I'm in trouble

Northernbird_2

Hello,

I'm a newbie to this site, and I admit I have been lurking for a few days. I can't post messages at work, so I've just been reading. I have a day off today, so here I am.

I'm in a lot of trouble with debt. I'm not proud of myself, to be honest, I'm pretty ashamed. My partner and I owe £95,741.35. None of our family know. They would be devastated. It's a combination of my partner being made redundant a couple of times, my being at university and contributing to two households (I left home at 18 under difficult circumstances) and admittedly, general overspending.

I understand if some of you want to have a go at me about this. It's such a scary amount of money. I need to find some way of climbing out and paying it back. It's on my mind all of the time. I'm even nervous writing this post.

Three years ago, I went to the CCCS and sorted out a DMP. It was working for a while, but then I stupidly went and got more credit. My partner is self-employed, and we've been managing but his income has dropped significantly this year, and we've been borrowing to try and cope. Most of it is in my name, with some joint debts, and he has two credit cards. He's also behind in paying business bills.

I have contacted PayPlan, and I'm in the process of getting all the information to them that they need. I've thought about an IVA, but I'm worried that we'll agree a payment, but then my partner's income will alter, and we won't be able to make the payments. They were understandably unsympathetic considering the CCCS thing. At the end of the call, I just put the phone down and cried.

I've been going round and round on this. I've opened a basic bank account with Abbey just in my name (one of the few banks I don't owe money to (I think)). My partner is trying to do the same. Natwest initially said he could have their Step account but they called him today and said no. I'm taking him to Abbey tomorrow.

I'm not asking for sympathy, I don't deserve it. I'm in way over my head, and any suggestions people have would be appreciated. I've switched gas suppliers (saving £50 per month). I've reduced my mobile phone tarriff so I'm paying less each month. I'm going to cancel our health cash plan. I've started writing down everything I spend each day so I can see where it goes. Oddly, the fact that I now have to write it down makes me think twice about buying anything.

Anyway. Don't think bad of me, please. I'd just like to know if there really is light at the end of the tunnel. After 9 years of owing money, I've forgotten what it's like to spend money that is well and truly mine.

krisskross

Wouldn't dream of thinking badly of you. All I feel is sad that you are so unhappy.
You will get lots of help from this site.....there are some really knowledgable people.
I am sure that with help you will get through.

kickingkay

i wouldnt dream of having ago at you! so iwill send hugs instead
well done you for making step one im still sitting on my letters to creditors and my debt is very high too, and inland rev want there piece of meat too!
so dont get upset we are all in very similar situations here
now i cant offer you much advice as im also a newbie but i can offer lots of support
i contenplated an IVA but it was pointed out to me you are legally tied in and my worry was also what if his wages changed etc, so CCCS are calling me next week to sort out a plan of action hopefully we can get all creditors to agreee on a DMP then if i feel able to release some of my equity in about 5-6 yrs to repay off the remainder taht way im in control of my money no one else
does your partner know how much you owe im too scared to round off the figure to my husband as its my fault he has been great though but i dont think he wants to know he knows its a lot though
why was the dmp not working can it be restructured how did you manage to get more credit i thought you wouyld of been blacklisted , sorry just asking
anyway
take care
klare xx

ceegee

Hi, Northernbird! Don't panic....you've made your initial post and posting will now get easier. You will receive lots of help. For my part, I would say pare down all of your spending to an absolute minimum immediately, get on to the CCCS (link in blue band at top of page) immediately and learn from your past mistakes!

keith_lard

We all make mistakes......God knows I have made some fine ones in my life!
Get wise on the Debt thing, I cant offer help in your situation, but its one thing I have learned is 'Never Give Up' ................Ever!

Learn about Debt and learn about getting out of it, many people who Learn about it become debt Free.

Keep posting here there are some great people who post reply's!

We here are all with you!

I am fighting back...........................join me!

Eager_Elephant

Hi Northernbird,

Welcome to the board.

First of all you need to post your SOA (statement of affairs)/ income and expenditure. Set it out with both your incomes at the top, followed by all your household bills including money for irregular expenses and then finally at the bottom list your debts, amount outstanding, monthy payment and APR.

Then we can see about reducing your expenditure.

Do not be worried about people having a go about your level off debt, I can assure you that it is not the worst I have seen.

