How much debt are you actually in?

[Practically Perfect]

If you are struggling and have the 'fear' e.g scared of the phone, the postman, any knock at the door then i urge you to seek help. I remember the day i phoned Stepchange (charity - dont have to pay them) as i was in such a mess and terrified. I was humilated and ashamed and cried on the phone with them for over an hour. I had become a single parent and the money had not gone on luxuries but just living but i had gotten to a point that i couldnt meet even the minimum payments.

They were brilliant. They go through your budget realistically and then take over and in many cases get the creditors to freeze the interest. Yes you won't be able to get credit for at least 6 years ( i think) but the payments you agree with them are also realistic. You pay your direct debit to them and then they pay your creditors. You can change it as your circumstances change and you will have an annual review.

The night i did it was the first time i slept in about 7 years. I have now been on it about 8 years and the end is in sight. I had to learn to buy what we needed and not what I wanted and it was HARD but I will never allow myself to have credit again, even if i can/could get it as i know myself and know it is too much of a temptation and i cannot manage it. (no matter how much i may think that i can)

They will talk you through the best solution and for me it was a Debt Management plan rather than IVA, bancruptcy etc. Make sure you go via a charity though and not one of the debt solutions that charge you. Stepchange was the only charity one at the time and was backed by the goverment. I am not sure if there are others.

 

[memoii11]

Why has someone reacted with a sick face because I've said that I've got no debt or mortgage?!

 

[Kermitthefrogswife]

£18k student debt, hefty PCP, PayPal owing around £1,300, 4 credit cards owing about £12k and a loan with about £6k. I never realised it was so much...

 

[Hc68759]

I used stepchange 8 years ago when I had about 25k debt. They contacted all my creditors for me and got all the interest frozen. I then only had to repay what I could comfortably afford every month. It took 4 years to clear the debts and it destroyed my credit rating. 8 years on and I’m debt free and my credit rating is in the moderate/good category and keeps climbing a few points every month. Best thing I ever did!

 

[Sosig]

27, renting saving to buy.

Current debt is £800 on a credit card.

This time 3 years ago I was around 5 grand in debt because of overdraft, loans, credit cards & having a very account spiraled into a depressive state because of it.

For past two years I've worked every hour God sent and cleared the lot by March, took pleasure in closing the very account

I've now got a regular standing order to my Help to buy ISA and a healthy savings account.

 

[Deleted member]

Long time lurker first time poster here. Interested in people’s replies on this topic to see if my situation is normal. I’m 33, single mum to 16 year old since the age of 18. I have 2 credit cards (around £2000 each) very account of £750 and a £250 overdraft. Rented home and two jobs. Trying really heard to pay it off but there’s always something.

This is relatable to me as a single parent to a teenager. I am always around 3 grand in debt at any given time....clear it and then it’s Christmas again. I always put his presents on either my argos or very account with the interest free option. He loves a gadget and I’ve always got him the same as his friends have who have 2 parent households.

I have a mortgage too and a car on finance which will be paid next year but will be getting a new one. These are essentials to me so don’t class as debt.

 

[midnightrose]

Hahahaha standard jealousy probably! Anytime I try and show someone the maths of why I rent and not buy (there’s a £300 a month difference as in cheaper to rent, before you add in any maintenance etc) they just don’t get it because they’ve been programmed that you’re a fail if you don’t own a home. I’m not going into the nitty gritty on here but I’m personally much better off renting than buying. Not the same for all I know but no one understands how it’s possible.
I’m with you, I don’t have debt because personally if I can’t afford to buy something outright then I don’t have it. Only thing I’ve had on finance is a £10k car, which I paid off within a year so I didn’t pay the interest on it.

In my area, it is much cheaper to buy than to rent, but each to their own I guess. Plus, I don’t like the idea of paying a landlord every month. And there are many benefits to owning a home. I find it interesting, and of course you are entitled to your opinion.

Also, investing is not guaranteed and you cannot pass anything on if renting.

 

[mrs.darcy]

I'm not in debt for the first time in my adult life (I'm in my early 60s now), paid all my credit cards off in 2020 and my mortgage was paid off last year. I paid cash for my car this year (it's not a new one) and I have almost 30k in savings. This is partly down to PPI refunds and redundancy money.

Being debt free has allowed me to drop a couple of days and work part-time.

I know how easy it is to get into debt and how hard it is to pay off. At one point I owed about 40k on bank loans and credit cards (not including my mortgage).

 

[Fenella]

Absolutely shit tons of debt. Embarrassing amounts.

We’ve recently changed bank accounts that has lots of helpful things with it so for the past few months I’ve been running our current account much better and so I really think 2020 is the year we take a good chunk of it off and move forward.

