Help Needed Urgently

tinkerbelle

Up until the beginning of this year I paid all of my bills on time and the minimum amount. I have just graduated from University and last November I left my part-time job as my boss kept on giving me extra work and changing my hours. I couldn't find any work till February during which time you've guessed it I put items on credit cards and ordered off catalogues.

Upon leaving University in July I have found it hard to get a full time job. I wrote to all my creditors explaining the situation but found very few wanted to listen. I contacted payplan in August who advised bankruptcy as I wouldn't have enough to live it. I didn't want that and have effectively buried my head in the sand, until now. I received a letter from Northampton County Court over money I owe to Next. I really do not know what to do, or where to turn to. I will post a soa at the end.

I currently work weekends for 16 hours at 7.53 an hour and an extra 50p on a Sunday. I have also joined the local council employment agency who have found me work Monday to Friday, so am currently working 7 days a week. I don't want to leave my weekend job as I enjoy it. I am currently on a 3month contract for my week day job but have been told it will be extended to possibly a year. The salary is 14,000 per year.

Income:

Weekend Job: 410 per month
Week Job: 800 per month

Debts Owed:

AA Car Loan: 5000, 137.12 per month (stopped paying July 2006)
AA Visa: 2200, 45.00 per month (stopped paying July 2006)
Studio: 3200, 121.00 per month (stopped paying August 2006)
Captial One: 900, 50.00 per month (stopped paying June 2006)
Barclaycard: 1100, 35.00 per month (stopped paying August 2006)
Great Universal: 1300, 190.00 per month (stopped paying July 2006)
Next: 1200, 120.00 per month (stopped paying July 2006)
LX Direct: 350, 35.00 per month (stopped paying June 2006)
Littlewoods: 800, 45.00 per month (stopped paying June 2006)
Grattan: 350, 25.00 per month (stopped paying September 2006)
Kays: 60, 10.00 per month (stopped paying July 2006)
Additions: 790, 35.00 per month (stopped paying June 2006)
Carphone Warehouse: 120, 35 (stopped paying July 2006)
Natwest: 1600 Interest Free Student Overdraft

In total I owe about 19,00. I can't believe I have been so stupid. I also have a bank account with HSBC who I do not owe any money to and am in credit with them!
On most of the accounts above I have received default notices but came accross this site by accident and was wondering if anyone could help me.

My outgoings each month are
Rent: 200 (still live at home)
C/L: 15 per month
NTL: Broadband/telephone 20.00 per month
Petrol: 75 per month
Dog) 20.00 per month
Food: 40.00 per month
Insurance 25.00 per month
RAC: 10.00 per month

Thanks for listening and I welcame any advice you can give me

Pauper_Princess

Hello tinkerbelle and welcome to the site! I only joined today and I'm a newbie too

Can't give too much advice at the moment, still finding my way around - but have you tried a company called CCCS? I think they're similar to Payplan and I've heard loads of good things about them, on this site and another site I post on.

There's loads of fab people on here who'll be able to give you some constructive advice!

DON'T tell yourself that you're stupid. If we were stupid, we wouldn't be here trying to do something about it

Biffa

tinkerbelle wrote:

Up until the beginning of this year I paid all of my bills on time and the minimum amount. I have just graduated from University and last November I left my part-time job as my boss kept on giving me extra work and changing my hours. I couldn't find any work till February during which time you've guessed it I put items on credit cards and ordered off catalogues.

Upon leaving University in July I have found it hard to get a full time job. I wrote to all my creditors explaining the situation but found very few wanted to listen. I contacted payplan in August who advised bankruptcy as I wouldn't have enough to live it. I didn't want that and have effectively buried my head in the sand, until now. I received a letter from Northampton County Court over money I owe to Next. I really do not know what to do, or where to turn to. I will post a soa at the end.

I currently work weekends for 16 hours at 7.53 an hour and an extra 50p on a Sunday. I have also joined the local council employment agency who have found me work Monday to Friday, so am currently working 7 days a week. I don't want to leave my weekend job as I enjoy it. I am currently on a 3month contract for my week day job but have been told it will be extended to possibly a year. The salary is 14,000 per year.

