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

fc123

mr.broderick wrote: »

Iluvmr.b123

That is up there at the top so far

mumsgirl

thats ok, no luck at the mo but theres plenty of time and the internet is a powerful thing if you want it to be

itsnever2lateisit?

Well done for posting here mumsgirl and well done fc123 for shepherding her away from the 'fighty' board:D

A few questions

Does your mum have all the statements going back? If she does then an analysis of what it was spent on might be worthwhile

You need to determine whether this debt is a result of 'overspending' on nice to have things or if it has been spent on day to day living.

If it is the former then easy peasy:D , if the latter then a longer haul is in prospect. Having said that the folks on here have achieved success with debts wellbeyond £14k, and they sure helped me out (see my sig)

A couple of things to do asap
1. Draw up a Statement of Affairs (set top of board for linky)
2. Keep a spending diary (of every single penny spent, it is surprising where the money goes).

You are in good company here, no one will judge you, every one will chip in with ideas, and their own personal experiences which you can draw on.

Consider hiding this credit card away for the moment, the sooner your mum can live without it, the quicker this can be tackled.

HTH

vix2000

What does 'interest frozen' entail, and does it go on your credit file, please?

fc123

mumsgirl wrote: »

yes, clearly, some would say people like my 60 year old mum are to blame for this 'mess'.

To be fair...no ones to blame as such. People like your mum (and ourselves) probably didn't find borrowing money easy years ago, and when you could, it meant you were 'good for it'.....so it felt OK.

No ones judging her and she shouldn't feel ashamed either....just to acknowledge that the debt is too much to manage any longer, that she can sort it out with a bit of help and she won't use it again is enough. Credit cards are the devil reborn IMO and have caused so many problems for people.
OK, we took them on and maxed them out (for whatever reason) but, had they not been there, we'd have all got by somehow without the available credit.

We just found out OH's mum (not working mid 60's married with low income and mortage tho' small) has a card with a pretty big limit. Fortunately, she doesn't use it to the max....but would have had someone in the family needed help.

vivatifosi

Hey FC, in the spirit of the people of Iceland, how about Frocking frokk?

Mumsgirl. I have parents in the same position, so feel free to pm me if you like, don't want to post their details here but am happy to be a sounding board.

itsnever2lateisit?

mumsgirl wrote: »

thats ok, no luck at the mo but theres plenty of time and the internet is a powerful thing if you want it to be

Hi Mumsgirl :hello:

While you are waiting for replies on DFW have a search around other threads there. You will find people in a worse position than your mum who are on the road to recovery. I have posted my tuppence worth there, and will continue to watch the thread and join in as and when I have something positive to offer

mumsgirl

We just found out OH's mum (not working mid 60's married with low income and mortage tho' small) has a card with a pretty big limit. Fortunately, she doesn't use it to the max....but would have had someone in the family needed help.[/quote]

There are various reasons for the debt, personal reasons, I just want to help her, she knows its her debt, takes responsibility for it, never moans about, never says she is worried, I have taken it upon myself to sort this out because I cant stand seeing my mum looking so exhausted all the time because of a debt she should never have been able to have access to. Ill get off my high horse now

GDB2222

itsnever2lateisit? wrote: »

Well done for posting here mumsgirl and well done fc123 for shepherding her away from the 'fighty' board:D

It hasn't worked that way. Some of the sharks from the fighty board have followed the pilot fish over. The fox is in the chicken shed, etc etc. So, be afraid! Be very afraid! (Well, actually, it's only me, but you get the gist.)

I'll be interested to see how MG helps her mum out of this, with your help, of course.

ad9898_3

StevieJ wrote: »

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

Don't believe this schister mumsgirl, he is commander-in-chief of riff-raff round here.:D