Just need reassurance really

purplepunch1024

Hi everyone, nervous newbie here. I was googling debt advice and came across this link and thought how nice it would be to hear stories of people who are in a similar situation to me, as often my debt journey feels incredibly lonely and isolating! 

I’m a married mum of three and my husband and I are currently in (inward gulp!) around 46k of debt combined! Estimated balances are around £20000 joint loan with NatWest and then I have a cc with NatWest that stands at around £12000. My hubby has two credit cards, one with NatWest at around £8000 and one with HSBC at around £6000. 

Just typing it all out has spiked my anxiety, as in my head I always put it at around £40k. Our debts go back to when we had our first child, almost 15 years ago. We were in a good financial situation then, no debt at all, I was literally about to pop, when we were given notice on our rented house. We moved out when our baby was five weeks old, into a house that was £500 a month more expensive, and my income had halved due to maternity leave. It was the start of a very long and slippery slope from there.  A combination of things including me never able to go back to full time work due to child care costs (I worked in childcare which is ironic as the pay was and still is shocking!) meant that we limped along on one income, clearing some debt then getting back into it along the way. We managed to buy our house during Covid (bought a house owned by husband’s parents) and I feel incredibly lucky and grateful to at least have that asset. I returned to work when my youngest started school in 2019, but only part time so although it should’ve made a big difference, the cost of living going up so much during that time means my income hasn’t made a massive amount of difference. As our income has risen, so have our living costs and so have our debts. It seems a never ending cycle. I currently bring in just over £1000 a month working 8-6 two days in an office, plus I do a little bit of cleaning. I’m due to start my own business is eyelash extensions soon, full time around my existing job so hopefully that will boost our income quite a bit but obviously could take a while to build up. I’m positive I can make a go of that though. I’m determined to! 

I know there’s no magic fix here and I’m not sure what I’m even posting for. Like the title said, maybe just a bit of reassurance that it can be done. We don’t really want to go down any debt relief etc routes. Our income is pretty good by today’s standards and we want to clear up our own mess but we just never seem to make much headway. We currently spend out around £700 a month servicing our debts but those are just minimum payments. We have no savings. 

I’d just be grateful to hear from anyone who was/is in a similar amount/position and how it’s going for you. Thank you for reading. 

RAS

Of course your income makes a difference, even if it's low. Every penny you earn in employment below the NI limit is free of tax, whilst if hubbie earned the same gross amount he'd see 35% disappear before it hit his bank account.

With respect to your new business you must run its finances and accounts completely separate from your personal accounts. And you need to have another separate account into which you put 25% of your net income every month for the HMRC. Only then can you consider taking any income from the business.

It might be prudent to do your SOA so you can understand where your existing money is going and think about how you can move forward.

purplepunch1024

RAS said:

Of course your income makes a difference, even if it's low. Every penny you earn in employment below the NI limit is free of tax, whilst if hubbie earned the same gross amount he'd see 35% disappear before it hit his bank account.

With respect to your new business you must run its finances and accounts completely separate from your personal accounts. And you need to have another separate account into which you put 25% of your net income every month for the HMRC. Only then can you consider taking any income from the business.

It might be prudent to do your SOA so you can understand where your existing money is going and think about how you can move forward.

Thank you for replying to me, I really appreciate it, and for your advice too. I will definitely take it all on board with regard to the business. I’m nervous, as it’s a big step out of my comfort zone for me, but excited too as things certainly need to change if we have any hope of moving forward. 

kimwp

You might want to take a look at the diaries or the thread for people who've managed to pay off their debt (both pinned at the top of the boards) - obviously we shouldn't compare ourselves to others, but you might find some inspiration or people in very similar circumstances there.

fatbelly

Try starting a thread in the diaries section.

If you are only making minimum payments in the credit cards then you are going to come up against the persistent debt rules and will need support to navigate your way through.

I think the first letters are sent after 18 months of minimum payments