new user help needed

milly_rhys · 31 October 2006 at 12:57AM

Hi all well i have just been told about this site and i have read through some posts and oh my god do i feel relieved i am not alone . i have so many questions and so much debt lol .

Anyway basic history is i watched my dad gamble get into debt and go bankrupt he died in april 2005 and i seem to have gone down his path but not quite got to the bankrupt stage yet .

i lost my dad and started putting money in the fruit machines as it was my way of escaping real life , i would shop online and its got out of hand . i had what u call a lightbulb moment about 3 months ago whne i realised i was getting out of control i went to bereavment councilling and i am no longer gambling or shopping , i have accumulated alot of debt in the last four years and to be honest was paying them all ok but was not paying my rent or buying food i thought as long as i was in a council house i would be ok and they couldnt evict me . how wrong i was i recieved a notice of posession order on my home anyway i came to the agreement of £60 a month off my arrears .

i contacted cccs and they said my only real option was bankruptcy i wasnt happy with this to be honest my inlaws are rich snobs and im already an embarrasment to them , they told m enot to pay any creditors more than £1 a month till i was sorted .

i then contacted CAB and they are dealing with it now to be honest she too said bankruptcy is my best option but she didnt have much info and couldnt answer my questions so i agreed to go on a payment plan for now till i can find out what i truly want to do i am currently waiting for my creditors to accept/refuse my offer of £1 a month , some said yes some said no .

i am married and me and my hubby are both on benefits living in a council house i have a disabled son and i am disabled myself , my car is a disability car and i have very few assets . the debt is solely in my name .

i have changed my bank as the bank that my benefits were paid into were the bak i owed a lot of money to and was told they could take it to cover my payments .

i have about £35, 000 of debt now about a grand of charges and interest in last couple of months.

i have the CAB statement infront of me now and they have my income as 1480.95 a month based on pro rata i think .

can someone give me any advice without me posting all the debt in detail as it really depresses me to do that , i owe my mum and my father in law about 2 and half grand between them which is what put me off bankruptcy as i think iwill have a little surplus income and want it to go to them and not the credit card companies.

can anyone tell me what they put for their monthly expenditure and what the courts will allow??? sorry if i upset someone but maybe if i can disguise some cash that would pay off my mum and father in law.

i mentioned assets that i have this is my engagement ring worth 3 and half grand my hubby bought it when he won alot of money i would hate to loose this as its my engagement ring firstly and its my only investment i have for my son , my hubby has a laptop and old computer and a rolex that was bought for him by his uncle for his 21st birthday (yes nice rich uncle but still a prat ) but these are his will these be effected? how can i make sure i dont loose my ring ???

i have a tv on buy as you view would this be taken away ?

sorry for my post being so long but im in despair now

chevalier · 31 October 2006 at 1:15AM

First of all WELLDONE:D

Why because you have done two incredably important things. 1) you have twigged the link between your spending and your grief over your dad - and done something about it. So you know what is at the root of your overspending.

2) You have written about it on here. I can see how difficult that was for you, and is part of the path to facing up to your debts.

I can sympathise if you have a lot of loans etc. And I agree that posting a Statement of Affairs can be very difficult emotionally. So for a start, how about a half way house? Don't put down on your SOA your debts yet, just to an SOA that lists all of your income and outgoings. That way we may see some savings that can be made, which would help you with your debt repayments.

NB the reason why the CAB may have suggested bankrupty rather than doing a Debt Management Plan, is that you need about £100 a month to offer pro rata between your creditors.

I appreciate that you have a disability, but could you do any work from home? For example I do on line surveys that pay either in money or in points. The points ones I save up to get vouchers for high street shops. These I use as presents and all they have cost me is a bit of time. Also Quidco, you can do what are called click throughs, where a site pays you say 10p to visit their site and do a search. I have made nearly £20 that way in two months and I am not that regular about doing it! It would be more money to throw at your debts.

The very best of luck. You should get more people helping out in the morning.
chev

milly_rhys · 31 October 2006 at 1:26AM

omg i would love to do surveys etc i get bored so easily . do u have to declare to benefits etc? thanks for the reply its helped me i will be on tomorrow and will do a little income outgoings etc thingy

milly_rhys · 31 October 2006 at 1:26AM

sorry never asked how do i do the surveys and the link to sites etc?

RoCas · 31 October 2006 at 1:36AM

Hi,

I'm not much good on debt advice but just wanted to welcome you to MSE ... you've come to the right place! Well done for posting, too.

There will be lots of very knowledgeable and supportive people along soon (as soon as they wake up, anyway) to help you sort things out :-)

milly_rhys · 31 October 2006 at 10:53PM

helpppppppppppppp

lolly-i-pop · 31 October 2006 at 10:54PM

i think you wanted this bumped up to the top of the thread list

elantan · 31 October 2006 at 10:59PM

retail eyes are a good way of starting to do these surveys ..there are a few on here that use them there are also a few others but i'm sorry i can think of them offhand ..as far as i know you do have to declare everything but are you maybe allowed to earn so much whilst claiming? again i'm not sure and wouldnt want to give you wrong advice ..someone should be along shortly with better info..good luck and welcome

whatatwit · 31 October 2006 at 11:03PM

well done for posting.
One of the sites for vouchers etc is Pigsback, it's at https://www.pigsback.com, you don't have to spend anything to earn piggypoints which can be swapped for vouchers.

ladysparklexx · 31 October 2006 at 11:03PM

im afraid i dont know to much on this but i do know that you are able on disability benefits to earn around £20 a week and not have to declare this so you could do the online surveys etc, but you do need to check this first

if you could do a list of your out goings, as even just changing your phone, internet, electricity, gas providers, limiting your food budget and buying all your sons clothes etc from bootsales all helps to save some money that could be used towards your debts

lynsayjane · 31 October 2006 at 11:04PM

right hunny, i said i'd try and help, and i'm not one to walk away from a desperate cause, but darling we need that soa.

being honest there isn't a huge amount we can suggest as we don't have enough info to go on.

i agree with previous posters that you've taken a huge step to actually post on the site, but we need you to be brave and give us your soa to work on. like someone else mentioned what about just your incomings outgoings but not including your debt as yet?

new user help needed

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