So much debt :-(

Rachel24 · 24 July 2017 at 11:33AM

Hi

I'm a newbie here. Been reading some of the diaries and it's got me motivated to do one myself. I just hope it'll kick me into doing something about all my debt. I need to do a proper calculation to see how much I'm in but I know it's over the £10,000 mark :-(
I work full time but that doesn't stop me from overspending! I literally spent £55 on the white company website yesterday because there was a sale on and I don't even have the money for it just more on the credit card!
I'll do my calculations at lunch and see how much exactly I owe.
Any tips I would really appreciate :-)
Also my partner has no idea the debt I'm in. He thinks I have £2000 and I'm just way too scared to tell him.

quintwins · 24 July 2017 at 11:41AM

Your going to have to bit the bullet and tell your partner. first thing to do is a SOA so you know where you stand. Do you really need your white company order? you could refuse delivery if not and atleast then it's a step in the right direction. Before you buy anything ask yourself if you'd really need it, then wait a few days and ask yourself again. if the answer is yes and you have the money buy it...if not don't. It's only a bargain if you need it, if not it's an unneeded expense.

Well done on posting, that's the first step.

Peabody_2 · 24 July 2017 at 11:45AM

Hi,

Welcome aboard! You'll be fine, I would suggest telling him though, best to get his support on your journey. It'll make it much easier in the long run!

I'm also an over spender, but I've given myself a weekly budget and I'm really trying to stick to it.

Good Luck!

GeorgianaCavendish · 24 July 2017 at 1:18PM

Hi Rachel, welcome to the debt free wannabe boards and well done on taking the first step in posting.
I know it feels really scary now but this is the hardest part done. I started my Debt Free Diary in January this year and these are the things that helped me:

1. Get a 100% accurate picture of how much debt there is. Mine was spread across 3 credit cards, a catalogue and furniture finance arrangement, plus a personal loan. I got the balances and the interest rates for each one, this really helped me work out which to tackle first.
2. Face up to spending. I used an app called OnTrees which I linked with my bank account and credit cards to give me a breakdown of everything I'd spent over the past 12 weeks. That was an eyeopener! It helped me identify where I could make easy savings (for me this was coffee, lunch and taxis, it might be something else for you).
3. No Additional Debt Challenge - that was my target for the first month. No using my credit card to impulse shop, I had to really budget to make sure that I could get through the month with "just" my salary.

I'm trying to break my old shopaholic behaviour. One of the big turning points for me was sending things back after I'd bought them. There's no need to keep that White Company order if you don't need any of the things, don't get into the mindset of telling yourself it's "too late" to change or you'll have "wasted" the money for delivery. It's not like I didn't know that I could return things, but I would always be able to talk myself into keeping them. It is actually quite liberating to realise that I am capable of sending stuff back!

Good luck with everything

reality_check · 24 July 2017 at 1:31PM

I've just realised you've started your own diary - good luck! The best thing to do is make a list of incomings and outgoings and see what is left over. I really recommend keeping a personal allowance to spend on whatever your want that is not a need ie takeaways, beauty treatments, clothes that you don't need just want, lunch out etc - then you won't feel guilty or feel too hard done by with working for nothing and more likely to stick with it....this is all in my opinion!

I would probably make a list and see where I am at, have a plan and then, if you feel that you can, tell your partner. Do you live together? He might get a bit suspicious if all of a sudden you can't/don't want to do certain things that would previously have been the norm?

Good luck with it, I'm cheering you on! We roughly have the same amount of debt so hopefully will motivate us both! xx

Rachel24 · 24 July 2017 at 3:39PM

Thanks everyone. Right I've just looked at all my debt and wish I hadn't!
Bank of scotland overdraft - £150
Royal bank of Scotland overdraft - £400
Royal bank of Scotland CC - £4136.22
Royal bank of Scotland loan - £7094.66
Mbna CC - £3704.63
Next account - £919.57
Zopa loan - £1900.93

Total debt - 18,306.01

I'm in shock. I knew it was bad but I didn't know it was that bad! I'm going to look into my monthly outgoings but to be honest me and my other half split everything and we have spending money each month and most of mine goes towards on my debt then I just spend it again! I have just got a part time job as I thought I needed to do something. I've not started it yet hopefully start in the next month. It's not much but I should get an extra £60 a month I didn't have before and can pick up shifts so hoping I can put all that money to debt! I have no idea where to start first!
Do I leave overdrafts and just clear credit cards first? Loans are coming out monthly anyway. I know I can pay them off early but would I be better paying of cards then cocentrate on them.

I get paid on Friday so will sort everything out for then! I definitely need no spend days! I buy so many lunches etc that I don't need to! Xx

Rachel24 · 24 July 2017 at 3:43PM

reality_check wrote: »

I've just realised you've started your own diary - good luck! The best thing to do is make a list of incomings and outgoings and see what is left over. I really recommend keeping a personal allowance to spend on whatever your want that is not a need ie takeaways, beauty treatments, clothes that you don't need just want, lunch out etc - then you won't feel guilty or feel too hard done by with working for nothing and more likely to stick with it....this is all in my opinion!

