So worried about money

[star fish]

I know its not good for the baby but as well as worrying about the baby constantly and living in fear of it being 'taken away' from us (just paranoid after last MC I guess), I'm also fretting constantly about our finances. I dont want to have a baby and have debt hanging over us!

Mortgage and bills I can cope with but I'm so worried about our credit cards and how we can get them paid off in the next 6 months so we dont start our family in debt!

I guess its a normal thing to worry about and I'm sure I'm not the only one, but i just dont know how to resolve it in the timeframe, short of going on the game - kidding!

 

[Mummy2Adam]

Have you listed all your outgoings and incoming hunny and worked out whether there is anything you can cut back on to pay some of it off before your LO arrives? x x

 

[Sarah13]

How about having a massive clear out to make room for baby and do a bit of nesting? I've made quite a bit at car boot sales and you be surprised what people will buy on eBay and Gumtree. Every little helps when paying off credit card bills!

 

[DW1978]

Hun, I'm stressing about money too (see my post for details!! LOL) so know how you're feeling.

Could you take on a part time evening job or Avon or something similar to make some extra cash that can all go on paying your cards? I know it's not ideal, especially now that we are getting tired etc but it would only be short term.

 

[star fish]

I'm sorting through my clothes as i type trying to force myself to part with all my designer labels that i will never fit in again anyway!

I'll definitely have a go at ebay, and am trying to get more work too. Sigh, incomings and outgoings, apart from mortgage and bills and food we dont spend any money at the moment. Except for the car, its a beast that drinks petrol! And we've just had to pay the car tax, sigh......

 

[Princess81]

Have you thought about looking into interest free balance transfers for your credit cards? I've just transferred my balances to a new card that is interest free for 17 months x

 

[star fish]

Really? Who with?

 

[Olive]

Hey star,

If you go to this website http://www.moneysupermarket.com/credit-cards/ and click on the tab for balance transfer, the first deal is barclays 0% for 20 months.

xxxx

 

[Lilelephant]

We r the sane star we owe lots on credit cards and I get worried. But we have our budget worked out so everything will be ok still worry tho

 

[Princess81]

mine was with santandare.

 

[DW1978]

Thats a great idea about the interest free balance transfer. When I had a credit card I used to do that all the time. I would mark the calender so as soon as the offer ran out on one card, I would transfer the balance to another card.

Another good tip is NEVER pay the minimum as it will take forever to pay off. So, for example, if your minimum is £38.56 per month, round it up to £40 and keep paying that each month. As the minimum is a percentage of the balance, as your balance goes down so do your payments which appears to be great but it will drag out the balance of your card for AGES. I saw it on GMTV once, that Money Expert guy showed that for instance on a balance of £4K to only pay the minimum each month would take 7 years whereas paying the same amount each month it would be paid off in 2 years (this is just an example - no actual calculations involved!!).