Too late?

liquidcoolingsystem

I've popped on and off this forum for a while now and read other peoples problems with debt.
Like many others I have buried my head in the sand and brushed my increasing debt under the carpet. What an idiot I have been.

Where do I post the details of my Statement of Affairs Calculator?

With debts of around £75000 in Loans and Credit Cards - It just feels like I need to tie an anchor around my ankle and jump off into the local harbor - but having 5 children and a loving wife means that is not going to happen! I would guess some of the visitors to this forum have had bigger debt and found a way around it - and I hope I can be pointed in the right direction:embarasse

To date, all of the minimum payments for all debts have been paid on time, although I've had to use credit cards to make payments for other credit cards! Lloyds are charging me around £120 and more each month for going over my overdraft limit and for bouncing DD. My main worry at this very moment is my mortgage. Due to the charges from Lloyds and my VERY tight budget, I will not have the required amount in my bank when they try and take it Monday morning. It is the 3rd attempt this month, and according to the Northern rock aggreement, they will cancel the DD. Of all the outgoings, I know that that one is THE most important one not to muck up and I have never missed a payment before.

Is and IVA a good choice for me to look into in my case?

I feel so low and in a state of shock having gone through all of my debts to discover that total. My wife knows things are bad - but not THAT bad.

Any pointers/help.suggestions?:(

Runnybabbit

Hi

Welcome back !

Firstly can I just say, please, please tell your wife just had bad it is, I never told my husband for 4 months and the stress nearly killed me. After telling all, we now work together AS A TEAM and he makes savings along the way probably more than I do now.

Back to the problem in hand, I wish I could offer more advice on the financial side of things, but I'd like to leave that in the hands of the experts on these forums.

I'd like to wish you loads of luck and well done for having the courage to post.
Babbit xx

littlechezza

Just to say good luck, I am no expert but I'm sure somebody will be along to give you some much needed advice, you are dealing with this and admitting you need help which is always a big step. Take care

dancingfairy

Hi and welcome. You will find loads of hints and tips to help you out on here. If you can an SOA is a great place to start - there is one at makesenseofcards you can fill in and post on here in this thread.

Also don't forget that the CAB/National Debtline and CCCS can all give you free advice, in fact CCCS has an online thing where you put in your figures and it gives you an idea of the best solution - which you can consider.

Yes 75k is a lot but there are soo many people who are struggling (milions on here and millions more) so you are not alone.

dancingfairy

And in answer to your question an IVA is only suitable in a small number of cases. Without the SOA it is impossible to give a proper answer but it is probably not the best route - there are however others which may be more suitable - ie a DMP.

Never_Ever_Again

Welcome aboard.
First of all it is not too late for anyone to get help. You have come to the right place.
You really should tell your wife how bad things are, you will feel better for not having to hide the extent of the debt and you will have someone to help you through it all. ( As well as everyone on here of course!)
Have you thought about contacting one of the debt help charities? (CCCS, CAB etc) They will no doubt be able to advise you on the best course of action for you in your situation.
If you post your SOA on this thread others will come along and post their thoughts and suggestions.

I hope this helps
Good Luck
NEA

GeorgeUK

Hi LCS

For the SOA, there should be a button at the bottom of the calculator saying MSE - this stands for moneysavingexpert. Click that and copy the text that appears and paste this into a post on the thread. We should then be able to see all the details.

The only reason i can make the minimum payments on my debt right now is because the 0% Virgin creditcard i got has a minimum payment of £25 after the 1st month.

Hopefully we'll be able to spot some savings for you and get this back under control. I'd look at doing a Debt Management Plan (DMP) before trying for an IVA but we can get to that later.

Lodge

Experts will be along soon with great advice.

First of all your SOA is needed, as advised above.

An IVA is almost certainly NOT the way to go though.

Stay positive mate.

shinyhead

your situation sounds so familiar to those who post here on this forum. You're definitely not alone.

I'll put in the links later but today I suggest I suggest you look at the CCCS site and try their debt remedy. It will help you think and may in fact put your mind at a little more ease.

Tomorrow you should phone them and Payplan and discuss your situation and options to you. This may or may not be an initial call followed by a proper interview set at an appointed date and time.

National Debtline are also marvellous for advice and you should call them too. The only difference between these three I understand is that ND offer advice only wheras CCCS and Payplan can help you set up any plans they might advise you take. All three don't charge for their services. Beware of any other organisation as they usuaully will. CAB might be an option too but from my experience to start with they simply offer you info printed off the ND site!

DF is right in that an IVA might not be suitable. The nonforum half of this site has an article on IVA's written by Martin you might want to read through.

If you post your SOA on here then we could help you cut down some outgoings and make things more manageable.

liquidcoolingsystem

Thanks for the replies.

I tried the CCCS debt remedy thing - and it cam up with 'You are spending £196 more than you have coming in each
month, and therefore currently have no money available to
offer as payment to your creditors.'

Not 100% sure on my credit card apr's so put down what I thought they were - although I am sure they are wrong! Will find out exact apr's tomorrow.

The Norther Rock loan and some of the Lloyds loan were to cover our extension that was completed a few months back. Although the NR loan is not secured, it does come out as one payment with our mortgage.
Phone/Broadband/TV are all in one at the moment - through Virgin. I am about to phone and plead poverty - hope to get a massive reduction, but if not, will cut down to the basic package - the kids have been told that TV channels will be going!
My mobile is contract - although that ends in 3 months time. I will be going to PAYG the second that ends.
I do shop at Tesco. Why? I finish work at 1am - and it's nice to shop late with no hastle from hoards of OAP's hitting ankles with trollys!! BUT I am going to my new local Aldi or Lidl on Thursday to see what savings can be made.

Anyway - here is the SOA:

[tt]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1320
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 870
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2190

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 881.74
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 119
Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 28
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35.68
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 11.61
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 120
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 450
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 18.33
Car Insurance........................... 41.28
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 16
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 10
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 5
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 41.88
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 36.13
Other insurance......................... 24.76
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 29.71
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 5
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 2049.12

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 220000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 225000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 172397...(881.74)...6.9
Total secured debts........... 172397....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan Norther rock..............29597.....196.7.....6.19
Loan Lloyds tsb................23825.....510.4.....8.5
Credit card Mbna...............14221.....321.......16.9
Credit card Egg................3994.25...79.84.....16.9
Credit card Lloyds ts..........4415.74...89........15.9

shinyhead

I've just tried and put links into my sig at the bottom as Im getting fed up with putting them in manually all the time!

Here goes: