credit cards help

sarah8608

Hi i have struggled for months with our credit cards as i have not worked for 12 months we have 40k on credit cards,i have now come to the end of my savings and can no longer afford to pay the minimum amounts so i wrote to them all asking them to accept lower payments but they have all apart from one said that because they are not in arrears yet they cant help ???
i find this hard to understand as i have asked for help and untill i have incured a load of late charges they wont is this how it works ??
hope i have done this right i am new to this
my soa
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 3300
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 75
Total monthly income.................... 3375
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1523
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 141
Electricity............................. 60
Gas..................................... 244
Oil..................................... 60
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 50
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 30
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 17
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 40
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 31
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 36
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2773

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 250000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 250000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 230000...(1523).....7.1
Total secured debts........... 230000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................4600......110.......16
credit card....................3600......100.......0
credit card....................8100......167.......21
loan...........................20000.....293.......8
credit card....................10500.....201.......19
credit card....................11300.....221.......18
Total unsecured debts..........58100.....1092......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,375
Expenses (including secured debts)...... 2,773
Available for debt repayments........... 602
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,092
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -490
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 250,000
Total Secured debt...................... -230,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -58,100
Net Assets.............................. -38,100

poorandindenial

Hi Sarah

Welcome to the board

The first thing you need to do is put together a statement of affairs (there is a handy website that has a soa calculator www.makesenseofcards.com) so that we can see where you are at.

If you post it up here then people will help you to see what options you might have and also help you to find ways of freeing up more cash to put towards you debt.

Don't fancy that? You can always get in touch with one of these organisations:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help

They will give you advice and NOT charge for it, some of them can even negotiate with your creditors in some circumstances but they will be able to tell you the best option for your situation

All the best getting this sorted

doodledo_2

Hi Sarah and welcome to the board.

Have you tried talking to any of the debt charities as they may be able to help you.

Posting your SOA as per the other persons post is definately a good idea.

Toffee_Penny

Sarah can I ask if you have been paying ppi on your credit cards? If you have not been working then you should have been eligible to claim.

Don't worry this site and the people on it are amazing, I'd recommend the CCCS website, they have a small questionnaire on there that will go through all your income and expenditure and at the end will flag up a suitable debt remedy based on your circumstances. It is completely confidential no need for names, address or account numbers.

Give it a try and good luck xxx

sarah8608

i cancelled my ppi some time ago so cant do that.i have looked at the cccs website which i did find helpful my worry is that if i do dmp will it affect my partner he is a partner in a small company and even though he dosent make alot of money on paper the company as got assets my credit cards take that into account ???

doodledo_2

Are these just your debts or are they in his name too?

Not sure legally how it stands if in your name and not married.

There is a thread where you can speak to a CCCS member of staff at the top of this board, might be worth posting on there for some advice.

98jdougl

notice you have no income and no benefits- are you not claiming jobseekers?

sarah8608

they are 3 in mine and the rest in his.
thanks i will talk to the cccs member x

poorandindenial

I just saw that you have popped up your SOA.

The Electricity is high, the gas is outrageous, are you paying off arrears? - you pay £364 a month in energy alone.

You can reduce the groceries, I don't know how many of you tehre are but £100-200 reduction should be possible with a bit of meal planning and cooking from scratch (See the moneysaving old style board)

Your phone and internet is £65 and you could get this with telly for less than £30 through sky

Are any of your insurances up for renewal? if so shop around for the cheapest deal and buy through a moneyback site such as quidco

You could go interest only on your mortgage for a while until you get back on track too

A few suggestions from me. Please don't take them as ripping your SOA apart, they are just things that stand out as being areas that you could save on.

poorandindenial

Do you have any joint finances?

crazyhazy

sarah8608 wrote: »

Hi i have struggled for months with our credit cards as i have not worked for 12 months we have 40k on credit cards,i have now come to the end of my savings and can no longer afford to pay the minimum amounts so i wrote to them all asking them to accept lower payments but they have all apart from one said that because they are not in arrears yet they cant help ???
i find this hard to understand as i have asked for help and untill i have incured a load of late charges they wont is this how it works ??
hope i have done this right i am new to this
my soa
Monthly income after tax................ 0 can you not claim job seekers?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 3300
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 75
Total monthly income.................... 3375
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1523
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 141
Electricity............................. 60 seems high - check you're getting the best deal
Gas..................................... 244 why is this so high?
Oil..................................... 60
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 50 can this be reduced?
Mobile phone............................ 30can you call and reduce this a bit?
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 15 you can usually get a deal with landline & internet, we get unlimited calls and free int with talk talk all for £20pm
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 how many is this for, try the oldstyle board for tips to reduce
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 30
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 17
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 40what's this for?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 31 this seems high check for cheaper quotes and use quidco
Contents insurance...................... 0 no contents ins??
Life assurance ......................... 36
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2773

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 250000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 250000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 230000...(1523).....7.1
Total secured debts........... 230000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................4600......110.......16
credit card....................3600......100.......0
credit card....................8100......167.......21
loan...........................20000.....293.......8
credit card....................10500.....201.......19
credit card....................11300.....221.......18
Total unsecured debts..........58100.....1092......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,375
Expenses (including secured debts)...... 2,773
Available for debt repayments........... 602
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,092
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -490
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 250,000
Total Secured debt...................... -230,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -58,100
Net Assets.............................. -38,100

Have put some comments in red, hope it might help x