It breaks my heart to think of the lovely things we could be doing with the payments we make on it each month

 

[Bizarrebbq]

23, student debt of around £60,000 i’ll never pay off anyway(undergrad and masters). Actual debt: £1400 overdraft, £740 credit card, 2x £200 credit cards, £1600 payday loans, £200 very. The joys of being the first one to go to uni from a one parent working class family. Used to be alot more but paying them off slowly but surely and aim to be debt free by 2021

 

[Bizarrebbq]

I'm unsure of the total but it's a fair amount maybe around £3k-£5k I don't earn enough to pay a large sum per month after my rent and bills and etc. I feel so ashamed though so I am glad other people are in the same boat

Has anyone gone with a debt charity? Would you recommend it? Mine are from various places in total

I posted in this thread a while ago and I had a debt repayment plan with stepchange. I couldnt recommend them enough. All my debt is now paid off, i could stop worrying about companies threatening me, I made one payment a month for all the different debt i was in and could pay extra if i could manage it. I’d 100% contact them if i were you x

 

[TaylorMomsen]

About £22k from credit cards from trying to buy happiness after coming out of an emotionally abusive relationship
Got 3.5 years left on my debt consolidation loan to clear then it's goneeee

 

[Lalalalaaaaaa85]

I don’t have any debt but I also don’t own my own home and nowhere near having a deposit to do so

 

[Duck1234]

This year we really struggled with debt, my husband has a very well paid job but I was on maternity leave & we bought a new house before that. We failed to adjust our lifestyle & racked up some serious debt, credit cards, loans, leasing a car & other store finance. It was a very tough time & even after I returned to work part time, we never had enough money to make ends meet. Eventually I contacted step change, realising I was never getting anywhere paying the minimum amount. It was so bad they suggested I declared myself bankrupt.. which does put your house at risk so that was never an option. We both worked so hard to buy our house, we wanted to do everything & anything to protect the house. We reduced as many payments as possible & got rid of one of our cars which meant we could finally be accepted for the DMP. It has been a weight off, we actually feel like we can enjoy like again. When we worked it all out, it came to approx £43,000 for the both of us. We now pay £550 a month which means we can afford to pay our mortgage & bills. It’s still hard to budget because we live in an affluent area we do sometimes feel the pressure of keeping up with the neighbours. My husband will receive a dividend from his company at the end of the tax year & we hope we can then pay a lump sum off the debt. It’s really shit.. realllllyyyy shit but there is help out there. It does feel good to only buy things with our actual money now. The day we become debt free will be a good day!

 

[Kikini Bamalam]

I am in a DMP and currently owe £33k, we've managed to pay off £26k off the total debt, so that was £59k originally. I am diagnosed with a type of Bipolar disorder, namely Cyclothymia and I used to spend a lot... At the time I earned well but then I had a total nervous breakdown following bullying by management. (I worked in social care in local gov). I had to leave work, I got a lot worse and developed agoraphobia, then CMHT couldn't decide if I was bipolar or Borderline personality disorder, so that was fun when I was told to shuffle off and only come back if I was about to suicide... (Thanks tory government for the cut backs!)
That was 2012 and I haven't worked since. My husband works but only brings in £20k a year, I get PIP and we get WTC of £50 a month. I get CTC but that will end in August when my youngest turns 18 and goes to university.
Our mortgage ends in Nov 2020 fortunately but we are shared ownership living in Surrey, we can't afford to buy the other half which is now stupid money, even if we could get a mortgage. Luckily our rent is low and we have no plans to move. We are both 47 so it's a case of just getting along. Middle kid is back living at home after finishing his law degree but he is working full time at a supermarket while doing his masters while he considers which area of law he wants to go into.
We don't have it too bad, in the last couple of months I have actually been taking the dog for a walk, trying to beat the agoraphobia. I could never cope with crowds again, so not sure about working a normal job. I have been giving a lot of thought to opening my own small business as I'm a very good embroiderer, but we'll see.

 

[Mrs Cucumber]

I am about £200 into my overdraft (a planned overdraft but still get daily charges!!)
I owe Studio about £150 and simply be about £200.

We have a mortgage but my husband pays that as I don't work, our cars are owned outright. My husband earns good money and pays me 'keep" of £125 a week but out of that I have to do the food shop for a family of 4, 2 cats and a dog, my phone bill and Anything the kids needs for school, it abrely touches the sides to be honest.

Wish I could win the lottery and pay it all off even just a grand would be amazing I don't need need millions!

My dad died a few years ago, I was written out his will but we found he had life insurance of 60k, I put a claim in but not heard anything yet!

This was my original post, I never got a penny from my dad in the end but am now debt free! I finally plucked up the courage to talk to my husband who paid off my over draft, I downloaded the app for my bank so I can track how much I actually have and plan purchases, I also got a part time job and used my wages to pay off both catalogues, currently have £100 in savings too, it's not much but it's a much better place than I was last year!

 

[Kermitthefrogswife]

You can opt out Lynsey, that’s probably the safest thing to do, if you can. I nearly fell into a big trap with my bank basically telling me to get an overdraft and I don’t need one at all! Fortunately, I’m now starting to pay off enough to get better deals and get 0% transfers which is a lifesaver.

 

[AlanBanan]

Reading Cheyes97 post genuinely makes me believe even more that schools should have classes on how to manage money and the dangers of payday loans and how credit cards can easily wreck your credit within a few months.

 

[Mrs Cucumber]

I was brought up poor & I think it skews your attitude towards money. It’s definitely made me a bit weird
[/QUOTE]

I was brought up poor too, salt and pepper sandwich anyone? But was also brought up to not ask for help as my mum never would, hence my husband is sitting with about 5k savings on his account and I'm in my overdraft yet I won't admit it to him or ask him for help as I see it a failing. I know im messed up

 

[Whatliesbeneath]

Student loans and mortgage debt but I don't really count them as proper debt if that makes sense. £75 on my credit card and thats it really. It took me a few years to clear debts after being stupid as a student at uni and being a 22 year old single parent. Now I try and buy most things outright

Yeah i dont see uni loan as a debt as it clears after so many years, and if you earn under the amount they dont force you to pay