Sick of being in debt

[Tantan]

Just a little rant really cos I know I'm not the only one out there in my situation. But I'm so fed up working just to pay my bills. I have 2 credit cards and 3 personal loans. All to the tune of €35,000. And thats not including what I owe my mam and dad. I can't believe I was so stupid to get myself in this mess.

I got rid of my overdrafts last year by consolidation one of my personal loans which I'm glad I did cost its one thing gone and the charges were so high. I didn't think this would affect my credit rating but I have just applied for a branch credit card (to transfer my other balances over at 0% for 6 month) but I was refused because of the consodiation and I was told that I couldn't apply for anything for another 2 years. Which I know is a good thing as I can't get into anymore debt but its still annoying.

I'm lucky that my OH has no debts but he is so mean with his money. He keeps telling me that he will help me out as we want to go for a mortgage but so far he has done nothin. I wouldn't mind but he would be responsible for some of the debt as he didn't work for years (out of laziness) and I borrowed for anything we needed,

Sorry about the rant but sometimes it feels like I'm going around in circles.

 

[kirst1805]

hun, you'll get there.. I know how you feel, if you need a rant PM me.

xxx

 

[Tantan]

Thanks.

I think everything is just getting on top of me at the moment. With the baby coming and christmas I think I'm just panicing.

It didn't help that I sent my car (which is worth about 1,300 max) in for a health check and there is €2,600 worth of work needing to be done.

When it rains, it really pours

 

[kirst1805]

Thats ok hun, happens to everyone at some point.

Yikes, Is there any way you can do without the car for now?

xxx

 

[Tantan]

We are going to have to or at least look for a cheaper car just to do us. OH only really needs it for work and at this stage he can do without or buy it himself.

I think my main problem is thst I'm useless at managing money.

 

[leahsbabybump]

hi hun have you ever thought of doing an iva they arent a mean as people make tem out to be i work in debt management so know a bit about um ifyou have over 15k debt thats unsecure you can pay it off over 5 years at as little as £250 per month then what ever isnt paid off in the 5 year term the government write it off there is some sort of law that says if you enter the iva you only have topay back 25p for evey pound that you owe
could be worth looking into hun google it

 

[redbubble]

hi hun have you ever thought of doing an iva they arent a mean as people make tem out to be i work in debt management so know a bit about um ifyou have over 15k debt thats unsecure you can pay it off over 5 years at as little as £250 per month then what ever isnt paid off in the 5 year term the government write it off there is some sort of law that says if you enter the iva you only have topay back 25p for evey pound that you owe
could be worth looking into hun google it

Think i may have to look into this as well. My DF & I both had nothing when we got together so had to use catalogues and credit cards to buy the furniture,etc. He's still paying off debts from his first marriage (via a DMP)and paying for his 2 children as well and we dont really have 2 farthings to rub together.
I got told last week that im being made redundant and im not eligible for redundancy pay
they have to try and redeploy me in the next 3 months but people at work know im pregnant so im not holding out much hope.

Its starting to keep me awake at night worrying what im going to do now.....

xx

 

[Pramaholic86]

.

 

[minnie83]

Have you looked at any debt management companies? The CCCS are fantastic, they have helped us out of a huge mess with debts and they're a charity so they don't charge any fees. Would definately recommend you give them a call and see if they can help

 

[NDH]

I hear you! DH and I got ourselves into quite a bit of debt in our first two years of marriage. When we moved to Australia my parents paid off all our debts (we wouldn't have been able to consider coming otherwise and they really wanted us here) so we can pay them back rather than accumulating loads of interest. Made a commitment a year ago to take on no new debt and for a while we were doing great. Made and stuck to a budget, got $3000 of our debt to my parents paid off, got pregnant then wham, DH lost his job and we've had to re-borrow everything we'd managed to pay off and more besides so we're back where we started only worse off as our car also needs major repairs before Christmas... fortunately DH is now working again as of this week (what a long 5 months we had!) so back to budgeting and scrimping. The hope had been to be out of debt by the end of the year but that isn't happening now. Maybe next year... And then we can finally start saving for a house. We'll be in our 30s before we have enough for a downpayment at this rate!

One thing I will advise is instead of using debt consolidation places call all the credit card companies and try to negotiate lower interest payments. That's what most debt consolidators do, but instead of seeing the results of the lower interest you're paying the difference in fees to them.

And snowballing debt really works too. Write out the full balance and minimum payments of all your debts in order of smallest total balance to largest (credit cards, loans, car payments, everything). Make minimum payments on all but the smallest debt - throw everything extra you have at that debt til it's gone and then take that amount and do the same for the next one and so on and so on. It's really motivating to be able to wipe out a debt all at once rather than trying to get several paid off at once. Especially when you're talking about an amount that can take a couple of years to pay off - it gets really discouraging and hard to stick with a budget. Charts and other visual aids where you can record your progress are also good at helping you keep motivated (whether you chart the full amount or just the one you're working on at the time).

I can't wait to start tackling our debt again and get it gone!!!

Good luck to you as well (and everyone else who wants to get motivated to get rid of their debt).

 

[xxembobxx]

One thing I will advise is instead of using debt consolidation places call all the credit card companies and try to negotiate lower interest payments. That's what most debt consolidators do, but instead of seeing the results of the lower interest you're paying the difference in fees to them.

I agree - have a friend who paid 2 different debt management companies enough in fees to have paid her debts off. She tackles the debt herself now so she knows it is going down as she was still getting hassled even when the debt companies were supposed to be handling everything. She got some good advise and assistance from CCCS which is a FREE service to help with debt. There are other free organisations so it makes sense to use them.

 

[xxembobxx]

My DF & I both had nothing when we got together so had to use catalogues and credit cards to buy the furniture,etc. He's still paying off debts from his first marriage (via a DMP)and paying for his 2 children as well and we dont really have 2 farthings to rub together.
I got told last week that im being made redundant and im not eligible for redundancy pay
they have to try and redeploy me in the next 3 months but people at work know im pregnant so im not holding out much hope.
Its starting to keep me awake at night worrying what im going to do now...

Sorry it's O/T but ..... Are you sure they don't have to pay redundancy pay? I don't understand how they can get out of it never trust your employers word - they do get it wrong when it comes to complicated things like redundancy.
Depending how far along pregnant you are it might be worth starting Maternity leave asap as they then have to pay you for 9 months. Also once on ML you have more protected rights in terms of redundancy so could actually end up keeping your job.

 

[alaskagrown]

Sounds like life to me!

 

[ArcaneSpark]

And snowballing debt really works too. Write out the full balance and minimum payments of all your debts in order of smallest total balance to largest (credit cards, loans, car payments, everything). Make minimum payments on all but the smallest debt - throw everything extra you have at that debt til it's gone and then take that amount and do the same for the next one and so on and so on. It's really motivating to be able to wipe out a debt all at once rather than trying to get several paid off at once. /QUOTE]

I was going to suggest this method it has worked for lots of people! Good Luck!