What to do now?

GSD4ME

I am basically in right sh*t.

Due to losing my good job and having to down size to a poorly paid job, I was unable to survive and for the past few years I have been charging everything to credit cards. Stupid, I know but it was that or starve. I do not waste money at all believe me.I have spent all my savings and sold off the few privatised shares I owned from the Thatcher days.

Anyway in the end I have had to sell my house as the only way to pay off the mortgage and the debts. I have found a buyer and things are proceeding but it takes so long I could weep. I do not think I will be able to pay the mortgage next month and I certainly will not be able to pay the credit card minimum payments. I have never missed a payment in either before now although I did not pay one of the cards this month.

What do I do? Do I contact them and explain what has happened, should I pay the mortgage with what money I have? Do I pay the credit cards first? I really have no idea.

Thank you.

DEVONLIFE_2

Hi GSD4ME
You need to pay priority debts first. Mortgage,council tax,utilities,food etc.etc. Then comes non priority things like unsecured debts (credit cards etc) If you have secured loans pay them if you can. If you post a SOA (statement of affairs) there are many good people on here that can help you.All the best.DL.

NellyM029

Good luck with everything. This recession has hit some people really hard. Definitely upload a SOA and you will get some good advice from people here.

Secondly, it may be worth contacting your lenders to see if any can offer a payment holiday if you only have a few months to worry about making payments?

Tixy

Hi GSD

I would agree with the others that its a good idea to complete post up a statement of affairs using this link http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

As to which you should pay - your credit cards/unsecured debts should be the lowest priority (well apart from luxuries obviously). You could send your unsecured creditors a letter this month telling them you are seeking advice. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=21937969&postcount=52 Ideally with this its good if you can manage a token payment to each card (even just £1 is better than nothing). This should buy you a month's breathing space. If it seems like the house sale will still not complete and you are still struggling then do seek that advice from one of the debt charities.

A couple of things before you send that letter - if you have a credit card with your current bank then its just possible they could try to offset money from your current account to pay the minimum payment so it might be worth setting up a new bank account with a bank you don't owe money to (or as you think your problems may only be temporary maybe you could only send the letter to cards not connected to your bank).

GSD4ME

Thank you for your advice.

The credit card I have not paid has started to phone me up. They called yesterday and again at 7.50 am this morning. I think that is an unreasonable time to call people. Fortunately I was out at work on both times but of course they will catch up with me in the end. What do I say? If I explain I am selling the house and will be able to pay them off in full will they be happy with that?

The estate agent says it will be at least 2 months before we complete and I get the money. There are loads of things that can go wrong and of course the buyers could even pull out but at least it will be several months until I am solvent.

Will these credit cards wait that long? I like the idea of paying them something each month to keep them happy, do you think that will get them off my back?

Thanks again.