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Feel like ending it all

135

Comments

  • Hi there,

    Really sorry to hear about your situation so will try and give you a sense of 'light at the end of the tunnel' from my own experience,when i was in a similar situation.

    Last January i was in debt to the tune of £55k unsecured loans,mainly credit cards.The stress was unbelievable,and until i found this site,wondered if i could go on.After taking advise from the wonderful people on here,i phoned the CCCS who recommended bankruptcy.

    I declared myself BR in Feb,and the weight lifted off my shoulders immediately.I've just received early discharge,and now i'm looking forward to the future instead of dreading it.You just wouldn't believe the difference in me compared to 8 months ago.

    There really is hope,and you'll receive all the help and support off the wonderful people on this site.

    Good luck
  • jtr2803
    jtr2803 Posts: 3,232 Forumite
    I'm a total newbie and not so great at the advice part yet but I understand the feelings of total despair that comes with debt problems (as we all do), you definately are not alone though.

    I don't have a magic wand to make it all better but stick around and make sure you give cccs or similar a call to see what they suggest, just keep your chin up - anything is possible

    J

    Very happily married on 10th April 2013 :D
    Spero Meliora
    Trying to find a cure for Maldivesitis :rotfl:
  • SGE1
    SGE1 Posts: 784 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    My 2 cents :)

    Monthly Expense Details
    Rent.................................... 300
    Council tax............................. 105
    Electricity............................. 40 This looks a bit high. Grab hold of your latest bills, if possible over the last year, and calculate how much you use, then visit a comparison website eg. energyhelpline.com, and see if you ca knock this down a bit.
    Gas..................................... 45 Ditto above
    Water rates............................. 20 Do you have a water meter installed? If not, get one. Then when you actually reduce your water consumption, you'll pay less!
    Telephone (land line)................... 20 Making evening and weekend calls only with BT should keep the landline cost to £10.50 if you sort your account online. And for the other calls, get people to ring you!
    Mobile phone............................ 60 This looks very high, so a lot of scope for reducing. Ring them as ask nicely if you can move to a cheaper tariff, and look forward to renewal in 10 months time, when you can really haggle for something much cheaper
    TV Licence.............................. 12
    Satellite/Cable TV...................... 18 Consider freeview? I know telly can be quite relaxing and a good way to escape, but freeview offers loads of channels now, and you can watch programmes online too if you miss them. As for films, DVDs are so cheap now that you may as well just buy them - or use free DVD rental trials
    Internet Services....................... 20
    Groceries etc. ......................... 220 Use mysupermarket.com - that should drop your bills quite a lot. Shop in bulk, get it delivered (if you spend over a certain amount, it's free, and you can control exactly what you buy), and stock up the freezer and on buy 1 get one frees!
    Clothing................................ 10 Pick up some clothes on ebay. If they're new, you're not compromising on quality, and it's a lot cheaper
    Petrol/diesel........................... 25
    Road tax................................ 10
    Car Insurance........................... 18 Make sure you use a comparison website to get the cheapest premium on this too
    Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
    Car parking............................. 3
    Pet insurance/vet bills................. 28.99 I know nothing about this, but assume you could dent this cost a bit too
    Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 5Hand make your cards and presents! Sounds naff, but people like a home made mix CD, and a card you've made yourself
    Haircuts................................ 5 Again, you could DIY this, get your wife to do it!
    Entertainment........................... 10 There are some good BYOB restaurants around; see the DVD rental comment earlier, and if you use a website like upmystreet.com, you can often find out about free things that are happening around your area
    Total monthly expenses.................. 989.99

    Hope that helps! Remember that every penny counts. As far as the credit card debts are concerned, yes, I would contact the associations mentioned by other posters. Citizens' Advice could also help.

    And a more general piece of advice: once you've shopped around for the best product, and found it, try and see if you can get it via a cashback website (like quico).
  • hi i am new to this forum as well, i too am in debt not been brave enough to do my soa yet but just wanted you to know there are some wonderful people on this site who go out of their way to help people like me and you. i too at times have felt desperate but the thought of my kids keep me going. just think it's only money worse case senario you go to court and get a few ccj's so stop worrying let the people on this help you and think of your wife.
    good luck wish you the best.:D
  • Aylana
    Aylana Posts: 152 Forumite
    Thanks for posting your SOA. Some really good advice has been given. Just wanted to echo the suggestions that your food budget can be cut. Go over to the Money saving Old Style section, there are some great suggestions and recipes over there. Nice stuff too, cheap doesn't have to mean lower quality!!

    Your debt is quite high, but not the highest I have seen on here by far! Spend some time having a good read of the forums. Definately have a chat to one of the debt charities (CCCS or Payplan) and National Debtline. They will give you really good advice about Debt Management Plans or any other options available to you.

