31K in Debt - How can I climb out of this debt hole?

[budis10]

@rochelle IME no lender will consolidate that number of loans into one, OP needs to be able to show that they are now managing their finances properly.

If it was me I’d focus on the smaller loans, clearing them as quickly as possible and rolling each payment into the next smallest. But maybe swap Bank3 loan with Bank1 Overdraft as the loan is interest feee for a few months still.

Once OP is down to 3 different loans/credit card it might be worth speaking to the credit union.

 

[fishsticks2016]

@buzzard Find someone else to buy the property?

Could you find cheaper shared accommodation perhaps?

 

[childoftheancientofdays]

@buzzard Really simplistic, but your outgoings add up to approx 3000. Your income is 3850. Can you apply that extra 850 onto your debt? Wipe out loan 2, work on staying out of the overdrafts (half them initially if you need to). And once you are out of them start applying anything extra onto one of the loans or card (smallest balance first). It’s a slow process but it’s a plan?

 

[sweetcitywoman]

@buzzard Either move to the property that you own unless it’s a property abroad then it might not be feasible unless you can work remote. That will be a huge saving.

Bit difficult nowadays to do but move into a shared house for a year or two or as long as it takes to clear some of the higher interest debt you have. A lot of hassle yes but if you have an extra €300-€400 a month plus bills will be split so you can save more and put that towards your debt.

You’ll have to just keep trying to find other sources of income if you can’t make any drastic lifestyle changes. Maybe even look into upskilling? Certain government bodies heavily subsidise courses for working professionals. Try Skillnet Ireland.

The €350 grocery bill could be halved too. €50 a week seems to be my average. Shop lidl or Aldi.

 

[confundido]

@sweetcitywoman

Bit difficult nowadays to do but move into a shared house for a year or two or as long as it takes to clear some of the higher interest debt you have. A lot of hassle yes but if you have an extra €300-€400 a month plus bills will be split so you can save more and put that towards your debt.

Seriously, paying 1300/month for an apartment all to themselves while drowning under debt is madness. I am spending less than half that in a room-share and I have plenty of savings and no debt, it just sounds like a stupid amount of money to waste.

 

[amartbeaufort]

@buzzard Accommodation

You can share with a private room for roughly 400-600 depending on geography. Saving 800 a month on that, plus 200 off the groceries n bills, thats 1k a month.
For scale, you'd need a raise of over 20 grand to make that difference at your current expenditure.

7k at 20% is brutal, so target that first, within a year you'll likely be in the drivers seat.

 

[childoftheking21]

@buzzard Wait did you say water in your bills?!

 

[buzzard]

@childoftheking21 you are correct, I am not paying any water bill (I paid just once a few years ago, then refunded).

 

[jayleen]

@buzzard I've heard that sometimes you can negotiate better payment terms if you contact credit card companies and tell them that you cannot make repayments.. you can get your credit card cancelled and the remaining balance gets converted to lower interest debt. At least it was a thing back in my country. Maybe check with https://mabs.ie/

You can make more repayments though. Throw everything you can at the highest interest loans.

Instead of moving out, would it be possible for you to get a flat mate for a short duration? If you have a living room in the 1 bed apartment, maybe he could sleep there (you will find people who will be willing to pay for this). It will be uncomfortable, but you can throw the rent into the debt and get out much more quickly. You could advertise it as a temporary accommodation for a short period.

 

[brendan3248]

@buzzard I had 18k in debt which included 3k overdraft and 6k on credit cards. I have paid everything off within 7 months as I was saving aggressively.
Snowball method really helped me, I took smallest loan and put as much money as I could in there while making minimum payment on others then to the next loan, in my case credit card was the last thing I paid off.
I know that economically it does little sense as you need to fist pay off the loan/card that has highest interest but trust me, this thing makes wonders, It really helps your morale when you see that loans are being closed and you are starting to see light ahead you.

 

[buzzard]

@brendan3248 that helps!

