Advise/Help Wanted

CJTiger

Hi all,

Im having a few issue issue paying off depts, not having been in dept before or knowing anyone that has/is (not being stuck up its just its not been something ive ever had to think about =P) would like to get some advise as its starting to bother me.

Ive read a few of the stickies so here goes with all the info:

Depts:

LoydsTSB Loan £1951.96 of 3000
Planned Oveerdraft £1420 of 1500
Planned Overdraft £331 overdraw by £142.78 - So overdraft at £473.78
Payday UK £300 to pay back £375
Quickquid £300 to pay back £375
Littlewoods £540
Paul (my flatmate) £80

The loan and the first overdraft i have lived with for a while, same with the littlewood and can cope with them fine with the repayments to loan and littlewoads which are not in arrears just a dept but with car problems and a few issues i decided to get the payday loans, not both at the same time nor recently. And because of the extensions i had to get £75 per payday loan so £150 per month as i could not pay them off i have gone overdrawn in one of my accounts. This has gone on for a couple of months, i go overdrawn, come payday money comes in, and when everything starts to go out all goes and with unplanned O/D fees go overdrawn again.

SOA;

Incomings;

Salary:£1166

Outgoings;

Rent:£320
Petrol:£90
Food:£100
Mobile:£50
Loan: £121.59
Littlewoods: £100
Payday loan extensions: £150
WoW Account: £8.99
Overdraft repayment: £75

Total Outgoings: £1015.58

Id just wanted to say that i rent a room in a flat from a friend, all bills are included in that £320 =P

This obviously does not included O/D fess as they vary but after those have gone out and the unplanned O/D and its fees have gone out im back into an unplanned overdraft and in same place as before without having left the house.

The main issue for me is those payday loans, there costing me £150 a month extra which is what otherwise would be spare money to me, and ontop of O/D fees it means i have no funnds available 5 days after ive been paid (hence why i owe my flatmate £80).

I realise its probably not the biggest dept compared to some people but would be nice to be clear of this and being overdrawn, any advise would be helpfull (i allready know to plant my onions early =D).

Sorry if ive missed anything out but its 4am and im tired =(

Thanks

Chris

HappyMJ

CJTiger wrote: »

Im having a few issue issue paying off depts, not having been in dept before or knowing anyone that has/is

I don't understand this comment "not having been in dept before". You seem to have run up quit a bit of debt I doubt it was done overnight. So you have been in debt for a while it aint new. Anyway pedantic bit out of the way. Stop taking payday loans. They are the biggest killer on a budget ever. Refinance the money elsewhere if you can. Stop paying some expenses for a few months and don't take another one or even an extension on a current one. Send a token payment of £1 to the other creditors advising them you'll be taking advice from a debt charity such as cccs. 2 months of token payments and not using the payday loan again and your budget will balance and you can resume normal payments back to lloyds and littlewoods and instead of giving payday loans the £150 per month fee you can use that to pay the arrears on the 2 months that you have skipped and in another 2 months after that everything will be back to normal with very little damage to your credit. 2 months after that you'll make your final payment to littlewoods and can then work on getting your overdraft back to zero.

econnin

hi there

Well done for your honesty and coming on here.

I think you need to look and the way you manage your spending to avoid this happening again. £50.00 per month mobile? £100 food for 1 person? These are way too high. Can you car share to work? Was the loan to help with spending or for a specific purpose? Was the first overdraft to help boost your income? I agree with HappyMJ in that payday loans are an absolute NO NO. I also think the littlewoods catalogue has to go too - it is too easy to spend knowing that you can pay monthly for it. This is bad habit and will only get you into trouble. Spend what you've got, and you will be ok!

Are you actually in arrears with anything at all (are the payday loans on your credit file - i'm not sure).

Another option than that stated by HappyMJ is to speak to your bank. Maybe they could give you some help. If not, it wont do you any harm. Is your creditworthiness good? Maybe you could get a 0% card that pays into your bank account to repay the payday loans and overdraft? Only if you can be extremely strict on yourself and know what you are doing though - close down your overdraft after paying it off and make sure you throw payments at it to get it cleared before the 0% period ends. What about your loan company? The payments seem high for a £3k loan, is it flexible at all? Can they extend back up to £3k, extend your term or offer a payment break? Until you can repay your overdraft?

I'm not sure I agree with sending token payments as this will count as a default on your credit file. If you credit rating is good, maintain that if possible and work out a plan of action to tackle each debt in turn. I'd only recommend the token payments if you are already in default and have no hope of sorting things out otherwise. If the payday loans are crippling you, get these sorted first. They are quite small so you can see quick results. As I've previously said, your overdraft is a big worry, as this shows you are living beyond your means and not budgeting properly (including for emergencies). hey, i've been there and still am, so no judgement here. It's good that you have come on here now and can resolve your habits before you get into a big debt situation like me:)

Can family help? have you spoken to anyone about it?
Good luck hun