50k and very down

andy40

Hi,
Im new to this and apologise if Im posting to the wrong place.
Im 50k in debt (probably more now), Im being kicked out of my (shared) flat, and probably going to break up with my parter. Oh and its my 40th birthday in a few week. This is not where I want to be.
Any one of these (or even 2) I could manage, but all 4!
How did I get into 50k of debt? Persistent overspending for years! And thinking I could deal with the problem tomorrow, and tomorrow ...
I met my partner 3 years ago, a stuggling Colombian English student from a good family who wanted to make it here. Things were hard but there was always hope, but he lost his job (sales assistant) in the summer and has not been able to get another one, and in the current climate it looks like it is not going to happen anytime soon. He is (again) seriously thinking about going back home. He does not want to but logically it makes sense. Neither of us want it to happen but I want the best for him and he wants the best for me.

We live in a shabby but comfortable and *cheap* flat, but since the landlords boyfriend moved in there has been a huge clash of personalities. Plus the landlord is on anti-depressants, just to add to the mix. Last week he gave up a month to leave, and has been pretty nasty whenever we encounter him, to such an extent that my partner has spent the last 3 nights at his friends.

If my financial situation was sound we could cope, but it isnt, Im scrabbling around to get enough deposit for the next room!

In my better moment I can see it all ending well, he goes home and is much happier, maybe he will come back again.
On my own I would have a better chance of dealing with my debt problem.
I have a decent job, that seems to be reasonably stable, although who knows what will happen.

A new place to stay and my relationship ending I can and will have to deal with, but the 50k?
I earn 40k pa, about £2300pm. I dont have many fixed outgoings, rent (£600), mobile (£35) travel (£200 for 2) and food (£400 for 2).
I have
Natwest loan for 25k (consolidation of cards)
Egg loan for 16k (consolidation of cards)
and a bunch of credit cards probably coming to 20k, some of fixed fairly low interest rates, others on low short term rates that are coming to an end soon.
I pay the minimum every month and I have not missed any payments recently.
When I have missed payments it has been though lack of organisation.
I live on credit!

Any suggestions about my situation?

Thanks,

Andy

piptom&AndyPandy

Hi
Not a great deal of suggestions I'm afraid but a friendly cyber hug!! What a horrid situation to find yourself in. I would think living where you live isn't helping because it's so stressful it will skewer everything. With the loans how long do you have left, on a positive note if you can afford to keep paying them and not running up anymore then you will be debt free in that time. Alternatively you could look to renting your own place instead of a room, and contacting CCCS or Payplan and embarking on a DMP so that you have more money and freedom. As I said I'm probably not a huge help, but thinking of you!

Pip
x

Browntoa

hang around for a while for one of the experts on here, they will reply soon

welcome to the forum

might help them if you can break down the credit card debt per card and the interest rate

HHH_2

Dont forget life supposedly begins at 40 and now you have realised the extent of your debt there is lots you can do about it. firstly though while you still have a good credit rating it would seem sensible to find yourself somewhere better to live. once that is sorted you may feel a little happier then you can tackle your debt. it is a lot BUT by no means the most people have owed ( me for one!) Have a look at the CCCS website which has a debt remedy thing you can fill in which will give you options, or e mail them there is a sticky at the top of the opening page or just call them they are very helpful and non judgemental. do not touch any fee paying debt managing companies with a a barge pole!CCCS will help you for nothing. as for your boyfriend if you start relieving the strees by finding a new plcae to live and tackling your debts maybe you will both find a way through this which helps you to stay together. good luck x

System

I would personally figure out which credit card is costing you the most, or is the smallest. Then put any and all extra cash onto that until it is gone. Then continue onto the next!

I always find its good to clear some debt quickly as it feels like youre actually doing well! But don't forget that you should really try target the high interest cards.

Aside from this I would recommend looking at 0% cards [but take into account the transfer fee and weight this against how long it would take to pay off].

It may be well worth while taking the tact that other members of this forum do and make a big list of all your targets / debts. That way you can more easily see how your efforts affect your situation.

I believe things like this tend to "snowball" so although it may take a while to get setup initially, as soon as you clear one bit of debt you can use the money to clear other debt faster, and faster, and faster until your clearing debt faster than you thought possible!!

Oh and an obvious one is to try reduce your outgoings anyway you can!

whitewing

Andy, now you've found MSE, you can have a better future!

Do a Statement of Affaires (list of income vs outgoings) from https://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk . It is much easier for people to comment when they see it on here in a familiar format....

Jesthar

Hi, Andy, and welcome!

Here's a handy little link for you:

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

This is a Statement of Affairs calculator - it simply helps you put your financial position into a readable format to help you deal with it better. If you fill it out a fully as you can, then use the 'MSE' button in the 'Format results for discussion board' section near the botto, you can copy and paste the results into a new post in this thread for the lovely people here to have a look at and advise you where you can make savings.

I can start the ball rolling on that one by highlighting your food bill - £400 for 2 people is HUGE! I'm single living on my own, and I spend about £50 a month on food - without buying any value brands, I might add, and I eat VERY well.

Someone also mention the Snowball calculator - you can fidn this here:

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

If you put all your debts and APRs into this, it will tell you in which order to overpay your debts in order to clear them fastest.

Hope that helps,

~Jes

tuggy

Hi Andy,

Big hugs to you both. Yes, do the SOA calculator and everyone can really help you. First thing that jumps out.. £400 on food? thats waaaay over budeget. you could do it for £200 easy peasy.

xx

[Deleted User]

Hi Andy,

Just a bump I'm afraid.

I agree with everyone else, please do a SOA as there are many people on here that will help you to figure out what can be shaved off it to give you some extra money.