    It might be tough at times, but you are going to be fine. We will make sure of it!
  • just wanted to say well done for posting your SOA. Sometimes, facing the reality of the situation is harder than the journey you then face - well done.
    :D"Stay Wonky":D

    :j:jBecome Mrs Pepe 9 October 2012 :j:j
  • dack_2
    dack_2 Posts: 237 Forumite
    Hey droopyk,

    Sorry to hear of your current situation :o .

    I joined this board recently with debt problems of my own and have had some great advice and encouragement.

    I posted an SOA in which my essential outgoings exceeded my income by about £130, yet I also needed an additional £700 to make the min repayments on my debts. At this point a Debt Management Plan was not feasible as I had no money to pay anyone.

    After following the advice given on this forum I have reduced my outgoings by about £350 per month so that a DMP is now possible for me. Whilst selling my car will account for about £150 of that saving, to my surprise, the other £200 mostly came from simply switching utilities!!! This is a must!

    It can be a bit daunting and you must set aside some time for doing price comparisons and getting quotes etc, but it is well worth it in the end. A good idea would be to work through the various guides on MSE as they explain the best process for the task at hand, such as how to find the cheapest gas and elec suppliers.

    Also, be sure to use cashback sites such as quidco (.com). Follow the MSE guide to find the cheapest suppliers/quotes then go to quidco and see if any of the cheapest companies are offering cashback. If they are then get a fresh new quote from that company using the link from within quidco.

    Also, you may need to be a little ruthless with yourself and give some things up. For me, I had a Sky subscription (basic package, no movies or sports) costing £21 month, it was hard to just say enough is enough, I can't afford it! :o The real kicker was that although I only had the basic package, I once came home after a night out and after a few minutes watching TV realised that I could access all of the Sky movie channels!! And that was over 7 years ago!!!!! It was sooooo tough to give that up I can tell you! :cool:


    Here are a few of the savings I made:

    Buildings & Contents switched - was £360 yr, reduced to £121yr plus £75 cashback due from quidco!

    Switched Gas and Elec - Uswitch said I could save over £400yr, another site said £540. Even if prices rise again I should still be better off. Also £40 cashback from quidco!

    Cancelled Sky - Will still have access to freview Sky channels with existing equipment/sky card - Saved £21mth, or £252 yr

    Landline - Was paying BT £31.50 mth - switched to their unlimited anytime plan (12mth contract) for £4.95 mth + std rental of £10.50mth. Use 18185 (.com) to handle mobile calls (cheaper than BT at 6p/min although with the unlimited anytime plan BT mobile calls are just 7.5p/min, when normally 12p/min). My cheaper mobile calls should cost me around £2mth. So in all landline bill reduced to £17.50. A saving of £14 mth. (See MSE guide for full details).

    There are often savings to be had and the nice thing is it doesn't cost you anything apart from a little time and determination.
    Just the above changes have saved me nearly £90mth and I can also expect £115 cashback from quidco (hopefully in time for xmas):D


    Anyway, I hope some of the above is helpful to you, I understand things are difficult but am also sure that doing the above will help you. Not only will you start to feel more in control of your situation but you will also feel good that you have stopped wasting money that perhaps you didn't know you were wasting in the first place. And of course you will have more money each month to budget where it is needed.

    Any questions, feel free to ask and good luck :beer: .

    Regards,

    Dack
  • HI there and welcome to the site,

    I agree with what the others have said there are lots of ways of saving so don't despair. What I'm proposing is that you go to the people that you have lent money to (I know you said you don't have a hope in hell in getting the money back) but could you not ask them to start repaying their debt - say even if you give me say £10- or £20 a month - after all you helped them out now they need to pay up! you cuold ask them to set up a direct debit into your account of if they pay in cash record it in a book how much is paid off - make em feel guilty.

    All the best LoulaBelle
  • Hi

    Thanks to everyone who has offered advice, will be looking into all options.
    You have raised my spirits, and given me hope, will try and tackle these debts head on and keep posting my hopeful positive results.

    Regards Karl
    #95 1p challenge =£667.95 1p challenge=£667.95 Reverse 1p challenge=£667.95 Reverse 1p challenge=£667.95 £1 weekly challenge =£1378 £2 a day challenge=£730 £1 a day Xmas challenge=£365Mortgage £141k..... Looking to reduce by £15k by end of yearCredit cards#1 Barclaycard =£3500#2 Amex plat =£1700#3Amex b.a=£2200#4 M&S =£1800#5 Marbles=£2700#6 Debenhams=£1500#7 Tesco=£800Looking to clear at least 5 by end of year
  • doodledo_2
    doodledo_2 Posts: 4,676 Forumite
    Good to see you posting again and glad you are feeling a bit better.

    Keep posting and join in some of the challenges and you will soon see those figures start to drop.
    Proud to be dealing with my debts - DFW No: 712

    03/09/09 - DEBT FREE AT LAST :D
    Racing Hypno to Save - £10/£5000
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