Too scared to work out what I owe

ILoveHenryJames

moozie wrote:

Looking at this list, even without the amounts I owe, makes me feel even more stupid and more of a failure.

Never ever regard yourself as being stupid or a failure. There is no pre-run at life and not every person has someone to teach them fiscal skills. You may have made a mistake; but hasn't every person in the world?

Do not feel ashamed but feel proud. You have realised that something needs to be done and you are doing it. Well done you.

*Huge pat on the back*

lforster

I am completely amazed at how many people are in a similar boat to me :money: I am impressed that you've started to actually put down the quantities I'm probably not ready for that yet. Nice start

moozie_2

Thank you again for your wonderful support. All of the comments are very useful and some have hit certain spots within me. I do feel ashamed, embarrassed and stupid to be in the position I am in right now. I would be mortified if my parents knew how badly I've messed up yet I with I could talk to them about some of this.

I came home this evening and I was really determined to open all the unopened envelopes and add up everything. Part of my thinking has been 'well it's on DD, what's the point of opening the envelope?'. As far as the bank accounts are concerned, I really don't know how much/when is going out or what all the cash withdrawals are for. Stupid I know but I'll have to tackle that tomorrow. The last 24 hours have been a real achievement for me and all thanks to your kind words. Even though there is still a long way to go and have no idea how it's going to work, at least I am facing facts now.

I've started by putting figures against the list I put down earlier. Here it is now:

Barclays joint account overdraft - £2,555.30 OD @ 1.22% interest (hope I got that right) £2,750 OD limit

Alliance & Leicester joint account overdraft - £401.35 OD Free OD, £500 limit

Barclays account overdraft - £413.02 OD @ 1.22% interest, £500 limit

First Direct account - £759 in credit, got paid last week

Halifax credit card - £2,351.09 @ 0% until 18/7/06 pay min by DD

Barclaycard - £51.56 @ 12.9% pay min by DD

Freemans catalogue - £65 outstanding, payment due in May

BHS store card - £33.07, gets paid fully every month

Sainsburys loan - £19,570.32 (incl interest) @ 6.5%, monthly £386.12 until 24.10.07

Tesco loan - £8,470.56 (incl interest) @ 6.5%, monthly £201.68 until 16.08.09

There is a small positive figure in all this and that is an ISA that (apparently) I have been paying into. I don't remember this at all but it has £270 credit. Also, my piggy bank count showed I now have £182 worth of £2 coins. Mad really to collect £2 when everything else is so bad.

You know, I just realised I've written it all down but not added it up or thought of how to tackle any of it. I'll do the adding up now...

Alleycat

Just a quick note before I read through your post properly, but with Barclays the 1.22% is the monthly interest rate. The annual rate is about 15%.

I had an overdraft with Barclays last year thinking it was 1.22% but it was pointed out to me that it was actually a lot more, sorry!!

Alleycat

Right, had a brief look and the first thing I would suggest is that you aim to clear your barclays overdrafts and credit card asap as these have the highest interest rates.

You can clear the barclays overdraft in your name straight away, leaving you with £38.98 to pay off most of the barclays credit card.

I would also suggest you stop spending on the BHS card. What are you spending on it each month?

You need to reduce your total credit asap as you will need to apply for another 0% card to transfer the halifax 0% balance over so you don't get charged extortionate interest.

By getting rid of two debtors it will make you feel a lot more confident and able to tackle the rest. I know its not paying off a great deal but just reducing the amount of people you are paying will give you a great boost and give you a great start!!

aliyah

well done for making a start! since starting to explore this site i have at last faced up to my mounting debts.

i had been stuffing letters from debtors into carrier bags and trying to forget they existed! life has been hard these last few years with one of my children having major surgery, so everything else seemed less important.

but...this is what i have started now...

i opened and sorted all the letters :eek:

i brought a notebook and used a double page for each debt listing amount, reference numbers, addresses and action so far

i then brought a file and alphabetically filed all the debt letters and shredded all the duplicates (sad, i know, but essential and quite therapeutic!)

i then wrote to every debtor explaining that i was now attempting to sort out my debt problem, thanked them for their patience so far (!), and let them know i would be in touch as soon as possible

just doing that alone was a huge weight off my mind and gave me some breathing space!

worked out a plan offering token payments and wrote with full details and the first payment.

i also wrote to companies with smaller debts (under 100 pounds and asked for these to be cancelled) - i was pleasantly pleased with the replies and i went on to query a few of the debts as i know i shouldn't have been charged in the first place - i have already had one of these cancelled :j

now i do not dread the postman - i actually look forward to it!! on opening letters i put the details into my notebook straight away and plot my next action there too

and i have followed advice on mse about illegal bank charges from dchurch

i have offered payment plans i can stick to and made it clear that i have not offered more as i do not want to default

my only real difficulty is with congestion charge fines. i am hoping somebody on mse may advise... :rolleyes:

good luck! you will soon realise that its such a good feeling to move forward!!!

aliyah

magentadreamer

Well done you for posting!

As Alleycat said use the ISA money and your £2 coin money and pay off your barclays OD plus most of that Barclays card -you might even find when you go to close the ISA that you'll get some extra interest and be able to pay off the barclaycard all at once. What you might like to do is a "virtual root down the sofa" and find some extra money by doing nothing other than switching utlities/insurances etc. I went on a mad roll and switch and cancelled things finally saving myself loads. I work on the premise it's not a fiver a month I'm saving but £60 a year. Another biggy for me was actually looking at what I spend on food shopping I've saved loads this month by using the Tesco online discount codes for a massive monthly shop then a weekly veg/milk kinda shop. You'll be suprised what you can free up by doing very little.

brummiebabe

Hi moozie - only just caught up with your thread!

Don't really have anything useful to add to the excellent advice you've already had! Just wanted to say WELL DONE for what you've achieved so far!! MSE and the people on these forums are the best!! You'll get so much support, advice and encouragement!! Stick with it!!! Imagine how much better you'll feel/sleep etc when you know it's all under control!:D

Keep us posted!!

moozie_2

Alleycat wrote:

By getting rid of two debtors it will make you feel a lot more confident and able to tackle the rest. I know its not paying off a great deal but just reducing the amount of people you are paying will give you a great boost and give you a great start!!

Thanks for your advice. This makes good sense, I'll get on it tomorrow.

moozie_2

magentadreamer wrote:

What you might like to do is a "virtual root down the sofa" and find some extra money by doing nothing other than switching utlities/insurances etc.

I think this will have to be one of my next steps. Thank you for taking the time to advise me. I hope once my partner and I have a chance to talk, he may help with your suggestion in particular as this will affect the joint banck accounts.