please help me somebody

lauriethom

Hiya I’m 25 years old and really need some help and advice with my finances. I live at home with my parents. I drive but thankfully the car was brought for me when I passed my test. I currently work part time and have done for the past couple of years. Last week I was offered a full time position in a job I’ve done before and loved. However I am really worried about my money/ debt situation. Here is a short version of my situation.
I started full time work when I was 16. I was a Modern Apprentice I was earning less that £300 a month. I coped quite well considering. I guess I had to because I wasn’t old enough for credit cards/loans.
By the time I was 18 I had got both my NVQ’s 2+3 in travel and I was on a full time wage.
I was surrounded by friends who had catalogues and credit cards and before long I was running up huge debts and not having enough money to clear them.
I would try really hard with my re-payments, I’d even consolidated all my debts into 1 loan. This was ok for a while but then when I became short of cash I’d apply to up my limits etc. Basically nothing was getting paid off and my debts were spiralling out of control.
A couple of years ago I was very depressed and had big personal problems. I couldn’t concentrate in my job and I made the decision to quit .
I wasn’t really in the right frame of mind to be making big decisions and I do regret quitting like that.
I found myself unemployed and owing in the region of 10k.
I made an appointment at the CAB and they were very helpful going through all my finances, they wrote off to my lenders and since then I have been paying back a few pounds each month.
Obviously I haven’t got myself into any more debt since but I still feel sick to the stomach about the amount I owe. I feel ashamed of myself.
I keep getting phone calls asking me to up my monthly payments which I haven’t been able to do…
However now I’ve been offered a full time job I’m worrying even more about how I’m going to cope financially.
The pay is awful its like that when you work in travel I expect it. At the end of the day its my career and I chose to do my qualifications.
I’ve worked out I should take home roughly £800 a month.
This is what I will be paying out before even thinking about paying my debts;-
£200- house keeping to my parents
£150- petrol
£50- car insurance
£50- phone bills
£50- car parking…

---

This adds up to about £500... Now when I was in full time work before I used to pay around £250 a month off my debts… Now I know I cant live on £50 quid a month.
I know I got myself into this situation but I feel like im stuck again I don’t know what to do.
I would really appreciate and help or advice.
I read up a bit on bankruptcy a while ago but chickened out , it all scares me.
I don’t want my parents to know the situation im in im too ashamed of my self.
They’re so happy I got this new job, I am too until I really think about it!

skylight

Okay. Hello there and welcome!! I see that you have posted on the bankruptcy board but by looking at your post, you are really not sure which way to go (pay it back or BR??)

How much do you owe now? I know you have mentioned when you lost your job you owed £10kish, but is this still the same? Did you manage to get interest/charges stopped on these debts? Have you actually done the really scary bit of sitting down with everything or phoning creditors for upto date statements if not available?

Now. Having a new job does not mean that you have to pay back the debts at the original rates if it is still unacceptable to you. You can negotiate for payment schedules but with a job creditors will expect more than you are currently paying, obviously.

Turning down the job is simply not on the agenda. The problems are not going to go away so we will have to face them!

I think that as a first step, you need to work out exactly what you owe that is up to date. To the penny. It will be daunting and horrible but its a process you need to undertake. Then you need to work out a realistic SOA (statement of Affairs). As you started to list above all your outgoings, you need to do that for eveything. Then once you truely understand your situation, you can make a better decision. Not knowing exactly where you stand will mean that you may make an incorrect decision.

Bear in mind, that on that income, you should also be able to claim working tax credit in your own right as well. It may be £20 a month, but its something you are entitled to (if over 25, working 30hrspw or more, earning under £12,300).

Obe1

Hi,

You probably need to go to citizen’s advice bureau. Although this can be a tedious affair, e.g. only open within certain hours of certain days of the week and them being busy all the time they can give you some sound advice. They will even write to your creditors for payment arrangements or put you into contact with organisations that will do this, to which some creditors will only adhere to.

Re: Bankruptcy

It’s not as bad as it once were, although you need professional advice to give you the ins and outs of this before making a decision.

The law changed for bankruptcy not long ago. The mandatory time you can be under bankruptcy is 12 months, used to be 3 years. Also bankruptcy will stay on your credit file for 6 years from date of bankruptcy.

You need to weight up your options, things like:

How much debt are you in

Are these debts secured or unsecured

Can you go without getting any credit for 6 years?

The thing to remember is that credit companies may demand more money than you can give. However, if you add up all your outgoings close to your income, which with a bit massaging can be done, even if you have to go to court for not paying enough the court will only set a reasonable amount to pay after all your outgoings (essential/reasonable) outgoings.

tuggy

lauriethom wrote: »

Hiya I’m 25 years old and really need some help and advice with my finances. I live at home with my parents.

I think you need to get your lies straight, and try to remember what age you are pretending to be!

I thought you were a house wife with 2 grown children :rotfl:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1149021

betterlatethannever

Laurie, if you had a reason for changing your story, then its not going to help either us. or you.
We can't give proper advice without the truth and if you can't provide us with the truth then you'd be better off getting advice somewhere else, such as CAB,

and if this is just a pathetic wind up then you need to seek some serious help.:rolleyes:

maxmycardagain

ive grown up children, they dont live with me now (thank the lord)

so shes lives with her parents now....

maxmycardagain

then again...

lauriethom wrote: »

I am a housewife with 2 grown up children.
I have never had any debt problems.
I do buy from catalogues but always pay back.
Is there anyone you know of any companies who offer loans to housewifes.
I dont have a mortgage, i own my home out right.
I would like to help my daughter out without my husband knowing and would like some advice please.

skylight

However, be nice - and there is a possibility that the poster concerned in this thread is actually the daughter the mother wants to help in the other thread??? Just logging with the same ID?

Anything is possible. Then again, perhaps not.

maxmycardagain

i think that black hole experiment has opened a stargate to a twilight parallel universe

doodoodood doodoodooodooo

do not adjust your PC, you are about to enter....





THE BANKRUPT ZONE,,,,