£80k debt - 30 month debt free aim - all support is welcome

DebtfreeaimOct21

Hi All,
Okay so here goes.
I have been hanging around in the side lines for the past few months. I have read many diaries and have seen the improvements people have made to their lives and the great debt reductions they have achieved - well done.

I currently have £80k of debt through years and years of credit card misuse, loans, payday loans and clearing and using these all again and again.

Over the last year I have paid of two large loans and I have closed most of my credit cards and I am getting towards the end of breaking the payday loan cycle. This still leaves me with £80k of debt and I need to now knuckle down and sort it all out.

I have created this mess and I need to be the one to sort this out.

I have drawn up a detailed spread sheet showing all incomings and minimum outgoings. Fortunately I still have a credit balance once these are all accounted for as most of these are now on a payment plan and I also have a well paid job.

I worry constantly about ‘what if anything happened to me and my job’ and this is stressful.

I have decided that I need to clear as much of this debt as quickly as possible, so to rid myself of the paydays as a priority as these are large amounts outgoing monthly, then use this money when these are paid to add to the minimums that I pay.

I’d approciate any advice on this as to where do I even start to pay items off?

Smaller cards or highest interest, for me reducing the amount of creditors would be a great motivation.

I am also worried about savings and I know that the debts should be paid first, but should I have an emergency fund, or should I pay off a current live credit card and if I have an emergency, use that?

I don’t have any dependants and live alone, so only me to get myself out of this.

I am giving myself 30 months as a target to do this.

Thank you for reading, please share any tips.

jwil

Good luck I'd get an emergency fund sorted first.

in_need_of_direction

Is 30 months reasonable to clear such a big amount of debt? It seems like a lot of money to find each month.

ElleCee

Hi

Welcome and good luck!

I'm new here too and everyone has been so supportive and helpful.

You can do it!

enthusiasticsaver

I think doing an soa would be a good start. http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

Normally the best way and cheapest is to attack the most expensive debts first so tackle the one with the highest interest rate. I am guessing you can no longer get 0% deals if you have had to resort to payday loans? That will make it harder but not impossible although £80k in 30 months sounds ambitious if you are paying interest on all the cards. If it is mainly loans that may be ok as the interest is already accounted for.


I think saving an emergency fund is a good idea but with interest charging debts of £80k I don't think you have the luxury of being able to wait any longer before tackling this but good you have already made a start. Maybe stick £50 in an account monthly as a start to an emergency fund and hope nothing comes up for a while until you get to around £500. Make sure you budget for everything including holidays and christmas and any budget has to be realistic. Loads of cost saving ideas on here.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing your progress.

-taff

If you had any PPI on any of your loans and credit crds, now is the time to complain about it. If you're in arrears with anything, they'll put it towards the debt but at least that will bring the debt down.

FiscalPickle

Best of luck on your debt-busting journey, I find posting here, even if not in your own diary, to be really encouraging and motivating.

DebtfreeaimOct21

Thank you, I will aim for this one first then

DebtfreeaimOct21

Sorry I am trying to reply but I cannot seem to reply to the right message, I need to get the hang of this, maybe I will type the names of who I’m replying to. I will give that a go now.

DebtfreeaimOct21

Does anyone know how I reply to go with the comment from you guys, so you know who I’m replying to? Thank you

DebtfreeaimOct21

I also think £80k in 30 months will be tough, but my income is £4K per month, so if I can budget for food, clothes or anything else I may need, including bills then I may have a shot at this.
I’m going to do a SOA to see where I am with living expenses and then see what is left.
I’d like to make any extra where possible to put towards bringing it all down as quick as possible.

I have read diaries from people on here that have £15 per week for food and are managing to bring their debts down at the same time. I know that I am in a better position with disposable income, but I need to focus as for far too long I have just spent with no respect.