Time to face the music..

Gonna_Be_DF

Hi everyone,

The usual, long term lurker, first time poster..

A bit about me, I'm under the age of 30 and I have just over £30k debt.. and I am a recovering gambling addict. I had been gambling for around 7 years, began playing bingo online, had a little win, decided to play on the online slot games.. had another little win.. thought I was on a winning streak.. carried on playing and lost it all, deposited more to try and win back what I had lost and that is where it all began. Slot machines were my weakness. But now I'm on the right track and want to clear the debts I have accumulated over the last 7 years.

My debts:

Tesco Credit Card: £983.02 - 20.8%APR
Lloyds Bank Credit Card: £1,985.07 - 27.94%APR
Lloyds Loan 1: £11,717.11 - £365.13pm - 40 months remaining at 14.30%APR
Lloyds Loan 2: £11,700.65 - £258.06 - 69 months remaining at 16.90%APR
Admiral Loan: APPROX £4,000.00 - waiting for confirmation on this one...

I have been reading this thread for a VERY long time. I had hidden all of my debts from my partner up until very recently. My partner now knows everything and are very supportive in helping me get back on the right track and I feel more determined than ever to get on top of this.

I do not struggle to make payments on any of my debts, I earn quite a good salary for my age, make all of my debt payments, clear all of my bills on a monthly basis and have surplus funds. I've never missed a payment and in the last few months I've made additional payments where I can with money left over from my monthly wage.

I just wanted to join in and document my journey. The first point on my plan is to snowball the Tesco CC as the interest free period has expired (I've tried to balance transfer but have had no luck with being accepted) however, if anyone has any other advice, all help is greatly appreciated.. please be gentle with me

Gonna_Be_DF

iarniee

Gonna_Be_DF wrote: »

Hi everyone,

The usual, long term lurker, first time poster..

A bit about me, I'm under the age of 30 and I have just over £30k debt.. and I am a recovering gambling addict. I had been gambling for around 7 years, began playing bingo online, had a little win, decided to play on the online slot games.. had another little win.. thought I was on a winning streak.. carried on playing and lost it all, deposited more to try and win back what I had lost and that is where it all began. Slot machines were my weakness. But now I'm on the right track and want to clear the debts I have accumulated over the last 7 years.

My debts:

Tesco Credit Card: £983.02 - 20.8%APR
Lloyds Bank Credit Card: £1,985.07 - 27.94%APR
Lloyds Loan 1: £11,717.11 - £365.13pm - 40 months remaining at 14.30%APR
Lloyds Loan 2: £11,700.65 - £258.06 - 69 months remaining at 16.90%APR
Admiral Loan: APPROX £4,000.00 - waiting for confirmation on this one...

I have been reading this thread for a VERY long time. I had hidden all of my debts from my partner up until very recently. My partner now knows everything and are very supportive in helping me get back on the right track and I feel more determined than ever to get on top of this.

I do not struggle to make payments on any of my debts, I earn quite a good salary for my age, make all of my debt payments, clear all of my bills on a monthly basis and have surplus funds. I've never missed a payment and in the last few months I've made additional payments where I can with money left over from my monthly wage.

I just wanted to join in and document my journey. The first point on my plan is to snowball the Tesco CC as the interest free period has expired (I've tried to balance transfer but have had no luck with being accepted) however, if anyone has any other advice, all help is greatly appreciated.. please be gentle with me

Gonna_Be_DF

Best of luck with this.

The hardest part is admitting you have a problem.

The loans and CC's you have seem okay, the interest isnt ridiculously high. (Would be worse if you used payday lenders etc)

You don't seem to have a problem with paying these off with your salary which is good.

Obviously work to clear the highest interest rate first and work down. Keep making your monthly payments but any spare money throw at the highest APR.

Personally if I was you i'd look at getting a LISA on the side too and putting money you can spare in there.

How much on a monthly basis are you paying towards each creditor?

Gonna_Be_DF

Hi iarniee,

Thanks for the support, really appreciate it.

There had been points in the past where I had considered payday loans, but always been too scared to actually get one, which I'm thankful for.

With all three loans, I pay the monthly amount, without fail. I forgot to list the Admiral monthly payment which is £88.08.

With both credit cards, my minimum monthly payments are around £25/30.. I always pay around £5 more than what the minimum payment is that month. I've now shredded both cards so I am no longer tempted to pay a bit off and then spend it again (which I've been doing). Definitely going to tackle the Tesco card first as now the 0% period has ended, the minimum payment will be absorbed by interest, so that needs to be dealt with first I think

iarniee

Gonna_Be_DF wrote: »

Hi iarniee,

Thanks for the support, really appreciate it.

There had been points in the past where I had considered payday loans, but always been too scared to actually get one, which I'm thankful for.

With all three loans, I pay the monthly amount, without fail. I forgot to list the Admiral monthly payment which is £88.08.

With both credit cards, my minimum monthly payments are around £25/30.. I always pay around £5 more than what the minimum payment is that month. I've now shredded both cards so I am no longer tempted to pay a bit off and then spend it again (which I've been doing). Definitely going to tackle the Tesco card first as now the 0% period has ended, the minimum payment will be absorbed by interest, so that needs to be dealt with first I think

Think you've got it together.

I know where you're coming from, got myself into a similar position, gambling and because my credit was awful I went down the payday loan route, absolutely killed my monthly income.

You'll get passed it trust me, I managed too.. somehow.

MallyGirl

Gonna_Be_DF wrote: »

My debts:

Tesco Credit Card: £983.02 - 20.8%APR
Lloyds Bank Credit Card: £1,985.07 - 27.94%APR

I just wanted to join in and document my journey. The first point on my plan is to snowball the Tesco CC as the interest free period has expired (I've tried to balance transfer but have had no luck with being accepted) however, if anyone has any other advice, all help is greatly appreciated.. please be gentle with me

Why Tesco first when Lloyds APR is higher? Is it just because the balance is lower?

Gonna_Be_DF

Hi MallyGirl,

I was planning on playing off the Tesco card first as although the APR is lower, the 0% interest free period has expired and I am unable to balance transfer..

Do you think I should do that or tackle the Lloyds on with the higher APR?

Grateful for any guidance!

EssexHebridean

First off well done for tackling your problem - that takes guts.

Exactly the same as for anyone else on here I'm going to say sort yourself a Statement of Affairs (SOA) as this will help you to get clear about exactly where your money goes, and also to work out how much it's possible to throw at the debts each month. The link to the SOA calculator is in my signature, or in the sticky post at the top of the board.

Logic says tackle the Lloyds card first as this is the higher interest - and by quite a way, too. Sign up to the MSE Credit Club so you can keep an eye on eligibility for any more 0% balance transfer cards but due to the relatively small balances (in the grand scheme of things) and the fact that by your own admission you have a fair amount of disposable income to throw at these, I'd say look for one with no fee. Once you have a 0% deal in place then you'll be able to divide out the remaining balance by the number of months of the deal less one month, set the DD accordingly, and just leave that one to run - effort-free debt busting, right there. Until then, or if you don't find a deal you can get accepted for - set the DD on the cards for just above the current minimums, cut up the cards to ensure you don't use them, and then throw any surplus at first the Lloyds until it's gone, then the Tesco card.

On the loans, you need to investigate whether there's any benefit to overpaying in drips and drabs or whether you're best just to save money then ask for a settlement figure when you have enough saved to clear each one.

HonmaDP

Don’t worry.

You will come through it!!