I have decided I want to clear all of my debt by a set date...do you have any recommendations or successful ways?

Have you checked out the goal on this subject on the money.co.uk website? This is a really great starting place to look at your finances and work out what you owe and set a realistic timetable for trying to clear it. Once you have worked this out I would not recommend spending anything further on any existing cards but look to transfer your outstanding balances to a 0% card. The best ones are offering 16 months interest free repayment period, but don't forget to factor in the 2.9% transfer fee. Or alternatively if 16 months is not a realistic time scale look at a life time balance transfer card. The best one at the moment looks to be the MBNA card with a 5.9% APR but only 1.5% transfer fee. This would give you the option of making repayments over 3 years. Work out what you owe and how much you can realistically afford to pay back each month before making a decision as to what would be the best option. Look at all your outgoings each month and see where you could make savings in order to help you pay off what you owe in the quickest time possible. It isn't impossible if you put your mind to it and you may find it useful to keep a spending diary so that you can budget more efficiently. There is loads of useful advice and tips on this site so take advantage of it all!!

Hi,

Try this:

1) List all your debts and the interest you are paying on each one. Include any fees being levied (e.g. monthly overdraft fees) in addition to any interest.

2) Prioritise your debts so you can target the highest cost debt first.

3) Try to get your debts for lower interest. A 0% credit card is a possibility - the MBNA one even allows you to transfer cash debt from e.g. overdrafts onto it for a 4% fee. If you can extend your mortgage, that will probably be the next cheapest option, followed by a personal loan (use money.co.uk or uswitch or another comparison site to get the cheapest one).

4) Now we try to save you money. List all your expenditure.
a) What can you cut out?
- eating out
- take aways
- alcoholic drinks
- snack food
- sky tv
- smoking
- your car, if you don't use it!

b) What can you swap for a cheaper alternative?
- Check gas, electricity, landline, broadband, contents/car/buildings/boiler/etc. insurances via a comparison site (money.co.uk. uswitch, confused etc)
- Take a homemade lunch to work rather than a pay for lunch when you're out
- Shop in cheaper supermarkets (aldi, lidl, iceland, farmfoods).

c) What can you get for free or for less? Check out freecycle, groupon and groupola.

5) Now we try to make you money
a) Check that you're claiming all the benefits to which you're entitled via e.g. entitledto.co.uk

b) Can you get overtime / a pay raise / a second job (at least temporarily)? Can you rent out a room (tax free income up to £4,250 per year) or your garage or drive (check out parkatmyhouse.co.uk)?

7) Now make a budget. List all income and all essential expenditure (gas, electric, water, council tax, tv licence, landline, broadband, insurance, food). How much do you have left over at the end of the month?

8) Now make your plan. Divide your debt by the amount you have left over each month and imagine at the end of that period, you can be debt free if you just stick to your plan. Plan in advance how much you will spend each week, and only withdraw that amount from the bank if that helps.

9) Enjoy watching your debts reduce! Take pleasure in it. Update your budget as your expenditure on fees and interest goes down and see how much more you have at the end of the month :)

Good luck and look forward to being debt free!

You've already had lots of very good advice here. I would certainly stop using cards immediately. It's just too tempting to add a little bit more than you can afford, but as suggested, transfer your exisiting balance to get an interest-free period whilst you repay. There's nothing like seeing your cash diminish to make you think about where it is going. Don't carry a large amount, but budget for each day and carry that amount with you plus an emergency fund in an envelope to be used ONLY in an emergency and not for buying another drink! Follow the advice given here and put some targets on this site and you will reach your goal. Good luck!

I have found over the years that paying with cash helps me to keep my feet on the ground, Just cant improve on the already excellent advice you have had already

To be honest, this kind of goal is best served by writing everything down on a list that you spend daily, even to that newspaper or packet of sweets in the garage. It's like successful dieting, you have to look at everything that passes your mouth and simply reduce it. It's as simple as that. The big question is once you have minimised expenditure, do you have enough income to cover your debts going forward? Credit cards and overdrafts can be evil things when the going gets tough and they still remain debts, albeit non priority debts. The trouble is we all live up to our incomes and beyond them at times. Life can be very dull if we don't in fact. But you have to ask basic questions like ... do I need SKY TV for the next year? ... do I need a daily paper? .... can I use the car less? ... drinking and smoking, I must be able to do somthing about that? There are so many things that we never see here. If your debts are bad and causing you undue stress, then perhaps an appointment with a CAB Money Advisor may be good for you. They can advise on priority spending, approach non priority creditors on your behalf and advise on any way that you can maximise income while minimising expenditure. But that will only work if you remain motivated and prepared to work with them. Clearing your debts is hard work and can be emotionally draining. Such support can help you through that but you have to be pro-active and be prepared to work at it. And again it's like a good dieting philosophy, once the weights off, the constraints have to continue! And one last thought, working through the problem with a partner or friend can help enormously. Money management is indeed boring and stressful and sharing the problem can halve it! Good luck ...

I made the same decision at the end of July this year and contacted Churchwood Financial who put me onto a debt management program. It depends how much debt you want to clear? I am in a large amount of debt so this was a good solution for me. Now, instead of paying out over £600 a month on clearing debts I am paying £250 and my credit rating has improved as a result of doing this. If you are in over £10000 of debt I recommend you give them a call.

You have been given some excellent advice here so I won't add to the financial bit but what I will add in is don't make it all hard work. Build in some legitimate small treats for when you get to a certain target. Just something cheap but pleasurable that counts as a reward. Otherwise it can feel a very long and sometimes miserable road however necessary it is to travel.