£29,303...Enough is enough!

Steerpike88

Just been lurking here. So sorry you're going through all this hardship atm! It sounds really draining but you really are doing a fantastic job!

[Deleted User]

I have just read through your posts. You have had a hard time but well done to getting this far. Its pants your husband loosing his job, hope he finds something else soon.

I faced a similar problem to you, at one point we had debts of £20,000..I decided to go down the consolidation route, not recommended for everyone, in 2012. Started slowly and it took us 6 years overpaying by small amounts to start with and gradually building the over payments up.

We had a very expensive year last year with one thing an another, I am in the process of building up £5000 in an emergency account, £2,200+ in it now.

I really hope your husband gets a new job and you manage to get back onto your journey, you have done so well so far.

WelshKitty85

Thanks for all the encouraging posts. I'd replied to you all in my head, but apparently not on here!

UC claim is all submitted now and we've attended our JC appointment, so now it's just a wait to see how much we might get. I'm still not convinced it's the right thing to do as we might have to pay back more to tax credits than we are awarded in UC, but only time will tell. UC have offered an advance of upto £1,000, which would be really useful right now, but we've declined for the time being.

DH has had more interviews but still no job offer to date. He's registered with 3 agencies though so there's potential for some temp work.

savingholmes

Sorry you've been having such a rough time. Hope your DH gets a job soon.

On the consolidation loan - it isn't recommended - but it is much much better than defaulting. You can potentially sort it out later and over pay when you are back on a steady financial footing.

As Beanie says - keep plodding.

pidge04

So sorry to hear this.
You are made of strong stuff, Welsh Kitty x

WelshKitty85

I'm still plodding savingholmes. Thank you for your kind words Pidge.

I don't have much control over the bigger things right now, so I'm focusing on small changes to save the pennies. We're going to (temporarily) hit the overdraft before the end of the month so I've been focusing on making sure we stay within the authorised overdraft limit. I listed some items for sale and have made £125 so far, which is enough to do that.

Next focus is the credit card. I put my grocery and fuel spends on a points card each month and pay it off in full. I need to pay off £277 by 7th Feb. So far I've got £55 put aside towards it and a £2 sale agreed for tomorrow, so only £220 to find...

Today I have made a start on decluttering our bedroom, and so far found 1 item in there to list for sale. I've also started the mammoth task of decluttering the [STRIKE]dumping ground[/STRIKE] loft room. I'm currently upto 3 carrier bags full of rubbish/recycling, a vac bag full of DC2 clothes that will soon fit DC3, and a bin bag full of items to list for sale, with around 2/3 of the room still to sort. Hoping to get the majority of it done tomorrow.

Today I've also cooked a curry and naan from store cupboard ingredients, frozen leftovers, turned the thermostat down by 1 degree, washed the laundry on a shorter setting, and hung it outside to dry.

savingholmes

Small mse steps all add up - well done. May be worth checking if your CC or your OD is the higher interest...

jayniee1964

Sorry to hear this, it's so easy for debt to add up. Wishing you all the best x

WelshKitty85

I hope everybody is safe and warm tonight. It's wild out there!

I managed to pay off the grocery/fuel cc in full this month, so no interest to be added there. I need to pay another £364 by 6th March. So far I've got £3.89 (from an ebay sale) saved towards this. Still got lots more items in the loft to list for sale, so must make some more progress with that.

Car insurance renewal is due next week. My current insurer is (surprisingly) the cheapest. I just need to decide whether to pay it monthly or pay in full on the cc and hope for a miracle to pay it off before it incurs interest.

WelshKitty85

Still plodding and I think that we have finally broken the £20,000 barrier, although my loan account makes it really difficult to find the actual figure. I think I'm going to make some sort of grid to colour in and make it easier to track progress.

Today has been quite productive. A couple of hours in the kitchen produced a paste bake and garlic bread for tonight, loads of lunch box items (mini pizzas, chocolate pancakes and apple cake) and some naan breads for the freezer. I also decluttered 2 items and made £20 in the the process.

The credit card is due to be paid off in the next few days and I have just enough in the current account to pay it off in full. I'm expecting next month's statement to be a similar amount (around £350), which I think is a reasonable figure considering it takes into account fuel, grocery spends and, this month, my car insurance deposit. I've found the perfect time for visiting our local Mr T to make the most of yellow sticker bargains. This has massively helped with food spends this month and our freezer is jam packed. My favourite yellow sticker bargain this month was some duck for 68p. It's a welcome relief to be able to eat a varied and tasty diet whilst sticking to a strict budget.