Looking for some reassurance!

Billsown

Hello all, 
My wife and I have been trying to sort out our very messy finances. Between us we owe more than 60k in unsecured debts. Some of this is a loan with the rest spread across credit cards ranging from 0% to 30%. We have tried to tranfer balances where possible but offers have currently dried up. We have taken advice from stepchange but cannot have a DMP as we can afford our minimum payments, despite the high interest. 

For the last 6 months we have been making real effort to deal with the debt. Our minimum payments are around £1500 but we have been paying £2000. Our current monthly interest is £510 which really gets me down and worries me. There really is nothing we can do about that at the moment other than keep overpaying until a 0% offer comes up.

I guess I just wanted to reach out to get some reassurance that we are not alone with a debt of this level/high monthly interest. No one in our life speaks about debt so we are feeling very lonely and isolated. 

I will SOA etc moving forwards. 

Thank you

Fireflyaway

I'd suggest doing an accurate income and expenditure and then speak to your creditors. Explain that you want to pay back what you have borrowed but you just can't afford the repayments at the current level and it's impacting on your ability to pay your priority bills. Ask if they will freeze interest and agree to a repayment plan. Most creditors would rather work with you and eventually get their money back than receive nothing or have the trouble of going to court. Personally I have seen a big change. When I was first in debt the creditors made you feel rubbish. They would hassle you for payment and not readily accept payment plans. It's usually different now. They are far more willing to work with you. Your credit rating will probably drop but who cares. You can live a perfectionist good life without a good score. Don't be embarrassed. So many people who have debt just don't admit it, you are definitely not alone.

Billsown

Thanks for post. The thing it we can afford to repay it. We are not struggling to make our repayments as our income has increased recently. We are able to make our payments, overpayments and still meet our usual living expenses and have a but left for entertainment etc. The issue is the stress of the level of debt and the interest. 

Mr87

I can't say that I've had the same level of debts but I can emphasise with the feeling that you might have. The crucial thing (that I've recently come to grips with myself) is that you can live within your means and bring your debt down. Why don't you look at debt snowball? Either you concentrate all your effort on paying off the highest interest debt first (whilst of course keeping up minimum payment everywhere else), or, you choose the smallest debt first to get that done and boost your confidence. I've found that when you pay off a card they sometimes reward you with a balance transfer offer to entice you back... 

EimearF

I was in exactly your situation just over two year ago. we could afford the payments but the stress was overwhelming! 
I did a mix of Dave Ramsey snowballing (clearing small balances to get quick wins) and Martin's interest rate snowballing to make sure i cleared the most efficient way to minimise interest. Pick one debt and only make minimums on everything else. spreading over payments over all you balances will never give you the motivation you need. 
We sold as much stuff we didnt need as we could. even dvd we got 5p for it all added up and all on to the debt. 
i worked a second job where i could but it didnt earn much - maybe £30 extra a month but it all went to the debt. I switched to cheaper food options, all own brand or what was on offer. small savings really made big chips into the debt. 
I negotiated with Virgin media and o2 (sim only) to get small amounts off my bills then shifted that into the debt snowball. It was only £2 saving but i shifted my netflix to single screen package - we have only noticed this as an issue once in over 2 years. 
Listen to Dave Ramsey's youtube channel - having someone yell how stupid it is to have this debt really kicked me up the butt! 
You have a similar amount free to clear debt as we did. you have a bit more debt than us but you can do this in less than 3 years. For your situation i would recommend clearing the smaller debts even if they are interest free. i cannot tell you the relief in going from 15 lines of credit to 10 by clearing off smaller HP on furniture etc. 
With a full SOA people can give more tips on anywhere you can make some savings.