About to lose my job, help with a couple of questions

RAS

angiepooos wrote: »

If I looked into declaring myself bankrupt, .......

BR - bankruptcy
OR - Official Receiver - the person who sorts out a bankrupt person's finances and decides what happens to their estate. Like whether you are allowed to keep the house or sell it.
BRU/BRO - Bankruptcy Restriction Undertaking (voluntarily agreed)/Order(enforced) an extension of the bankruptcy rules (you remain undischarged and may face additional restrictions). The longest BRO is 15 years.

If you are preceived to have treated any unsecured creditor more favourably (paid them more than others) then the OR can demand the money back from the creditor and redistribute it to the ones you disadvantaged. Basically it is not allowed and you can have your bankruptcy extended for doing it. This fact is recorded permanently on the Insolvency Register, which is a public document. Future creditors view someone with a BRU/BRO less favourably that a straight discharged bankrupt.

angiepooos

Ok thanks for clearing that up.

angiepooos

Just to say thank you to everybody for your support during a terrible month of worry. Thought I'd follow up with the outcome ... I didn't lose my job! I'm having to take a pay cut of £3.5K but I can survive that with some adjustments. When I found out I actually danced for joy, then cried with the relief of it all night.

I found out on the last day of March and due to a month of not spending and not sleeping, I've already paid off £400 of my debt. I'm going to start moonlighting, creating websites for people which I've done a bit of before but for free. My first commission is in May and I'm going to go for the budget £300-£500 market, small businesses starting up with not much spare cash, and them after work. We've also taken in a lodger, a very nice friend of ours who's going to pay us £350 for our spare room which is tax free (I guess you all know that but it's an option for you if you don't).

We've done all the figures and I should be debt free in between 4-5 years, no mean feat when you have over £20K of unsecured debt.

The shock has done us good. We've had to admit we can't afford the lifestyle we've been living to family and friends (liberating rather than embarrassing) and we've gone from Waitrose to jacket potatoes and frozen food, but we're still alive and just as well nourished.

We're not giving up the gym and have actually started to go now which we weren't before. Physical health is so tied in with good mental health and a longer happier life, and getting out of the house in the evening takes me away from our old destructive habits of drinking wine and flopping in front of the box eating chocolate all night.

I tell you, I'm a believer now. I'm focussed and feel that this pain was necessary to shake both myself and my husband out of our delusion of living beyond our means. It's a LONG road ahead, but we'll do it. And much of that positive energy came from this forum, so once again THANK YOU!!!!

beanielou

Great news for you & as you say you have had a wake up call.
Keep plodding & keep posting!