Posted for Lovestoshop! SOA

Annie_Fanny

Have copied and pasted one of Lovetoshop!'s earlier posts....

Lovetoshop! if you could answer the questions in red....please bear with me this is going somewhere!

'I have about £25,000 debt. Are the debts all yours - in your name? Does your partner have significant debts as well? If yes what are they? Does your partner know about the extent of your debts?

We are homeowners but do not want to put any loans on the house, or sell, This may seem pointed but why do you not want to sell your house? I need to get out of this somehow. I want to see an end to this.

I have two jobs and all my income goes out on mortgage, debts and bills, and I have no money left to myself to buy food, petrol, live day to day.
if I get a bit of credit on one card I will use it.

Don't know what to do! Luckily, I don't have any arrears etc, but it will get that way soon enough.'

I'm trying to think of how to put this - hope that it makes sense!?

Please do not take any of this personally Lovetoshop! I just hope to provoke some thought & debate and maybe even try to open your mind to the other solutions open to you which do not involve giving banks anymore £££.

I think that you are stuck in a destructive and unhelpful mindset Lovetoshop! A mindset that thinks taking out yet another loan from the bank is the answer, thinks that selling your home is not an option, thinks making changes to your spending habits etc is just too darn hard work...

Yes I know that the approach, on this site, to freeing oneself of debt is a radical one, and I think that the Martin Lewis converts often forget this, but it is a sound proven technique. The advice offered to you by ms_London et al is really really good stuff. Yes the bank has 'offered' you a way out, at the same time making themselves a tidy profit of £7k+ but do you really want to have that significant sum of money coming out of your account each month for 7 years? What if your circumstances change? What if you want to take a different direction in life?

The time has come to FIGHT BACK Lovetoshop! but this will involve significant effort, (and a significant change in your mindset) on your part and your partners. You say that 'if I get a bit of credit on one card I will use it' and this is exactly the mindset you will have to change if you genuinely want to become debt free. This will sound harsh but at present you sound like the type of person who will be getting out ANOTHER consolidation loan in 5 years time to pay of the £25k and all the other credit card bills you have racked up once again.

Lovetoshop! you should be proud that you have approached the good people of this website for advice and have faith that you can sort this problem out. It will be a slog but everyone of us on this forum wishes you well and hopes that you become another debt free wannabe success!

Sorry for the length of my post but it really struck a cord with me...

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Alleycat

I think everyone else has covered it so far, but one question I have.

With the £747 you are repaying to your debt at the moment, how is this broken down?

Just thinking that if you are able to live within your current SOA leaving you with an extra £400 odd to throw at your debts, you could clear the two store cards in a month each freeing up the amount you have been paying them to chuck at your other debts.

Please have a look at the snowballing calculator if you haven't already as it is a real eye opener and will give you a real sense of purpose when you see it all listed.

moo842

well said annie fanny. time and time again i read posts here with high mobile bills and the need for sky, i think lightbulb moments come in two stages, the realisation of your debts and then the realisation that you can do without these things

ms_london

Lovetoshop? Where are you? Any comments?

Did you accept the consolidation loan?

xx

Annie_Fanny

Any news Lovetoshop!?

Lovestoshop!

Well, didn't get bank loan, they refused me in the end.

Thinking of going to Payplan.com, what do you think?

Slight change to my SOA though, here it is revised: ( basically my partner is paying his own debts off, so he is paying mortgage and his own loan, so the whole £25000 ish is all mine!

This is what get and what I pay out:


Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £1,232


Monthly Outgoings:

Water – £20.00
Food - £200
Council Tax - £107
Gas - £29.00
Electric - £25.00
TV Licence - £10.99
Life Ins – £11.27
House Ins – £20.23
TOTAL: £463

Sky £35.99 (looking at reducing...)
Phone - £25 (includes £10 Broadband,need internet for my college course)
Mobile - £22
Car Insurance - £27.06
Petrol - £80
Gas Care -£15.49

Total: £668.54



Natwest CC – Balance £4,357 (limit £4,400) APR 16.9%

Natwest Loan – Balance £9,000 (roughly) APR 7.4% Length of term 60 months, 48 months to go
Overdraft - £1200 (limit £1200) APR 17.69%
Capital One CC – Balance £4,758 (Limit £4,800) APR 15.9% (In arrears, 2 mths)
Halifax CC – Balance £1,930 (Limit £1,950) APR 15.9%
Virgin CC – Balance £4,900 (Limit £4,900) APR 15.9%
Next Catalogue – Balance £384.25 APR 26%
Additions Catalogue – Balance £550.77 APR 29.8%

I also have an interest free loan which is paid off in September, £92 per month.

TOTAL EACH MONTH ON CARDS ETC: £745.

GRAND TOTAL: £1413 Where I get the £181 from I have no idea!

So there you go,any suggestions? Do I negotiate with Creditors?
I a thinking of selling my car, which I would probably get £2000 for, so that would save me on petrol, MOT etc, which I haven't even listed for MOT and repairs, saying that I just had to get some work done on it costing me £75 last week!

I am really worried, my Mum has been helping giving me money each month, but she can't keep bailing me out. arrghhh! All my own stupid fault.

Bunnie1982

Is your food shopping £200 for 2 of you? You may be able to do this for cheaper, me and my fiance can shop each week for £20 or under

Lovestoshop!

£200 for two of us, and we buy food at work!

jesster_2

If you can live without your car, I say do it. It's £100 a month saved, even without accounting for MOTs, tax, servicing etc. That's 1200 a year on petrol and insurance alone. Add to that £120 tax, prob £100 for MOT and a bit of work... Almost £1500 a year.

Bunnie1982

Lovestoshop! wrote:

£200 for two of us, and we buy food at work!

Perhaps it would help to make sandwiches to take to work, we certainly find that reduces our costs, as we were both spending about £2.50 a day on lunches when we were buying at work