Just need to get on with it!!

mirko

For some context. Our kitchen is a mess. It was installed in the 80s I think. Cupboard doors fall off, our outlet pipes from dishwasher and washing machine go into the sink because the outlet pipe overflows if you use that, some of the floor is stuck down with masking tape. I have seen so many property shows where I've seen better kitchens than ours and the presenter says "you'll obviously want to rip out this old kitchen!"

Our income is not far off yours and we are saving for a new kitchen. We have about 4k in savings and 1.5k in credit cards and loans. We can live with it for a bit longer. Whole job will cost us 10k. We may crack and get a loan soon but both our cars are old I want to ensure we don't take on too much debt.

Just a perspective, genuinely not a criticism.

warren80

mirko said:

For some context. Our kitchen is a mess. It was installed in the 80s I think. Cupboard doors fall off, our outlet pipes from dishwasher and washing machine go into the sink because the outlet pipe overflows if you use that, some of the floor is stuck down with masking tape. I have seen so many property shows where I've seen better kitchens than ours and the presenter says "you'll obviously want to rip out this old kitchen!"

Our income is not far off yours and we are saving for a new kitchen. We have about 4k in savings and 1.5k in credit cards and loans. We can live with it for a bit longer. Whole job will cost us 10k. We may crack and get a loan soon but both our cars are old I want to ensure we don't take on too much debt.

Just a perspective, genuinely not a criticism.

Thanks, I totally get your point. We certainly aren't goingt to be able to do any majorly expensive jobs for a good few years. FIL reckons that for 1k he can sort the kitchen out by replacing cupboards and flooring. Thankfully we have replaced most of the appliances over the last few years so they should last for quite a while longer. Like I said in one of my previous posts, I can live with it and it doesn't really bother me but it really gets my wife down. It didn't help when the kitchen cupboard door fell of and landed on her toe! 

enthusiasticsaver

warren80 said:

Hi Folks, Sorry for being such a rubbish poster! It's been a crazy couple of weeks juggling work and home schooling etc. 
thanks for all of the posts. It appears that I have made a mistake on my SOA. Our debts are actually just below 60K. I need to look at the balances I have entered. I have checked credit reports and it someting like £58900 so still but less badder!

I agree that we can't spend lots of money of home improvements. My FIL is a carpenter and general handy man and he has offered to give our kitchen a budget makeover as a joint 40th present! He is the only person who know that we have money issues, although he doesn't know the extent. I was brought up in a house that always needed a bit of TLC and lived in horrendous uni houses so I am not too fussed about making do, however it gets my wife down. Our bathroom is tiny and the toilet is separate. We are going to save until we can afford a cheap white suite that FIL will fit! 

There is another option of the table for us. My FIL has spoken to my wife and has said that we would always be welcome to move in with them. My in laws live in a 5 bedroom house so we would essentially have our own bedrooms, bathroom and sitting room. The idea would be that we would be able to pay off our debts and quickly save a big deposit for a new house BUT BUT BUT - I don't want to do it. I am worried about getting off the ladder and also the questions that people would ask about why we have moved back in with the parents at the age of 40!! I appreciate the gesture though. 

I am going to make an effort to post more regularly! Hope everyone is safe and well 

Well if the credit report is correct (don't forget they are not always that up to date) then obviously £60k debt is better than £70k but you are still carrying lots of unsecured debt.  However I am not sure that given the amount of debt you have then moving in with your in laws and presumably selling your house is the best way to go especially if it needs a lot doing to it. Also buying houses is expensive so I am not sure why buying a new one is better than fixing up the old one after the high interest debts have been sorted.  You would be older when applying for a new mortgage which means a shorter term and given your high rates and inability to get 0% deals I am guessing your credit record is not brilliant.

You have a high amount of disposable income so I would suggest that you maybe use some of your cash to do the essentials to make the house livable and address the debts aggressively shutting down cards and accounts as you go.  You have put Next as 0% but if it is their store account these are not 0% usually and the interest is often high and getting rid of that £750 is doable with your cash. Given you are paying 50% interest on Very and presumably 40% on the overdraft I would tackle the high interest debts first then essential repairs on the house especially if your FIL is offering to help. 

remote_control

Hi Warren,
I have just read your thread and am very excited for you that you are going to sort this out! There are many, many people on here who have been in a similar position to you and have wiped their debt out! At our max we had about £35k on 0% credit cards, from house renovations and buying a car. We have a very similar income to you. I know a lot of people on here that know more than me will give you advice but in your situation I would do the following:

1. Stop spending on all credit (you've probably done this)
2. Get an app or spreadsheet that shows how much you owe on each card/place and how much the minimum payment is. I use an app called Debt Planner which is very basic.
3. Do the eligibility calculator on here to see if you can get any 0% balance transfer cards and if you can, transfer the high interest debts
4.  I would put all payments to minimum apart from the highest interest one which I would aim to clear ASAP
5. Start a diary on this site and post every couple of days about what money saving things you have done.
6. I would then focus just on the one debt that has the highest interest, ignore all the others. I would sell anything I could, do market research etc to pay that off. Ignore all the others as they are just paying the minimum.
7. I would go through the money makeover on here
8. I would read frugal blogs to get ideas to save money and to help me realise it is ok not to spend! 
9. Make the most of lockdown! You can't go out to spend money and neither can anyone else! No FOMO. We've saved money on travel and kids activities. We've not bought any clothes really either. I think the children will need a lot when this is over as one child has paint on most of hers and the other one is wearing things that are too small for him!

This is all just my personal opinion. Good luck, I would love to follow your journey. If it was me I probably would do the kitchen, but only after I stopped spending on credit cards and moved everything to the lowest interest possible. That way you know you're at the peak now and everything will go down each month. 

Coffeekup

Hi Warren I'm pleased you've had your LBM, it's also quite exciting that you have a bit of disposable income. As others have said you generally live quite frugally, but there is a couple of things that stick out like energy and mobiles (which you've addressed).

It took me 7 years to pay off my debts believe me it was painful. I've been lurking around MSE forums for years with the occasional post to help spur on people.
One thing I do know is some people have luck and others have little to no luck, everytime they see the light at the end of the tunnel it goes dark again, I fall into the latter category unfortunately.

I see your situation as you've won on one of those scratch cards, where you win X amount over a certain period of months or years. Then in a few years that income may take a knock or stop. You'll turn back and look at that money and say what did I do with it? 

With that being said I'll give you my 2 cents of graft to see the light...
You have £3000 in savings, I would take £2000 of that and pay off your overdraft (which you appear not to be accouting for in monthly payments) whatever you were paying in monthly charges I would move that back to your savings through a standing order indefinitely.
I would then knuckle down and pay off aqua and very for the next 5 or so month's, this will free up £300 pm. Then do a smaller one like next, just for a feel good factor and help you stay on track, then for the rest of the year crack down on the MBNA.
Meaning this time next year you'll be £550 a month better off to make repayments elsewhere. Hopefully you wouldn't have touched the £1000+ left in savings by then and have added to it.

For what to tackle in the following year, I'd look at getting 0% balance transfers, as you'll be far more likely to get a deal or 2 then. Then look at what your paying interest on then hit them like you did in the first year. 2 years of sweat and blood, will make years 3 and 4 seem a breeze.
On the other hand you take your eye off the ball, these next 2-3 year's can drag on a lot longer and trust me you me you don't want that.

As for your house I would keep it, you have a cheap mortgage by today's standards. Also moving in with other people could be another strain on the family relationship. Someone else pointed out you could have all your debt and mortgage paid off in 10.

I'd also leave the spending on kitchen as long as possible, I realize you can get it done cheap, but that offer will always be there.

Please do read other people's debt free wannabe diaries, and mortgage free wannabe diaries. Learn to budget and save.

Plan don't rely on luck.

Aspiration

enthusiasticsaver said:

warren80 said:

Hi Folks, Sorry for being such a rubbish poster! It's been a crazy couple of weeks juggling work and home schooling etc. 
thanks for all of the posts. It appears that I have made a mistake on my SOA. Our debts are actually just below 60K. I need to look at the balances I have entered. I have checked credit reports and it someting like £58900 so still but less badder!

I agree that we can't spend lots of money of home improvements. My FIL is a carpenter and general handy man and he has offered to give our kitchen a budget makeover as a joint 40th present! He is the only person who know that we have money issues, although he doesn't know the extent. I was brought up in a house that always needed a bit of TLC and lived in horrendous uni houses so I am not too fussed about making do, however it gets my wife down. Our bathroom is tiny and the toilet is separate. We are going to save until we can afford a cheap white suite that FIL will fit! 

There is another option of the table for us. My FIL has spoken to my wife and has said that we would always be welcome to move in with them. My in laws live in a 5 bedroom house so we would essentially have our own bedrooms, bathroom and sitting room. The idea would be that we would be able to pay off our debts and quickly save a big deposit for a new house BUT BUT BUT - I don't want to do it. I am worried about getting off the ladder and also the questions that people would ask about why we have moved back in with the parents at the age of 40!! I appreciate the gesture though. 

I am going to make an effort to post more regularly! Hope everyone is safe and well 

Well if the credit report is correct (don't forget they are not always that up to date) then obviously £60k debt is better than £70k but you are still carrying lots of unsecured debt.  However I am not sure that given the amount of debt you have then moving in with your in laws and presumably selling your house is the best way to go especially if it needs a lot doing to it. Also buying houses is expensive so I am not sure why buying a new one is better than fixing up the old one after the high interest debts have been sorted.  You would be older when applying for a new mortgage which means a shorter term and given your high rates and inability to get 0% deals I am guessing your credit record is not brilliant.

You have a high amount of disposable income so I would suggest that you maybe use some of your cash to do the essentials to make the house livable and address the debts aggressively shutting down cards and accounts as you go.  You have put Next as 0% but if it is their store account these are not 0% usually and the interest is often high and getting rid of that £750 is doable with your cash. Given you are paying 50% interest on Very and presumably 40% on the overdraft I would tackle the high interest debts first then essential repairs on the house especially if your FIL is offering to help. 

Really kind of the In-laws and although not ideal, If you get on then I’d try to rent your house out and move in. Even if you could do this for a couple of years it would hugely improve your finances. My kids are not adults yet but i would love to be able to help them out like this later in life. 

As to what others would think, your saving more for your future and there for them in uncertain times. Win win. 

warren80

Aspiration said:

enthusiasticsaver said:

warren80 said:

Hi Folks, Sorry for being such a rubbish poster! It's been a crazy couple of weeks juggling work and home schooling etc. 
thanks for all of the posts. It appears that I have made a mistake on my SOA. Our debts are actually just below 60K. I need to look at the balances I have entered. I have checked credit reports and it someting like £58900 so still but less badder!

I agree that we can't spend lots of money of home improvements. My FIL is a carpenter and general handy man and he has offered to give our kitchen a budget makeover as a joint 40th present! He is the only person who know that we have money issues, although he doesn't know the extent. I was brought up in a house that always needed a bit of TLC and lived in horrendous uni houses so I am not too fussed about making do, however it gets my wife down. Our bathroom is tiny and the toilet is separate. We are going to save until we can afford a cheap white suite that FIL will fit! 

There is another option of the table for us. My FIL has spoken to my wife and has said that we would always be welcome to move in with them. My in laws live in a 5 bedroom house so we would essentially have our own bedrooms, bathroom and sitting room. The idea would be that we would be able to pay off our debts and quickly save a big deposit for a new house BUT BUT BUT - I don't want to do it. I am worried about getting off the ladder and also the questions that people would ask about why we have moved back in with the parents at the age of 40!! I appreciate the gesture though. 

I am going to make an effort to post more regularly! Hope everyone is safe and well 

Well if the credit report is correct (don't forget they are not always that up to date) then obviously £60k debt is better than £70k but you are still carrying lots of unsecured debt.  However I am not sure that given the amount of debt you have then moving in with your in laws and presumably selling your house is the best way to go especially if it needs a lot doing to it. Also buying houses is expensive so I am not sure why buying a new one is better than fixing up the old one after the high interest debts have been sorted.  You would be older when applying for a new mortgage which means a shorter term and given your high rates and inability to get 0% deals I am guessing your credit record is not brilliant.

