Desperate... Help Needed

mayan13

Hi ,Ive been lurking around this site for a while and reading all your posts,I have finally had my light bulb moment and plucked up the courage to enter the forum.Like others I have been utterly blind to my situation and am now in debt to the tune of over £40,000.I have been struggling to keep afloat but have never missed a payment on cc or loans .I have looked at a DMP with CCCS though i havent plucked up enough courage to call them yet,I know this is my only solution but I am scared ,I need some advice as to how I go about this ,my partner is unaware of my spiralling debt and I really need to keep it this way.I will post a SOA as soon as I can but in the mean time any advice would be welcomed!!!.

Miss_Piggy_2

Hi, and welcome!

You'll find there will be lots of people on here to help.

Firstly though, I cannot strongly recommend enough that you tell your partner of your financial situation. It was the hardest thing I've ever done but one of the best. He was so supportive and still is.

You can do all your CCCS stuff on-line if you are worried about speaking to anyone. They post you all the relevant forms etc, including ones to send to your creditors. It can take a while to set up so get going as soon as you can.

Get your SOA up here asap and we will all try and help with suggestions on how to cut outgoings.

Well done on posting....look forward to seeing your SOA

Miss P
xx

mayan13

Thanks for advice,just having someone to talk to on here releases some of the stress,is there a template somewhere i can use for SOA?

Miss_Piggy_2

Try this:
www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Don't blame me if it doesn't work, useless at this technical stuff!!:D

Yes, this forum is great for discussing any problems you have. As Martin Lewis himself says, there isn't a money problem that can't be sorted out.

Miss P
xx

savingholmes

:wave: Welcome to the board

I agree you need to tell your partner as chances are it will affect his/her credit score too. If you go on a dmp initially you are going to get a lot of debt chasing calls - he/she will find out anyway and you will need additional support. If you've not yet missed a payment then there may be alternatives to a dmp - like moving money to interest free - particularly in the mbna range of banks where their minimum payment is £25 per month. Halifax have also recently dropped the minimum payment to 1% per month.

If you post a statement of affairs using http://makesenseofcards.com/ then you will know for yourself exactly what you are dealing with - but also if you post it on here people can give you tailored advice. I know it is scary to do - as I did it in July! But I've saved a fortune since then and been able to pay off my debts much quicker... It would also help you to look at the snowball calculator at http://www.whatsthecost.com/login.aspx - that will show you which debts you need to pay off first. You need your apr and minimum payment info before you start. You also need to know whether you can change your payments (flexible) or if it is an inflexible loan where payments are fixed and early repayment penalties apply.

When I joined I was trying to pay of £800 a month but kept borrowing back another £400:eek: . Now I am paying off more like a £1000 without borrowing back!:j I have had to make a number of lifestyle changes to be able to do that tho... there is a cost to dealing with debt but hopefully its a better price to pay that the one you get from ignoring it...

sarriep

Welcome Mayan!

Try this http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html and save in MSE format. It's a goodie!

I understand about reluctance to tell partner but in the long run it is a good idea to get some support! There will probably be phone calls ( we have quite a few) and sharing the burden has been very important! The fact you are doing something and making the first step to sort out your situation! Ours is just over £50000 so we are in for the long haul! :rolleyes:

Sx

sarriep

Beat me to it Savingholmes!:D

mayan13

Monthly Income Details
This is how stupid I have been
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.................................... 300
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 45
Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 30
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 20
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 30
Life assurance ......................... 30
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 817

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2000

No Secured Debt

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
LLOYDS LOAN....................14000.....280.......9.5
LLOYDS LOAN....................8000......245.......9.5
LLOYDS CARD....................9500......200.......17
HALIFAX CC.....................2000......30........23
MARBLES CC.....................7000......180.......33
MINT CC........................8500......200.......27
Total unsecured debts..........49000.....1135......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,200
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 817
Available for debt repayments........... 383
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,135
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -752

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,000
Total Secured debt...................... -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -49,000
Net Assets.............................. -47,000

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

kazwookie

Well done for posting up.

I am never good at offering advise, but I suggest you move the 2 highest crdit cards to low or 0% rates if you can.

Do you have anything you can sell, that you spent all the borrowed money on?

mayan13

I cant move any of the cards to lower ones,have tried but been turned down.I have a few things i can sell so that is my aim for the month but realistically i think i need to be looking at DMP ,i cant earn extra from my job because i am salaried and dont get paid overtime ,I am open to all ideas and advice from you guys.

hampsterpoo

Hi , I cant really see a lot that you can cut back on , and you havent anything listed for haircuts or emergency.

But you have a total of £100 between Presents & Entertainment
& clothing.
perhaps you need to re-jig your SOA a little.


When are your insurances up for renewal ?
you might find cheaper , use a cashback site , I'm sure someone far wiser than me will tell you who's got the best cashbacks at the moment.

And get to those cupboards and have a route through 'em and get some stuff on ebay.

And keep a spend dairy to see where every penny goes.

Hope that helps