 

[brendan3248]

@buzzard You can get more info here
https://www.ramseysolutions.com/debt/how-the-debt-snowball-method-works#:~:text=The%20debt%20snowball%20method%20is,the%20next%2Dsmallest%20debt%20payment.

 

[slim101]

@buzzard Stop gambling, and look up Dave Ramsey as others have said. You just need to stop spending and pay these off over a couple years.

You could either pay off the smaller amounts sooner so you feel like you are making progress or pay extra off the higher interest once’s and minimum on lower interest ones.

Your biggest expensive is rent so if you could move into cheaper shared accommodation it would greatly increase the speed you can pay things down.

 

[flucas]

@buzzard Start with the highest interest loan and pay it off 1k a month, it will be gone in 7 months. Then work on the next but add the repayment of €180 onto it, you are now paying €1,180 a month, the €1800 will be gone in less than 2 months. Add that 100 on paying €1,280 a month, the 6.5 will be gone in 5 months. Then paying €1460 to get rid of the overdrafts in less than two months. Then work on the 12k.
You could be debt free in 2 years and save money instead.

The maths is off here because I haven’t considered the reducing balances as you are paying the loans off but you get the drift.
You’re obviously comfortable with spending money and getting loans. You need to get used to spending less. If you can’t afford it you can’t afford it. Loans are for emergencies. It takes a while to adjust but it will become normal after a while.

 

[jaychildofchrist]

@buzzard Sell whatever you have to show for that amount of debt.
Consolidate the debt.
Get professional help.
Move in with parents or at least a houseshare.
With no commitments and that salary you need to aim to be debt free in 2 years.

 

[person721]

@buzzard 350 euro for groceries doesn't seem "frugal" to me unless you are buying for a family, if it's for a single person then I have no idea what you're doing.

No point of including the 35 for gym if your employer is paying for it.

50 for Wi-Fi, try and switch to a cheaper provider, same with Mobile, GoMo is 14.99/month right now and I'm pretty sure you can find Wi-Fi for 35 or so a month.

Sell the rental property elsewhere or move into it. It'll pay off the remaining loans.

Cut all credit cards and never touch em again, start using Debit instead, you'll see the damage easier.

Pay off two of the loans and the overdraft as fast as possible.

I know Ireland doesn't have credit scores but I feel like with a credit history like this you might be fucked for the rest of your life.

 

[alidog]

@person721 That last line is frankly ridiculous. Even after a history of credit carnage, 5 years is generally what’s required to be back to square 1, no need to cause more concern than needed here.

 

[buzzard]

@alidog

I know Ireland doesn't have credit scores but I feel like with a credit history like this you might be fucked for the rest of your life.

My Credit history is a bit a mess, just because in the last 6 months I had multiple applications rejected (because I maxxed out my capability), but I am aware that those should be not visible to thirdly part lender/requestor after 6 months.

Actually it came out that CBI shared those information in the past for longer than actually due (with negative impact on borrowers) https://www.rte.ie/news/business/20...ank-admits-to-data-breach-in-credit-register/

Anyway I never missed a payment, so my credit history (despite multiple credit lines) is actually not dramatically bad and could easily improved anyway.

 

[christhasrisen456]

@buzzard You’re not fucked for the rest of your life, don’t worry. If you work hard and are disciplined you could genuinely be debt free in 2 years.

 

[sola1517]

@buzzard €350 on groceries a month for a single person is a lot. You can easily do a great shop for less than €150 a month. So maybe look at where you’re throwing money away when you’re doing groceries. That extra €200 can be thrown into your bank debts then. You can just pay off Bank 2 with that and just be done with it. The easiest way to try recoup extra money without the side jobs you’re struggling to find is to look for cheaper accom. There are cheaper places than the 900/1000 a month ones but they may not be as nice or the comfort your use to but will reap back a few hundred a month where you can put into your debts. It’s an unfortunate situation but sometimes you have to suck it up and do something uncomfortable to get out of your situation faster so you can begin to live more comfortable in the future