In a mess - need to take action before it becomes unfixable.

RAS

The important question is "Do you have AP markers on any of your credit records". For which debt?  It's just possible your creditor didn't register a marker when they agreed the arrangement.

ManyWays

How old are your 2 children?
You only have about 6 years left on the mortgage? 

Benefits................................ 549  are these disability benefits? Your income looks high to get any means-tested benefits
Other income............................ 800 what is this? 

Birminghamboy

RAS said:

The important question is "Do you have AP markers on any of your credit records". For which debt?  It's just possible your creditor didn't register a marker when they agreed the arrangement.

Yes but the debt was cleared in a few months so I suppose they’ll have no more impact than a default 

Birminghamboy

ManyWays said:

How old are your 2 children?
You only have about 6 years left on the mortgage? 

Benefits................................ 549  are these disability benefits? Your income looks high to get any means-tested benefits
Other income............................ 800 what is this? 

Wife gets pop due to a disability. She is still able to work full time 

ManyWays

How old are your 2 children?
You only have about 6 years left on the mortgage? 

Other income............................ 800 what is this? 

Are any of your expenses higher because of your wife's disability? 

Birminghamboy

ManyWays said:

How old are your 2 children?
You only have about 6 years left on the mortgage? 

Other income............................ 800 what is this? 

Are any of your expenses higher because of your wife's disability? 

Hi

The 800 is additional income that I make via a side hustle. It's fairly regular income and quite lucrative for me. We have made a few house apaptations to support wife which I suppose came at a cost. The car is also adapted

katsu

I would maybe look at the last 3 to 6 months and work out what your real spending was. Then I would look at what you could spend.

You've got a big enough income to pay your debts so that's great news. 

I wouldn't pay them off in the Dave Ramsey order of smallest to largest. Paying highest interest rate first will get you debt free fastest. 

I really think if you and your wife can look at your debts and spending that you'll be able to make a plan to get your debts paid off so please be optimistic not too sad. You can do this! 

enthusiasticsaver

Personally I would put your efforts towards budgeting rather than go the DMP route. Tackle that Better Borrow first.

SandyShores

You're really not in a bad position at all.  Personally I would try to pay it all off rather than a DMP.

We did and we had a similar level of debt - two new car loans and about £25k on credit cards.  We were also renting having sold our house, so we had no assets whatsoever.  Then we both had job mishaps so ended up on less money than before.

I had a third and final lightbulb moment one day and told DH I'd had enough and I was going to be in charge of the money/budgeting.  We followed the Dave Ramsey steps, and set up separate accounts for the bills and one for each of us.  We had pocket money each month - I gave DH more because he was the big spender so it gave him a bit of wiggle room.  I preferred him to have slightly more cash than risk using the credit card again.

I was really strict about the food budget and we had a couple of books about feeding your family cheap nutritious meals so I spent about £50 a week at L*dl (this was ten years ago though) and had lots of lentils and veggies.  The debts gradually came down which is a great feeling and we were finally able to pay the last few thousand off in full when incredibly some PPI cheques popped through the door.  One of my pensions I'd forgotten about also matured and all of a sudden we were debt free, with savings and a 5% house deposit so could get back on the property ladder.  Its a brilliant feeling!

I'm still amazed we managed to get out of so much debt, but people do it, and its a great feeling that we were able to manage it ourselves.  

inthezeroroom

+1 for the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps method. You sound like the perfect candidate. Your income is great and you can clear up this debt quite quickly – easily in two years and probably a lot sooner if you have at it.

So get on a written budget and start that snowball rolling! 

Forget the interest rates, because you're going to to do this fast. Betterborrow and HSBC should be gone in the first month, then Creation CC in month 2, and then keep rolling your spare cash into the next biggest debt. After about 3 months, you'll feel the progress. It's incredibly effective but you need that written budget first.

Good luck!