Help me help myself to get out of this hole!

livvy50

Hi all, here is my SOA:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Income from Self Employment (before tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
State Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Pension / Annuity Payout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . . . . . . . . . 292.50
Income From Savings & Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Gifts From Family / Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.00
Monthly Expense Details
In Your Home
Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Home Phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Garden Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Household Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69.00
Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Home Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Payment Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Motoring & Public Transport
Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.75
Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40.00
Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Breakdown Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Debt Repayments
Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283.00
Hire Purchase Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Car Loan Repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Savings & Investments
Pension Payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Buying Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mini Cash ISAs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Lump Sum Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Saving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Family
Pet Food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pocket Money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Nappies/Baby Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Laundry/Dry Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Children's Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Baby Sitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Childcare/Play Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Travel Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Entertainment
Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Family Days Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big Days Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Shopping for Fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
DVD Rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Drinking Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Eating Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Clothes, Health & Beauty
Complimentary Therapies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Optical Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Beauty Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Healthcare Cashplans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Dental Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Medical Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Work Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
New Children's Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Education & Courses
University Tuition Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Your Courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big One Offs
Funeral Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Wedding Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
Winter Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Summer Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.33
Odds & Sods
Newspapers & Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Charity Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.83
Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392.50

Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474.92


I have £10,231.35 spread across four credit cards and am £4419.01 into my overdraft. Yikes...

It breaks down like this:
Natwest Visa: £2792.91
Barclaycard Visa: £716.77
Asda Mastercard: £281.15
Virgin Mastercard: £6440.52
Natwest current account: £4419.01
TOTAL: £14,650.36

A combination of factors have led me to be in this situation. It all started while I was at university (1998-2001!), and even though I was working part time, my living costs got out of control, and as I didn't get any funding it was pretty hard. I think I was kidding myself somewhat too, as to the lifestyle I could afford to live - we all live and learn. After that I was working in a fairly low paid but respectable job (my parents were proud, but blissfully ignorant to what was going on behind the scenes). I did progress in my career, and ended up earning c. £25K a year, but due a series of house moves (despite being a model tenant, I was very unlucky with housemates, landlords, and flats I was renting being sold, so incurred lots of moving costs). A relationship I was in broke down and due to also working at the same company as this person, I needed some head space so a couple of years ago I moved out of the town where I lived and worked and went back to my home town about 50 miles away, living with a close friend and chose to commute each day by car (yes... high petrol and running costs adding to my financial problems...). Around this time I was also finding my job incredibly stressful, with lots of travel and far too much responsibility. I guess I have always been the kind of person who struggles on and is too proud to complain. There is some good news though, about this time last year, I met the man of my dreams and we have been blissfully happy ever since. He has been so supportive and is desperate for me to find a job I love and improve my financial status.

After many long discussions last Christmas, I decided to hand my notice in at work and move into his flat to save on my living expenses (he pays all of the rent, household bills, plus my petrol, food, etc - all I pay for is my debt, car, mobile phone and a few other little things). He is pretty wonderful and is happy to pay for anything I can't afford, and just wants to help me as much as possible, which I don't find easy, I assure you. I have always been 100% independent and not good at asking for or accepting help (maybe why I am in this situation!). I often moan to him about how I want to knock this debt on the head once and for all, but he doesn't know how much I owe, and says that once he has paid off his car (next month) he will have lots more money to pay some of my debts - I am so grateful for his offer, but I want to do something about it myself as well.

He is in the forces and has been away much of this year, giving me time to sort my life out but I don't seem to be getting anywhere fast. I have only just applied for jobseekers allowance (too proud maybe), and should hopefully receive that soon (I've included that in my income). He also has a little business on the side, which I have been helping him to run but it is taking time for business to build up, so I've not included any income from this as it's minimal and I cannot rely on it as it's quite sporadic. I had been hoping I could live on this, and build up the business (which is why I hadn't looked for other employment) but it's not happened. Out of desperation I am going to be starting selling Avon from next week - it's a start and I have the time to devote to it, so hopefully I will do okay.

I have not looked for a full time role as between us we have two dogs who cannot be left alone all day (partner returns home for lunch quite often, but when he's away I cannot leave them all day). I am going to throw myself into looking for something part time but there aren't many things going around here.

In the meantime I need to figure out what to do with my debts as I am struggling to cover the minimum payments and the interest is ridiculously high is bankruptcy too drastic? The things that put me off are having trouble renting property in the future and having my car taken away (could I sign the ownership over to my partner instead?). Where we live is pretty rural and to have any kind of life a car is pretty essential. As an aside, my parents paid for the car (£4.5K) and I have been paying them back when I can.

Does anyone have any words of encouragement, advice, do's, don'ts...? I was thinking of using the citizens advice bureau sample letters to write to my credit card companies to see if they will freeze the interest, reduce my monthly payments - is this the best thing to do?

Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long ramble but I thought I needed to add some context.

Livvy

Tixy

Hi

Are you looking for part time employment at least? Perhaps a job where you could work afternoons/evenings so the dogs would only be alone for a few hours in the afternoon? Or a job that is only 4 hour shifts or something? You'd still be earning a lot more than JSA. Or a job that is near enough for you to be able to get home in your lunch time everyday to let them out. Is there a neighbour who could let them out in the day? or if you were working full time and earning a proper wage what about considering paying a dog walker?

If you are not working do you need to run a car? could you sell the car and use some of that towards your debts and then save yourself the insurance, tax maintenance costs etc.

