Facing up and moving forward

AnnieQ79

Hi everyone,

Newbie here who's been lurking reading and getting inspiration from all your threads for quite some time!  

I thought it's time for me to start my own, for accountability and to face up to uncomfortable financial truths I've been avoiding.  I love reading about how others are sorting out their debt and hope that keeping a diary here can help me do the same thing.

My debt consists mainly of credit cards, mortgage and student loan - and I'm not counting the latter two as they're not my main concern - I see them as 'normal' debt and not the scary debt I've built up on credit cards due to impulse buys, trying to spend my way out of poor mental health periods.  One thing I do is buy things for the 'ideal' version of me, in the hope that it will magically turn me into that ideal person, instead of dealing with the issues that are making me do that in the first place.  I've wasted a lot of money that way on stuff I've never even unpacked from the boxes.  And don't get me started on how much I rely on wine to make me feel better about myself - which obviously isn't cheap!

Aaaaaanyway!  Rather than get too heavy, I'll get on with listing what I owe and I hope that this is the first step towards getting these debts cleared off and getting that heavy weight off my back.

What I owe on my credit cards as of 31/05/25 is:

Capital One: £1,105.92                      APR 22.47%

Virgin: £2,765.33                                APR 0% on £755.71 until 30/11/25;

                                                           APR 0% on £2,009.62 until 30/09/25

Halifax 1: £1,975                                APR 0% on £249.91 until 09/06/25, then 23.85%;

                                                           APR 0% on £1,740.09 until 27/08/25

Halifax 2: £2,288.53                           APR 0% until 08/03/26

MBNA: £3,313.67                              APR 0% on £2,658.45 until 03/08/25;

                                                           APR 0% on £655.22 until 03/04/26

Tesco Bank: £4,333.63                       APR 0% on £3,232.48; 

                                                           APR 24.94 on £682.90

 

TOTAL OWED: £15,782.08

So writing this down, I can see that I need to prioritise the non-0% cards, or else transfer them over to 0% deals (which I know will come with a transfer price), and then work out a way to get these debts down.  

I feel better for doing this!  Now I can see what I owe and face up to it, and with the support and wisdom of this forum, I hope to be able to move forward!  

I would really welcome any advice or words of encouragement from you lovely wise lot!  Thank you!

weenancyinAmerica

You may need to sit down and list what you are spending money on - at least keep a spending diary on here. Have you considered doing a list of what the ideal you is and how it differs from the real you - maybe you can even make changes to get closer to that ideal you and use the stuff you have bought.

1stTimer

Welcome Annie and well done for taking the time to post here!

as weenancy says, I’ve found it really helpful to do an honest SOA every month- https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php 
I have also have started writing down what I spend every day so I can figure out where it’s all going, it’s been a real eye opener! 

Good luck and I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you 🤞

AnnieQ79

Thank you both very much for the welcome and advice!    I think keeping a spending diary is a good idea, I need to be honest with myself about how much I fritter away and why I rely on credit cards so much.

I love the idea of making a list about the ideal me and the present me.  I like the idea of having something concrete to work towards rather than the vague idea of 'being better'.  

So glad I started this diary, it feels like a very positive first step 

AnnieQ79

I've transferred over some credit card balances onto a 0% deal on one of my Halifax credit cards, it was 0% for 12 months so that gives me a bit of breathing room for some of them.  The transfer fee ended up being almost £200, but I worked out that paying the interest on the Capital One card alone would have been more than that, so hopefully it was a good idea.

I have £249.91 on my other Halifax cc that will be coming off the 0% interest period on the 9th of this month - I couldn't include this in the balance transfer as they're both Halifax.  So now I have the dilemma about what to do with that.  Should I pay it all off?  We got a bit of back pay this month so now would be a good time to do it; on the other hand, my car insurance is up in the middle of August and I'll need a fill of heating oil soon - which are both things I've always put on my credit cards because I never have the money for them.  And I really don't want to do that this time.

I'm trying to work out a budget to see if I could even afford to pay a little bit extra of it off - I would so love to get these balances down, they are really weighing heavy on me!

I'm going to see now if I can put my balances in my signature - I love looking at other people's on here and seeing how they come down!

AnnieQ79

Ah - I see I can't add a signature yet.  So I'll put my balances here:

Credit card debt as of 03/06/25:

Capital One: -£50 (and more will be added to this as I return some clothes to Simply Be) - can I add this money back to my bank account or do I just have to spend it on the credit card?  I've never been in credit on a credit card before, this is new to me 

MBNA: £655.22

Tesco: £3,624.48

Virgin: £2,765.33

Halifax 1: £1,975 (£249.91 of this is going up to 23.85% on 9th June)

Halifax 2: £6.935.93 (!!!!!)

TOTAL: £15,905.96

These are all on 0% for now.  I would love to get rid of that MBNA one after I pay off the bit on Halifax 1 that's going to have interest soon.  It would be such a boost to be able to tick one credit card off my list.

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

The SOA will help others to make suggestions to assist with your way forward. For example it would be useful to see how your income compares with your expenditure.

vampirotoothus

Hi, with the Capital One credit, you could either ask them for it back or spend it for groceries (not frivolous) and then pay the grocery money to one of the credit cards. Good luck V x

in_need_of_direction

I would spend on groceries too using the equivalent amount from the grocery pot to go towards Halifax. I’d then see what I could do to clear the rest including considering a smaller oil delivery.

AnnieQ79

Thank you all for your advice re the credit card balance, I wish I'd read it sooner.  I had a conversation today with a work friend about a cat-related crochet gift she wanted and I've already (overspent) the excess credit on yarn for a surprise to make her happy.  God I don't help myself do I!  

AnnieQ79

I will work on an SOA now.  I had used YNAB before and found it very reassuring to have all my outgoings accounted for; unfortunately I didn't stick to it but I think it's a very useful tool for anyone who has discipline.  Seriously considering setting it up again.