Sticky situation...is Bankruptcy the answer

martyfarty69

Hi guys

Well I am officially in a financial mess, and am guilty of a little " Head Burying"
At the start of this year things were'nt looking too bad, I had gotten my debt down to a manageable amount and was paying it off monthly and not feeling it TOO badly , then a family emergency basically facilitated me to spend money and go a little deeper into debt again ( Not making excuses, just giving a little background ).
OK here's the unique part of my situation, I moved to the US about 2 months ago to be with my wife, while being a resident here I am still ( obviously ) a British citizen with British debt, but now i'm earning US dollars, the debt that was painful before is now crippling me with the exchange rate, and I simply cannot afford to pay what I owe ...here's a Breakdown

Natwest Loan - £27.945.75 ( 6 Years left )
Natwest current acc - £588.37 O/D
Egg Card - £673.40
A&L Current Acc - £680.05 O/D
IF Credit Card - £1690.84
TOTAL £31.578.21

That amount in Pounds is bad enough, however when you turn it into $ its almost doubled and I simply cannot afford to pay it off. with my outgoings over here etc.
My question is...what are my options ? I know I cant just walk away from the debt even though i'm no longer in the country, but is it Bankruptcy for me , will they even allow me to go bankrupt being in the states, or is it an IVA ( Same question as before ), if I can declare bankruptcy while absent from the country what is the procedure, and how do they keep track of my financial affairs over here ??
As far as unnecessary outgoings that I can cut down on to save...I don't really have any..I dont use a Mobile Phone, We rent our apartment, I don't own a car here, just use her dads truck as its spare, probably the most expensive thing I own is this laptop I am typing on, and I am still not able to pay my debt on a monthly basis anymore
I hope you guys out there have a little advice for me, and some pointers as I can really do with it, things are really stressful right now and coupled with adjusting to a new country its getting tough.
Thanks in advance

Emmzi

Marty,

a debt management plan may be your answer. This is the web site of an organisation recommeneded by CCCS for those in the states.

http://www.moneymanagement.org/

I would suggest you give them a call?

martyfarty69

Yeah I think I heard something about them on the Radio, was'nt sure if it was just one of those debt consolidation loan companie's...but i'll give them a call and see what they have to say .
Cheers