Help needed - Crisis Point

Moustacheman

I am 26 years old earning 15,000 per year. I am £27,000 in debt. I have been just about managing for the last few months, paying off the minimum amount off my cards and cutting back on pretty much everything. I am at a point in the month now where I have a £96 electric bill and a £65 gas bill and a £76 council tax bill but have no money to pay these. I live in a house with 2 others and we take it in turns to pay the bills and it is my turn to do so at the minute.

I have £32 in my bank account, £134 available on my natwest credit card and £74 on my Virgin credit card.

I am thinking about drawing the cash out on the 2 credit cards to pay the bills but there is a slight problem. The interest from last month on both credit cards is still to be added on the account and when it does get added on it will take me over my limit on both cards.

I have a very poor credit rating and so am unable to get a loan or more credit.

Has anyone got any advice on the best thing to do so that I can get these bills paid?

southernscouser

Moustacheman wrote:

I am 26 years old earning 15,000 per year. I am £27,000 in debt. I have been just about managing for the last few months, paying off the minimum amount off my cards and cutting back on pretty much everything. I am at a point in the month now where I have a £96 electric bill and a £65 gas bill and a £76 council tax bill but have no money to pay these. I live in a house with 2 others and we take it in turns to pay the bills and it is my turn to do so at the minute.

I have £32 in my bank account, £134 available on my natwest credit card and £74 on my Virgin credit card.

I am thinking about drawing the cash out on the 2 credit cards to pay the bills but there is a slight problem. The interest from last month on both credit cards is still to be added on the account and when it does get added on it will take me over my limit on both cards.

I have a very poor credit rating and so am unable to get a loan or more credit.

Has anyone got any advice on the best thing to do so that I can get these bills paid?

Hi MM

First things first, read this post then reply back here with the required information.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

Would it be possible for your house mates to help you out this month if you explained your situation. Like you say if you did draw the money off your cards you will end up being in a worse situation.

Gillby1

It is a difficult situation - loads of sympathy coming your way for me! As a temporary measure could you approach your bank and ask for a temporary overdraft/overdraft increase? Or perhaps call the credit card company and ask them to increase your limit by a small amount? (Edit - Sorry, just saw that you can't get more credit)

In this situation, i would ask my parents or sister for a loan to cover the bills - do you have that option? You don't have to tell them the extent of your problems if you don't want to.

Obviously these are only temporary measures, and you will have to consider your long term finances, but i appreciate that these bills need paying now!

I hope someone comes up with some useful answers.

Lucie_2

Robbing Peter to pay Paul (as my Nana would have said) is not the answer. I know your immediate problem is paying these 3 bills, but I think you need a more long term solution, or you will be posting the same thing in 3 months time when it is your turn to pay the bills again.
You are overspending & living beyond your means. The simple answer is spend less or make more money. That is the only way to get out of debt.

Spend Less - you've already said you've cut back, but can it be cut back even more? If you post a complete statement of affairs then other moneysavers will suggest fruther cut backs.

Make more money - seems to be your number one option. Either sell something (have you tried E-bay?) or get a second job.

So that you don't get stumped with big household bills every few months, I would suggest that you & your housemates set up a basic account to pay the bills out of. You each contribute a set amount per month & it will help you to budget better.

black-saturn

Whatever happens don't pay for bills with another loan or with your credit card. Find some other way of paying this month such as having a car boot sale stall, selling some stuff on ebay or if you can do some overtime. Then when this is paid up start budgeting for the next time it's your turn to pay the bills.

Perhaps if you gave us a list of your incomings and outgoings we might be able to give you some pointers of how to budget a little better.

Good luck.

ms_london

Moustacheman wrote:

I am 26 years old earning 15,000 per year. I am £27,000 in debt. I have been just about managing for the last few months, paying off the minimum amount off my cards and cutting back on pretty much everything. I am at a point in the month now where I have a £96 electric bill and a £65 gas bill and a £76 council tax bill but have no money to pay these. I live in a house with 2 others and we take it in turns to pay the bills and it is my turn to do so at the minute.

I have £32 in my bank account, £134 available on my natwest credit card and £74 on my Virgin credit card.

