I'm not alone

joespendalot

Hi,

Thank god i found this forum, least now i know im not alone and these problems can be sorted. Does anyone here think my story sounds familiar?

I think my money problem started 10 years ago when i got my first creditcard whilst still a student. Even when i had a job i still managed to be upto my limit all the time. Eventually I had a default registered against me due to the fact I didnt pay my card for 6 months. Anyway I managed to pay it off a year later and got a letter from the credit card company confirming I non longer owed them any money and send copies to the two credit reference agencies.

Silly me a few years later and earning a good income decided to get a credit card after recieving a letter saying i had been preaccepted (these letters should be made illegal). So I ran this card upto its limit then paid the minimum for a few months before deciding to apply for another card for a balance transfer, all well and good but i didn't cancel the old one so I then ran 2 cards upto there limit. Next I bought myself a new car with a loan i was accepted for from cahoot.

A couple of months down the line i found myself with 3 cards and a loan and i could barely afford monthly payments. So next great idea was to get another loan for the balance of the 3 credit cards (round about £5000) so i have just one payment every month. So i got my loan paid my cards then thought, i'll keep them for emergencies and stupidly kept the cards.

I then managed to run the cards up again after moving out of my parents house for the first time, taking out cash to pay my loans etc etc. So next it was time for the car to go to sort the cards and the £5000 loan. I sold my car and got £13000 for it then paid all my cards yet again. I owed my parents money and had to buy a run around to get to work and ended up only paying my cards and not the £5k loan.

Things were getting tight again a couple of months ago because my girlfriend lost her job and is now pregnant so I started using one of my cards again, so im back to square one yet again.

So as it stands I owe £7500 on a £10500 loan, £3000 on a £5000 loan and£1600 on a capitalone card and I'm overdrawn by £800 aswell.

I nearly made the mistake of letting Baines and Earnst take control of my finances but lucky me pulled out at the last minute due to them being VERY pushy and didnt like the idea of paying them to do nothing basically.

So now I am currently filling out my info on the CCCS website, i think i've had my lightbulb moment. I currently earn good money over £2K take home most months but it never seems enough..

Sorry to write such a long post just would be nice to hear someone in the same boat tell there story. Just seems sometimes like you think your on track then you slip up again.

RoCas

You're right, Joe, you're not alone. There are some wonderful people here. Welcome to MSE ... I'm sure they'll be loads along soon to give you sound advice.

Brassicks

Welcome mate...

Well u not alone..seems like we becoming a big family....:beer: Im with CCCS and paid first payment to them on 1st December,just waiting for them to start paying my vultures off

Psykicpup

RoCas wrote:

You're right, Joe, you're not alone. There are some wonderful people here. Welcome to MSE ... I'm sure they'll be loads along soon to give you sound advice.

...& they will want your SOA !! no honestly they will - while your waiting for the really helpfull peeps you could make a start - southernscousers post at the top of the board tells you how if you are too sure! (ps I'm mostly only any good for hugs & hellos & support )

anyway HI & welcome !(to your lightbulb moment) :coffee:

joespendalot

Thanks for the reply guys,

I'm going to work on my signature later will include a full SOA. I spose i've just got to the point where borrowing from 1 to pay the other isnt working anymore which in a way is a good thing because i could easily see myself being in 20-30k of debt if i hadn't seen the light.

Also reading other peoples stories on here is really comforting and I now don't feel like the only man in britain with money problems.

I'm going to recommend this forum to my friend who is in a worse state than me at the moment.

Does anybody on here have agreements with any of the companies i owe money to?

I owe:-
Cahoot loan £7500
1st Direct loan £3000ish
Capital one CC £1600
Barclaycard £600

Just wondering what they are like to deal with when I have to negotiate repayment or would this be done by CCCS?

madduck

Hi Joe - welcome to the family! My history is very similar, probably the same as about 90% of the people on the board.

I went onto a DMP with CCCS about 2 and a half years ago. Best thing I ever did. I'll probably be on a DMP for about another 5 years, but on the bright side, I'm steadily reducing my debt for the first time in my adult life.

The only creditor we have in common is Capital One. I found them not too bad to deal with to be honest, they haven't really hastled me. Northern Rock and Morgan Stanley take that honour!

When your details are completed with CCCS they will send out an income and expenditure statement to the various companies with details of the proposed payments to them. Some companies go back directly to CCCS, others will write to you. Some accept straightaway, others don't. Be prepared just incase some of them take the hastle route, you may get telephone calls saying that they want more money, what you are offering isn't enough, can't you get more money from somewhere, etc. You've got to be strong and say that you are paying all that you can afford. Refer them back to CCCS.

I probably went through a couple of months of that with some of them. You will receive defaults pretty much straight away. Some will sell your debts on to DCAs. CCCS advise (and I have to agree) that DCAs can be easier to deal with in terms of DMPs. They tend to accept the proposals easier.

Looking back it was tough at the time, but I realise that I've done the best thing. So far none of them have taken me to court. Still get the occassional threats (thanks for the regular jolts of reality Northern Rock), but I do feel as though I am getting somewhere. You will too!

Best of luck. Keep in touch with the board and let us know how things are going.

TepidWater

Interesting thread. Joe - you'll get lots of top advice here.

Madduck - personally, I found Capital One absolutely dreadful. I suppose "one man's meat is another man's poison".

madduck

Hi Tepidwater - I owed Capital One a relatively low amount (few hundred), perhaps that is why they weren't too bad? Owe NR masses - perhaps that is why they make me jump through hoops?