totally up the swanee !!

debtfreeplease_3

can any one please help? ive just been off work the last 6 months for maternity leave for baby number 3, and being used to 2 full time wages it was a hell of a shock not having the money, so ive lived on credit cards (5 in total, one is my husbands)thinking that i would be fine when i get back to work, but on now doing sums and its not totally worth me going back full time has half me wages would go to childminders.

any way now i have all these bills and no means for paying for them, im thinking of using one of them companys to deal with my creditors, does anyone have any recommendations? total of cards comes to around 11.500 and one of them has called a default on it!!!!

Alleycat

I don't really know much about debt agencies, but my first thoughts were regarding your return to work. If you are really struggling to make ends meet at the moment and have been relying on credit cards these past 6 months, how is that going to change if you decide not to go back at all? At least you would be earning more than currently which would go some way to paying all the bills and making an effort to pay off your credit cards.

With regard to your sums, have you factored in child/working tax credits, does your or your husband's company offer childcare vouchers?

At the end of the day, I see it as having two choices, you can either maximise your income by returning to work, either part-time or full-time or you can continue with the same income, but try your best to budget as much as possible, to enable you to live within it as well as pay some off your cards.

If you can post a statement of affairs (detailing all your incomings and outgoings) that would help a lot. You should include total owed and APR's. There are loads of people on here who will be able to help you make some savings and point you in the right direction.

Good luck!

debtfreeplease_3

thanks for replying
i am going back to work part time 23 hours any more and ill be working for childminder!!
our total incomings is :
my wages 530.0
hubbby wages 1100.00
c/benefit 160.00
tax credits ( still waiting for them to come back, but hoping around 250.00)

outgoings :
mortgage, endowment, council tax, water, gas, electric, the usual house hold bills comes around the 1700.00 mark

credit cards :
2 halifax total 6379.0
amex 850.00
mbna 4000.00
nationwide credit card 1200.00 ( has a default on has of today)
nationwide overdraft 1000.00 ( now old bank account)
these are rounded figures,
would i benefit from these debt companys??

Alleycat

Hi, if you can post your outgoings in a bit more detail i.e. food = £200, mortgage = £400 etc that would be good to try and pinpoint the best savings. Also the APR's of your credit cards and o/d. What are you currently paying each month on each of your debts? Also, do you hav any savings at all, isa's etc?

I would be very wary of debt companies such as the ones on tv as they are the devil incarnate. If possible, you should try and overpay as much as possible and shift debt where you can pay the lowest apr.

Just a brief point though, I would be surprised if you got £250 per month from CTC as I think (don't quote me on this!) but you would be earning over the higher amount threshold. Mine and my partner's earnings are about the same as yours and with a baby under one we got roughly £90 per month, reducing to roughly £35 once she hits a year. SORRY!!!

Tina_D

Hi,
I cant quite remember the sums but when I was on SMP after baby no3 I was entitled to working family tax credit, it might be worth trying them.

gravitytolls

You may have trouble shifting debts to interest free cards due to the default. Which means you could go to a debt consolidation comapny, but with a default they'll whack you with a huge interest rate, because you will be considered a higher risk.

Maybe you should have a look at the CCCS web site, they're probably the best free advice you're likely to find.

wendyl1967

What about working evenings and weekend in a supermarket just until you pay off your debts. Your husband could have the children so you would not need to worry about childcare. It is not ideal but for six months or so it would help.

debtfreeplease_3

hi thanks for the advice,
ive been in touch with tax credits and have been awarded with 341.20 a month until the month of april, they only took in consideration the amount you make before and after maternity and because this was only in the region of 5000.00 i have been given this amount it does help a lot, so instead of going down the debt consolidation/recovery companies do you think that they will accept lower payments from myself if i was to put this all in writing?

ashleyfae

I am not sure what your job is but the advice of working opposite your husband is a good idea to save on childcare. Have you any family that may be able to help you out one day a week. I know it's not easy relying on them but last year I had a break down and had to ask for their help. I had always been very resistant. They have been great, I don't abuse their generosity but it has helped reduce the costs.

Peppa_Pig_5

Hi debtfreeplease. I am glad you worked out your tax credits. I was going to reasure you that mine is £240 every 4 weeks and I have 1 child in school and 1 child at the childminders for 20 hours a week. Again your income looks the same as mine.

It is a shame about the default as that will mark your credit record now for 6 years. I have just got rid of mine. Same situation as yours, had my first child, no tax credits then, went from a full time wage down to £55 a week 6 years ago. Got into trouble, went to a debt collection agency and went downhill from there. That is how I got the default. But was very happy the other day when I found out it is now off my credit report. So I would advise you not to go to a debt collection agency.

I would advise trying to reduce your outgoings, e.g grocery bill, telephone, gas, electric, insurances etc. Maybe post a list of them on here or just look around for any advice already given on this site. Then if you still have to maybe then write to your creditors.

Hope this helps.

jobbingmusician

Hi debtfreeplease, I've just been reading through this thread, and I'm not sure that the main answer to your question has come through clearly enough. It is this

DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH DEBT MANAGEMENT COMPANIES!!!

If you read through other threads on this (debtfreewannabe) board you will read about other people's experiences with them, and they do seem dire. For clarity, I should say that I am not in serious debt, have never used them, and have no axe to grind. BUT

INSTEAD OF USING DMC, USE A COMPANY LIKE CCCI which is a charity especially set up to help people manage their debts. So they are not making money out of you! Again, threads on this board testify to how useful people have found them - and how much better people feel the minute they made the initial phone call to them and started to sort out their affairs.

CCCI seem to be able to inspire people to work with their credit card companies so that some of the companies will freeze the interest on the debts, so take heart and get on that phone on Monday