Help just found out I am in big debt!

kelie

I am self employed, and I have just found out that some of the affiliate marketing I do has overpaid me for the last 6 months and they have said that I owe them $34k and they want it back within 3 months.

The error was on their part. They over paid me... directly into my bank account via wire. I don't have the money as I've spent most of it on living expenses. HELP!!!

geranium72

I don't know the tehcnicalities but I understand even with their error it is still their money. Did you realise you were being paid too much? It is an awful lot of money to spend without realising it.

can you ring them and explain it is a genuine error (if you didn't realise) and agree a repayment schedule with them

kelie

I honestly didn't notice... i've been living a little bit too expensively at the moment with rent and mortgage on the old house etc...

I've asked them for a repayment plan, and am waiting to hear back but I feel physically sick. I am so worried

trancebabe

:eek: I'm sorry but $34,000 in 6 months over and above your regular salary is more than living a little too expensively surely!!

I think you'll have to work out what you can afford and put a proposal to them as it was originally their error.

Good luck with it
x

jennyred

hi - how did you not notice they were overpaying you in the region of 5.5k per month? thats an awful lot of money! do you get paid a big salary normally? if so and you genuinely did not realize then do an income and outcome sheet and send it to them with a proposed payment plan

then post it on here to see if the lovely people can help you to budget and see where you were spending that extra money.

ps - I am not being judgmental - please dont think that I am, it hard to believe though that you didn't notice the extra money going in per month when that amount of money is more than some peoples entire yearly food budget!

jenny

kelie

Thats not over my regular salary and a lot of it went on paying off bf's gambling debts, so please don't think i've just spent it on food and luxuries

MrsTinks

You need to sit down and work out WHERE that money went! $35k is at todays rate about £20k... divide by 6 and you got an extra £3333 a month! I'm really sorry but how could you not notice?
Either you earn an awful lot of money normally or you need a reality check!
That is more than I make a month and a LOT more than our mortgage payments, and I'm not in a low paid job!

You need to find out if A) that amount is correct HOW you managed to spend it!

That means going through everything in the last 6 months with a fine tooth comb and seeing where ALL of it went.

Then you need to do a full SOA http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html
and we can have a look at what you can realistically afford to repay.

Once we know that then you can contact the company who over paid you and suggest a realistic playment plan and hope they will accept it.

jennyred

duplicate post

MrsTinks

kelie wrote: »

Thats not over my regular salary and a lot of it went on paying off bf's gambling debts, so please don't think i've just spent it on food and luxuries

Ok... the first advice we always give on here is to NEVER pay off other peoples debts.
Can he pay this back to you? And how quick? Do you have any assets you can sell? Cars, property, jewelery/watches etc?

By bailing HIM out YOU could now be in very dire straits... I have no idea of the international issues as if they are paying you in US$ then they are probably based there - I don't know what legalities there are but if they have the same rights as a UK debtor ultimately they can take out a CCJ on you and even force you to go bankrupt...

Sorry if this is all very negative but I do honestly think you need a reality check... I'd know even before my lightbulb moment that an extra £100 had made it in to my account let alone £3k a month!

going2die_rich

kelie wrote: »

Thats not over my regular salary and a lot of it went on paying off bf's gambling debts, so please don't think i've just spent it on food and luxuries

I doubt people will think that. But many (like me) will wonder how you don't know whats coming in. I can understand overlooking a bill if you are busy and forgetting to pay it, but not realising you were making tens of thousands of more than you expected should surely have been noticable. Unless of course you make hundreds of thousands a year.

Don't you have a record of what someone owes you to ensure they even pay up? As they could say you owe them double that, or don't owe you a thing if you just trust them.

pania

Kelie. It doesn't matter how it was done more now that it is done. Can you go back over the last 6 months statements and see if they are correct in the money coming in and the amount they have said they have overpaid you. No one here will judge you if you turned a blind eye to it to enable you to help your OH out. The sad part is that his gambling debts have now become your debt and this is what we need to tackle asap. Is your OH still gambling? if so he needs to get help on this asap or that 34k you've bailed him out with will turn into 60k into 90k into.... well you get the point.
You urgently need to do a list of incomings and outgoings and yes it is going to scare the living bejesus out of you but once its done you can set to dealing with it. I've been where you are and it is gut wrenching. but that will be the beginning of getting all this sorted and will also realistically show how you can get this money returned to them. I'll keep checking in to see how you are doing, we can tackle this. what is done is done, lets move on and find a way to sort it.
Lots of love
P
xx