Debt thread!

[nik106]

Our debt is currently mounting up, i have £70 left of my overdraft and absolutely no savings. Im still waiting for July and August's pay and i think there's fat chance of me getting either of those today let alone both and/or September's. Think Im going to have to ask my nan to help us out as oh doesn't earn a lot (Im the breadwinner, by 5pm my bosses will owe me £6.5k) and because his brother forgot to budget all his bills going out this month, we've had to feed him as he's had no money left for food (he lives with us)

 

[1986princess]

I bought a house with oh 4'months ago and when wen got it I got rid of my car on finance and paid the amount I owed and left me with enough to buy second hand car. So much happier not paying out that £250 a month! I paid alot of credit cards and now only have about £1200 altogether on interest free which were making lump sums to clear. Our outgoings are reduced as mortgage was cheaper than renting so live a little more comfortably but we shop around for food at cheapest prices energy rates tv suppliers etc! Feels good when u know ur getting somewhere! X

 

[RachelJ]

I just switched my credit cards to a new one which offered 0% for 20 months, and am already saving more than £70 per month by having done so. Taking my own lumch to work instead of buying there saves about another £70 per month. It's not a lot but it's a start.
Am also planning a massive eBay sale!
I've started stockpiling things like shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste, handwash, household cleaning products etc when I see them on offer - I reckon I already have enough of those to last me from now until the end of next summer. Warning - the £1 shops / discount shops don't always offer a better saving than the supermarkets (some of which still do the "buy one, get two free" or similar offers).
We're going to start on nappies etc once we've had 20 week scan - some of the big chains have ridiculous offers on them (£12 for one pack or two packs for £15 and so on)!

 

[CarlyD]

Anyone have any credit card tips for me? Am currently maxed out at 1600 on a Lloyds tsb one, for a while was making the minimum payments which was just covering interest and a few quid, but couldn't afford last month so got hit with all the charges, plus this months minimum is almost £100 and I can't afford it. My new job has to be worked a month 'in hand' so got nothing til the end of next month :'(

Loads of other outgoings we cant afford too, just for this and next month but it'll be enough to get us in deep sh!t! Basic things like water, electric, loan repayments etc. We need at least £500 out of thin air, my parents we already owe about 5 grand for various errors of judgement but luckily they're not asking for anything back til we're on our feet.

My only option is to ask my nan who might have that kind of money spare, but I feel awful and have no idea what'll happen as she's always been more than generous on birthdays, Christmases etc, but I've never had to ask her for money before and she's a strong lady and I'm petrified she'll fall out with me over it...

Worst part is me and DH aren't sleeping with all this over our heads, and its all my fault for changing jobs. I hate myself :'( :'( :'(

 

[CarlyD]

Oh yeah and we also have nothing to sell! We have nothing worth anything anymore and we sold it all last time we were in money trouble :'(

 

[l_maclean]

carly could you look at taking out a new cc -that wold let you do a balance transfer - one with 0% for a while. wouldnt reduce what u owe, but would stop u paying interest. xxx

 

[BevG]

yeah a lot of ppl transfer to a new credit card every year or so as you can always get 0% interest on balance transfers and lower apr etc so shop around for a new one and swap the debt to it and cut up the old one.

 

[Applecider]

Santander do a nice account where u get £100 for opening it, they then have a good overdraft which costs 50p a day to have, downside u have to change accounts n get a £1000 paid into it every month! I did that and I was suprised at hoe good they were! I use the over draft while I was waiting for a decent 0% cc to come up! 50p a day was better than £70 per month! Have u looked into consolidation cards? Getting a bigger card or loan, one payment cut up the card?? Xx

 

[vampybear]

this is all great stuff- I was only thinking yesterday that I wanted to do an article on my blog about how to budget for a baby, so was gonna set up a similar thread!
My work is awful, they will only pay me money for first 6 wks and then im down to SMP which does not even cover my mortgage. Baby's dad does not live with me, and he has no job so im not gettin any help there, so all very scary times!
I have started to think about ways to save and make money in the meantime- i may even have to rent my small room in my flat for a foreign student while im on maternity to see if that helps pay my bills

 

[Applecider]

Yeh SMP doesn't cover my mortgage either! I've got to try n get a mortgage holiday somewhere in between! Maybe u could do that?? Just give them a ring?

I'm buying a jar today and all my loose change and anything I can afford is going in there! Then once Ive really really got no cash I can open that! Last time I did a jar over 9 months there was £800 in it!! I was on topcashback, quidco, eBay and sellig amazon! Everything I made went into the jar it was great counting it all!! Also any money made over Xmas can go into it!!

So plan of action...

Saving jar
Selling DVDs on amazon
Sell last yrs winter coat
Sell some funky dresses on eBay
Sell DVDs n sky hd box
Cancel gym- done
Shopping budget n batch meals
Change overdraft into 0% credit card! In the process mbna have accepted me just need to get transfer


Xx
Hmmmm can't think of anything else!! I might set target and see how I go!

 

[LouiseB]

I know someone who turned to a charity to help clear debts, i can't remember the name of it, but they work out how much you need to live on and take the rest automatically out of your wage so you don't get chance to spend it.

