“Five years ago my husband and I got married in the Dominican Republic. We saved £10,000 but spent £20,000 flying family out. It was fabulous, but we still have £10,000 on the card despite paying £650 a month. My husband got the card with his bank account and we haven't changed it because we suspect our credit rating may be poor. We hadn’t budgeted to be paying hundreds on a credit card monthly, so now when we run out of money we put essentials like the weekly shop on it too.
I’m the main breadwinner, earning £35,000, and we’re supporting our two children through university, which costs around £900 a month for rent, bills and a bit of spending money for my son Jonnie, 21. Beth, 19, has a job. My husband has taken on an extra job working at a pub in the evening, earning £75 a week to hopefully cover Christmas and a holiday.
We pay for all four phones, I buy groceries at Lidl and Asda and I’ve cancelled my gym membership. I don’t buy clothes for me, just for my son. How will we ever pay off the debt?”
SARAH WILLINGHAM SAYS “JULIE CAN PAY OFF HER DEBT!”
Julie’s not alone; according to the Debt Advisory Centre almost a third of couples are still making repayments to cover their wedding costs six years after marrying but by changing her credit card and cutting back she can be debt-free.
**THE 3-POINT PLAN **
•Julie should apply for a free 28 day trial with CreditExpert. I suspect that their credit score is better than they think, thanks to the amount they pay off each month so they should be in a position to switch their balance on to a 0% balance transfer credit card, which will cut hundreds if not thousands off their debt. Julie should opt for a card with a long interest free period, like the Barclaycard Platinum, which has the joint longest 0% offer of 3 years with the lowest fee, at 1.9%.
•Julie could get a better deal for broadband, TV and phone by using a comparison site like broadbandchoices, and thinking outside the box. Sometimes having all of the digital TV channels is not as economical as having just freeview and paying £5.99 a month for Netflix for movies and box sets. Julie should also try using mySupermarket for groceries. I would be very surprised if she didn’t cut at least £50 a month off her outgoings.
•£900 on university expenses is a huge amount, so I suggest Julie and her children look into loans, grants and bursaries available to them. Paying their phone bills seems unnecessary, too. Beth is doing well to pay for her own social life and maybe Jonnie should be encouraged to do the same! Having a bit more financial input from them (into their own lives) could release some of the burden on Julie.
WHERE THE MONEY'S GOING
INCOME £2,500
MONTHLY OUTGOINGS
Rent/Mortgage: £400
Children's university expenses: £900
Utilities: £100
Council tax: £200
Broadband, TV and phone: £60
Phone (mobile): £200
Petrol: £75
Car insurance and tax: £130
Groceries: £400
Socialising: £50
TV licence: £12.10
Clothes: £50
Beauty products, toiletries, hair cuts: £100
Gifts: £40
Credit card payments: £650
TOTAL: £3,367.10