Debt reaching crisis point

rprinter

Hi

OK the two loans are at high APR, so I would still talk to Payplan with the aim of creditors freezing interest so all you can (sensibly) afford to pay back to creditors actually pays them back, instead of just feeding the interest.

If really dead set against a DMP you either have to spend less or earn more as the only thing I can see here that is OTT is the phone bill, £40 a month.

Have you spoken to the car loan people about what would happen if you just handed it back? I know you're in negative equity with that, but say the car is worth £6000 - that's £6k off the amount you owe AND £237 a month less to pay?

mountainofdebt

The only things I can suggest are:

1. Only use BT for line rental and as someone has already posted use 18899 for your phonecalls....I've slashed by phone bill to about £3 a quarter by using their services and I am ALWAYS on the phone these days as I don't have to worry about the cost.

In conjunction with using 18899, don't ring anymore 0870/0845 numbers....go to https://www.saynoto0870.com for geographical numbers.

2. Don't know what part of the country you live in but £700 for rent seems really high....as I said I don't know what you're getting for this so please don't shout or take offence!

3. Specsavers seems high as well - are you on their lens package and if so what one? I have the monthly ones and I only pay £10 a month (having said that though hubby pays £8 per month and we have exactly the same lenses/soultion...have tried questioning it but don't seem to get a straight answer out of them!)

Would it be worth you buying your lenses via the internet? Martin has written an article on this and I think there's a thread on the health forum about it as well.

4 Are you claiming all the benefits you're entitled to? Visit https://www.entitledto.co.uk

I know what you mean about the loan aprs but seriously I don't think you can be paying 40%/50%......as someone has said dig the paperwork and check on that.

searchingforlight

carpenter wrote:

How could I open another bank account?? Surely through credit score they will identify already have an account and refuse to give me one because I have an overdraft with current one.

I thought the same when I was told that here, but have managed to open a basic cash account with the Nationwide (Flex Account), though there are others such as the Halifax easycash account. There shouldn't be a credit search on either of these accounts and you will get a cash card. We arranged for my husband's salary to be paid in to the new account, set up new direct debits for the priority debts (gas, electric, mortgage etc.), and the other account which had a £1500 overdraft on it has now become a creditor along with the other 16.

Hope this helps.

Threadhead

Hi carpenter
I am new here, but just wanted to second the advice given by another poster - You may be able to hand back your car - We are currently considering doing this (for the second time). With the agreements we had, so long as you have paid a certain amount towards the car, you can give it back with no further payments. It kind of feels wrong that you pay for the car for (in our case 2.5 years) and have nothing to show for it, but we had a similar situation to you, in that the car wasnt worth enough to merit continuing to pay for it. Hope that makes sense.

Also - I can recommend trying freecycle for any biggish item you might need for the baby (although second time round, it is obviously less expensive since you already have cot/carseat, etc)

Good luck with the finances, and dont let it stop you enjoying your baby!