help! in major debt at 18 with 2 children too..dont know what to do!!

angelavdavis

liamsmum05 wrote:

i have managed to work out a few of my admin fees etc from catalogues and credit cards heres what i got so far..

lx direct = £50 in admin fees
littlewoods = £80 admin fees
kaleidoscope = £12 admin fees
vertbaudet = £ 54 late payment fees
capital one credit card = £132 late payment fees
vanquis credit card = £32 late payment fees
ace catalogue = £60 admin fees

Wow, not bad - that's over £400 you didn't realise you could get back before yesterday!

Good luck, you certainly sound more upbeat today! Well done, stick with it!

sammyjammy

Liams mum,

You're problem is with shopping him is that it won't improve your situation, as you are on benefits you will only ever receive an extra £5 a week as the rest of it goes to supplement the benefits you receive from the state.

Hope that makes sense.

Sam

westy7

sammyjammy wrote:

Liams mum,

You're problem is with shopping him is that it won't improve your situation, as you are on benefits you will only ever receive an extra £5 a week as the rest of it goes to supplement the benefits you receive from the state.

Hope that makes sense.

Sam

You're right there. Unless things have recently changed, then any extra he pays will be taken penny for penny from your Income Support- you won't end up any better off at all, so not really worth spending your energies on.

Good luck with it all LiamsMum, hope you are having a good day today. :beer:

beanielou

Liams mum

Please please go to CAB & get them to help you to sort out token payments to your creditors.This means they can help you to only pay £1 per month to each of your creditors each month unless your situation improves.
They can also do a benefit check for you while you are there.
Is there a 'homestart' near you? they could give you some support
take lots of care

anniecave

Also why not ask CAB is there anything that can be done about the massive APRs on your loans? I've heard of people who write to lenders in such cases and get the interest rate massively reduced, but I'm not sure what sort of approach would be best in these cases.

Vickicb

liamsmum05 wrote:

im with a company called licit legal and as im claiming back on 2 accounts with the same bank. i have just posted them off today so hopefully it should be done soon.

Hi laimsmum :hello:

Licit Legal charge an inital fee of £15 plus 25% of whatever you claim back - this is money for old rope as you can manage your claim yourself easily. I know it's probably too late for your current 2 claims but please don't let them manage your other claims - it's your money, not theirs.

Vic x

mystery07

Hi Liamsmum

(My little boy is called Liam too!)

Just had a quick look through the posts......to see if I could offer anything.......

Heard you mention that liam was at pre-school, in the mornings?! Could you get a part time job in this time?!

I gather you dont have much support, as family moving away etc....not easy with little ones, especially when your young too...I was only 19 when my little liam was born!

Talking, as someone, who recieved income support for a while, & now Im working & getting tax credits & i pay a large chunk in child care costs, i am still much better off.....so maybe something to consider, even if you had to pay a childminder, for say 16 hours a week, youd still get Child Tax credit, working tax credit, child benefit, housing benefit & council tax benefit & also on top of that up to 70% of your childcare costs paid.......so it adds up........it might also help your post natal depression (Im no expert here, I havent suffered there!!), getting out to work & meeting some new people........For the few months after my little boy was born & I was claiming Income support, I was sick to death of being stuck in the house, Im sure if Id done it any longer, I would have gone mad!! I wouldnt go back to it, now that I work....maybe you would feel that way too, if you found a job you enjoyed.....

As for the debts, think some1 already mentioned prioritising them, at the end of the day, for the sake of your little boy, you need to try to make payments on your utilities & provide food & clothes.......all the catalogues & other people, will have to take what they are given, whatever, you have left, you can split between them......No one can take what you do not have, & perhaps looking at it that way, might help to calm down the panic....

CAB, are definately a good idea, since, everyone is pestering you for money, it can be really hard to think clearly, so they might be able to put some perspective there too!

As with Gas & Electric meters........be warned that, they will load your existing debt onto them....they will automatically deduct money from everything you put on the meter, to re-pay their debt......so might be worth speaking to british gas BEFORE they install the meters, to make sure, you will be able to afford the extra & try to negotiate it, if you dont think you will!

Im not 100% sure, perhaps someone else could advise?! But I think those meters might also be more expensive than, the normal charge?! If so, make sure your cutting costs as much as poss ie using energy saving bulbs etc (there are places, you can get these for free!) perhaps someone could help there too!

Also, I know that DWP, offer socail grants of up to £500, for people who need to buy things & are in desperate need........maybe worth checking that out.........

And also reduce costs as much as you can, as I think everyone has just about covered....

Hope I may have helped a little....

XxX

mystery07

1 other thing, I cant remember whats its called now, but if you start work after 6 months on income support....you can get a lump sum of £250 from DWP.....& they also, do an Income support "run on" for a week or too......so there could be quite a bit of money, in getting out to work

XxX

wishiwasarichgirl

Hi Liamsmum,
not sure if this has been mentioned or if you already get it but i was reading in the paper today that parent of young kids with a low income/benefits can get vouchers for milk, fruit, veg and vitamins.

don't know much about it as i don't have any kids and you might be getting it already but if not then check out http://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/

Best of luck to you hun :kisses3:

liamsmum05

thank you for all your replys you all have been so helpful..

i dont have a homestart in my area but do have surestart which i have already done a course at and managed to do it all!...although my problem is im very shy at meeting new peple, i did it on sat nite with my partner we had a ngiht out in brid met all his workmates and their wifes girlfs and didnt fit in coz in was too shy. its really confidence knocking!

i am already getting the healthy start vouchers which were the milk tokens before i will get them til liam is 5.you get £2.50 a week every 4 weeks

i am very worried about having meters put in as il be paying £6 each so thats already £12 a week debt im paying to british gas plus i need to put on more money to use normally! how can i sort this one out?

i do know about social loans as ive already had 2 and stil paying my second back so cant get another untill iv paid abit more off this one.

how do i go about mentioning the high aprs on my loans??

licit legal...hmm.. i know they get 25% and they have had £15 off me for bank statements they said it was.so i printed out all my statements for the other account save me another £15 and i rang them the other day and its all going through just waiting for back now.

i still dont know how to go about claiming my admin fees late payment charges off catalogues etc..??

d :-)