Here’s to the future...

Jophi2b

I love the idea of your tracking chart so that you can see your progress 1% at a time, I might have to try that! 

baytrees7

Hi Scloud! Thank you for starting this post. Me and my husband are in the same amount of debt. Stupid as it sounds I only realised the total amount a couple of nights ago and have been feeling really stressed about it.  It started when I went on adoption leave for a yr with twins who came with nothing. I have since gone back to work (3yrs ago) but to a part time wage and I dont think our spending habits have changed to reflect it. I will be following with great interest!!❤

Scloud

It has been a long time since the start of summer.... 

Summer was brilliant - we were able to go on honeymoon and had an amazing time. Instead of our big holiday we went to a nice hotel for a short city break.  We spent the money that we had been refunded for our flights which was our wedding gift money. We had used this to get our debt down so it means our debt went up - although I keep trying to remind myself that that money was never really supposed to have been spent on debt - it was just used to help us out with interest for a while. I don't regret the honeymoon in the slightest but it did mean a bit of a blip financially. There's been  a lot of overdraft skipping and forgetting of the budgets. 

We are almost back up to where we were in July with £6745 repaid out of £37488. I am disappointed that we are not going to be anywhere near to my £12,000 target for the year but trying to focus on breaking £7000 paid off for the first time. I've come back to the forum to hep me to refocus because I worry that I am at risk of falling back into it which I know is not. an. option. I feel like we are wading through thick mud and I can't see to the other side. 

Sorry for the blah tone of the post - I feel it may be important to document this time in the journey to look back on when we have made a break-through. Any tips for getting back on it?

Scloud

baytrees7 said:

Hi Scloud! Thank you for starting this post. Me and my husband are in the same amount of debt. Stupid as it sounds I only realised the total amount a couple of nights ago and have been feeling really stressed about it.  It started when I went on adoption leave for a yr with twins who came with nothing. I have since gone back to work (3yrs ago) but to a part time wage and I dont think our spending habits have changed to reflect it. I will be following with great interest!!❤

I hope that you've been able to sort a few things out and are feeling less stressed! Good luck in your journey! Xx

Scloud

I’ve had a money breakthrough that’s really helping me to feel more positive and push through this blah! 

I checked my credit club score and it said I was eligible for a 16 month 0% balance transfer ( and not with one of the terrible high interest providers) so I’ve been able to transfer the whole of a 3k card that was charging 26% interest to 0% for 16 months. It is going to give us an extra £66 per month to getting the debt total down. 

Its my first glimmer of hope that we are getting somewhere. We haven’t had any opportunity for more balance transfer cards or offers as we were so maxed out so this is brilliant. Our current goal is to get all of our debt to 0% to get it shifted faster. 

My hope now is that the now empty card will give me a balance transfer offer so we can close some of our 6 month only balance transfer cards down.

Feeling today like we will get there! 

Sarahwithlove

Just caught up on your diary. That's great news about the balance transfer like you said hopefully you'll get better offer soon. Do you check both yours and hubby's offers? Do you use more than one credit score company as often some have better deals than others 

Naomim

Scloud said:

I’ve had a money breakthrough that’s really helping me to feel more positive and push through this blah! 

I checked my credit club score and it said I was eligible for a 16 month 0% balance transfer ( and not with one of the terrible high interest providers) so I’ve been able to transfer the whole of a 3k card that was charging 26% interest to 0% for 16 months. It is going to give us an extra £66 per month to getting the debt total down. 

Its my first glimmer of hope that we are getting somewhere. We haven’t had any opportunity for more balance transfer cards or offers as we were so maxed out so this is brilliant. Our current goal is to get all of our debt to 0% to get it shifted faster. 

My hope now is that the now empty card will give me a balance transfer offer so we can close some of our 6 month only balance transfer cards down.

Feeling today like we will get there! 

Brilliant news.  I had this game, waiting for my over payments to start registering and be eleigible for a balance transfer.  BT a card over to clear one, then I had to wait a month on the cleared card to see if they offered me anything. They did.  It was such a relief to get it all on 0% and knowing that what you pay towards your debts is actually clearing them down.

well done!

Naomim

Scloud

It does seem like the first domino is toppling but it feels like it is in slow motion! We currently have 3 empty balance transfer cards which would cover the remaining 11k of credit card debt that is accruing high interest. We are going to wait until the end of the year to see if they offer promotional rates but waiting for offers feels like a huge waste of money as we are being charged interest as we wait. 

I want to just close them all and hope that the reduction in available credit opens us up to apply for more cards but my husband thinks it’s risky as there is no guarantee we will be eligible for other cards.

All I know is that I want to get this debt moving. It feels like everyone around us is either pregnant or buying their first house and I am feeling very stuck with very little control on changing things quickly. 

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

It can feel very frustrating @Scloud . But don't forget that you never know what is going on in people's lives...they might have debts people don't know about, or be worried about how they will pay for childcare. It might feel like everyone else is moving on except for you, but you are moving on - just in a different and more private way. This year has gone so quickly, we will be sitting here this time next year with less debt wondering where 2021 went. 

Have you seen Shakespeare in Love with Geoffrey Rush's character keeps saying it will all be alright and when asked how, he says 'l don't know'..but in the end it is all alright. I often think of that when l feel like the light at the end of the tunnel is really far away.

Naomim

Do you log on and check if there are any bt's available? Only because sometimes they email me but others are because I've gone on the cc app and looked.