Tea
x

andy40

Thank you to everyone for your comments, it is so good to be able to talk about this at long last!!
I have done the SOA as suggested and it is posted below. It is not as precise as it should be so I will work on that. What it does show is that
I owe 57k
I have a monthly short fall of £100!

Things Im doing now:
£35pm deductions made from my payslip that I can cancel.
£59pm my gym membership cancelled, something I love but it will not be forever.
I put down £400pm for food, that was a figure I just plucked from thin air.
Jasthar got by on £50pm. I will try to work out the real figure, no doubt there will be big savings there. No more organics for us! And no more wasted food.
Why do crises always bring out the best in people??

Working all this this suggests I can 'get by', but I will be in debt for a greater part of my life. Is bancrupcy an option? That is something I need to look into.

Thanks again,
Andy

Congratulations on completing your SOA. What you need to do now is to highlight, copy and paste everything (yes, I mean everything) below the line into a post on the MSE website. When you have done that, you can type any other relevant information at the end of the post.

<===== Copy and paste EVERYTHING below this line into your MSE post =====>


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2300
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2300

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 600
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 200
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 1205

Assets
Cash.................................... 500
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 500
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1000

No Secured Debt

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Amex card......................413.......12........7
BarclayCard....................4703......110.......8
CapitalOne Card................1205......39........8
NAtwest Loan...................25711.....373.......8
Egg Loan.......................500.......283.......8
Virgin Card....................3803......44........15
Smile Card.....................7800......156.......15
Sainsbury Card.................1588......37........8
Natwest Visa...................939.......24........8
MSDW Card......................166.......6.........15
MBNA Card......................9232......89........6
Coop Divi Card.................1000......21........15
Total unsecured debts..........57060.....1194......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,300
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,205
Available for debt repayments........... 1,095
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,194
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -99

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,000
Total Secured debt...................... -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -57,060
Net Assets.............................. -56,060

Created using the SOA calculator at 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.

Household of myself (earning £2300pm) and partner (unemployed, foreign national, no access to UK benefits?).
No car but (old) motorbike which I will get rid of, perhaps a couple of hundred quid.

Jesthar

Hi, Andy!

Well done! :T Let's take a look at this for you:

andy40 wrote: »

Thank you to everyone for your comments, it is so good to be able to talk about this at long last!!
I have done the SOA as suggested and it is posted below. It is not as precise as it should be so I will work on that. What it does show is that
I owe 57k
I have a monthly short fall of £100!

Things Im doing now:
£35pm deductions made from my payslip that I can cancel. Good start!
£59pm my gym membership cancelled, something I love but it will not be forever. And another good start!
I put down £400pm for food, that was a figure I just plucked from thin air.
Jasthar got by on £50pm. I will try to work out the real figure, no doubt there will be big savings there. No more organics for us! And no more wasted food.
Why do crises always bring out the best in people?? *pssst* - I still buy organic milk... For REALLY good help in getting your food bills right down, pay a visit to the Old Style Moneysaving section of this forum - you'll be AMAZED how far they can make your pennies stretch!

Working all this this suggests I can 'get by', but I will be in debt for a greater part of my life. Is bancrupcy an option? That is something I need to look into. Well, it's an option, but not one to be taken lightly. You'd be better to look at managing your debt down first. It will take a while, but maybe not as long as you think once you start to target it properly!

Thanks again,
Andy

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2300
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2300

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 600
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0 - I think there should be something here...
Electricity............................. 0 - no elec?
Gas..................................... 0 - or gas?
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0 - or water?
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 50 - can you reduce this, maybe go PAYG, and only use for emergencies? I spend about £5 a month on my mobile!
TV Licence.............................. 0 - no TV?
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 With care, you can get this down to £100, I suspect - maybe under
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 200 - what does this cover?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20 - what does this cover? Can it be reduced/cancelled?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15 - you probably need to drop this for now, sorry
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20 - right now, your debt IS your emergency...
Total monthly expenses.................. 1205

Assets
Cash.................................... 500 - this should probably be used to clear money off your cards
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 500 - as should this, if you can
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1000

No Secured Debt

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Amex card......................413.......12........7
BarclayCard....................4703......110.......8
CapitalOne Card................1205......39........8
NAtwest Loan...................25711.....373.......8
Egg Loan.......................500.......283.......8 - is this right? Because this should be paid off in a few months if so! If not, then either you have accidentally put down less money that you owe, or you are paying them much less a month!
Virgin Card....................3803......44........15
Smile Card.....................7800......156.......15
Sainsbury Card.................1588......37........8
Natwest Visa...................939.......24........8
MSDW Card......................166.......6.........15 - this could be cleared now with some of your £500 cash
MBNA Card......................9232......89........6
Coop Divi Card.................1000......21........15
Total unsecured debts..........57060.....1194......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,300
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,205
Available for debt repayments........... 1,095
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,194
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -99

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,000
Total Secured debt...................... -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -57,060
Net Assets.............................. -56,060

Created using the SOA calculator at 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.

Household of myself (earning £2300pm) and partner (unemployed, foreign national, no access to UK benefits?). Perhaps some of the people here can suggest was she can earn some income?
No car but (old) motorbike which I will get rid of, perhaps a couple of hundred quid. Very good idea!

Well, it's a close run thing, but there ARE options.

Also, have you ever had charges applied to any of your credit cards? If so, these have been ruled unfair by the courts, and you should look into reclaiming them ASAP! Have a look in the 'Reclaim 1000s' section in this site for more info. Oh, and the same goes for any PPI you may have been mis-sold.

Hope that helps

~Jes