Pregnant & Worried about debt!!!!

Pregnant

Hello every one, this is my first post on this site and I am looking for someone to provide me with some Help Please !!!!!

I have just found out that I am Pregnant which was unplanned but happy news, well it was untill I started worrying about how I am going to pay my existing c/cards and loan repaymens !!.

I currently have about £11,500 debt which I have not, to date, struggled with but my income is going to reduce to about £400 a month !!!!!!!!! (SMP) from £1300 a month, and I currently pay about £360 a month towards my debts ... Arghhhh

I currently live with my b/friend in private letting, and he too has debt which he pays approx £380 a month towards and then afer the rent and council tax gas water ect...think we have about £100 a month to live off... : (

I wish i could enjoy being pregnant but all this worry over my debt is taking the enjoyment away : (

looking for any advice please .......

liz x

mum2one

Hi Liz

Firslt ycongratulations on the pregnancy, uve done the best thing youve come out to fight your debts not put your head in the sand.........
The 1st thing Id suggest is put up an SOA (based on current income) ans that way there may be ways to cut the expenditure now while your still on full income.
Now your pregnant, you need to get an excemption form from gp, which covers prescriptions and free dental treatment, think its until baby is 1 yr old.

Dont worry to much about the SMP at the momentm, I dont know how long you have worked for the company, but u may be entitled to 9/10th of your wages for x weeks, so the SMP covers part of the time off.

What yiou need to look at now along with the SOA, is to getthe debt reduced as much as possible now, chuck every extra penny you have, is there anything you can ebay, cds/dvds sell on magpie, put stuff ready for a carboot sale. Without knowing what yoyr debts are its hard to suggest which way round to go, can you look at transferring any debts to a lifetime of balance credit card?

You need to budget, also maybe think about cutting back on birthday and xmas presents, if you come across to the thrifry thread 2009 theres lot of good ideas about money neutraling presents, doing surveys online, daily clicks etc.
If youany more inof on the internet side or any help just shout xx

Merlinexcalibur

£400 a month

Would this be reduced to benefits of some form? I ask this because *and no not every one knows this and not if they have never experienced being on benefits before; if not, obviously disregard* you are entitled to council tax rebates and housing benefit. Yes, the dreaded word 'benefit'. But, let's be honest here, they ARE there to help people in your situation or anyone for that matter.

pay about £360 a month towards my debts ... Arghhhh

I think this is logically way too high.

You could also try CCCS, they have a free phone number and you can make an appointment with right now, today. They will go through all your finances, produce a financial statement for you, a letter to send to each of your creditors - and any debt collectors which may be involved - and an offer of reasonable payment. Not what your CREDITORS tell you is reasonable but what you can actually and physically afford. So, unless someone has recently invented a method to get blood from a stone, you can see what I am saying here.

Only pay what you can afford but, sensibly, make allowances within that for any unexpected things. No one knows what is coming tomorrow. Hey, if we did life would be a doddle wouldn't it? But we don't.

I know I make all that above sound very simple, and I appreciate that but it is a start and, importantly, it gives you confidence and some hope that things are not as bad as they first appear.

I think the important thing now is take the pressure off yourself and approaching someone like CCCS can do that. Because it can take the pressure off knowing they are there to support and help you. If they can't for any reason there are plenty of people on MSE who will and can.

Edit - that's not good, missing words out like that. Hmmm.

Merlinexcalibur

What is 'SMP?'

Merlinexcalibur

Mmm, just re-read your expenses including your 'boyfriends'. I think that paying nearly £800 pounds a month on your debts is seriously way too high. But I think you will know that anyway. That's why you are struggling with your priority debts and budgetting. Clearly. Priority debts, CTX, rent, power, anything else coming under that umbrella come first, your creditors ALWAYS come last.

one-day

the first bit of advice is please don't let it stress u as i did when pregnant and it used to worry my oh as used to let it get on top off me.

Nitha

I was pregnant with 10k of credit card debt, which unfortunately rose to 12k after the birth due to pre and post-natal depression (had a very difficult pregnancy which resulted in ridiculous amounts of online shopping). We lived off child benefit and tax credits. OH's salary covered household bills, my SMP covered debts, child benefit covered baby costs and Tax credits (for us were only £20 per week) paid for our food and petrol. It was tough but we managed. The hardest part for me was the cost of going back to work and at that point I had to go onto a repayment plan with one of my credit cards.

mum2one

Merlinexcalibur wrote: »

What is 'SMP?'

Its Statoury Maternity Pay

helzbelz_57

im not great at the debt advice but regarding baby, borrow as much as you can, clothes cots, buggy, even toys and things like that. im pg with no2 at minute and have decided not to buy anything unless we really cant get it from someone we know and only if we really need it. the only thing i would buy new is bottles and the car seat if you have a car. also, have you thought about breastfeeding and using reusable nappies? this will save you a fortune and if you have a second child, you will already have the nappies. for anything you do need to buy, try car bootsales, charity shops, ebay and freecycle. babies dont care that their buggy is brand new designer, as long as it is clean and comfortable. also for the 1st few months, you could use a sling, make your own with a length of fabric and borrow a sewing machine. there are some good tutorial on the internet. the same with nappies if you wanted to make your own. when weaning, make your own food, dont buy jars. and get into the habit of freezing part of your own homemade meals for baby. although make sure all ingredients are suitable as some arent before 1 year. thats all i can think of right now but im sure there are more

xredwebx

Hi, Just wanted to add a *hug* and a congrats!!!,
I'm in a similar situation as you, with a load of debt and a baby on the way, but just wanted to say try not to worry!
Everything will work out, and if it means that your creditors have to take a reduce payment from you then they'll have to lump it!
Me and my hubby spent the first 3 months of my pregnancy worrying about how we would afford a baby and debts and we came to the conclusion that once the rent and all other bills were paid, they would have to accept what was left as we couldn't give anymore, and if that means being taken to court, we would go just to prove we couldn't pay more than we had.
It really isn't worth getting yourself worked up over, there are plenty of others things that will do that.
Just remember if you haven't got it they cant have it, and creditors would rather take £10 per week than nothing at all, so sort yours and your bf finances out first, cut back where you can and then realistically see whats left.
Sorry if I haven't made any sense, just wanted to put my 2p in and tell you not to worry good luck and hope everything goes well for you! xxx

lornz23

Hi,

I found myself in the same situation as you a few months ago so I decided to contact the CCCS and after lots of consideration I am now on a Debt Management Plan where you only pay what you can afford after they take all your house bills etc into consideration. I now know that in a few months when the baby comes and I am on £400 SMP I will not have to worry about my debt as I pay one set amount to the CCCS (about £200 less than what I was paying to each creditor as this is what I could afford) and they sort the rest out for me free of charge. I was so so so worried but they are lovely at the CCCS and will go though with you what your options are.

The best thing is try not to worry and just decide what root you want to take, I know it is hard but worring won't make it go away and won't help you and the baby.

Good Luck!