No light at the end of the tunnel......

tink28

Hi All

I posted the below thread over a year ago and am gutted to say that not much has changed and I owe more than the £25k I thought it was - after working out what I owe and to who I feel physically sick that its £35k...... :eek: not in the greatest mood today at all and just want to crawl into a dark room and stay there for a while!

I cant see any way out of this huge mess I seem to have got myself into... I honestly don't know what steps to take to reduce this amount as it seems all my salary is gone within 2 days of being paid each month! and I dont even know where as I'm not paying much towards the debt and I hardly ever go out

Any tips / ideas would be appreciated - as will any ideas on where I can get part time evening work that pays cash in hand :cool:

This is the original post:
Hi

This is going to be long... sorry

Just thought I'd start a new post and say hi.... and to try and get some support from you fab people

I've been reading some of the diaries and I honestly don't know how you guys manage to stay so positive!

I'm in debt (£25k give or take) - I am trying to deal with it by myself as my husband doesn't know - well he knows about £10k of it.... but its my stupidity that got me where I am...

Was going thru a rough stage in relationship about 2.5yrs ago... applied for a credit card just to see if I would get accepted... biggest mistake I ever made. The 'rough patch' took me on shopping sprees to cheer myself up... before I knew it I'd spent most of the limit on my card. Took a low interest loan to pay it off, which I did. Then spent on it again!
Took yet another loan to combine the CC and loan.... but then spent on the CC again after paying it off (yes I know!!)
Got a 0% balance transfer..... yup you've guessed it! Spent on both cards

Now I owe money to friends and family as well as these companies.
Got made redundant in Apr but am working now and have fallen behind on loan and cc payments. I have contacted the companies asking for lower payments to no avail!

I'm at my wits end! I really don't know how to deal with this.... I'm literally surviving each month with no money and I can't take much more!

Any advice would be great!! I have called ICCS today to find out about DMP... but have to wait to speak to a counsellor on Monday.

Any other advice on how to deal with this situation would be great because at the moment I can't see any light at the end of the tunnel!

Sorry for the rant but you all seem to know what you're doing and you all seem supportive x

AngryDog

Hi,

Im in similar situation but I owe around £15k more. Try and stay calm and dont stress too much.

How did you get on with the DMP? Have you done a recent SOA? It would be worth doing one if you havent.

Also, it may be worth a phone call to the CCCS or similar to work out your options.

Keep your chin up, theres always options

tink28

Hi Angrydog.....

Thanks

I didnt do the DMP - I can't even remember making the call but there was obviously a reason for me not signing up to it....

I've just been online with CCCS and done their questionnaire, they are also suggesting a DMP - but with £40 'spare' each month and over £700 in suggested repayments I don't see how thats going to really help to be honest!

LondonGirl252

Hi Tink,

Well done for coming back and admitting all this, realising its out of hand is a huge step.

I would do an SOA and post that up here when I did mine the lovely people on here found me tonnes of ways to reduce my spending and have more cash spare to throw at debts.

Do the snowball calculator too, link is on a thread on the board on one of the stickys, this takes into account the interest you're paying on each debt and works out the most cost effective way of paying these off.

Maybe you can tweak the DMP the CCCS has suggested to something you know you can manage?

Good luck, keep us updated...

... maybe start a diary on here too to help keep you on track? Mine has been a lifesaver

AngryDog

Is there anything on your SOA that you can cut back on?
I pay my creditors £5 a month and they're ok with it for now. I may be in the position to increase them in April next year which will be a bonus mind.

Write to your creditors, explain the problems, include a copy of your SOA and ask them to consider a payment plan. Explain how much you can afford to pay each month and also ask that they freeze any interest on your accounts.

If you can reduce your outgoings, it may also be worth contacting PayPlan who can sort a DMP for you?

tink28

AngryDog wrote: »

Is there anything on your SOA that you can cut back on?
I pay my creditors £5 a month and they're ok with it for now. I may be in the position to increase them in April next year which will be a bonus mind.

Write to your creditors, explain the problems, include a copy of your SOA and ask them to consider a payment plan. Explain how much you can afford to pay each month and also ask that they freeze any interest on your accounts.

If you can reduce your outgoings, it may also be worth contacting PayPlan who can sort a DMP for you?

SOA hasn't changed much over the last year, there isn't anything I can but back on to be honest. I dont spend on going out with mates etc. All my money goes on bills / mortgage - and there isnt interest on the debt as they have all been sold to 3rd parties so its full amounts including interest
I have tried writing to them all before on a few occasions, they either dont reply or they don't accept my offers.
Had a debt collector round the other day - I wasnt in so they left a card to which the DH saw and came to the conclusion that they were scammers..... but anyway I spoke to them and they want £100 a week to clear my debt.. I kinda just laughed at them and said if I had £100 a week then I wouldn't be in this situation.... but I just dont deal well with the pressure they put on me.

tink28

Here is my SOA..... apparently I have £367 available for repayments - but I dont even have £3.67 half the time so I'm not quite understanding whats going on :think: just feel like :wall:


Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1700
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1700

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 725
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 65
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 45
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 22
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 28
TV Licence.............................. 6
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 80
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 30
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 33
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 20
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 8.5
Buildings insurance..................... 5
Contents insurance...................... 5
Life assurance ......................... 10.5
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1233

Dawning

That £367 is going somewhere....
I'd get all my cc statements for the last year together and see what else you're spending. Do you really only spend £120 a year on clothes? No haircuts or entertainment or weekends away etc?

I'm in a similar situation, tried to get to grips with the debt over a year ago and am in a worse mess. I sat down with my cc and bank statements, two years' worth and there it all was, all the little bits of impulsive spending I'd forgotten about. It was hard to do it but now I know where I'm slipping up and I'm trying to get back on the straight and narrow.
Good luck!

mummybearx

Does your DH not work or claim benefits? You mention them but don't have any income for them? Or is this SOA only based on your half of the bills?

dark^knight

You're paying £65/month for phone, TV and internet. Have you looked at packages that can combine all 3 at a lower rate?

patman99

tink28 wrote: »

Here is my SOA..... apparently I have £367 available for repayments - but I dont even have £3.67 half the time so I'm not quite understanding whats going on :think: just feel like :wall:


Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1700
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1700

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 725
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 65
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 45
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 22
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 28 If contract, see how low they will go. If contract is up and that is the cheapest your provider can offer, then go elsewhere.
TV Licence.............................. 6
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30 You can't afford this.
Internet Services....................... 20 Switch providers. This is expensive.
Groceries etc. ......................... 80
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 30
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 33
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 20
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 8.5
Buildings insurance..................... 5
Contents insurance...................... 5
Life assurance ......................... 10.5
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1233

I have added a few comments. Can we assume your income is net rather than gross?.

Stop writing to the DCA's. Instead, send them each a cheque for £10 each month. They will not like it, but as long as you keep paying (even if they keep sending the cheque back), their chances of gaining a CCJ against you in Court are nil, as you can prove you paid what you could afford, so the judge would tell them it is their problem if they refuse to accept YOUR payments.

By doing this, you will make them realize you are serious about not having much money and may well offer to accept so much a month in return for them cutting their losses and reducing the over-all amount owed.

My son found all this out when both his mobile phone contracts went into the red and the telcos sold the debts on.

One of the DCA's after realizing they were going to get £1 p/m and no more, offered him a settlement figure that was £250 short of the total owed if he agreed to pay £x.xx p/m. So, he wins, the telco losses.