Seriously considering bankruptcy...

Experiment626

however...I feel that it's for slightly selfish reasons, but I want/need (delete as appropriate) a fresh start.

I'm in about £18k of debt, I can afford a maximum of £90/month for repayments if nothing comes up. As for the reason to the debt, some of it was caused by ex-girlfriends, most of it was caused by moving back to my mums and taking a far lower paid job.

However, £6.5k of that debt is a tax debt, with interest of 7.5%/month, so even if I managed to pay the full £90/month, it would take exactly 8 years...at which point I would have to pay the remaining £11.5k debt, this would take another 10.5 years, give or take a few months....basically around 19 years to pay off my debt, i'll be 46 by then.

In an ideal world, i'd pay this off over time, I want to pay it off...but there are other things to consider.

I want to point out that I live on the bare minimum, I have no luxuries whatsoever aside from the net, which in this day and age I consider a necessity.

Although I moved away from home at 19, I moved back a few years back when times got hard, emotionally, not financially, i'm now 27, shortly to turn 28 and still living with my mum.

Secondly, I live in the middle of nowhere which majorly reduces my work options, currently earning around £750/month after tax.

Thirdly...this is the major one, i'm in a pretty serious relationship which is going very well and getting stronger, however it is semi-long distant and we live about 90 minutes apart, only seeing each other at weekends, we both want to move in together by the end of the year, this would have the benefit of me living in a city, increasing my work options, possibly earning more money and i'd also not be living at home anymore.

However, my girlfriend is 22 and is in the 4th year of Uni, doing her PGCE, she starts full time work in september. She is not the kind of girl who wants to wait and let life pass her by, I feel that with my debts and the sheer amount of time required to pay them, I could really hold her back and end up either having her resent me, or lose her altogether.

Because a third of my debt is a tax debt, i'm not elligible for an IVA, I could possibly go on a DMP but this would still take 19 or so years to pay off.

It wasn't until I even found these forums that I even considering going bankrupt, but it just doesn't sit comfortably with me, feels like a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card, but considering where my life is right now, it might be the best option for me. I have spoken with several other people about this, outside of family to try and get an unbiased opinion and the majority also say it would be in both mine and my girlfriends best interest to go bankrupt.

It's also gotten to the point where i'm scared to answer the phone, answer the doorbell and even open letters, I get maybe 2/3 hours sleep a night if i'm lucky and it's wearing me down.

Having read what i've just said, what do you peeps suggest, please be as honest as possible, i'm not looking for pity or sympathy, just what you'd do in my situation, thanks!

fatbelly

From what you've said, it sounds like a sensible option. Why don't you run it past the CCCS, National Debtline or Payplan?

Experiment626

I've been thinking that contacting those companies should be the next thing to do, but this place has become a little oasis for me and wanted to get some of your opinions first, this place is starting to feel like home

When contacting the companies should I explain the situation exactly as I have explained it here, or should I try to put it across in another way?

Sorry if it sounds like a silly question, but this is all very new to me :cool:

tight_jock

Experiment626 wrote:

I've been thinking that contacting those companies should be the next thing to do, but this place has become a little oasis for me and wanted to get some of your opinions first, this place is starting to feel like home

When contacting the companies should I explain the situation exactly as I have explained it here, or should I try to put it across in another way?

Sorry if it sounds like a silly question, but this is all very new to me :cool:

Right - standard advice in this situation.

You`ve probably read this before but here goes!!

Get yourself a glass of whatever turns you on and sit down with a pen and a bit of paper .
Write down all monies coming in .
Write down all monies going out - rent, council tax,food, dentist,car,etc etc. Try and get everything down including creditor payments. This will give you a better idea of just how deep you are in. It will also help when you contact one of the help organisations.

GET FREE ADVICE FROM ; CCCS CAB Payplan

Keep posting and you will get support and further advice as well as a chat if you are getting a little stressed. Remember a problem shared is a problem halved :T

Good Luck

TJ:beer: