Today I totalled up my debt for the first time...

DebtPioneer

Just a short post but today, but for the first time today (after months/years of putting it off) I lifted my head out of the sand, logged into our various credit card accounts, and took a note of our total debt, accurate to the penny.

I had it in mind that the total would be around around £40-50k, andl including CCs, overdraft and a personal loan the total came in at...£53,373.53 (full breakdown below).

I work full time, and my partner part-time, and together we have a total income of £3,683.07 after tax. I consider this a good joint income, but due to the various debt repayments there is always nothing left by the end of the month, and sometimes less than nothing left, meaning we dip into the CCs again for things like the food shop.

I'm working to put together a plan to, as a start, reduce our debt by 10% over the next 12 months. I think this is quite do-able. Also looking at various ways to cut our monthly outgoings. I started by cancelling month subscriptions today to Audible and YouTube, a drop in the ocean I know, but its a start. I'm sure there are other areas too we can cut back on.

Hoping to log my debt free journey regularly here on this forum. Thanks for reading!

Credit Cards

(Me) Aqua £692.83

(Me) Bank of Scotland £7999.65

(Me) Barclaycard £10270.14

(Partner) Sainsburys £5023.75

(Partner) MBNA £10227.29

(Partner) Bank of Scotland £13994.09

Personal Loan 

(Joint) £1795.57

Overdraft

(Joint) BoS £1411.05

(Me) RBS £1959.21

August 2021 Total: £53,373.58

tacpot12

Well done for lifting your head out of the sand. It's not easy, but at least you can see the mountain you have to climb. It can be done! Good luck. 

BadBookkeeper

You’ll get lots of ideas and support here.  Good luck on your journey.

BellaLasagna2018

It feels really scary at first when you add up all your debts, and see the full amount, but soon the feeling of being in control and seeing the numbers get smaller and smaller will replace the initial fear. 

Good luck! 

Misslayed

Congratulations on taking the first step, you will get so much support and practical help here, from folk who really understand, as they have travelled the same road. Wishing you the very best of luck. 

DebtPioneer

Thanks all! I thought I'd log some money-saving stuff I have done this week on my journey to being debt free:

• I cancelled a YouTube Premium subscription that I didn't need (saving £6.99pm).
• I cancelled an Audible subscription I didn't need (saving £7.99pm). I still have loads of audiobooks I haven't listened to yet.
• I downgraded my Ancestry.co.uk subscription from the £19.99pm package to the £11.99m package. I'll still have everything I need for my favourite hobby (family tree research - although my debt would probably make my ancestors wince).
• I bought I giant fruit and veg box from from my local "Zero to Landfill" market - a decent buy at £2.50.
• I noticed that a few small subscriptions I pay for (e.g. Apple cloud storage) were coming off my credit card each month. I've moved these to come off my bank account instead. Not really money saving I know, but at least I can keep an eye on them, and they're not increasing my debt by coming off my credit card anymore).

So small steps, but its only day 5, and I all of the above makes me feel a bit better!

BellaLasagna2018

Well done @DebtPioneer! They may seem like small steps but when you add up all these « little » savings and multiply that by 12, you get a substantial sum that you will save in a whole year! 

One-step-at-a-time

You've got this! I've just finished a 54 month slog that started with a very similar number. One thing I found very useful was watching balance transfers like a hawk - I didn't get any 0% offers for the first couple of years, but used fee free transfers to bounce money between existing cards in small amounts to get it all from 20%+ down to 4 or 5%, which made interest payments less awful until the 0% offers started to return.
Best of luck

another_casualty

In a way , you have done the hardest part of the start of a new financial life and outlook.
So many of us have been scared to do so 🙀until we have no choice but to front it out so to speak . 

It was painful for me , when I had to prepare all of my financial plight to payplan , who were fantastic btw . Once I spoke to them , a calmness came over me and once I followed their instructions and the tension was a lot less .

Not saying to go with payplan , and by being here you may have a plan of action for yourselves . 

Stick with this diary , and you'll get great support and help along the way . 

Best of luck ...

enthusiasticsaver

Well done on making a start.  

A good way to begin is to keep a spending diary so you can see where the money is going.  If you really do have nothing left at the end of the month and are having to use credit cards to live off then a debt solution like a DMP may be needed and as AC says stepchange can help with that. If it is just that budgeting is the problem then doing an soa and keeping a record of all your spends is a good idea.  Lots of us have separate pots for savings for emergencies, car maintenance, holidays and xmas etc.  That avoids you having to put more on credit cards which is self defeating when you are trying to pay them off.  

Can you still get 0% deals and have you checked the interest rates on the debts so you know which ones to tackle first? 

jennystarpepper

• I downgraded my Ancestry.co.uk subscription from the £19.99pm package to the £11.99m package. I'll still have everything I need for my favourite hobby (family tree research - although my debt would probably make my ancestors wince).
• 
  

Have you checked if this is available for free at your library, mine does and it is available online so it can be accessed from home.  Might save you a bit more?

Good luck in your journey.