You do not need to give us your reasons for getting in this much debt, however you do need to work out in your own mind where all the money was spent and if it was during redundancies was it because you didn't cut your cloth accordingly.

I can understand Payplan's frustration with you if you have already tried a DMP with a different charity. There are so many people who need debt help and they probably don't want to waste there time on someone who won't stick with it.

With regards to CCCS, why did you need to take out extra credit?

The budget they give should be easily liveable and irregular expenses should have been budgeted for.

If you were short of cash I'm sure you could have rung them up and asked them to look at your budget again. Anyway that is in the past and we don't dwell on the past on this board.

So get posting with that SOA

EE

Sparklemonkey

Don't worry about the reaction you will get, we are a supportive bunch! I have nothing but good things to say about this place, every day I learn more!
I am a newbie here but someone with a lot more experience will be along soon so hang in there!
All the best
x

Northernbird_2

Thank you for the hugs and thank you krisskross for your post.

My partner does know how much it is. He always knew it was a lot, but last weekend I went through everything and put it all in a spreadsheet together with our ingoings and outgoings. It's now pinned to our noticeboard so we see it every day. I think that helped him see how serious it is looking at the actual figure.

I don't think the dmp can be restructured, as it is likely CCCS would fail the plan completely. My original creditors won't be too pleased with the fact that I took on more credit.

With regards getting the credit - I wasn't blacklisted as such. One of the original loans was passed to a collection agency and a default went on my record. Looking at my Experian report, another of my creditors passed the debt over and defulted in July of this year. The others don't appear as defaults.

I did go to Natwest last week to see what my overdraft was at as I had been paying a small amount through CCCS to them for three years. It turns out they had passed my debt over to an agency, didn't have any record of change of address from two years ago and they have been slapping on charges every month for the last three years. My original balance was 563, and it's now 1500! Do I go to the CCCS about that? Can I do anything about that? They're going to keep on slapping on the charges.

Thanks for the support. Even though my partner knows, I've still been feeling very alone about this.

*Sparkle*_3

Hello,

It will get better with time and if you keep reading the boards and chatting to other people in your situation.
I can understand where your coming from, i've to

At the end of the call, I just put the phone down and cried.

but if your strong and dedicated then you can do it.

Keep posting and you'll be amazed that a lot more people than you think are in debt, i was talking about debt with a few people at work, who are also in the same situation. So your proberbly not alone its just that people dont talk about it.

Best wishes

illmonkey

one thing i can suggest is telling your family, parents or friends...They may not hand over cash but it takes a weight of your mind and you can have someone to talk to apart from your parner. They will also try to help as much as possible, even if its giving you left over dinner! save you buying it.

Seems like you have done everything spot on, keeping tallys, figuring it all out to a T.

Good luck with it!

Northernbird_2

Wow. In the time I spent posting my reply, lots more appeared. Thank you.

Here goes with the numbers. I've put the monthly payment first then the balance. I'm not sure about the APRs, though I know the Student loans are very low, and the Provident loan is very high. For the ones with the CCCS, I've put the Barclays ones and Intelligent finance ones together:

My income 1533
His income approx 1200-2000 (it has been varying a lot)

Household outgoings:

Rent 700
Electricity 41
Gas 30
Sky 49
Water 23
BT 47
TV licence 11
Content insurance 14
Pet insurance 9
Life insurance 5
Magazines 20
My mobile 50
HSA 30
Sky box insurance 7.9

My partner's business expenses
Suppliers/rent 800
Train 325
National ins 9
Mobile 70
Magazines 12

Debts:
CCCS:
Natwest 17.39 1,459.59
Barclays 99.82 10,334.52
Intelligent finance 118.49 13,395.01
Bank of Scotland 46.30 2,486.28

Others:
Mint 65.00 4,125
Barclays credit card 11.00 425
Capital one credit card 15 296.17
HSBC credit card 47 1,476.72
Co-Op credit card 107 5,268.48
Egg loan 150 10,000
HSBC loan 361 32,447.70
Provident 60 825
Student loans 96.10 3,901.88

HSBC overdraft 600
Barclays overdraft 300

Partner:
HSBC credit card 150 5,000
Capital one credit card 100 3,000

Thank-you.