Help

red20

Hello all,

well where do I start. Firstly, thanks for taking time to read. I'm basically sitting worried sick about my mounting debt and I dont know where to start so thought a good place would be to admit my situation to other independant people in a hope that it makes me feel slightly better to start my debt free journey and to pick up some helpful info from others in the same situation. Before I start can I just say that I am not one of these people who usually gives up but basically I am considering bankruptcy as my main option, even after reading about the IVA's. I do know that this situation was totally my fault and would prefer to work my way out of it rather than declare bankruptcy if there is an option out there.

Here is my situation. I have a reasonable trainee job on about 18,000 a year after tax, which is due to increase in about 18 months. my debts are as below

Virgin - 5500
Hsbc - 3000
Natwest 600
Natwest o/d 1000
Personal Loan 6000
and small cards totalling around 500.

Although usually able to pay for my debts (in the usual struggle), the last couple of months and the next couple of months are a real struggle and they are taking their toll. I am failing to keep afloat and need some advice as not only is this affecting my life but also my health. I have received several calls from banks asking for money. After Christmas I think I will be back to paying these again normally (Still a major struggle but almost manageable) but still I would prefer to be a bit clearer.

Any help would be greatly appreciated and thank-you for taking your time to read this.

GeorgeUK

Hi red

There are a few things you can try before an IVA or Bankrubtcy. I would first advise posting up a statement of affairs (SOA) so we can see if there are any savings you can make from your current expenditure as well as how to deal with the debts.

There are free debt charities you can contact such as CCCS or Payplan who may be able to set up a debt management plan for you. You probably won't be able to get any 0% offers if you've been missing payments, but we'll come to that later.

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

boredofbeingathome

If you fill in a full SOA,(state of affairs) link at the top of the boards it will help us to help you.
Welcome to the boards and we are quite a friendly bunch..

red20

Sorry to sound like an idiot but is there a specific form for the state of affairs or is it something I should just write out. I had a look for a form but cant see anything

Thanks

GeorgeUK

I put the link for the SOA in my other post. Just fill it in, press calculate and format for MSE. That layout you can then paste into your next post here.

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

Horace

Hi Red

You can find the Statement of Affairs form here: https://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html - there is also a button on it to formulate to MSE.

Once you do do a full statement of affairs we can see what money you have coming in, where you are spending it and the APRs of the debts that you have (the APR is usually on the credit card statement).

red20

Thanks Guys, I'll fill that out tonight at home. Think I've wasted enough of the work day so far worrying about money. Better concentrate or else I might lose the job as well. thanks for the help so far.

HHH_2

Hi Red have a look at the CCCS website (not C-C-C-S) they are a charity who help people like us sort out their debts. There is a debt remedy thingy you can fill in at that will come up with options. It may well be that a debt management plan will work for you better than bankruptcy. any how if you telephone CCCS they are extremely helpful and friendly. I have a DMP and my debt is much much bigger than yours and will take a long time to pay off but I am left with enough money to have a reasonable life and not incurring more debt. good luck with what ever you do.

LoulaBelle

HI Red20 - will drop in tomorrow to look at your SOA as I'm sure others will too!

Welcome to the forum

LoulaBelle

red20

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1200

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 25
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 90
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 8
Other insurance......................... 20
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 20
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 623

Assets
Cash.................................... 600
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 800
Total Assets............................ 1400

No Secured Debt

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Virgin.........................5800......100.......18
HSBC...........................3000......80........16
Natwest........................600.......53........20.9
Natwest Overdraft..............1600......0.........0
Natwest Loan...................6115......115.......0
Total unsecured debts..........17115.....348.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,200
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 623
Available for debt repayments........... 577
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 348
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 229

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,400
Total Secured debt...................... -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,115
Net Assets.............................. -15,715

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

======== Enter any other useful information below ========

e.g. the number of adults & children in the household, the number

of cars included in the SOA or anything else that may be useful.

red20

Hi Guys,

Here is My SOA. You might notice that at the moment I am not paying rent/Utilities. This is because my company is paying for these. This wont last for long though. Possibly for the 12-18 months then I'm back on my own. As you can see from the above I wont manage on my own so I need to get this down so I can actually afford rent and bills once they pile on again.

Thanks for reading.