Horrible debt - Help!

dkwywbicgia

Hi all. I've been reading this site for sometime, and it's time for me to bite the bullet. I need to do something about my overwhelming debt before I end up unable to keep up repayments.

As you can see from below, my total minimum payments add up to a huge £872 per month!!! This only leaves me with £400 a month to cover all bills and rent which I've stripped down to £864 per month. Therefore all thats happening is my debt is getting bigger by the day!

LOANS x3
Outstanding 19883. Minimum Payment 462
OVERDRAFTS x4
Outstanding 6200. Minimum Payment 40
C CARDS x6
Outstanding 16438. Minimum Payment 370

TOTAL Outstanding 42521 :eek: Minimum Payment 872 :eek:


I've also compiled a list of outgoings. I share a rented house so half of all bills are my responsibility:

RENT 363
COUNCIL TAX 72
NTL & BT 18
ELECTRIC 10
GAS 5
TV LICENSE 6
MOBILE 20
GROCERIES 120
CAR INSUR & TAX 35
CAR MAINTAINANCE 20
CAR PETROL 140
ENTERTAINMENT 35
CLOTHES 20
TOTAL 864

Any suggestions? What about a Debt Management Plan or IVA?

Thanks

amosworks

What's "entertainment" for? Where do you go clothes shopping?

dkwywbicgia

amosworks wrote:

What's "entertainment" for? Where do you go clothes shopping?

I suppose what I've really done there is ad Clothes to Entertainment as a kind of 'others' expenditure. IE Going out, takeaways etc. Do you think that just over a tenner a week is excessive there?

climbgirl

dkwywbicgia wrote:

Hi all. I've been reading this site for sometime, and it's time for me to bite the bullet. I need to do something about my overwhelming debt before I end up unable to keep up repayments.

As you can see from below, my total minimum payments add up to a huge £872 per month!!! This only leaves me with £400 a month to cover all bills and rent which I've stripped down to £864 per month. Therefore all thats happening is my debt is getting bigger by the day!

LOANS x3
Outstanding 19883. Minimum Payment 462
OVERDRAFTS x4
Outstanding 6200. Minimum Payment 40
C CARDS x6
Outstanding 16438. Minimum Payment 370

TOTAL Outstanding 42521 :eek: Minimum Payment 872 :eek:


I've also compiled a list of outgoings. I share a rented house so half of all bills are my responsibility:

RENT 363
COUNCIL TAX 72
NTL & BT 18
ELECTRIC 10
GAS 5
TV LICENSE 6
MOBILE 20
GROCERIES 120
CAR INSUR & TAX 35
CAR MAINTAINANCE 20
CAR PETROL 140
ENTERTAINMENT 35
CLOTHES 20
TOTAL 864

Any suggestions? What about a Debt Management Plan or IVA?

Thanks

If you're currently overspending by £464 a month, and that's only paying the minimum, I think it might be best if you contact CCCS or Payplan to discuss your options. I can see savings of about £105-110 in your budget (no clothes, no entertainment, no mobile, cut food to £80 a month) but that's still a shortfall of about £350 a month - and this is only minimum payments, no inroads into debt.

Can you sell your car? that would free up a decent chunk (but still not quite enough by the looks of it).

You need to either increase your income (second job, better paying job) and make these cuts, or you need to talk to CCCS or Payplan about your options.

If these are your full figures, it's going to be difficult to find an extra £464 a month - and this will only just cover your minimum, you won't make inroads into your debts at all.

dkwywbicgia

Thanks - that's what I've come to realise. (Took me longer than it should). Car's only worth about £500. Anyone been in situations like mine and had an experience of Debt Management Plans or IVAs?

moozie_2

I am sorry I haven't any advice as I am still on a sharp learning curve but wanted to say well done on realiseing you need help and finally facing your debts.

:grouphug: and best of luck!

Littlemiss-lotsofdebt

Probably the only thing I can spot really, is the grocery bill - £120 a month. Is this for one person?

Sorry - like Moozie, I'm still learning so still have virgin like MSE skills!!

amosworks

dkwywbicgia wrote:

I suppose what I've really done there is ad Clothes to Entertainment as a kind of 'others' expenditure. IE Going out, takeaways etc. Do you think that just over a tenner a week is excessive there?

Hey matey,

I don't read "a tenner a week", to me that's funny money, I read £660 pa

In one year of not buying takeaways or spending loads on clothes, you could maybe half that which would give you an extra £300 to throw at your debts. Of course, it's totally up to you, and I hope this doesn't come across as rude - I'm just trying to point out to you that a tenner a week is a lot more than you realise

Have you tried shopping at charity shops? Do you have a slow cooker?

climbgirl

amosworks wrote:

Hey matey,

I don't read "a tenner a week", to me that's funny money, I read £660 pa

In one year of not buying takeaways or spending loads on clothes, you could maybe half that which would give you an extra £300 to throw at your debts. Of course, it's totally up to you, and I hope this doesn't come across as rude - I'm just trying to point out to you that a tenner a week is a lot more than you realise

Have you tried shopping at charity shops? Do you have a slow cooker?

All of these cutbacks are good ideas, and very well worth doing. But you don't seem to be spending excessively (although the debt must have come from somewhere?!) These cutbacks are good, and we can shave a bit of your monthly budget - like amos says, £300 a year to throw at your debts is not to be sneezed at.

But the problem is you're still overspending by £464 a month, just to service the minimum payments and stay alive. Cutting out the extras will save you about £120 a month. Still a £340-350 shortfall. So every month you will get £350 further into debt. And now we're starting to get into default territory and missed payments and this isn't good!

I'd call CCCS and Payplan asap - the cutbacks on entertainment etc are good, but £300 a year, isn't going to do much to change the fact that you're overspending by so much every month. You need to deal with this fast.

Rafter

Can only echo the comments above.

You have unsecured debt of around twice your salary from what I can see and no serious assets.

You need to arrange a way of restructuring your debts before they get any bigger.

Go to either of the websites of the organisations mentioned above or adviceguide.co.uk (citizens advice) and read through your options.

Good luck.

R.

dkwywbicgia

Thanks guys. All your advice has more or less confirmed what I knew already. I'll be speaking to CCCS.