Help! I qualify for a DRO but I am scared, will this affect me getting jobs or rentin

gizmochic

Help! I qualify for a DRO but I am scared, will this affect me getting jobs or renting houses over the next 6 years? as I am single and young with no financial stability or family to help???

Bethankim

Hi petal,

have you managed to get in touch with any of the debt charities yet?
I can see your worried and yes a DRO will possibly affect future renting as it will show on your credit file.- although more and more landlords are accepting people with poor credit history.

You asked a few days ago about your SOA - did you mange to have a look at some of the suggestions?

gizmochic

hello! yes I managed to sort this out, although, I really dont know weather to go for DRO or not, I am worried it will cause me problems, but equally, the debt situation is getting worse and worse!! :-(

Bethankim

If your still not sure then perhaps popping up another SOA using some of the suggestions made earlier.

you could also put up a post in the dent free wanna be board and see what ideas there are.

If you manage to reduce some of your spending especially your food budget then you possibly could get enough for £200 a month towards you dent and perhaps contacting CCCS or pay plan (i think it is) to get on a debt management plan. some of your balances are relatively small so if you cleared one card and then used the extra to clear more you might be able to get on top of it.

If that isnt the right way for you then after professional advice you may come back to a DRO.

It is worth looking at every option, because of your young age (not sure how young ) taking this step will have an effect and is a last resort.

Im not trying to disuade you, but in some ways 8K of debt while its not a small sum, it is wth some help potentially manageable to clear, it might take a year or 2 but is possbile

hope that helps a bit

Bethankim

I do of course mean Debt not dent...:p i couldn't masquerade as anyone else - my typo's are unique to me

gizmochic

I am 23, and whilst some months I can afford to pay off debts, others I cant, I have started up 2 debt management plans, but had to cancel as couldnt always afford. I have also got myself into a payday loan vicious cicle!! :-(

Dinah93

I've had a look at your SOA and I have to say I think you could shave a LOT of money off the food bill (I spend £100 for 2!) and with some changes you could pay back the debt and not destroy your credit record.

What type of job are you in? Certain sectors/landlords won't take you on with a DRO although some will so it depends on what you do for a living.

Given your debt is relatively low, even in relation to your income, personally I would look to make changes to your lifestyle insted of making such a big leap with a DRO.

We took on extra jobs and sold lots of stuff on ebay/did mystery shopping etc to pay off our debts as we want to get a mortgage shortly and didn't want any glaring black marks on the credit file.

gizmochic

The problem I have, is ts going to take me 3-4 years to pay it back, then I will have to wait abother 6 years for my credit to be clear wont I?

Dinah93

You'll be suprised how quickly you can clear it if you really want to. After tax I take home around £49 per day (averaged over 7 days), and I still managed to pay off all my debt in 10 months which worked out at £65 a day because I took on extra work. It is unlikely your credit rating is anywhere near as bad at the moment as it will become if you get a DRO (which will also impact on your rating for 6 years). Having debt does not have a negative impact on your rating, missing payments or going over limits does.

Bethankim

Err not quite,

yes it may take you a while although with some of your balances - if you really put every spare penny in for a few months and tracked all your spending with a diary, you could free up some money to either save to pay of your loans quicker or clear them in a lump sum.

your credit file will be affected for 6 years if you take the DRO route, not if you work towards clearing your debts. actually as you clear each one your credit rating will improve because each time you clear one, it will show a s settled and improve it quicker.

it might seem like we are trying to persuade you other wise but if you were my daughter (and lordy im almost old enough for that to be a reality) i would sit down and say the same thing by looking at everytihng with you.

It may be that your spending a bit more than £20 a month on a social life, and although in theroy each month you have enough you find yoiurself short anf end up with pay day loans..

your rent is pretty high (not sure where in the country you are)
food bill - i spend half that petal on 3 of us - so do you really sepend that and of you do could you change it, it is possible for 1 person to eat well on £30 a week

Its really hard getting a hang of your finaces, and making your wages go as far as possible. I know 3 years seems a long time, but i would hate for you to go down the DRO route and find in a couple fo years time things have change you meet the man of your dreams, get a better job, want to buy and house and find you cant.

feel free petal to pm me, if things are tough and you want a chat.

sorry if it seems like im being a bit hard, but im nearly 40 and i wish someone had cared enough when i was in my early 20's to help me - because i think if they had i would be in a very different place than i am.

Beth
xx

MicheH

Nice post Bethankim.

I'm so pleased you're facing up to your debt gizmo. You really are at the right place for help, support and advice. I wish I had faced up to my debt when I was your age, I owed around the same amount as you. If I had known about the help and schemes you could use to help pay back the money then I would have biten their hands off. That saying at the time I was only earning £400 a month. I didn't have any disposable income at all so I entered the vicious, vicious cycle that now results me bankrupt.. 3 or 4 years isn't so bad when you consider it would have taken 47 years for us to clear ours on a plan.

You're young enough and free enough to sort this out now, that's why it cool you're hear asking questions. I do hope you can find away to clear your debt. Think of the satisfaction you would have if you mangaged to clear it yourself, realise what a trap borrowing money can be then living the rest of your life always with money in your pocket to do what you want.. beats an official scrub on any record you might have eh?