Please help - I don't know where to turn

Kron

I've added extra info on food etc. I hope this helps.

I'm going to ring CCCS later when the children aren't listening.

Karen

Happytogetdebtfree

Hi karen welcome to the boards, well done for making the first move in a few months you will feel somewhat proud pf how far you will have come little steps soon make big huge differences hehe im 4 months into my journey and am noticing a difference its hard at first to adjust to accepting you cant spend spend spend because you just dont have the cash but its all the more fun watching money figures decrease from a negative nearer to a positive i look forward to reading your journey xxx

Keeping_Motivated

Hi Kron

You feel so overwhelmed and scared at the moment but you have to do this in baby steps and tackle smalls things at a time or you will burn out and you won't get far. So today you have made a start, you have posted on here and posted your SOA. There is a better way of doing your SOA by the way and hopefully someone will post you the link as I don't know where it is sorry.

So make yourself a cuppa now and pat yourself on the back for taking the first step of facing it and if you haven't already then have a read of this thread as it might be useful. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

Then when you get a minute make that call and you will have made great strides for today.

Keep posting

Good luck
Take care

falady

Hi Karen,

I just wanted to say hello and well done for being brave and starting to tackle the problem - thats the worst bit.

You might find the moneysaving old style board helpful on grocery shopping. there are loads of recipes and ideas for bulking out meals etc. I appreciate it might be hard with having to deal with coeliacs disease, but you might find some useful tips none the less.

Also, have a think about investigating free cash for clicks eg pigsback, quidco etc. Other forums discuss these a lot - someone cleverer than me will come along in min and post links). You can get £10 vouchers for highstreet shops quite quickly when you first join pigsback etc, and these can be used for essentials or a little treat.

Good luck!

Ali xx

charlie030882

Hi Karen,

I know exactly how you are feeling as myself and my OH are in the same situation but you have come to the right place and are taking a step in the right direction. The first thing that I did was to call National Debtline who will go through a few questions about your current situation and can give some really good advice as well as send info through the post (unmarked envelope). This allowed me to write letters (haven't got a printer) to all our creditors offering a £1 token payment and although some of them haven't accepted, you know that what you are doing is for the best rather than trying to pay what you haven't got - you then just move onto the next stage of letters and continue to pay £1. My current situation has both myself and my OH out of work but as soon as we find something then we are going to start a CCCS plan or payplan. Stay positive, things will get better x

sazzledazzle

Hi and well done the hardest part is over and that is admitting you have to get something done about it.
I would definately contact CCCS, or write letters to people who you are struggling with payments explaining situation and offering to make a lower payment for a certain amount of time. I did this and was surprised how many companies were so happy to sort it out.
I have also joined some of the challenges which gives me something to look foward to everyday and makes the horrible task of getting through this enjoyable in some ways, plus its amazing what a couple of pence a day can do to your figures.
I have found since I have got a lot more involved on this website I have felt a lot better and actually look foward to dealing with my debts on a daily basis.
I hope all the advice you are getting on here is helping you to feel better and more positive about getting through this. And remember these times are to make us stonger and learn lessons.

TotallyBroke

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

Work out what your costs are for car insurance and mot and an approxamation for servicing costs and include them. Do the same also for christmas and birthdays etc. It'll give you an idea of what you have coming in and what you should have going out each month if you lived by your SOA in an ideal world.

People can then make suggestions to help you all cut back on household utilities etc. Obviously your food bills will be high due to your childrens dietery needs. Have a look in the moneysaving Old style boards. They can help reduce your food shop in some ways and may suggest areas where you can make savings on the speciality foods you have to buy.

Kron

Thank you so much for all your comments. I will redo the SOA using the link above.

In some ways it feels like a weight lifted just putting in writing to someone else how bad our problems are. In other ways I am just shaking at the enormity of it all.

Thank you again. I'll try and sort out the SOA again and repost it.

Karen

MrsTinks

Well facing up to debts can be terrifying Don't worry too much - you're not the only one and you're not alone Yes some of your creditors might start phoning you to hassle you (especially the catalogs) but that's all they can do Just tell them you will only communicate in writing and hang up the phone - they will eventually get the point