You have a high amount of disposable income so I would suggest that you maybe use some of your cash to do the essentials to make the house livable and address the debts aggressively shutting down cards and accounts as you go.  You have put Next as 0% but if it is their store account these are not 0% usually and the interest is often high and getting rid of that £750 is doable with your cash. Given you are paying 50% interest on Very and presumably 40% on the overdraft I would tackle the high interest debts first then essential repairs on the house especially if your FIL is offering to help. 

Really kind of the In-laws and although not ideal, If you get on then I’d try to rent your house out and move in. Even if you could do this for a couple of years it would hugely improve your finances. My kids are not adults yet but i would love to be able to help them out like this later in life. 

As to what others would think, your saving more for your future and there for them in uncertain times. Win win. 

Thank you. I get your point but for me it's a real issue getting off the ladder and moving in with in laws at my age. I also don't think that we need to do anything that drastic. I know our debts are massive however we are managing to pay everything and make overpayments so whilst things are precarious, the wolf isn't at the door. I suppose it's reassuring to know that we always have the option to move in with them if things really did hit the fan. 

warren80

I know that I am still not great at posting. I hit a bit of a wall last week and felt awful. It's very unlike me as I am generally a 'glass half full' kinda guy. I have no idea where it came from but I found myself worrying and waking up thinking about money etc. I had a good few days of this but managed to pull myself out of it. I can only assume that it's due to lockdown and the fact that I have far too much time at home and too much time to think. Feeling ok now and have reminded myself how very lucky we are to be in a position to deal with our debts. I genuinely feel blessed that it's fixable for us. 

Jamesyb123

warren80 said:

I know that I am still not great at posting. I hit a bit of a wall last week and felt awful. It's very unlike me as I am generally a 'glass half full' kinda guy. I have no idea where it came from but I found myself worrying and waking up thinking about money etc. I had a good few days of this but managed to pull myself out of it. I can only assume that it's due to lockdown and the fact that I have far too much time at home and too much time to think. Feeling ok now and have reminded myself how very lucky we are to be in a position to deal with our debts. I genuinely feel blessed that it's fixable for us. 

The current situation is playing on everyone’s mental health. I’ve read through this thread and think you should be pleased that you’ve put a plan in place. When your anxiety kicks in go for a nice walk or a jog and you will instantly feel better. Just keep doing what you’re doing and always remind yourself there’s a point where the debt will come to an end even if it takes 5 years or 10 years stuck at it and one day it’ll be done. Good luck.

warren80

Jamesyb123 said:

warren80 said:

I know that I am still not great at posting. I hit a bit of a wall last week and felt awful. It's very unlike me as I am generally a 'glass half full' kinda guy. I have no idea where it came from but I found myself worrying and waking up thinking about money etc. I had a good few days of this but managed to pull myself out of it. I can only assume that it's due to lockdown and the fact that I have far too much time at home and too much time to think. Feeling ok now and have reminded myself how very lucky we are to be in a position to deal with our debts. I genuinely feel blessed that it's fixable for us. 

The current situation is playing on everyone’s mental health. I’ve read through this thread and think you should be pleased that you’ve put a plan in place. When your anxiety kicks in go for a nice walk or a jog and you will instantly feel better. Just keep doing what you’re doing and always remind yourself there’s a point where the debt will come to an end even if it takes 5 years or 10 years stuck at it and one day it’ll be done. Good luck.

Thanks Mate, and yes you're right it can only get better. Generally I am upbeat and have refused to allow myself to stress too much over this situation. My wife worries more than I do so I try to be the voice or reason and reassurance! For me, the key is to not dwell too much on the figures. I think that one thing that niggles me is that I don't know anyone else who has run up debts at the scale that we have. That slight sense of failure does sting a bit BUT tough S**t - just gotta get on with it