struggling with debt

jamie2305

hi am new here, and this is my first post, iam currently around £7000 in debt and have entered an iva with baines and earnst , iam paying around £250 a month as my finances are a mess at the moment i earn quite a good wage but I just cant make it last iam living month to month getting payday loans to keep myself afloat and am having a nightmare and sleepless nights over it ,iam looking for any advice, have I chosen the right debt mangement company (iam still being hassled by creditors) even tho iam paying monthly payments to b&e , am just looking for some light and the end of the tunnel cheers

brightonman123

payday loans need to be stopped- v v high rate of interest on these, and you only dig youself further deeper in..

are you tied in with B/E for any length of time? might be worth paying the same amounts they do 'on your behalf', yourself direct to creditors- save a commssion straight off (effectively increasea the actual paments being received?)

hope all(?) creditors have been contacted, asking them to freeze charges and interest, if only for a while? it all helps!

am sire someone more qualified will be along soon, with more pointers..

Deep_In_Debt

Hi
Welcome.

Firstly, do you have assets to protect such as property? If not, then I suspect an IVA is not for you and B&E are just lining their pockets.

Please contact CCCS, National Debtline or CAB for free, impartial advice. CCCS will only recommend an IVA if it is suitable for you.

Good luck and keep posting.

Bismarck

welcome...someone will come along soon but I'm not sure you should be on an IVA full stop for that amount of debt.

£250 is more than the minimum repayment on most credit cards for a £7K balance so I think an IVa is unnecessary.

You'll be asked to post an statement of affairs to see where you can find this money but unless there's something unusual, I'd be surprised if someone couldn't help in the right direction without going the IVA route

Deep_In_Debt

Forgot to add that IVA's are usually recommended for people with £15k or more worth of debt - so I would definitely say ditch B&E asap if you can and contact one of the free debt charities I mentioned before.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Every debt problem is solvable (sp?).

Keep posting on here and the good peeps will guide you through it.

Please don't lose sleep (I know easier said than done but many of us, including me, have been there). Your health is more important.

Rabbit-in-headlights

Hi Jamie,

Am I missing something here? Something seems wrong - if you are paying £250/mth on an IVA (I assume that's for 5 years?) That means you will pay £15,000 for a £7,000 debt? Or is it a shorter term?

Or put another way, I have a 6 year DMP for debt of 8 times more than yours but my payments are less than 3 x more than yours!! Something really doesn't feel right there!!!:o

Definitely recommend you talk to CCCS, CAB, or Nat Debt Helpline for advice, they'll steer you in the right direction.

Do let us know how you get on, and I'm sure there will be lots more advice from the experts on here, especially if you post your SOA!

Good luck,

Rabbit

jamie2305

sorry have been confused ,iam actually on debt management not an iva all this is new to me and quite scary still is this the right choice for me the debt has been goin for 2 years now with multiple creditors,I left it for a while as I was in a bad place that stage of my life,but now I want it sorted .I tried at first paying direct to creditors but they kept raising my monthly fee no matter how many times I protested which is why I chose debt management but iam now unsure I know the payday loans have to stop and am working on that iam just trying to adjust my life style accordingly which iam dreading, will def keep posting on the forum as its refreshing to see that iam not alone in my current situation

~Beanie~

Ditch Baines and Ernst ASAP and contact one of the debt charities, they can set you up on a DMP but won't make any charges so all your payments will be going towards reducing your debts.

Rabbit-in-headlights

Try calling cccs or cab or national debtline for advice, details here: Non-profit Debt Counsellors' List or you could also run the cccs online debt remedy- http://www.cccs.co.uk/ you put in your income and expenses and it will automatically generate suggestions, eg if a DMP, it will show the monthly payment you could afford. If you like what you see, you can click on a button to get things moving - they'll post you out the details - or, if you prefer, you can call them and book a counselling session to find out what is the best way forward for you.

It is a change in lifestyle, but it's a postive one - it feels great when you are spending your own money instead of using the plastic, and you will be left with enough to cover your costs and budget for things like clothes, car tax, even birthday presents, so you won't need to use credit again.

And the best part - no more sinking deeper and deeper in debt, you can stop the downward spiral, and you will feel so much better when you can feel you're in control, not the %%%%&&&stard banks:D Set yourself free!!!

Good luck, and keep posting, you will find loadsof support on this forum :A


Rabbit