Huge credit card debt

Ames

To be honest, the amount of debt is pretty much irrelevant. It all depends on other things - how much it is in proportion to your wage, how much your outgoings are and things. For instance, if someone's on 10k then 100k debt is horrendous. If someone earns 200k, then 100k debt is a lot more manageable. I hope that made sense! Try not to let the big number scare you, Martin says he's never seen a debt problem that can't be solved, and I'm pretty sure you wont be the first!

pepe2008

Well done Hypno! Living proof that debt is NOT the end of the world.
The main thing is to get control, be honest with yourself and others....and dont ever, ever give up.

hypno06

Definitely NOT the end of the world, pepe, but at times it has felt that way.

I DID speak to CCCS and Payplan, on a couple of occasions when I felt overwhelmed by it all........and I would recommend to anyone that they do the same - just to get their options. For me, a DMP was not what I wanted to do, but I was very pleased to know that it was an option, should I find things so difficult that I really couldn't cope with them.

Mental health is as important as anything on this journey - I've just about managed to hold on to my sanity doing it the "hard" way.......although many would beg to differ, thinking me absolutely barking

pepe2008

I've been with CCCS for almost 2 years...........but I'm coming off it because they dont allow the 'flexibility' I need to be able to take the next steps in clearing my £50k+ debt.

Poosmate

kingston_2730 wrote: »

Hi thanks for your response. I am so frightened about discussing this. Household income is roughly £66,000 per annum gross. Interest rate for mortgage at minute is really low so very low mortgage payment means we are about 200/month short of making minimum payments on ccs. Some ccs are on full interest, a few on O% offers.What is a DMP?

Please, please, please don't roll this debt into your mortgage, interest rates are very low at the moment but they are certainly not going to stay that way! If you are £200 per month short now with the interest rates so low, even a half percent raise could be devastating for you.

Please post your SOA and all the experts on here will do you well.

Best of luck to you and congratulations for posting.

Poo

InaPickle

kingston_2730 wrote: »

Inapickle, thank you so much for your positive post. I'm very scared and part of me feels that no matter what cut backs and changes we make we may never get out of this hole. I'm off to read the link you posted. thanks again

You're welcome!

I've just seen that Hypno has posted here and I'm glad as it shows that it CAN be done. Obviously, we need to see your SOA to see what it is possible to do in your individual case (and I'm sure that there are many far better qualified people than me to comment), but get it up here ASAP and keep your chin up as best you can in the meantime.

Also, keep a spending diary. Write down every single thing you spend, plus how you pay for it. Be brutally honest as it will pay dividends in the future to learn when and where to cut back. If for any reason you forget to write something down, don't just give up and say you will start again later, keep going and just put a note to yourself that you knew you spent something and forgot to write it in: in time you will get better at remembering and you may even remember what it was later when not thinking about it (typical! :rolleyes:).

This probably all feels totally overwhelming but one way or another there will be a way out of this situation. Just get that SOA up here ASAP!

casiquerbrado

Hi , the short answer is yes. Contact some of the advice agencies like CCCS and give them your details.
Also keep an open mind , some people are adverse to the IVA route for example , but don't discount it.
You have started the process by asking for advice on here , so well done on taking the first step on your debt-free journey.
All the best.

kingston_2730

Thank you all so much for your support and for the info. I have been in floods of tears all day to day and am so drained. I hopefully will have the SOA done tomorrow although I worn you, it is dismal and part of me doesn't even want to post it in case you all say there's no hope. After reading a lot of stories on here, I feel my income/debt ratio in combination with my outgoings is by far the worst I've seen so far on this forum and that really scares me. Also, I am really embarrassed to even admit the extent of it all but I have to say a really huge thankyou to all the positive and supportive responses, it has really helped me today and hopefully tomorrow I will take the next step in posting the SOA.

InaPickle

kingston_2730 wrote: »

Thank you all so much for your support and for the info. I have been in floods of tears all day to day and am so drained. I hopefully will have the SOA done tomorrow although I worn you, it is dismal and part of me doesn't even want to post it in case you all say there's no hope. After reading a lot of stories on here, I feel my income/debt ratio in combination with my outgoings is by far the worst I've seen so far on this forum and that really scares me. Also, I am really embarrassed to even admit the extent of it all but I have to say a really huge thankyou to all the positive and supportive responses, it has really helped me today and hopefully tomorrow I will take the next step in posting the SOA.

Relax, Kingston: just try to get a good night's sleep and post the SOA tomorrow. However bad it is, I seriously doubt that worse have not been on these boards, and reading what your household income is, I would be surprised that your earnings:debt ratio is the worst ever seen either (look at what Hypno said above - I would consider £66,000 to be a lot more than an 'average' income).

DO post your SOA so that people can take a look and help: as you have probably noticed, they are a pretty friendly bunch on here.

kingston_2730

Inapickle, you are truly lovely!! Thanks for your kind words again. It really means so much!! I have actually just been reading up on another thread about reclaiming credit card charges for previous 6 years. Can anyone tell me is it still possible to do this or did it have to be done by a certain date?