I would probably make a list and see where I am at, have a plan and then, if you feel that you can, tell your partner. Do you live together? He might get a bit suspicious if all of a sudden you can't/don't want to do certain things that would previously have been the norm?

Good luck with it, I'm cheering you on! We roughly have the same amount of debt so hopefully will motivate us both! xx

Thanks reality check. I think I related to your diary so much as I buy products like Est!e Lauder etc and to be honest I can't go without that! I always get my hair done too which is every 6/7 weeks it's £45 which is a great price too. I'm thinking £100 a month for myself then the rest on debt. We have a lot of stuff coming up though like a day at the races etc but it is doable!
Also me and my husband live together. I just don't know how I can tell him I've been so stupid. He knows I've just gone and got a second job to sort out my credit card so I'm hoping if I can get a good chunk down then maybe by the end of the year I can say I've got a bit more than I said. I'm just so embarrassed. No one knows I'm in this mess but everyone on here now. Xx

Rachel24 · 24 July 2017 at 3:46PM

GeorgianaCavendish wrote: »

Hi Rachel, welcome to the debt free wannabe boards and well done on taking the first step in posting.
I know it feels really scary now but this is the hardest part done. I started my Debt Free Diary in January this year and these are the things that helped me:

1. Get a 100% accurate picture of how much debt there is. Mine was spread across 3 credit cards, a catalogue and furniture finance arrangement, plus a personal loan. I got the balances and the interest rates for each one, this really helped me work out which to tackle first.
2. Face up to spending. I used an app called OnTrees which I linked with my bank account and credit cards to give me a breakdown of everything I'd spent over the past 12 weeks. That was an eyeopener! It helped me identify where I could make easy savings (for me this was coffee, lunch and taxis, it might be something else for you).
3. No Additional Debt Challenge - that was my target for the first month. No using my credit card to impulse shop, I had to really budget to make sure that I could get through the month with "just" my salary.

I'm trying to break my old shopaholic behaviour. One of the big turning points for me was sending things back after I'd bought them. There's no need to keep that White Company order if you don't need any of the things, don't get into the mindset of telling yourself it's "too late" to change or you'll have "wasted" the money for delivery. It's not like I didn't know that I could return things, but I would always be able to talk myself into keeping them. It is actually quite liberating to realise that I am capable of sending stuff back!

Good luck with everything

Downloaded that app now and going to look through it tonight! Thanks Hun. I'm going to return whitestuff company things. I don't need it! Part of it was a birthday for my friend. Honestly I'm awful. Just worked out I have more than I realised! Are you paying more to your loan than what it asks for or are you just sticking to the right monthly amount? Xx

GeorgianaCavendish · 24 July 2017 at 4:32PM

Well done on returning the White Company order, honestly that is a really good first step. OnTrees is great, well its nasty but great in the long run

I'm sticking to the monthly repayments on my loan at the moment as the interest rate is lower than some of my credit card debt. If I managed to get all my credit card debt onto longer term 0% deals then I might look at overpaying the loan, but I've got £14000 on credit cards and only £4600 of that is on 0% so I've got a way to go first.

What interest rates are your overdrafts, CCs and loan on?

Another thing I did early on was to have a proper ruthless sort out of my wardrobe, cosmetics, books, dvds etc and sell everything that I didn't use. For clothes, I decided that if I hadn't worn it for a year then it was going (and all those 'bargains' I bought in the sales thinking "if I just lose 5lbs that will look great!). I made a lot of money doing this, nearly £1000. And I can honestly say that I haven't missed any of it, much better that money going towards my debt than sitting around my flat gathering dust. Why not set aside a couple of weekends to go through your stuff and get some of it up on ebay? You could make your first target the spending money for the trip to the races?

GeorgianaCavendish · 24 July 2017 at 4:37PM

Oh! Another couple of things that have been fairly lucrative for me are survey sites, market research focus groups and cashback accounts.
There is a post somewhere on MSE with a list of the best survey sites but my fav is Prolific Academic (https://www.prolific.ac) , I only started using it 3 weeks ago and I've already made £50!
Market research focus groups are great when they come through, I've done 7 so far this year and made an average of £50 a time. Again, I'm sure there is a ilst somewhere on this site ... if I find it I'll post back.

Cash back sites are a must! If I'm buying anything online I do it through topcashback. Most retailers have quite small rewards but I've had some great payouts when buying insurance or applying for a balance transfer credit card.

Mummy_bear · 24 July 2017 at 5:28PM

Hi Rachel

You've taken a huge step acknowledging your debt. I decided that my husband and I had to tackle our debt at the end of May when we had over £37k between us...so effectively a similar amount that you owe.....each

You'll get the debt busting bug. I'm pretty much addicted to reading DFW diaries for inspiration too.

I will be subscribing and cheering you on in your journey x

MB

So much debt :-(

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