Does the £283 cover the minimum payments on the cards? What is the £69 for the overdraft? is that fees or interest or both? It certainly doesn't look like you can carry on making minimum payments unless you can either up your income or perhaps sell the car I would suggest speaking to one of the debt charities. They may recommend you offering reduced payments or may offer to run a DMP for you. Or they may even suggest you consider a debt relief order, which you might qualify for without the car.

ampafc

You are not making enough effort, imo. You can't get a job becauseyou don't want to leave the dogs at home? That's not good enough. Perhaps you need to think about seling the dogs.

*KT*

This site is not for judgement please remember.

You come across as rather harsh ampafc.

livvy50

Thank you for the speedy replies

Just to clarify, my parents paid for the car - and I pay them back as and when I can, there is no desperate urgency, and thankfully they are happy to wait a while. I do see the car as quite essential, for looking for work, contact with my family and friends (all live quite some distance away and we do not have good public transport links).

I am not willing to part with my dogs, when we got them this was to be their forever home and I will not compromise on this (I think this is the one thing I am really adament about). They are my world and much needed company when my partner is away. In terms of their financial cost, this is covered 100% by my partner, so is not a burden to me.

I have an appointment this afternoon with the job centre to explore my options, but I have been spending every day looking for something suitable. I must stress I am NOT unwilling to work. I have been in unbroken employment since the age of 13, it is only this year that I have not worked and should point out I have not claimed any benefits, even though I was entitled (more fool me). I had a pretty rough time the last couple of years and was in a bit of a mess at the beginning of this year. I am now really ready to throw myself back in to work and do want to improve my financial situation. I guess what I am looking for in terms of advice, is how to deal with the credit cards in the short term while I am looking for work. Having had this debt building up for 10 years, and worked to try and reduce it (I have actually managed to reduce it by £800 in the last few months, despite not working), I do need to get a plan in place to deal with it.

livvy50

Sorry, yes the £283 would just about cover the minimum payments on the cards until I find some work. But nothing more. The £69 for the overdraft is the interest.

And my car running costs, my partner is willing to help with when he returns as he will probably use it sometimes too (e.g. he offered to pay half of the tax).

Tixy

I'd speak to one of the debt charities to explore your options - IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts. probably CCCS. Who'll explain your options and the impact of them. Eg if you offer reduced payments and ask for them to freeze interest this will have a big impact on your credit file. If you partner is financially associated to you via joint accounts then it will also impact on his ability to get credit.

If you offer reduced payments on the crds and overdraft then you'll need to first open a new basic bank account with a bank unconnected to any of your creditors to protect your benefit money from offsetting.

livvy50

Thank you for the advice Tixy. My partner and I do not have any joint accounts or any kind of related financial dealings. Our finances are completely independent of each other, which I am thankful for, as I do not want him drawn into this mess.

I think I will seek some advice from a charity as you suggest, and I am glad you pointed out about opening a new bank account, really helpful

Avogirly

Hello, I'm no expert, just wanted to pop by to say hi and welcome. Do stay here as there is so much support. Sending you hugs.

A member of my family runs a small dog walking service for those who are out to work full time. Im not sure on the cost, but I don't think it's too expensive, perhaps that's something you may consider. Even if you just go full time until you are back on your feet and then return to part time work.

vstheworld

Regarding the overdraft, suggest you phone them, explain your SOA to them over the phone, and ask them what the options are in terms of reducing or freezing interest so that you are servicing the debt. It's clear you can't keep paying 69 a month interest and you're going to take YEARS to clear the balance. (That's OK - you just have to be clear about it your mind. After all a mortgage takes 25 years to pay off...)

If they won't play ball at all remind them that you can open a basic bank account elsewhere and treat the debt as an unsecured loan from that point forwards. You are quite within your rights to do this in your current situation. You may find they start making more helpful offers, otherwise they have to do through lots of faff to officially default you and sell the debt. Either way don't put any money into that account that you might want back again; in theory they can't without money you need for basic needs, but in practice they most certainly do. If you want to avoid black marks keep paying the interest plus a little more until you can demonstrate that you're making offers to them and they're ignoring you.

Re the credit cards, go through the CCCS or someone similar. They just will not listen to anything individuals have to say by default without a LOT of effort on your part. I have had the regulator involved in all three cards and that's WITH an SOA which was agreed by the CCCS. Again what I gave them originally was pretty much exactly the same but as soon as I had a CCCS reference number it all started happening.

I was in a similar situation, the two of us could JUST cover basic cost of living on one income but there was nothing left over for any debt whether secured or unsecured. You will find that just about everyone you deal with at your creditors will ask you if your partner can cover it. You need to remind them on EVERY occasion that it is against the Code of Practice for them to even ask.

Lois_and_CK

Don't restict yourself to part-time work just because of the dogs. (I don't say that lightly because I'm a dog lover myself!) There are plenty of options with dogs, and lots of people manage to keep happy dogs while also working full time.

1. If you get a job in the local area, you can go home at lunch times on the days your OH can't.
2. Have friends/family pop in while you're at work.
3. Employ a dog walker to cover the days you/your OH can't go home at lunch time. They're not expensive, and certainly cheaper than losing out on full-time pay.
4. There are 'doggy day care' centres dotted about all over the place: like a wacky warehouse, but for dogs instead of humans