 

[Samsgirl]

try not to go into any agreements with creditors..........it may seem the easy way out now but it will mean you will struggle to get any form of credit in the future...xx

 

[Hunnie]

This may sound really cheeky but as Im only just really merging into the proper financial world, how is it that you've all managed to get into debt? I don't mean my question to sound horrible, I was just wondering what has caused it over the years?

OH and I were sat signing papers for the mortgage the other day and as this is both mine and his first home (technically more his than mine) I started to worry how we would be able to afford to live a nice life. Our mortgage payments are only really small but when I think about all the insurances and then electric and water bills and then general household monthly bills I did begin to worry a little, especially as I hope to go to uni next year and childcare fees are going to cripple us and OH earns too much for us to be entitled to a lot of the benefits !

What suggestions could you give us that are really helpful as a way of staying out of debt? So far the only debt we have as a couple is a couple of grand to his mum that he borrowed a couple of years ago but other than that we are clear and I really don't want to ever go into the red especially with the bank or finance companies !

Going off on a bit of a tangent, I saw a woman the other day in Asda doing her shopping and totting it all up on a calculator at the same time. I thought it was a really simple but excellent idea as I always just pick up what we need and then wait till I get to the checkout to find out what its come to, which ends up being generally more than I expected. I think once we are in the house properly I will start to do the same as her as a way of monitoring money spending!

 

[english rose]

Hi Hunnie

Avoiding debt is relatively simple if you follow one rule..........only buy what you physically have the money for (i.e. money in the bank - not from loans/credit cards).

This can sometimes get tricky when people lose jobs/get made redundant, but if you follow that rule you'll never be in debt. You may not have all of the things you want, you may have to deny yourself things, but you'll never be in debt.

My tip to all is this:

Hubby and I have been through our finances several times, worked out what we can afford to spend and then merrily ignored it! We haven't spent excessively, but with the odd night out here and there, we've been living in our overdraft for some time.

For quite a while we have blamed the fact that our outgoings exceed our income on the fact that my hubby doesn't earn a great deal, but that is not the reason!

Last month, we worked out our 'essentials' budget. We took the money out of the bank and divided it into labelled envelopes so we knew what the money was allocated to. We did not allow ourselves to spend any money on our debit cards. When the cash was gone, it was gone.

We have worked out that by sticking to this budget, we will be out of our overdraft by Christmas AND have savings in the bank!!!!

So my rule is, when you set a budget STICK TO IT, otherwise you will spend more than you earn, and your bank balance will always head downhill!

Money into labelled envelopes seems to work really well!

Good luck all!
xxx

 

[BevG]

i got into debt when i was made unemployed and it took me about 6 months to find a job, i was depressed and on meds for it as id just ended a 3 yr relationship too and my house was a tip, best friend/housemate took advantage and ate my food and lived in mine for free. basically after the basic bills i had 50 quid a month to feed myself and my housemate and run my car on so obviously i couldnt afford it, had to get a big overdraft, and a credit card. when i started to get my act together i booted out my housemate and ended the friendship, got myself a new job and moved to a better credit card with lower apr and intrest free.
needless to say im getting somewhere but its a slow process to claw yourself out that hole, id never been in debt before and dont want to go back there. still working on the credit card and overdraft but its about 5 grand where it was 6 the start of this year. its a bit easier since i quit smoking lol. i owe my parents money too but i always give them 50 quid a month straight from my wages.

 

[vampybear]

yeh i have considered a mortgage holiday, but my fear is they will still be charging interest during that time that i will at some point have to find, so lookin at going onto interest only mortgage during that time or something.
we will get there in the end!

 

[Applecider]

how not to get into debt???

ALWAYS ALWAYS BUDGET FOR FOOD AND PETROL FOR WORK!!!

This is the main reason my cards got full of debt!! Now I have enough money in one account for petrol and enough money for food, which is cash and I try n shop online this way I can see exactly how much ive spent! Asda keep giving me free delivery aswell which is good.

Thanks for the info samsgirl n Lou,

I just need to pay it off next few months using all my wages. Its winter and im pregnant so I can just hide under coats and my uggs!!!

xx

 

[GregorysGirl]

One major major tip is t put a spreadsheet rgether...so u can see ur incoming n outgoings visually.we have dun this since we moved in tgether three yrs ago.oh n i earned 17k less bkthen btween us n somwtimes we inly had 100quid a mnth for food n had t b mega mega careful with electric etc but we did it n did acrue any debt from it. if u aibt got it..u cnt have it...simples x

 

[Applecider]

That's something I'm goin to have to do this yr, if the cash ain't in my bank I can't have it. Xx

 

[l_maclean]

Not making excuses - but sometimes debt is unavoidable. Things come up that you've not planned for, budgeted for or saved for - like our boiler breaking down and the garage door breaking and unable to close at the same time. Neither of these are something we could afford not to fix - so the CC came out.

I think part of it is you need to be sensible - accept that sometimes it may happen. But make sure ur regular out goings don't exceed ur incomings. When we were drawing up our budgety dad reminded us to budget nights/luxuries - not a lot but important to keep u sane.


I know a lot of people who've got into debt because they NEED a fancy new car, or NEED the latest phone or gadget. So watch out for that. Xxx