I cant see a way out - NO ONE will accept me, dont knw what to do

margaretclare

Please don't think of getting another loan to pay off debts. You don't pay off debts from a loan, you simply add to the debts and lull yourself into a false sense of security - as in the TV ads, smiling family having paid off all debts and sitting on a sunny beach or with a new car. Trouble is, those debts will take longer to pay off and you'll end up paying more interest.

You keep saying you're 'only 26'. Here's where your real education begins. Buy (or borrow from the library) a copy of Martin's book. Draw up a budget. Remember to put at the top of the budget what CAB call 'priorities'. These are anything to do with the roof over your head and essentials of living: mortgage, council tax, electricity, gas, water, food. You need the phones for business, so they should come under the heading of priorities as well.

Then, put all your debts in order. Normally, it's suggested that you put the debts with highest APR at the top, plan to throw any spare money at them, get rid of the most expensive one, move on to the next, while paying minimum on all the others. That's called 'snowballing'. This is a tried-and-tested method of getting rid of debts in stages. Every time you get rid of a debt, give yourselves a little treat, buy a cheap bottle of wine, whatever! You get a tremendously positive feeling doing this - a sense of achievement.

£50 a month to pay off the electricity bill sounds reasonable. If you put it all in writing and keep copies, even if the electricity people want more, they can't get blood out of a stone. Even if they go to court they're unlikely to get any joy, as you've made a reasonable offer and can show that you're keeping to it.

NatWest have a website and it's possible to check your accounts online. This is one of the things that keeps us (that's this pair of wrinklies) solvent - we check our accounts EVERY DAY. We don't wait for statements to arrive. We also both use personal accounting software - Quicken, but there's also MS Money. I wouldn't be without Quicken. It really is something that helps keep me on the straight and narrow.

HTH

Margaret Clare

Tondella

syfodyas wrote:

We only make minimum payment via DD each month and all the credit cards have been stored away and not used since December./QUOTE]

If you are only paying the minimum amount on your credit cards each month then the total amount you are paying will have gone down since December. So, as a start, work out what you paid in December and then pay the difference between that and what the minimum charges are now onto the credit card that charges the highest interest rate. so, purely as an example,

minimum repayment dec - £75
minimum repayment mar - £69
difference - £6

put the £6 onto your highest interest card. It might not seem like alot but it will get your cards paid off much faster than if you only pay the minimum amount. The idea is that if you could afford to spend £6 more on your cards in December then you can still afford to do so today. It's the basic principle behind snowballing. Martin has written articles on credit card repayments and the minimum repayment which you will find under the credit cards link to the left of this message

Obviously, if you can cut expenditure even more then you can put more on your credit cards. PAYG tarifs may seem extortionate but they are designed to make you cut down on the number of calls you make. I still have a monthly contract, but get loads of free calls heaped into it - do you? If not then next time you come to renew your contract - negotiate with them. Martin has written an article on this too. In the meantime, think very hard about every call you make on the mobile.

Tondella

margaretclare wrote:

Please don't think of getting another loan to pay off debts. You don't pay off debts from a loan, you simply add to the debts and lull yourself into a false sense of security - as in the TV ads, smiling family having paid off all debts and sitting on a sunny beach or with a new car. Trouble is, those debts will take longer to pay off and you'll end up paying more interest.

Aunty Margaret, those ads infuriate me!

"you can take a loan out to consolidate all your existing debts into one easy payment, and to treat yourself to that holiday/car/new kitchen that you deserve"

argh!

margaretclare

Tondella wrote:

Aunty Margaret, those ads infuriate me!

"you can take a loan out to consolidate all your existing debts into one easy payment, and to treat yourself to that holiday/car/new kitchen that you deserve"

argh!

Oh yes, they infuriate me too.

I really wish we could get back to the idea of savings as a Good Thing, which used to be the case.

There seems to be this culture around that the only way to deal with your debts is to take on another loan, as in the OP's first post.

Those ads contain so many weasel words - easy payments, treat yourself, you deserve etc etc. They're very cleverly-written, and the ones on TV with the smiling happy families are the worst. They are just so deceptive. I hate them.

Aunty Margaret

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

my opinion ,take it or leave it forget about getting a loan it will only make things worse ,dont lock these credit cards awy chop them up i was like you for 3 years kept paying min payment i didnt want a default etc but you dont go any where you will still be like this in 3 years i know where your coming from but you will not move ,you have to control the situation contact card providers ask them to freeze interest sort out repayment programme , unsecured debt comes second get a repayment programme sorted with electric make sure all your priority debts are paid on time ,its no good haveing a perfect credit file if you havent got a roof over your head or no electric ,your debts in reality your debts are peanuts ,to be honest if you get the interest frozen for 6 months you can get these card down if you end up with a default tough, you will be able to move on as long as there marked as settled or over 2 years old ,your fretting over keeping a clean credit file is hamperring getting it sorted its like a treadmill you end up achieving nothing ,the only time i started to get it sorted was when i ignored my credit file and to be honest your salarys and ages you have plenty of time and money to get it sorted ,all the best

lynzpower

Nice to see youve come over here!

Believe me Ive been in the s**t you are, and since coming here, I havent made massive inroads into it, but Im much more in control and much less wasteful.

Post a full SOA off the budget planner and let us do our best to get you out of this. Consolidation loans are never a good idea, Im still paying off stuff from years ago, yes the interest rate is lower, but it rumbles on for way more years, having the emotional impact of lead weight around your neck for longer.

Npower is quite a bit cheaper than London, plus I have big problems with EDF, worst company in the world IMHO for what they do in the developing world ( i digress)

£75 a week for 2 of you with food is a lot. We are ( just about) managing the £20 a week for 2 of us including taking lunches to work. We eat like kings, plus have people over for dinner out of that too. Come over on the Old style board.

I would look at what youve got in before buying anything else. I used to go food shopping and buy things regardless of whether I need them. I have about 1o bags of pasta & rice in! PLus loads of stuff in what the freezer. Dont buy anything until you absoutley need it

Andstart a spending diary,. done me the world of good!

sanfrancisco

why do you want to borrow 6k when you only owe 4100? (+ elec bill).

Between you and hubby you earn 40k. You should be able to manage easily. You seem like you have leaks somewhere. You really need to work out what is going out TO THE PENNY.

JAMIEDODGER

hi and welcome to DFW. i dont think you will be able to switch your utilities while you still owe money. i would guess that it will be refused. but def do not consolidate or add the debt to your mortage.

CLAPTON

STATEMENT OF AFFAIRS SoA SoA

it is impossible to offer proper advice without seeing a complete picture

post a statement of accounts here

Please be careful to include the totals requested as it makes it easier for everyone

If you browse the bulletin board you will see examples but the general format is

: statement of income:

: statement of expenditure
this should be quite detailed but excluding debt repayment
: a subtotal to save us all having to add it up

: statement of all debts including:
for Credit cards show: outstanding amount, monthly repayment , APR
for loans/HPs show outstanding amount, monthly payment, APR and number of months still to pay;
Say whether you are paying PPI on your debts

a subtotal of the total debt and of the total repayments, to save us having to add it up

also add a brief details of your situation, partner, any children, rent or own property, value of house and mortgage, any special circumstances that are relevant

Crispy_Ambulance

I agree with the others, you need to make a list of your income and outgoings and included absolutely everything. You need to see where your money is going as you have a relatively high income and it all must be going somewhere.

And, this may sound harsh, but why do you want to borrow more when you are struggling with the debts you already have? You need to sort those out and live within your means before you can think about bigger mortgages etc. otherwise, at some point it is all going to come crashing down.