Can anyone point me in the right direction! I'm Confused!

daftsod11

Hi, I got myself into debt about three years ago and have been paying it off every since. Though due to job chnages, a new car, a house move and spending, it got harder to pay the desired amount each month.

About two months ago I started to gamble to get the desired amount I needed to pay my monthly loan amount. Needless to say this hasn't worked and I am now in further debt with another loan, an overdraft and credit cards totalling around a massive £30000 altogether.

My nett monthly income is £1057 and outgoings are £1208 (for minimum payments). I have not yet missed a payment anywhere and always seem to find the extra £150 per month to settle all the minimum payments but, by way of a little loan from friends or a gambling win, though I doubt I can keep this up, and do not want to.

How can I sort this horrid situation out, can I do an IVA because I have gambled, so this now means I can not do this for 6 months, doesn't it?

fiftyeighter_2

Hiya Datfsod 11( ooh that seems so rude to call you that) I havn't been posting for some time now (life getting in the way) but i am sure lovely people will be along soon to help you. well done for posting and good luck.

HappyMJ

First things first you must set a weekly budget for the gambling. I'd say zero but going cold turkey like that may not be appropriate. You cannot include any gambling expenses in a IVA so it's got to come from elsewhere. With the amount of debt you have £30,000 and the income you have £12,684 an IVA may not be appropriate. Have you taken advice to come to this answer? Do you have any assets?

daftsod11

Not had any personal advise as of yet, Really wanted to know what my options are first! but just to clear up, I am not a compulsive gambler, or addict, I probably only do it once or twice a month, I just do it when I need a bit extra to make payments now, Yeah I got into trouble doing it in the past but have seen professionals since and no longer is it a vice, as I say, so far it's working, I do manage to make all minimum payments, but don't want to rely on it, would be nice not to have to resort to it, at all!! P. s no assets, I'm a tennant

dancingfairy

Have you done a SOA yet? basically a thorough budget - it will help you to find areas where you could cut back by shopping around without necessarily impacting on your life.
Also once you have done that it would then be a useful thing to have when you speak to one of the debt charities (CCCS - consumer credit counselling service, National Debtline or your local CAB) - which I think you should just to get an idea of your options as there are many out there - dro, dmp, iva, bankruptcy, etc etc.
If you go to the makesense of cards website there is an SOA calculator on there and if you post the results (all of it bar the link) people on here can have a look over it and give their opinion.
Also it might be worth starting a spending diary as if you are like most people you buy the 'odd' bar of chocolate/magazine/coke/coffee/meal at work/dvd/cd/item of clothing/cigarettes etc and it can add up in hurry to serious amounts of money spent on 'nothing in particular'.
Good Luck
df

daftsod11

I honestly have no money left to buy the odd bar of chocolate etc.. As a tennant all the bills, shopping bills and monthly expenses are included in the amount I pay (v.good landlord) each month which is £600 leaving me £457 from my monthly pay, which all goes to pay towards my debts. Which are approx £607 per month!! Any Solutions??

MFWannabe

Hi
Welcome to the board. you really need to post an soa so that we can see all incomings and outgoings and all debt details; amount owing; apr's etc. then we can see where you can make cutbacks and fully understand the problem

NorthernLas

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/page.php?page=35_options_for_dealing_with_your_debts

There are lots of solutions, if you cannot make minimum payments, but you can make some, then the organisations that dancingfairy mentioned can help you work out how much you can pay and who to.

Here are the details of the people to talk to and how to get in touch https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2077631. As it is late Saturday, have a look at the national debtline website and/or the CCCS website.

There is even a suppoort thread for would be ex gamblers on here if you need it. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/36316121#Comment_36316121

pickleiamin

Post a SOA up firstly

daftsod11

Loan 12700/15000 min pay = £321/month
Loan 9355/9400 min pay = £117/month
Barclay CC 616/620 min pay £20/month
Capiyal 1 CC 4850/5000 min pay £150/month
Overdraft 2070/2100 min pay £31/ month

Total = -£29591

Min Monthly pay = -£639

Monthly despensable Income £457

MFWannabe

You need to post a full soa using the soa caculator on this website. Can someone post a link?