Money Problems

joseph9a

Hi all, I'm having a lot of money problems at the moment I owe £180 to my landlord which is overdue, £90 for a phone bill which if I do not pay for by friday it is going to be passed onto a debt collection agency. I also have lots of letters from debt collectors for having a £700 outstanding balance with united utilities.

I am currently recieving ESA and Housing Benefit, and waiting to hear about my DLA renewal which I applied for 4 weeks ago. I didn't realise how much difference my DLA made to me each month as I have been really struggling since it expired. I have been breaking into my rent money and my benefits don't seem to last aslong.

I have £10 on my electricity meter, and the same on my gas which will not last long, my cars petrol light is on and the other day i put my hand brake on and the cables snapped so I'm having to park in gear with it off so thats another bill in the future. I am upto my overdraft limit in my bank, and don't know what to do.

I've been sleeping out at the weekends to save on heating and food, is there any advice anyone could give me as im not due to be paid for 13 days and the money that comes in then is already owed out. If Ispent nothing for a month that would solve my problems but thats not viable. Does anyone know of any loans you can get? I've heard of crisis loans but I don't know much about these an how much you can apply for.

Sorry it's really long winded.

Joe

Martynb_

joseph9a wrote: »

Hi all, I'm having a lot of money problems at the moment I owe £180 to my landlord which is overdue, £90 for a phone bill which if I do not pay for by friday it is going to be passed onto a debt collection agency. I also have lots of letters from debt collectors for having a £700 outstanding balance with united utilities.

I am currently recieving ESA and Housing Benefit, and waiting to hear about my DLA renewal which I applied for 4 weeks ago. I didn't realise how much difference my DLA made to me each month as I have been really struggling since it expired. I have been breaking into my rent money and my benefits don't seem to last aslong.

I have £10 on my electricity meter, and the same on my gas which will not last long, my cars petrol light is on and the other day i put my hand brake on and the cables snapped so I'm having to park in gear with it off so thats another bill in the future. I am upto my overdraft limit in my bank, and don't know what to do.

I've been sleeping out at the weekends to save on heating and food, is there any advice anyone could give me as im not due to be paid for 13 days and the money that comes in then is already owed out. If Ispent nothing for a month that would solve my problems but thats not viable. Does anyone know of any loans you can get? I've heard of crisis loans but I don't know much about these an how much you can apply for.

Sorry it's really long winded.

Joe

If I was in your situation I would contact a citizen's advice bureau or (if you have one near you) Stephensons Solicitors and lay out your problems to them. They can liaise with your debtors and they may be able to work out a payment plan which will consolidate all your debts into one manageable payment. My mum did exactly this when she was in bad debt. She found out that she could pay something like £20 per week and this would cover her debts. Then she would use whatever income she had in paying what she was using at the present. In other words, everthing was reset including her gas and electric bills.

Edit: the interest on her loans got frozen and so she was able to pay off slowly without worrying about paying back rising interest.

karenx

You cant get a crisis loan to cover debt.

dseventy

karenx wrote: »

You cant get a crisis loan to cover debt.

Plus its another loan to be paid back at some point, the spiral starts again.

Can you borrow some money off friends or family to tide you over?

Failing the CAB suggestion is the best.

D70

DX2

Might be an idea to post on the debt free wanabee board here also, others might be able to offer you advice regarding your debts.

Oldernotwiser

Is your girlfriend working at the moment?

joeblack066

Crisis loans can only cover food, and gas and electric if they are on a prepay meter. If you think that the DLA will be awarded, then you could apply for one to tide you over. They will ask you to say realistically how much you need for each, and then it will go through the decision making procedure whilst you are still on the phone. If awarded, you will be able to collect it the same day. Do remember that it is a legal statement that you are giving so you must be truthful.
Do you really need the car? I feel that this is a luxury that you cannot afford at the moment. I would seriously think about getting rid of it, cars eat money! Good luck!

stu12345_2

ive been in ur situation bar the esa, wht we did was sell everything we could sell we didnt need on ebay,a one day sale with a fixed low price, we raised £360.we even sold gold rings to jewellers,no point being proud to keep them, my partner said she'd rather not be in debt and !!!!!! the rings,I know it sounds unhelpfull, but is it just a short term prob then do it,if longterm u need to get a debt mangement plan, negotiate with creditors.
short term, i would get help from friends, family and sell, sell, sel, we sold,cds,tables, dvd player,books, even sold 3 piece suite.wardrobes, we used the plastic temp ones, 1200 records,that i said im an adult not a teen, lets get rid of them. we used a sofabed we got at charity shop. just got a new suite today from a charity shop, its fine and saved megabucks.
we knew we couldnt get crisis loan, wonga loan, increse on overdraft, so it was a matter of selling and one day in the near future u can buy again when ur better off, time to swallow pride, thats what we did.

Jowo_2

I'm not familiar with the loans/grants available for those on low income so I'm sorry I can't help with that specific question.

Have a look to see if there are any foodbanks in your local area and how you can get a food parcel to help tide you over. The Trussell trust run a lot of food banks but there could be other ones in your local area run by church groups or other charities.

http://www.trusselltrust.org/

Why do you owe rent to your landlord? Is your LHA payment delayed for some reason or did you spend it on other things?

stu12345_2

another idea and i did it yrs ago, was i shop at local corner shop, i got friendly overtime with owner,became loyal shopper and suddenly one week i was so skint i asked if i could shop and pay him back next week, he said ok, I guess u need to be a regular and very friendly with owner.he knew i lived in same street as shop and knew i wasnt doing a runner. i remained a loyal customer to him for a few yrs later, until i sold my house and moved.

have you consider pawning some goods and buy back when ur better off.

Incyder

you need a cash in hand job fast, cleaning cars, walking dogs, delivering chinese takeaways etc.

I've not long given up walking a dog for £6 an hour. I made some notices in 'word' and pinned em up in the local woods. Got an offer in a week. Did it for about 2 years but had to let it go when I moved house.