cant see the light at the end of the tunnel

SEB2012

I'm struggling with my money, and have been for about a year now! I bought my own flat this time last year, and although I love it and was completely aware of how much it would cost, my debts have just got so much worse. I owe quite a lot on credit cards, but the thing that is stressing me out are the bills that I haven't paid. A friend of mine put me in touch with his friend who is a financial advisor who I confessed everything to, and he is having a look at it all, and is going to try and sort it all out for me. It just seems like even when I have all the min payments etc sorted, I can't afford to pay much at all each month, it seems likes its gonna take the rest of my life to pay it all off! I get paid tomorrow, and I'm already sick with worry about not being able to afford all my bills. As silly as it sounds but I don't know how to do a realistic budget either. I have tried but it never works! It's all just such a mess at the moment.
(just needed a moan and someone to tell me its all gonna be ok) thanks for reading!

londondealer

Seb deep breath and stay calm.

You're doing the right thing - your financial adviser is looking at things for you and will advise you on the best course of action.

Good luck.

~Beanie~

You really need to be paying your bills before your credit cards. If you don't pay things such as council tax, it can get a lot more serious than an unpaid credit card bill!

You could try filling in a statement of affaors - have a look at this one: http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html then people on here can give you some advice of where you can cut down or save some money.

And lastly, make sure that this financial advisor isn't charging for his advice, you can get advice for free and when you are in debt, you need free!!

SEB2012

Thank you for your replies. No I am not getting charged for the help.
I had been thinking that credit cards were more important. I'm on a payment plan with one of my credit cards, paying 60quid, shall I cancel that and put it towards my bills? I've missed several payments for other credit cards so I can safely say my credit score is shot! This is all so stressful, and so hard when you feel like you can't tell anyone

MFWannabe

Your bills are definitely more important than credit card payments. You need to pay your bills as utilities can be cut off if not paid and you can lose your home if mortgage/rent is not paid. None of this can happen for non payment of credit cards.
You need to post an soa though so people here can give the best advice for you
Don't feel like you're on your own, there's lots of people here who have/are in exactly the same position; so please do not ever feel ashamed to come here and discuss anything

meer53

You've done the right thing by tackling this now. A budget is easy to work out, list your income, then your outgoings, if you have anything left, thats what you need to use for living. If you have a defecit, you need to look at your outgoings and prioritise them, things like Mortgage or Rent, Council Tax and Utilities should be top of your list. Anything else needs to be discussed with the people concerned. Your financial advisor will help you to sort this out, like Beanie says, don't pay for any advice, contact CCCS or Payplan for free advice and help. You'll get loads of advice on here if you post your SOA, it is all going to be OK, i posted a saying on another thread about tunnels and lights :

"Don't go looking for the light at the end of the tunnel, stomp up there and turn the f**ker on yourself" !

You're on your way !