high income high debt!

determined_new_ms

bmthmark wrote: »

I agree not exactly helpful. I'm sure most people would be 'knackered' if anyone were to be out of a job

I was out of work for 18 months, well I actually did do some part time shifts in a pub towards the end of that period. We cut our cloth, reduced spending to the minimum and we got through it using our savings. But we had been learning to be frugal for some years by then.

op I would say keep plugging at it. It won't be perfect to start with but the more you do it, practice, try something out and are happy with that change so you try something else then the better you get. With your disposable income you could easily chuck an extra £1000/£1500 at the debts and get it done in less than 2 years and still have a good amount of disposable income for day to day life

zippygeorgeandben

and after you've wiped out the debt, you need to build a 3-6 month emergency fund!

Potbellypig

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
personal loan..................14500.....338.9.....3.7
barclaycard....................9850......208...... .6.9
barclaycard 2..................4700......100.......6.9
HSBC...........................6000......180...... .0
Halifax........................8500......220...... .18.9
mbna...........................6000......180...... .19.9
Total unsecured debts..........49550.....1226.9....-



Reading between the lines, I'd say the reason why you've had your 'lightbulb' moment is that you've maxed your credit cards. The fact is that unless you actually get to the root cause, then overpaying your debt is only going to lead you back to overspending eventually.

optimizm

Potbellypig wrote: »

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
personal loan..................14500.....338.9.....3.7
barclaycard....................9850......208...... .6.9
barclaycard 2..................4700......100.......6.9
HSBC...........................6000......180...... .0
Halifax........................8500......220...... .18.9
mbna...........................6000......180...... .19.9
Total unsecured debts..........49550.....1226.9....-



Reading between the lines, I'd say the reason why you've had your 'lightbulb' moment is that you've maxed your credit cards. The fact is that unless you actually get to the root cause, then overpaying your debt is only going to lead you back to overspending eventually.

Hi, We actually have about 20K of available creidt between us, which is terrifying. I dread to think the mess we could be in if we had not had our realization

You're right about the overspending though. We have actually been working on this for the last few months, before we posted on here. . We are being super frugal at the moment, possible too frugal. We need to set a realistic long term budget that we can stick to

enthusiasticsaver

There is a danger with families of above average incomes for them to become complacent about debt levels. The thing is though none of us know what is around the corner so living as if things will never change is naive and risky. On the soa it shows you as having spare income and you obviously don't as you have no savings and almost a whole years salary worth of unsecured debt. You know where you have gone wrong so that is a start but I would urge you to start a spending diary and become a lot more financially disciplined.

Pixie5740

optimizm wrote: »

Hi, We actually have about 20K of available creidt between us, which is terrifying. I dread to think the mess we could be in if we had not had our realization

You're right about the overspending though. We have actually been working on this for the last few months, before we posted on here. . We are being super frugal at the moment, possible too frugal. We need to set a realistic long term budget that we can stick to

That's a good point about not going too far the other way. Your budget going forward has to be realistic and maintainable.

LoulaBelle

do you not claim child benefit - its available to everyone regardless of income, I think its £20 a week for the first child

ReadingTim

bmthmark wrote: »

I agree not exactly helpful. I'm sure most people would be 'knackered' if anyone were to be out of a job

Sometimes you need the carrot, sometimes you need the stick.

Yes, most people would be knackered if they were out of work, but being out of work can happen to most people, so it's not an unreasonable comment to make, nor eventuality to consider & plan for.

Pixie5740

LoulaBelle wrote: »

do you not claim child benefit - its available to everyone regardless of income, I think its £20 a week for the first child

It might be available regardless of income but if you earn over £50k a year like the OP does you and claim child benefit you are then hit with the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge.

optimizm

Apologies for not replying for a few days. We took the opportunity to get away for a few days - house sitting for relatives in Dorset. It was a much needed break and it didn't really cost anything as we took our own food and drink ( from Lidl), in fact the only money we spent in 4 days was on fish and chips by the sea.. We decided to apply a 'no internet' rule to our few days away, as we both spend far too much time glued to Iphones.

I had underestimated how much this debt stuff had taken its toll on my wife. We had lots of time to talk during our break and its clear that I need to offer her more support. She's stressed and worried about the debts and has been losing sleep. I was not aware of this, so I feel bad for that.

In keeping with my profile name on here, I am a naturally optimistic person. This can be both a blessing and a curse. I will generally look for the positives in most situations and tend to not worry excessively, instead preferring to look for solutions. The down side is that I can sometimes take risks without weighing up the worst case scenario. My wife is more level headed and therefore she is finding the debt situation harder to deal with mentally. She suffered with some depression a few years ago, and whilst this was not linked to anything financial, I am determined not to allow this situation to push her back into that place.

We have decided to focus on the 'budget' rather than the 'debt'. As many of you have stated, the debt is a symptom and we know that we have to deal with our spending. If we can do that, the debt will reduce quickly. We accept that it may take a few months before we nail this.

I tend to approach things like a bull at a gate,however we know that we need to take a realistic approach to this. I compare this to losing weight- a sensible steady approach will almost always lead to sustainable results, as opposed to a crash diet.