Desperate, am I in the wrong place?

Forgetmenot68 · 17 June 2008 at 8:57PM

After various events and sticking our heads in a hole, my husband and I find ourselves with over £49,000 of unsecured debts. Our bank of 20 years yesterday closed our account and will not pay any of our direct debits this month. They've transferred my husband's salary (a little over £1800 after deductions) to our new account, which is already overdrawn, plus my child benefit of £250. DDs due over the next couple of days and no funds available. I did the CCCS form today and they have no advice because we are overspending by £600 even before our creditors are paid (total is around £1000/m to them...) How could it have got this bad? Why have we been so stupid? I haven't been working because I've had children, one of whom was seriously ill, but obviously I need to get a job now. I'm scared I won't get one quick enough/that will pay enough to keep our debts from sinking us.

Am I in the wrong place? Our debts are massive, our income is miniscule and we have been incredibly stupid. I was just hoping for some friendly support as we begin the long struggle to sort this mess out. I have no plan as of yet - I'm still reeling.

Forgetmenot68

pretzelgirl · 17 June 2008 at 9:03PM

hi sorry you are in a financial mess at the moment ,but many of us are to ,the advice i have been given on this site has been invaluable,and the people are mostly kind and help as much as poss,we will not/cannot judge,you have made the first step which is often the hardest .so good luck we are all here for you.

mo1_2 · 17 June 2008 at 9:03PM

hi and welcome someone will be along to help.

MrsTinks · 17 June 2008 at 9:05PM

First step - calm down, have a cuppa and write us an SOA so we can see where it's all going wrong. There is obviously something wrong somewhere and we need some details to work out how to address this...
Start by filling this in and post it here so we can see where we can make some reductions.
There is no financial problem that there isn't a solution to

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

circus_48 · 17 June 2008 at 9:05PM

Hi.

I am in the process of sorting my mess out. It seems we are similiar. Over spent big time. In the few days I have been a member of this board I have found the support and advice fantastic.

You need to take a realistic view of what you get in, what your commitments are and what you can realistically live on. Go bac k to the CCCS and fill the on line form in. They will then provide you with a solution, a case number and a telephone number.

Is there anything of value you can sell to pay the debts off. Do you have equity in your house? could you take an evening job?

these are all things i am currently sorting through. The people here are great and very supportive.

Good luck and keep coming back with questions. i have found a wealth of experience on this board and they are very willing to answer any questions you may have without judgement.

Smile....it takes less energy than frowning :-)

daisychain80 · 17 June 2008 at 9:06PM

Hello there, of course your in the right place the peeps on here are great and im sure will be along shortly to help. I think they will start off by asking you to post your SOA and they will be at it like a dog to a bone at saving you money, seriously they are ALL here to help. I however am a bit pants at advice but im here for the support. xx

mrsbez_2 · 17 June 2008 at 9:09PM

Hi and welcome. You have come to the right place. Take a deep breath!! there is lots of good advice on this site so i'm sure all the regulars will be along shortly.

Best thing i can suggest is to post a statement of affairs, that shows your income and outgoings and debts. There is a link at the first page of the this forum.

I can also suggest you open up a basic account with a different bank than you are with now and ideally one that you have no debt with. Then have your wages/child credits etc paid into that and then you can regain some control over it.

GeorgeUK · 17 June 2008 at 9:13PM

I would suggest setting up another account for you to pay your wages and benefits into - with a bank that you do not owe money to. At least that will put you back in control of where the money goes. Your mortgage payments and food are more important than the bank getting their interest paid. Pay the priority debts first, then split what's left between your other debts.

As already suggested, post up a statement of affairs with the SOA calculator and we'll see if there's anywhere you can save money. You're in the right place and there are plenty of people that have been in the same situation. If you need advice or support - this is the right place.

Forgetmenot68 · 17 June 2008 at 10:00PM

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1830
Benefits................................ 217
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2047

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 715
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 199
Electricity............................. 115
Gas..................................... 51
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 58
Telephone (land line)................... 40
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 22
Car Insurance........................... 76
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 70
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 36
Buildings insurance..................... 23
Contents insurance...................... 23
Life assurance ......................... 17
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2152

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 400000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 9000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 409000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 105000...(715)......5.99
Total secured debts........... 105000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
A & L overdraft................1000......tbc.......0
Capital One cc.................7228......217.......14
Egg............................10,130....207.......0
Virgin cc......................15,110....274.......0
Lloyds TSB.....................2255......46........16
HSBC cc........................4000......100.......0
Halifax cc.....................2411......48........20
First Dir overdraft............4250......tbc.......11
First Dir cc...................2910......88........19.9
Total unsecured debts..........49,294....980.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,047
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 2,152
Available for debt repayments........... -105
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 980
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 1085

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 409,000
Total Secured debt...................... -105,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -49,294
Net Assets.............................. 254,706

Scary reading, but at least I've done it. Thank you for any advice.

Forgetmenot 68

Forgetmenot68 · 17 June 2008 at 10:03PM

Oops, I couldn't edit anything in the above post. Thanks so much for all your support everyone. What does NaN mean? Think something went wrong there - did I not calculate it properly? I'll try again...

Forgetmenot68

Keith · 17 June 2008 at 10:06PM

Can you sell your house and move to a cheaper place? That way you'd have £0 debt apart from the secured debt.

Desperate, am I in the wrong place?

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