I am thinking about drawing the cash out on the 2 credit cards to pay the bills but there is a slight problem. The interest from last month on both credit cards is still to be added on the account and when it does get added on it will take me over my limit on both cards.

I have a very poor credit rating and so am unable to get a loan or more credit.

Has anyone got any advice on the best thing to do so that I can get these bills paid?

Hello, and welcome to MSE.com - you have definately come to the right place. We are all in the same situation, so know what we are talking about :0) And of course, we can sympathise if you want to come here and moan about money!!! Or having none...

I dont think it is fair to "take it in turn to pay the bills". I share a flat with two others, and aside from the TV licence, council tax and NTL bill (which all come out of my account), the others (gas, water & electric) are paid monthly on cards, where we pay a set amount, say £15 each month (£5 each) which the necessay company will set up and tell you how much you need to pay. Although this means our monthly outgoings are slightly higher, it means that there are no quarterley bills landing on our doorstep, making a hell of a lot easier to budget. My housemates transfer their share of their bills to my account a few days before the money comes out, it works out quite nicely actually. Plus we put £5 each in for household goods...

If you could write down exactly what you have coming in, and then your outgoings (basic ones, such as rent, phone, transport etc etc) and also your debts, we will be able to see if you can save money without even trying..

Firstly, talk to your flatmates. They might be able to pay it for you, and then you pay them back or pay the next quarter's. They need to be paid, especially the Council Tax and this has serious repercussions if not paid... and you dont want your gas or water being cut off neither.. Or for this month, you could always use your credit cards to pay the bills, and then stop using them.. as if you borrow the money off someone else, it still needs to be paid back one way or another..

When do you get paid again? How long does £32 have to last you?

At one point in my life I would have run to mum/stepdad and asked for money, and on occasions they have paid an odd £10 here and there into my bank account for me, but you need to get out of the habit of doing that, because then you just start relying on them..

We are here to help, so post your SOA as soon as you can and we'll get onto it for you.

Ms_London

(paid off £19,000 debt - last payment 27th October!! So newly debt free. If I can do it, anyone can!!).

Moustacheman

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £970

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £140
Gas - pay on reciept of quarterly bill
Electric - pay on reciept of quarterly bill
Phone - £0 Company phone
Food - £75
Loan - £256
Natwest Credit card (min payment) - £166
Virgin Credit Card (Min Payment) - £74
Barclaycard(Min Payment - £75
Capital 1 (Min payment)- £30
Dentist - £14
Council Tax - £32 a month
House Insurance £11

Total: £873

This allows for no socialising, and I have only managed to get the outgoings down to this in the last 3 months as I have got rid of my car and cancelled my gym membership.

As far as credit cards go, I have no idea what the apr's are but the details are as follows:
Natwest Balance £7165 (LIMIT £7300)
Virgin CC – Balance £4,1294 (limit £4,200)
cAPITAL 1 - Balance £997 (limit £1000)
Barclaycard - Balance £3036 (Limit £3100)

Overdraft - £1100 - Natwest Advantage Gold (Limit £1100)

matrix999

Hello and once again welcome to MSE!!

As a few others have already said to you, you have come to the right place to help get your finances back on track.

Please have a look at the following website and book yourself an appointment with either company.

http://www.cccs.co.uk
http://www.payplan.co.uk

The above companys are charities and will help and negotiate reduced payments with your creditors and also hopefully freeze and stop interest payments until your back on your feet

southernscouser

ms_london wrote:

We are all in the same situation, so know what we are talking about :0)

Hang on a minute! Your one of them now!!!!! (one of those horrible debt free people who like to rub it in)

Thefunkygibbons

As noted you need to do something today to get past these bills without making the situation worse

However, looking at your outgoings, there is no headroom. By paying minimum payments you will be standing still for the next 20 years.

Obviously you need to go down the DMP route with CCCS or payplan, and you need to do that now.

In the meantime, do you have any assets or an opportunity of a second job?

Where did the debt come from? This is not a judgemental question, rather have you changed the circumstances that caused you to run up the debt in the first place?

ms_london

southernscouser wrote:

Hang on a minute! Your one of them now!!!!! (one of those horrible debt free people who like to rub it in)

Shut up you, stop trying to blow my cover :0)

I still feel like im in debt I suppose...