Hit breaking point - Need advice - Help

peb

I understand about the car - but do look at whether the odd cab or hire car would be feasible - maybe not!

I se what you mean about transport - sorry your mention of BRadford made me think you were talking travel costs "Up here" and I understand it is a big problem "down there"

You seem to be sounding more positive now but do keep posting as we all want to help!

mleach26

peb wrote: »

I understand about the car - but do look at whether the odd cab or hire car would be feasible - maybe not!

I se what you mean about transport - sorry your mention of BRadford made me think you were talking travel costs "Up here" and I understand it is a big problem "down there"

You seem to be sounding more positive now but do keep posting as we all want to help!

Yes, i feel more positive thanks to everyone who has replied so far. I do try and keep optomistic, have good days and bad like anyone, the frustrating things is, when there is no spare money, which happens around the middle of the month, any essential purchases have to go on the credit card, at least i am meeting all my debt payments i suppose, i am going to call the National Debtline when i get home to see if a DMP is feasible

peb

Remember a DMP will wreck your credit rating - it may still be the best way forward for you and we would suggest that you also talk to CCCS and Payplan; both of whom will run the DMP for you for free. Usually if you have at least £100 to share between your creditors they will take you on. However they may say to you that as you are currently "just" ok the lenders will not accept a DMP. Talk to as many people as possible and get as much advice as possible.

Good luck.

LEWKI

Hi Matt, I don't post very often but I had similar issues to you. I will not bore/boar(spelling?) you with the details other than to say I understand. Well done on facing up to it, now start to really get to grips with it. What worked for us was to work out the weekly budget - what did we have to spend on fuel/groceries/presents etc. We then worked from cash. In other words, once all the dd had been paid for, we divided the "cash" left by days in month until next pay day. Multiplied this by 7 and it gave us our weekly total. Between myself and my wife - we new exactly what we could afford and ensured that we did not increase our debt. We took cash out of machine every Sunday night and that had to last. Suddenly i was taking my own sandwiches to work. We were eating omelletes and baked potatoes with veggies and salad rather than chops/fish etc.
I am not saying it works for everyone but it did for us. That was step 1.
Step 2 was to reduce our DD. Moneysupermarket and all the others have saved us £300 on car and house insurance this year alone!
My final step came in June. I consolidated all my debt to a 0%cc. I have a Virgin card (apply on line) and it costs me £25/month for circa £12K balance. As a result my DD reduce massively and we are now SAVING to a seperate account between £500-£1000 per month.
Being realistic is important, start small and build up, but I wish had done this so much earlier.

PS - our standard of living has actually improved from less spending. I am so much happier than before - less stress, the family are happy, we did not go abroad this year on hols, but bought a tent and have had 6 weekends away near the beach and my kids love it!

Good luck mate. Its a great feeling when you actually realise that you have spent less than you brought in for the month!!

mleach26

peb wrote: »

Remember a DMP will wreck your credit rating - it may still be the best way forward for you and we would suggest that you also talk to CCCS and Payplan; both of whom will run the DMP for you for free. Usually if you have at least £100 to share between your creditors they will take you on. However they may say to you that as you are currently "just" ok the lenders will not accept a DMP. Talk to as many people as possible and get as much advice as possible.

Good luck.

This is my worry peb, Barclays are the ones i own the most too, i took out a £25000 loan with them in may 2005. I also bank with them, so i guess it would be prudent to open a basic bank account that is not effiliated with barclays? If the DMP is not gonna work how can i continue in the way i am? i am "just" making it by, i hope that CCCS or Payplan can help me here :eek:

mleach26

LEWKI wrote: »

Hi Matt, I don't post very often but I had similar issues to you. I will not bore/boar(spelling?) you with the details other than to say I understand. Well done on facing up to it, now start to really get to grips with it. What worked for us was to work out the weekly budget - what did we have to spend on fuel/groceries/presents etc. We then worked from cash. In other words, once all the dd had been paid for, we divided the "cash" left by days in month until next pay day. Multiplied this by 7 and it gave us our weekly total. Between myself and my wife - we new exactly what we could afford and ensured that we did not increase our debt. We took cash out of machine every Sunday night and that had to last. Suddenly i was taking my own sandwiches to work. We were eating omelletes and baked potatoes with veggies and salad rather than chops/fish etc.
I am not saying it works for everyone but it did for us. That was step 1.
Step 2 was to reduce our DD. Moneysupermarket and all the others have saved us £300 on car and house insurance this year alone!
My final step came in June. I consolidated all my debt to a 0%cc. I have a Virgin card (apply on line) and it costs me £25/month for circa £12K balance. As a result my DD reduce massively and we are now SAVING to a seperate account between £500-£1000 per month.
Being realistic is important, start small and build up, but I wish had done this so much earlier.

PS - our standard of living has actually improved from less spending. I am so much happier than before - less stress, the family are happy, we did not go abroad this year on hols, but bought a tent and have had 6 weekends away near the beach and my kids love it!

Good luck mate. Its a great feeling when you actually realise that you have spent less than you brought in for the month!!

Lewki, thanks for the words of encourgement, i need them from what you posted i can see that you have really taken control of your debt, i intend to do the same. That is a really good idea about taking the cash out and making it last, that is not something i've even considered, i have stopped taking cash out as if its in my wallet it tends to get spent lol. I usually pay for everything on debit card, and keep track of the recipets.

You diet changed as well, this is something i have been working towards, buying rice etc and making my own fried rice for meals, we also eat out of the freezer lol.

Thank you once again

Merlot

I was thinking about you whilst making my lunch and had a thought.

Did you take out PPI (payment protection insurance) cover on your loan with Barclays, if so, take a look at martins advice on reclaiming this money, the policy is usually not worth the paper it is written on. (Salmon coloured tab at the top -Reclaim £1000,s)

HTH

Merlot.x.

Merlot

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/pdf-iva-guide.pdf

You must read this before considering an IVA..Martin knows his stuff.

RAS

hi

Also have a look at this http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/protect/make-money

Inthe short-term, your worst cc is the egg card.

if you were to do

1. a store cupboard challenge (see Money Saving Old Style) where you live as long as possible of the contents of the freezer and store cupboard
2. Stick stuff on amazon, do a car boot sale
3. Get that life insurance and slap the cash back against the card

How much of that could you clear in one month?

And do you know if you can over pay on any of the loans?

mleach26

Merlot wrote: »

I was thinking about you whilst making my lunch and had a thought.

Did you take out PPI (payment protection insurance) cover on your loan with Barclays, if so, take a look at martins advice on reclaiming this money, the policy is usually not worth the paper it is written on. (Salmon coloured tab at the top -Reclaim £1000,s)

HTH

Merlot.x.

I think i have got PPI on my barclayloan and my egg loan, but i think the paperwork is in a box somewhere under the bed Looks like i'm gonna be digging around for it then, thanks for the info Maerlot xx