Mentally exhausting

James_44_2

Hi all, this is my first post but a long term reader of this forum. I have been in debt my whole adult life and now in my early 40s. It all started when I started work at 18 in a high street bank and had access to easily accessible credit which I kept consolidating and taking out more. I was on top of my debts but my OH wanted to undertake a renovation of our house and we took on a lot of debt to be able to complete it. The LBM so to speak was when the work completed and I hit my peak unsecured debt in September 2023 - £62,345.... I am now paying this down steadily and have this down to £36,810 as of today.

The debts at today are as follows

Tesco CC - £4,400  £0
MBNA CC - £10,900  £3,000
HSBC CC - £7,100  £4,250

FD Loan - £27,193  £21,989
Barclays Loan - £12,752 £7,572

Total £62,345 £36,810

All credit is on 0% other than the FD Loan which is 3.9%

I really struggle to not think about the debt - it consumes me most waking hours. I am well on track to pay this all off by May/June 2026 but find it exhausting and anxiety inducing. I get a small buzz each pay day but that soon wears off and the rest of the month is a chore until I hit the next one. Does this sound normal?

Purplelady65

Wow that’s a huge amount of debt to pay off in just over a year! Well done! Are you allowing yourselves to have a life at the same time as paying down debt or is all your income going on debt repayments? It may be that if your only focus is on paying down the debt that is why you are exhausted and anxious? If so could you build in some treats along the way? You don’t want to end up burnt out with it all. 

Sarahwithlove

I agree you definitely need to have a good work and life balance towards the debt. Otherwise it's not sustainable long term. 

James_44_2

Thank you - the support is appreciated. I do think I have a good balance - I work hard but also have kids to run around after but also enjoy watching my football team. I will go out and go for dinner or cinema with my friends from time to time when the family duties allow!

I don't know why but approaching the half way point has made things worse - at the beginning I didn't stress about things anywhere near as much. I am pretty desperate to get rid of the credit cards - I've always had some credit card debt so that will be quite novel and then I can really attack the FD loan

in_need_of_direction

I always find the middle third of any process to be the most challenging.  You’ve made brilliant progress so far. Maybe you should not just consider your debt but also consider any increase in your house’s value as a result of the work.  Whatever you do, keep doing it as it’s clearly working.  I took on my first consumer debt at 19 and only considered it cleared with my mortgage as I had added to my mortgage so many times.  I was in my mid 50s by then. You’re definitely tackling this at the right time.

londoner2019

Are you saying you've paid off 25k in about 14 months? That's a phenomenal achievement - be proud of that!

Agreed with yourself and others - getting the plan in place, paying things off each month is rewarding, but the long-term goal can always seem so far away. Just take a minute to look back to your LBM and celebrate the progress.

Plus - a lot of that debt was for the renovation (I think), so take a look at where you've invested that money and be proud of that, too.

Good that you're keeping busy - but just remember whenever you're feeling anxious that all is not lost - you're counting down the days/months to that DF date. It's not like you don't have a plan of action to tackle it - you're in a great position.

Keep it up - and keep posting here, you'll find lots of support from people who have been/are in the same position.

[Deleted User]

Your income must be good to be able to pay off that amount of debt in such a short space of time. Have you now a workable budget? Did you put together a SOA. 

James_44_2

I am very fortunate I have a very good income and have been paying about £2k a month off my debts. I haven’t done an SOA as I split different commitments with my OH, ie I pay for all the food shopping. I haven’t done an SOA but do have a budget on a spreadsheet. All essential bills and direct debits  come out of a separate account and I put an appropriate amount when I get paid to cover these. This works well other than I haven’t been able to save a significant amount as I keep dipping into it. I have also kept clothes buying to a minimum whilst I am paying off debt although my kids seem to grow out of clothes and shoes at an alarming rate!

James_44_2

Had an annoying tax underpayment demand this week of £2098 which needs to be paid by 31/01/25! I have paid the minimum on credit cards this week and paid off £1000 from this new HMRC debt. I also moved both cc debts onto a new balance transfer credit with Barclaycard which was 0% for 12 months with no fee. I am now down to £7k of credit card debt so still moving in the right direction but has slowed down in November and December. Back on it in January 2025 and final debt free date is still around May 2026

Sarahwithlove

Have you checked to make sure the demand is correct because that's alot! Good job really you have such a good disposable income. Are you self employed is that the cause of tax?

James_44_2

I am on PAYE but have to do a self assessment because I earn over the threshold. I think I get penalised because I have a second job which means I underpay on the main one. I wouldn’t mind so much but I completed the self assessment in July and think 4 months is a bit late to be putting through such late tax demands!