45k debt... anyone want to help please?

AnxiousTheElephant

Dogs are like children and if you have to spend £400 a month that's what you spend.

 WhySeaEm said:

We're going to keep cineworld as it gives us joy (we're not paying for it during lockdown) and the £300 entertainment budget because we need to live a little! 

Agreed!! If you can afford to why not keep the things that bring you joy!! You're still able to put a lot towards this and it sounds promising!!!

Sofee3

I found opening a Starling joint account helped us, we paid for all the entertainment/midweek shopping extras from our joint account, so it was harder to keep track of, now at the start of the month I transfer our monthly budget (which is only £180 for 2 adults and 2 kids) to my Starling account and any meals out, take aways, trips with kids, top up shops gets paid from that, it has helped us greatly.
I then have a spreadsheet for all the normal monthly bills which come out our joint account, and we only transfer enough to pay bills and pay credit cards (clearing them) then we have some left for ourselves for clothes buying/hair cuts etc.

WhySeaEm

We do something similar. We have two joint accounts. One we put in the right amount to cover all the bills and then the other we use as a spending account. I'm going to move £1200 on payday to a savings account, and try not to use it through the month, but if we do need it then it's there. Then anything left of the £1200 can get put at the debt with the highest interest. 

Willing2Learn

AnxiousTheElephant said:

Dogs are like children

Well that made me laugh...

WhySeaEm

Since my LBM and joining of this forum I've become really hyper aware of every time I spend money! I wish I didn't have to. I've spent loads this last few days. 

Had to spend £100 on a new tyre yesterday. £130 to the man who fixed our fence. Spent £90 in Sainsburys which killed me, it's so expensive but we needed some branded things you can't get at Aldi and some clothes for our son. 

I thought of things I'd left off my SOA so I've updated it on my first post now. Leaves me with £1190 a month. Which I'll throw at debt (obviously it's a lot more during lockdown)

Thick_n_Thin

One piece of advice I would give is to spend as much time as possible on these boards as possible, it will really open your eyes with regards to what you can actually achieve and you get so many hints and tips, it becomes addictive after a while, it’s also comforting to know that there are lots of other people who are in the same boat so it really can become a bit of a lifeline especially if your friends and family don’t know about your situation. I find posting daily helps keep me focused and on the straight and narrow, when I don’t post my spending habits change dramatically, I also keep my reason for doing this at the forefront of my mind constantly so when it all feels hopeless ( which it often does) I remember my reason for doing it all in the 1st place, for me it’s so I can retire early and have financial security in later life. 

Also little spends are big spends = they all add up! 

Good luck with your journey!

BookmobileBadGirl

It might be worth having a think about why;
- you HAD to spend £100 on tyres
- you HAD to have your fence fixed
- you HAD to spend £90 in Sainsburys
- you HAD to get clothes for your son 

WhySeaEm

True! I can justify all those things fortunately but it's definitely making me more aware of spending. 

Moneywhizz

Just had a quick skim through your diary and see that you have had lots of good advice already. I understand that you want to keep enjoying life while paying off the debt and don't think anyone would advocate cutting back to the bone but I think it would be possible to trim a little from some of your categories, which would add up to a bit more to be paid off the debt each month. For example if you trimmed £20 from groceries, £50 from entertainment, £20 from clothes and £10 from another category, suddenly you have an extra £100 a month for debt. Also it is probably a good idea to pay at least a good chunk of your extra money to the debt at the beginning of the month instead of the end, less tempting to think you have money to spend. it is much easier to do this of course if you have a bit of an emergency fund behind you, in case anything unexpected comes up. You have such a good income and you should be in a much more secure financial position than you are, so the sooner you get this debt paid the sooner you can get some savings behind you and begin to make plans for the future. Good luck with your journey.

TheAble

Emergency fund not a priority right now when the op is burning through 7k/yr in interest. Nor new cars or holidays of a lifetime. Every penny should be getting thrown at the debt with the utmost urgency. I appreciate the op wants to change their ways but I don't believe the criticality of the situation is registering. If his wife lost her job tomorrow they would probably be destitute in little time.