Time to get a handle on this... and change my life for good!

bamgbost

Welcome to the LBM club!

Its never too late to start. You are taking the first and brave step and I wish you all the best on this journey. Will be following your diary

seriouslyunsurprising

Good luck!

katsu

With a CC at 56% I would pay say £1 over the minimums on all other repayments and throw everything at CC1.  Then you'll have the money from CC1 repayments to pay off the next highest debt and you'll soon see progress.

Do start with a list of where you are currently spending and look at how you can reduce that.  Free up cash and get DF quicker.

Great help here. You'll find so much support. Good luck!

DrCarrie

Welcome to your debt-free diary and journey!

You have amazing long term goals. 

Keep posting, it really helps stay on track. I have found mini-goals and doing snowball calculators really helpful in deciding how to approach my debt and my spending habits. 

Bizzywizard

Hi,
Welcome to the forum. My DH had £20k worth of debt in 2019 I didn't know about it till one night he came clean. He had always moved his 0% cards around and then found he couldn't any longer. I stepped in and switched it into my name on 0% deals and then proceeded to be clear of the debt by Dec 2020 (most disagree with this on the forum but we are married and work together). So I would say talk it through with your partner.

A couple of things I did straight away
1 - Switched bank accounts and made £600 (2 for me and 2 for DH) the money wen straight off a card
2- We switched to Nationwide flex direct gave me a £2k interest free Overdraft for ONE YEAR ONLY. HSBC was killing us with OD interest. You need to be able to clear this in one year, so have a plan and stick t it.
3 -Have no overdraft on any accounts (we have a bills bank account)
4- Sold everything on ebay that we no longer needed, if you have bags sell them!
5- Get rid of Netflix/Amazon prime/Disney
6- Go alcohol free save loads of money and tell friends you are on a health drive, if they ask.
7 -Shop late say 10pm and get the yellow sticker stuff from Tesco...my DH loved this...me not so much!
8- do some survey site panelbase paid out bout £10/20 a month, I just used to put it straight to the debt.

I agree with a poster above, clear CC1 1st its the highest interest, so get shot of it. Then concentrate on the highest interest incurring cards first pay the min on everything else. 

Hope this helps.

Bizzy

BecomingMoneyConscious

Hey everyone, 

I hope you're enjoying your Friday!

Thank you all so much for all of your lovely responses!! It’s truly heartwarming and invigorating to know that I can have such a great support system in you all! 

I’m sorry I made my first post then ran off for a week, work has been hectic as ever The purpose of this diary is already being fulfilled as I’m learning some great tips from you already! 

@enthusiasticsaver - thank you I will definitely be looking to clear CC1 as quickly as possible, with at least £10 over the minimum each month. Any extra funds I get will also go towards clearing it faster. Having looked into it, I think my journey requires the avalanche method so I’m not spending longer than I have to just paying off interest!

@creditcardjunkie - thank you I hope to be able to open up to friends about this, I just feel this diary will help me build confidence, and I’ll definitely feel better telling people when I’m over the worst of it. I have no created a snazzy budget for the whole year and will be tracking were every £1 goes  

@elbree - thank you for this comment, I’ve not actually seen this advice before but it rocks! I will definitely try and incorporate this method into my plans.

@inspiration - thank you and absolutely, Monzo is life! I have only started using it as my main spending account as of this year. At first it was so I could get paid a day early haha! But then I found out how useful separating my budgeted money into pots were  

@AntoMac - thank you so much for your kind words. You’ve achieved so much so lovely to have your support and wisdom. I certainly want and will have to discuss finances with my boyfriend shortly, but definitely want to build up courage and confidence that I am already making changes before broaching the subject. He is already my rock and helps me in all sorts of ways he couldn’t possibly know  

@Bizzywizard - thank you for your kind words and well done on all you’ve done! Some really great tips which I will definitely need to explore more!

And to everyone else that has left me such lovely messages and will be following my journey, I hope to get to know you all and will be subscribing to all your diaries too!

x