I dont get this can someone help?

Lightbulbmoment_2

I have just had a phonecall with payplan, we have a debt of £55,000. She went through everything with us, then she ended the phonecall and after about 10 minutes she called me back and said that we could afford all our bill and that we just have to budget properly.

I know we do spend a bit too much but were still in debt even if we tighten our belts to a serious amount, (Im talking beans on toast every night), she budgeted our petrol to only going to work, but what about when I need to get food dropping my daughter off to nursery I just dont see how she can say were fine. She put our mobile phones at £30 a month but were on a contract till september, she said we have to get rid of our gym but my husband is in his till January, how do we get out of all these things???!!!

Sorry to rant but I thought they were going to offer us a solution, she said it was no point us getting a bad rating when we can just budget better, but we have more out goings than coming in...

Cass

RAS

Unless we can see your income and expenditure it is hard to comment.

Can you list stuff here http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Tixy

Hi Cass

Doesn't sound like a typical repsonse from Payplan. Agree with RAS that it would help if we can see your expenses to see if there is anything obvious that is costing you too much.

If once we've had a looked and there doesn't seem to be places to cut down to make ends meet then perhaps try CCCS. Both Payplan & CCCS generally have good reputations on here but sometimes one or the other seems to suit individuals best.

Obviously if you can make your outgoings less than your incomings then it is better to do this than a DMP which will affect your credit ratings for year to come.

Regarding things like mobile contracts, once you are in the last 6months of a contract the providrs will often let you drop down a tariff, which may save you a little.

nomoneytoday

It sounds like the person saw the income as more than the outgoings with a little juggling, so suggested a better budget, rather than drastic measures like IVAs?

Dinah93

Most contracts can be downgraded after the first 3 months, and September is only 2 months away at this point. £30 is a lot for a mobile phone per month. Order your groceries online, there are usually free codes to do that.

SOA is needed really to see what you are spending, and what MSErs would cut down on, you may find that payplan have been generous in other areas and you can take the money from there.

If they think you can afford the repayments its unlikely you'd be accepted for a more extreme IVA/Bankrupcy route anyway (and from my parents experience, if you think a DMP budget is tight, an IVA one is 10x tighter!)

Burlesque_Babe

to save petrol on the food shopping - have it delivered. Spend over £50 with Asda and there are always free delivery codes floating around.

belfastgirl23

Well done on your LBM!

I think it's a good sign that payplan think you can afford to pay back your debt. They will help you a bit with budgeting but I think you also have to do some yourself (or ask people on here to help you do it). It can all feel a bit overwhelming at the start and I think that's where you are at the minute. It can also feel a bit depressing but if you view it as a challenge you will eventually become addicted.

Good luck. And posting the SOA is your first step

RAS

I think the core of this is that if you do a DMP or an IVA, you will be given a budget within which to live and the rest of the money goes to your creditors to pay a percentage of your debts.

The budget allowances are pretty much agreed industry wise and if you have enough over to make your minimum payments after that, then there is no point in an IVA or a DMP.

As Dinah says the IVA budget is a lot tighter than a DMP one but neither has a lot of flesh on it.

Burlesque_Babe

I've just seen your thread on food spend and this is going to be one big area to save money (you say you want to cut from £450 per month currently to £200). Really focus on this as it will help a great deal with chucking money at the debt.

Dinah93

Having read your other thread and your SOA can you clarify if when you say 'save' some money for 2 years while on interest only you mean 'use the money saved from the mortgage interest to pay off credit cards'? Putting money into a savings account at say 3% is madness when you are paying 19% ish in interest on a CC. And they won't let you make a reduced settlement until you've missed a lot of payments, which would decimate your credit rating.

I can easily save £375 a month from your SOA posted on the other thread (Mobiles, haircuts, food, sky etc, didn't een touch entertainment) so combined with going interest only on the mortgage it's not going to be a fun time while clearing the cards, but you can certainly afford it. £200 a month on groceries will get you a LOT more than beans on toast!

Have you considered one of you getting a part time evening/weekend job? How about some of the up your income challenges on here? To be honest both this thread and your other one sound like you were hoping for an easy way out, and you're not happy to have to cut back to pay off the debt.

Debt does not occur overnight, and it won't go away overnight. You need to work hard and make sacrifices to make it go away.

Ames

I know exactly how you feel, CCCS said the same to me. CAB looked at the same figures and said my only option was bankruptcy! I'd say if you're not happy with what one place said, see what others say, that way you get a better idea of the range of options open to you. Of course though, if you're massively overspending on some things then you'll have to cut down, but there are easy ways to do that.