My 60 year old mum owes 14k on credit - Help pls

fc123

StevieJ wrote: »

You are lucky, you have some nice kind posters looking after you rather than the usual riff-raff

Of course ...we are always around but the those that shout loudest and meanest seem to drown everyone else out.

mumsgirl

just posted to DFW - thanks all, feeling really optimistic I can help my mum

fc123

mumsgirl wrote: »

just posted to DFW - thanks all, feeling really optimistic I can help my mum

DFW board is great as loads of people on there who are in debt from all sorts of different reasons.
This board can be a teeny bit judgmental sometimes...eg; anyone in unmanageable debt has a giant telly or ate too many takeouts rather than cooking bones and beans from scratch..........mind you, after a few weeks on DFW, recipes from beans and bones become second nature.

See if you can get your mum to post herself at some point....it may help her deal with it step by step too.

GeorgeUK

First, get her to stop spending on the card if she is still using it.

As she is probably paying interest on the card, she should look into possibly getting another card or 2 with a 0% Balance transfer offer. At least this way any money she pays will be going towards the debt and not all on interest.

Has she tried reclaiming any bank charges or credit card charges that she has had?

If she has 14k of debt in 4 years then she is overspending. Can you get her to fill out a statement of affairs so you can see where the money is going and hopefully get her to cut back?

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

mumsgirl

My mum is scared too death of the whole thing to be honest so I kind of feel I have to do as much research into this as possible to be able to convince her of a course of action. This site has changed our lives!!! I shop for a family of 4 on £60pw, all homemade good healthy stuff, let alone the freebies and extra money saving I have been doing im addicted to MSE !

fc123

:hello: Hi Mumsgirl...you'll get great advice on here.

Someone may have a letter template to post to cards to request interest frozen and a debt management plan that she could organise herself?

Just to say MG posted on house/recession board and we guided her to here......;)

treliac

mumsgirl wrote: »

im addicted to MSE !

As are we all. :beer:

lostinrates

fc123 wrote: »

This board can be a teeny bit judgmental sometimes...eg; anyone in unmanageable debt has a giant telly or ate too many takeouts....

you forgot sky +. You'd never believe you were 'one of us'. ;)

BTW 'fc', did you know you'd put yer name in a post.....just checking your happy with that

fc123

mumsgirl wrote: »

My mum is scared too death of the whole thing to be honest so I kind of feel I have to do as much research into this as possible to be able to convince her of a course of action. This site has changed our lives!!! I shop for a family of 4 on £60pw, all homemade good healthy stuff, let alone the freebies and extra money saving I have been doing im addicted to MSE !

Hi I saw your post on DFWS.....that board is quieter in the evenings...but very fast moving most of the time.

You could print out any letters and she can just sign them.

The template I used years back was from www.fool.co.uk. May be one on here too?

The reply on DFW about reasons for the overspend is valid. If she was using the debt to prop up her essential living expenses then there may be a deeper problem that you may have to deal with, but if it was just 'Add-on' spending that she can live without, that's all good.


The worst thing she could do is 'Consolidate' secured against the house....but a lot of these type of loans have vanished in the credit crunch.
Don't let her go anywhere near anything Sub-Prime either.

mr.broderick

mumsgirl wrote: »

My mum is scared too death of the whole thing to be honest so I kind of feel I have to do as much research into this as possible to be able to convince her of a course of action. This site has changed our lives!!! I shop for a family of 4 on £60pw, all homemade good healthy stuff, let alone the freebies and extra money saving I have been doing im addicted to MSE !

Some might say your mum is one of the reasons we are in this mess but the availability of easy irresponsible lending like this hasn't helped.