HELPPPPP! NEWBIE AND DONT NO where to start

hells83bells

hi everyone

I have £25,000 of debt on loans and credit cards from university debt! and i dont know where to start paying them off! At the moment i just about managing to make ends meet and can pay off the minimum payments, but i can see that im never taking anything off the balance and if i get any futher into debt i can see it going to be a problem. I would like some help from somewhere but the agencies seem to deal with people who can no longer pay their bills and i can at the moment. How do I even start to pay them off or know if i am getting the best deals etc! My brain hurts and its stressing me out!!! ahhhhhh if someone could advise me what the firts step would be i would be grateful before i pull my hair out!!!

**Amy**

Hello and Welcome

Well first things first you need to post an SOA (statement of affairs). This is basically a detailed sheet of your income and outgoings, including your debts, their APRs (if known) and your minimum monthly payments.

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

If you use this link there is a button to configure it to MSE. Then we may be able to help you.

I take it you have spoken to/ looked at CCCS and National Debtline? If not it might be worth having a look on their websites: www.cccs.co.uk and www.nationaldebtline.co.uk

But i deffo suggest posting your SOA asap.

x

peb

I popped on as I did not want to see a plea for help disappear from the first page!

Really only to reiterate what Amy is saying - we need to find "spare" money (I'm sure you are laughing hollowly at this point) so that you can throw it at the debt as cost effectively as possible.

Robbda

check out the post we created yesterday for tips

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1120381

hells83bells

thank you! everyone one is so helpful! ill get onto doing those things and see if anyone can help me!

RAS

Also, remember to post up the maximum limit on your CCs, as well as the APRs and minimum payments.

Sometime just shuffling debt can make room for you to start paying off the capital.

Have a look at the snowball on https://www.whatsthecost.com.

hells83bells

ive just been on the cccs website and its helped loads already!! my heart doesnt feel like it going to explode with anixety anymore! thank you youve helped so much already!!