Income:

Weekend Job: 410 per month
Week Job: 800 per month

Debts Owed:

AA Car Loan: 5000, 137.12 per month (stopped paying July 2006)
AA Visa: 2200, 45.00 per month (stopped paying July 2006)
Studio: 3200, 121.00 per month (stopped paying August 2006)
Captial One: 900, 50.00 per month (stopped paying June 2006)
Barclaycard: 1100, 35.00 per month (stopped paying August 2006)
Great Universal: 1300, 190.00 per month (stopped paying July 2006)
Next: 1200, 120.00 per month (stopped paying July 2006)
LX Direct: 350, 35.00 per month (stopped paying June 2006)Littlewoods: 800, 45.00 per month (stopped paying June 2006)
Grattan: 350, 25.00 per month (stopped paying September 2006)
Kays: 60, 10.00 per month (stopped paying July 2006)Additions: 790, 35.00 per month (stopped paying June 2006)
Carphone Warehouse: 120, 35 (stopped paying July 2006)
Natwest: 1600 Interest Free Student Overdraft

In total I owe about 19,00. I can't believe I have been so stupid. I also have a bank account with HSBC who I do not owe any money to and am in credit with them!
On most of the accounts above I have received default notices but came accross this site by accident and was wondering if anyone could help me.

My outgoings each month are
Rent: 200 (still live at home)
C/L: 15 per month
NTL: Broadband/telephone 20.00 per month
Petrol: 75 per month
Dog) 20.00 per month
Food: 40.00 per month
Insurance 25.00 per month
RAC: 10.00 per month

Thanks for listening and I welcame any advice you can give me

By my reckoning, you have £800 a month to throw at debt, so in the first month you can clear carphone warehouse, kays and LX Direct and throw the remaining £250 ish at Grattan, which you can clear the following month.

If you start to snowball your payments you'll be able to clear them quite quickly, but in the meantime you need to throw all your catalogues away! £3000 to Studio is mental as they're so expensive in the first place! Do you have anything of any value that you can sell to raise money to clear your debts quicker? Bankruptcy is an extreme option (been there, done that) and you need to consider all the alternatives first.

Good luck, and welcome to MSE. I'll have a proper look later to see if I can think of anything else as in the middle of burning tea at the moment!

tinkerbelle

The catalogues have all been thrown away. I know the amount to Studio is high, I used to pay them about 150.00 per month but 120.00 of that was eaten up in charges!.

Biffa

You need to write to all of your creditors offering a payment plan and asking them to freeze interest and charges. Take a look at the threads about reclaiming bank charges - that might help. You've come to the right place for advice though - I'm sure some of the others will be along soon with more words of wisdom....

...... meanwhile tea is still burning, so really need to go!

jessicamb

Hi Tinkerbelle

You can clear this! I dont think bankruptcy is needed here. You are living at home and whilst you are there you can throw serious money at these debts.

First of all some of the debts are at very high interest. You need to figure out the various APRs and start paying off the highest interest ones first.
As you pay off a debt put the extra money into paying off the next highest APR debt and so on.

Concentrate on getting a full time job to start getting the money in to pay off your debts. Send back/sell as much as possible that you dont need to clear debts.

david_hellier

I think, as a young person (I am assuming you are young), if you have no dependents or assets you should declare yourself bankrupt and make a fresh start. It really is not a big deal at your stage of life. It also helps the banks and the government see the real state of the economy.

Good luck.

inmypocketnottheirs

david_hellier wrote:

I think, as a young person (I am assuming you are young), if you have no dependents or assets you should declare yourself bankrupt and make a fresh start. It really is not a big deal at your stage of life. It also helps the banks and the government see the real state of the economy.

Good luck.

Doh!:eek:

biffa wrote:

By my reckoning, you have £800 a month to throw at debt, so in the first month you can clear carphone warehouse, kays and LX Direct and throw the remaining £250 ish at Grattan, which you can clear the following month.

If you start to snowball your payments you'll be able to clear them quite quickly, but in the meantime you need to throw all your catalogues away! £3000 to Studio is mental as they're so expensive in the first place! Do you have anything of any value that you can sell to raise money to clear your debts quicker? Bankruptcy is an extreme option (been there, done that) and you need to consider all the alternatives first.

Much more sensible :T

tinkerbelle

Iam 28, which is not actually young. I intend to go back to University in the next 2 years to do a post graduate Social Work diploma. Can I work as a Social Worker if I went bankrupt?

tinkerbelle

I also sold everything on ebay to get me through the months when I was not working.
I also wrote to my creditors telling them about my situation and enclosed (stupidly) to a few of them 3 months worth of post dated cheques which most of them proceeded to cash at once!. The AA essentially told me they were not interested in my situation and talk to payplan. Next just rejected my offers and are now taking me to County Court.

jessicamb

If you cannot meet the minimum repayments on these then I would strongly advise calling Payplan/CCCS. These organisations have a lot of might that individuals do not. I think that they will be able to help you negotiate payment figures with your creditors.

I dont know if bankruptcy will affect your future job prospects. Maybe have a look on any professional body websites - they should have the information in their membership terms and conditions.