Please help i feel like im going down the debt road....... :(

TonyMMM

abbie1988 wrote: »

. the £85 is actually two contracts both with 18 and 22 months remaining .

How can you end up with 2 contracts both with so long to go ???

isy1011

Cut up cards, cancel accounts right away. If you can't afford it then the stuff is not really yours is it? You have recognised it is a problem but you must do something about it now. Good luck.

josephine82

Do you use both mobiles? i.e is one for work etc? If you don't use one, then ring up and get it put down to the lowest package.
Ebay everything that you have already bought to try and raise some cash to pay off Decembers minimum payments.

If you earn £950 a month, and your outgoings are as you say they are, then you should have £400 left over each month to pay these off.
Can you make a list of the debts that you owe and the interest rate, and then we can help you work out what to pay off first?
I don't think you will get anywhere with asking to freeze the interest at this point- you will be better off making the minimum payments on the stuff with the lowest interest and overpaying the ones with the highest interest.

Or, is there a family member who might be able to loan you the money to settle all the accounts and you pay them back on a monthly basis? But you would have to know that you won't run the debt up again.

Could you get a second, temporary christmas job to earn extra cash? all the major shops are hiring for xmas temps.

KingElvis

TonyMMM wrote: »

How can you end up with 2 contracts both with so long to go ???

I don't know the op and I wish her luck but I bet this is an iPhone 3GS and then when iPhone 4 came out, she snaffled one?

The contract totals look about right.

Tish_P

It sounds like you need two kinds of help here - firstly, practical help with working out exactly how much you owe and how to pay it back quickly, and secondly, emotional support to help you work out why you are spending like this, and break the bad habits so you don't do it again.

People on here can help a bit with both - but is there someone you can talk to in real life to help with the second? A friend or family member who you can trust to listen and be helpful without being judgemental? Running up debt that fast, on things you can tell you don't need, sounds like the kind of problem you need to talk through.

And if it really does feel like addiction, you might want to ask your GP if there are any support groups he could direct you to. Hope everything goes well for you (and well done for making this first step)!

ChantalP_2

Hi,
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the advice that has been given above really is the only way in which you can get out of this debt. You have realised at an early stage that you have got an issue (easy credit is so appealing and is something so many of us fall foul to) however you need to take action now to stop this spiralling into a bigger issue -
You mention you already have a loan and also you have 2 phone contracts so this new debt is not the only debt that you have. From experience you need to actually recognise now that this is an issue, and although it feels good now to have new clothes/shoes whatever it is that you have bought, trust me it will not feel good in 3 years when you are still paying off that top that you have only worn once.
I can only tell you this from my experience now that you need to stop buying what you cant afford as it is depressing when you see all of your wages going on repaying debt further down the line.
Send the empire items back before you have even tried them on/seen them as the poster above said as this will stop you even being tempted to keep them.
It is so hard, especially when you see others with new clothes on and cash to spare, but if you can send these items back then you have a lower debt (close the account too) and then you have less of a battle to face.
There is no easy answer to this it just takes determination and unfortunately it seems that you have had your lightbulb moment around Christmas time which is probably the worst time to think about saving! However on the plus side this time next year if you have not given in to temptation you will have plenty more disposable income to spend and you can buy yourself these treats guilt free.
Good Luck!!! xx

Ames

I just want to give you a couple of points to think about. Firstly, if you call and ask them to reduce payments or interest then they could consier it fraud, that you took out the debt with no intention of paying it back. So it really is best to try and pay it off. A frugal few months and it'll be gone.

Secondly, last January I bought six pairs of jeans from Littlewoods for £1 each. Now, if they can afford to offload them at that price then they must be raking it in somewhere else, so they really are just ripping you off and charging way over the odds.

abbie1988

thank you all very much for the advice.

The only account with apr is the very account, with a balance of £390. The lowest payment is £20ish. The others are all spread over 20 weeks, no interest they just rip you off with the price! So in effect the other accounts should be clear at the end of the 20 weeks providing i don't spend anything else - although this is hard with christmas coming up and the lowest payments are averaging £50-70 is there anyway they can freeze the accounts and just let me pay the reamining back? this would solve that problem.

king elvis - you are almost right although i didnt get a iphone 4 i got a blackberry torch (much better) therfore cannot reduce my payment plan on either contract untill april 2011

There is no family member that can lend me the money, was thinkin about exteneding my natwest loan of £850 (now down to £700) to pay everything off and just have one payment? but not sure if they would do this? any thoughts?

thank you so much for all your help xxx

MFWannabe

abbie1988 wrote: »

thank you all very much for the advice.

The only account with apr is the very account, with a balance of £390. The lowest payment is £20ish. The others are all spread over 20 weeks, no interest they just rip you off with the price! So in effect the other accounts should be clear at the end of the 20 weeks providing i don't spend anything else - although this is hard with christmas coming up and the lowest payments are averaging £50-70 is there anyway they can freeze the accounts and just let me pay the reamining back? this would solve that problem.

king elvis - you are almost right although i didnt get a iphone 4 i got a blackberry torch (much better) therfore cannot reduce my payment plan on either contract untill april 2011

There is no family member that can lend me the money, was thinkin about exteneding my natwest loan of £850 (now down to £700) to pay everything off and just have one payment? but not sure if they would do this? any thoughts?

thank you so much for all your help xxx

It's highly unlikey that Natwest will extend your loan. You need to stop spending immediately and cancel the goods you've ordered today from Empire now!!
You should have over £500 left per month after the expenses you've listed above; so you should be able to clear these debts fairly quickly if you set yourself a budget. You need to close these catalogue accounts immediately you've paid the balances; ring them and ask them if they can freeze the accounts so you can't buy anything else from them.
You really need to sit down and look at what you've been doing and realise that you can't trust yourself to have catalogues or any other credit; this is a massive amount of debt to run up in only 3 months!!

copperjar

Have you tried selling your iPhone? You'll get a good price for it on eBay - make sure you send it by next day delivery to whoever buys it though because there are some cons for decent phones on eBay - recorded delivery isn't enough.

Its good you've realised now what you have been doing and that you want to sort it out. Paying £85 p/month just so you can have the latest phone is madness - that's over £1000 a year. Crazy. Stop spending now, send the latest orders back and work out how much you need to pay before the interest free deal ends. Don't get a loan to pay it off - you'll just respend again. Please listen to the advice on here - we've all been there. My debts started by buying stuff I didn't really need, consolidating with a loan, then rebuilding the debt again. And look at how much I owe now. Stop before you end up in my position!