help me please. dont know where to start

gawebb99

ok. so my husband and i have been careless , mainly my fault i guess. always wanting the children to have nice things etc etc one thing leads to another doesnt it. we have two children and live in a rented house with one car between us. we both work.

we are in debt and struggling now as my husbands wages have dropped.

we havent ever been late in paying any of the creditors but could be heading that way soon.

we have 2 loans. £10,000 & £3,000
4 credit cards between us. approx £7000 in total
2 argos cards and a homebase card approx £1000 in total
very, additions, empire catalogues approx £2000 in total
we oew my in laws £2500

so approx £24,00 :eek:

our car is paid outright as is the insurance. we have no social life-never go out so money isnt going there. we have no luxuries really at all.

not sure whats the best route to take. any advice please as really struggling and even with very careful budgetting we still dont have enough each month.

PedroMatias

gawebb99 wrote: »

ok. so my husband and i have been careless , mainly my fault i guess. always wanting the children to have nice things etc etc one thing leads to another doesnt it. we have two children and live in a rented house with one car between us. we both work.

we are in debt and struggling now as my husbands wages have dropped.

we havent ever been late in paying any of the creditors but could be heading that way soon.

we have 2 loans. £10,000 & £3,000
4 credit cards between us. approx £7000 in total
2 argos cards and a homebase card approx £1000 in total
very, additions, empire catalogues approx £2000 in total
we oew my in laws £2500

so approx £24,00 :eek:

our car is paid outright as is the insurance. we have no social life-never go out so money isnt going there. we have no luxuries really at all.

not sure whats the best route to take. any advice please as really struggling and even with very careful budgetting we still dont have enough each month.

Have you filled out an SOA? It's a great, constructive way of getting all the info down into a post, and you'll get some really good guidance based on it. You have to be BRUTALLY honest for it to work though!

There's a link on the index of this forum section. Good luck!

gawebb99

thanks , will have a look for that link and try that

to be honest, we have written everything down, tried to make cutbacks etc etc but still struggle

have been reading on IVA and wondering whether to take this route

Naomim

Hi,

The link is http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html


Complete this and then choose to format it for MSE and post it on here. You'll be suprised by what cut back can be made.

Also, keep a spending diary. It will help you to see where you money is going every month.

Naomi x

gawebb99

thanks for that, will take a look tonight once ive taken the children to bed.

van22663

Bless you, there is nothing wrong with wanting your kids to have nice things. Firstly, dont panic, you will get loads of help on here...as I have done in the past. Have you spoken to the cccs or citizens advice? both good places to go for debt advice, secondly as long as you can pay your rent & utility bills first....everything else can take a back seat. I approached all of the credit card & loan companies myself and they all froze the interest & now accept a lower payment amount, I did speak to cccs and got an income/expenditure sheet which i emailed to all of the credit card/loan companies and they were happy with this. I did not want to do an IVA because sometimes, it can be quite a big amount & it would have been more than doing it separately. The main thing is, keep everyone informed and you will find most companies will try to help you. As you are in rented, there is nothing secured against your property so they cannot take your home away. Hope this helps a little, good luck.

gawebb99

van22663 wrote: »

Bless you, there is nothing wrong with wanting your kids to have nice things. Firstly, dont panic, you will get loads of help on here...as I have done in the past. Have you spoken to the cccs or citizens advice? both good places to go for debt advice, secondly as long as you can pay your rent & utility bills first....everything else can take a back seat. I approached all of the credit card & loan companies myself and they all froze the interest & now accept a lower payment amount, I did speak to cccs and got an income/expenditure sheet which i emailed to all of the credit card/loan companies and they were happy with this. I did not want to do an IVA because sometimes, it can be quite a big amount & it would have been more than doing it separately. The main thing is, keep everyone informed and you will find most companies will try to help you. As you are in rented, there is nothing secured against your property so they cannot take your home away. Hope this helps a little, good luck.

thank for your help. how did you go about getting interest frozen as that would really help us- the interest is a nightmare!! i know its our own fault, but we're older and wiser now:D any help would be really appreciated. is it just a case of phoning (cc companies/store cards etc) and explaining we are struggling and asking them to freeze the interest?

wishingherlifeaway

Hey

I agree with the advice given so far and would say that in my experience it is best to go now as soon as you are finding things difficult and get help as prolonging the agony of making ends meet serves no purpose.

Most creditors are willing to help you meet the payments and if that is by freezing interest or accepting a lower payment each month so be it. They appreciate honesty and a willingness to meet your obligations. I did try this route at first but I found it all so overwhelming and felt so alone trying to sort the problem that I contacted a debt adviser in Citizens Advice and made an appointment with her. She was excellent, she went through my agreements and did an income and expenditure list and arranged a DMP (Debt Management Plan) for us but our debts were a hell of a lot more than your £24,000 so realistically we would be paying for decades before the debt would be lowered.

Eventually we were advised that the extent of our debt would be better handled with an insolvency practitioner who sorted an IVA for us which we are currently paying.

You are fortunate in that your home and car are not on finance so quite honestly you can take some comfort in that. You are both working so after your essential bills i.e rent and food and heat, any surplus income can be divided up and given to the creditors each month.

If I were you I would make an appointment with CAB or CCCS or any other reputable debt charity and they will sift through your case and help you come to a decision about which option is available to you. There is always an option.

You sound like many parents and are not to feel bad for wanting to provide for your children, we all want the best for our kids and often it is at the expense of ourselves that we struggle to give them everything. You are facing your problem and once a solution to your specific needs is found you will feel better equipped and more relieved that things are being dealt with.

Hope this shows you're not alone and there are many in the same boat.

gawebb99

thank you so much for your lovely words! daft really, the children never go without, yet i walk around in boots with holes in because i cant afford anymore yet:mad:

i have spoken to payplan- they are calling me back thursday evening so will see what they suggest

just a quick question, if i go down the iva route- do they take every single penny after the household bills have been paid? as if we just pay bills and household living expenses and they pay the creditors everything thats left- how do we pay for birthdays/school trips/clothes/xmas/petrol etc?

its all so overwhelming isnt it.

BEAT_THE_DEBT

Hi i took the dmp route and have never looked back. For me it was soul destroying scrimping on essentials just for the sake of a credit rating so i contacted cccs hubs has self dmp, which is harder as you have to keep renegotiating. Dmp is set 7 yrs for me.

pumpkinsoup

Hi we are in the exact same boat as u hun with about the same debt!!. Ive been avidly reading on here and have had some really good advice. From what i can gather an iva is quite strict but is over and done with in 5 years. Where as if u go down the dmp route its more of a gentlemans agreement but u may not get all interest frozen. With the dmp if u go through one of the charity based ones they sort out in comings out goings etc u will have to cut back obviously but will be enough to live on. I myself cant wait to see my new bank account without a minus next to it. Ive come to this conclusion i would rather enter a dmp and live alot stricter than come back here in 5 years time with double the debt . I know there will be loads more replys with people with more experience than me. But if u need to chat or pm feel free i could do with a debt free buddy lol!!. My main concern through all of this is not wanting my kids to suffer also xxx