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

123457

Comments

  • 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
    Sofee3 Posts: 96 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 10 Posts
    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
    WhySeaEm Posts: 127 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 14 May 2020 at 4:42PM
    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
    Willing2Learn Posts: 6,294 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Dogs are like children
    Well that made me laugh...
    I work within the voluntary sector, supporting vulnerable people to rebuild their lives.

    I love my job

    :smiley:
  • WhySeaEm
    WhySeaEm Posts: 127 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    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)
  • WhySeaEm
    WhySeaEm Posts: 127 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    True! I can justify all those things fortunately but it's definitely making me more aware of spending. 
  • Moneywhizz
    Moneywhizz Posts: 518 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Photogenic
    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
    TheAble Posts: 1,676 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    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.
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