so the problem is the deadlines and the rate. I take it this is self employed and they are your client so the solution is simple. You email the client, following it up in writing, stating that there is going to be a change. You make a big point that they've benefitted from an extremely good rate below market value with no increases at all for several years and that there will be an increase in the charges. State that as of <insert date> the new price will be £x. You can also say that due to work load the deadlines need to be renegotiated.

If you've been doing this since being a student and its been a while then the increase in the rate needs to be quite substantial. If you've been doing it 10 years then you want to be increasing at least 30%. If 10 years ago you were below the market rate then the increase needs to be even higher.

At this point either of two things will happen:

1) They'll accept the new rate and new terms so you'll earn a lot more with less stress which will allow you to meet your goal even sooner. And once you've reached your goals you tell them you're no longer doing it and send them the names of some people who can.

2) They refuse to accept the new rate in which case the contract is terminated and you've got your get out.

This is a business, you have to treat it as such. It sounds like you've been treating it more like a friendship not putting up the rates and negotiating deadlines for the fear of upsetting them.

milobrulee

Thanks for the advice. I will see what they say on Wednesday (whether they actually want to extend, there might be a chance my discussion with them is the nail in the coffin as they have been discussing cutbacks for a while).

The problem is, I don't know whether the increased rate makes it worth it if the work doesn't reduce. I'm still stressed out, albeit with more money in my pocket so I guess that's something.

Puddylove

I think it's hard to give advice about your situation without full information.

Perhaps if you'd post a Statement of Affairs it would be clearer to us, and to you what the best way forward might be?

Mnd

150 between you? When I was working adding our salaries together would only have got a third of that.
If 1 was earning 95k and my longterm partner had money worries then I would solve it (I did but not at huge levels)
I would not expect any further problems mind, but on that sort of money you shouldn't have any money worries at all