BR - to battle on or to jump in?

UnLunDunShwazzy

Having lurked for a few months, and having read lots and lots about IVA, bankruptcy and debt management in the past three days I am here to throw myself open to all the wise and wonderful amongst you.
These are the facts
I owe £35,000 (give or take a couple of pounds)
I pay £200 a month towards these debts, I made the arrangements myself, I have kept up payments for 3 years with no breaks. I earn £1000 a month, my outgoings are £750 a month if I am careful (this does not include the £200. This does not include anything needing paying for either, like the car breaking down, new glasses, anything. At the present rate I cannot afford to raise the amount I pay, but at the present level of payment it will take me 13 years to be debt free.
And the stress is breaking me. I dare not be off sick too long, I fear for my job, I watch every penny, I am afraid to turn on the heating in the winter.
So I phoned a very reputable debt charity. Who advised me to go bankrupt.
In support of this idea;
I will be free of these debts.
No more phone calls, letters etc asking me to ‘now raise’ my payment level
No more worries about the what-if-I-can’t pay
I don’t own my home, a car or anything of value.
Against this idea;
It feels like a defeat, like cheating, morally wrong and a waste of the 3 years hard work I have already lived
My landlord will throw a wobbly
I will lose independence – I will lose my bank account, my debit card, my street cred
I will be tied to another debt style repayment for three years in the way of an IP
So, guys, what should I do? Should I battle on and stay the course or should I jump and just fall into bankrupt abyss?

headoutofsand

You can still have a basic account, you may not have to pay anything back, you will be able to sleep and have the heating on and lastly BR is not the end of the world, It is not the abyss you are thinking of.

13 years of misery or BR and less or no misery. The choice my friend is yours;)

markbass

It's the times we live in UnLunDunShwazzy, forget the stigma attached to BR or the street cred, you'd be clear of BR and it's effects long before you clear your debt at the rate your paying it at the moment, sometimes in life you can think too much and be too hard on yourself...just do it, you get one life don't spend it in debt, many people go BR these days, the lady in the court today who sorted my SOA out and for whom i swore the oath in front of said to me and these were her words " Don't worry, you wouldn't believe the amount of folk coming through these doors petitioning for BR, three of my friends have gone BR recently, it's a sign of the times"...people don't view BR the same way they did years ago, my advice is just do it, don't think so hard about it, just go through the motions and switch off, like i say you get one life, the effects of BR will be next to nothing for you because you have no assets.Oh and as for your landlord he will either kick you out or he wont, check your tenancy ask him ..whatever but make sure you still have a roof over your head when and if you do it, as long as your not in arears with your rent it shouldn't effect him, so he shouldn't have a problem.

datcat

UnLunDunShwazzy wrote: »

Having lurked for a few months, and having read lots and lots about IVA, bankruptcy and debt management in the past three days I am here to throw myself open to all the wise and wonderful amongst you.
These are the facts
I owe £35,000 (give or take a couple of pounds)
I pay £200 a month towards these debts, I made the arrangements myself, I have kept up payments for 3 years with no breaks. I earn £1000 a month, my outgoings are £750 a month if I am careful (this does not include the £200. This does not include anything needing paying for either, like the car breaking down, new glasses, anything. At the present rate I cannot afford to raise the amount I pay, but at the present level of payment it will take me 13 years to be debt free.
And the stress is breaking me. I dare not be off sick too long, I fear for my job, I watch every penny, I am afraid to turn on the heating in the winter.
So I phoned a very reputable debt charity. Who advised me to go bankrupt.
In support of this idea;
I will be free of these debts.
No more phone calls, letters etc asking me to ‘now raise’ my payment level
No more worries about the what-if-I-can’t pay
I don’t own my home, a car or anything of value.
Against this idea;
It feels like a defeat, like cheating, morally wrong and a waste of the 3 years hard work I have already lived No. You have tried. Nobody can ask any more of you
My landlord will throw a wobbly And? Is your landlord willing to lose a good paying tenent. It may be worth pointing that out to him/her
I will lose independence – I will lose my bank account, my debit card, my street cred Co op cashminder and a visa electon card and as for street cred. Hah!
I will be tied to another debt style repayment for three years in the way of an IP 3 years or 13 years Hmmm what to do
So, guys, what should I do? Should I battle on and stay the course or should I jump and just fall into bankrupt abyss?

We cannot tell you what to do, but given what you have put above and if I was you I would be filling the forms out as I type.

stintond

I agree that bankruptcy will be the best idea , I told my landlord when I went bankrupt and he just said he was sorry to hear that. Emphasise that the rent is secure and will be continued to be paid.
You might , unlike me , get an OR that wont tell your landlord , ask them when you have your interview.
As for the 3 years you just kept paying , are you any richer becaise of this ,no , well you need to put them behind you now and look forwardto a debt free future ,you deserve it.

UnLunDunShwazzy

I really appreciate that guys, it's a clear and unbiased honest opinion, you can't buy that. I think it was pride I was letting go. OK. Tomorrow I tell my friends and get some support around me and I am going to go for it. I feel like I'm at the top of a rollercoaster.......... here we go!

datcat

Can I just point out something?
You said "should I jump and just fall into bankrupt abyss?"
Where you are now is the abyss.

Bankruptcy is the rope thats going to help pull you out of the abyss.

UnLunDunShwazzy

I have to be honest in that I expected at least some people to say to stay with the payments, truly. It is a different attitude to what I thought there would be.

datcat

I think it's because such a lot of us (and I include myself even though I have never been bankrupt, but I have been right beside someone who has and I have had my own worries) have been in exact the same position you are at the moment and know exactly what you may be doing and what your going through to try and keep on top of stuff and what a massive struggle it is emotionally and physcically. So if we can help someone else to stop with the struggle we will. Thats my take on it anyway

headoutofsand

UnLunDunShwazzy wrote: »

I have to be honest in that I expected at least some people to say to stay with the payments, truly. It is a different attitude to what I thought there would be.

Sometimes it's better to get straight down to action. You seem to have covered all the angles, so a plan is in action. Take em by suprise, I did;)

Martin1892

I was faced with a similar choice. Struggle with thedebt for in my case, 14 more years or go BR.

I, like you, didnt want to go through the stigma of BR. I was averse to the idea but having spoken to a close friend, i came to the decision that BR was my only option. I have NEVER looked back. Not for one second.

My friend broke it down to me like this 'Martin, you are 28 years old. If you go BR, then one day you will probably have to explain to your future wife why youare struggling to find a mortgage. If you dont go BR, you will have to explain to your kids why you cant afford christmas until they are teenagers.'

There are serious implications to going BR but for someone in my situation it was a no brainer. My health has recovered and i sleep at night. I regret the debt and have no intention of making the same mistakes ever again, but the sooner i faced it and dealt with it once and for all, the better off i was.

Dont rob yourself of the next 13 years.