in a right mess

tidydan24

Hi

I am in debt of around 17,000. I am (was And will be again soon) on a debt managment plan with cccs.
A few weeks ago we went on a family camping holiday. It was cheap as chips but unfortunately the weather was seriously awful and damaged our tent to the point where we were going to just come home. Thankfully a family member said they would pay for us to upgrade and get a caravan. So with the little money we had managed to save for our holiday i paid for the upgrade with the knowledge that my family memebr would be putting it back in my account the next day. Unfortunately the next day they went back on this promise. I was unable to canael and get a refund so just had to make the best of a bad situation. to top it all while we were away our car broke down and cost us just shy of £500 to repair. my nan helped me part of that but it completely cleared us out and some.
Consequently we are now playing catch up and am left with absolutely no money what so ever for the next 10 days (i work on nursing bank which means no work no pay) as we had to use the extra i had put aside for the car. We are now behind on both our phone bills, gas and electricity and our debt management plan was canceled as a result of missing our payment (stupidly hadnt even realised it wasnt paid until it was too late) though they have agreed to restart it.
I know that many of you will judge me and say i shouldnt have holidayed when in that much debt but it was meant to be the cheapest option.
I will be the first to admit I am bad with money but I have never been in this situation before.
I really dont know what to do. We have 2 young children and need nappies, food and petrol to get to work.
We dont recieve benifits and both work so i dont think we qualify for any sort of crisis loan and i cannot ask my nan to help me any more as not only do i owe her for the car but previous loans as well. we have sold a few things on ebay but just cant get the money we need for the next two weeks.
We would take out some sort of payday loan but not only will that get us in trouble with cccs but we will then just be constently playing catch up.
Please can anyone give me some sort of solution to this problem.
Thanks

camuk81

Look we aren't here to judge. These things do happen.

Ok deep breath. Have you spoken to CCCS to advise of what they can recommend?

Can you or your other half speak to your employer and ask for part of your salary early?

kerinat

I have worked for a nursing agency myself so understand that no work no pay. It was partly how i got in debt myself so i understand where you are coming from. I would def get in touch with cccs again as they may be able to help. I would suggest getting away from bank or agency and work regular part time then at least you would know how much you have to live on. But i know this may not be possible. take care GOOD LUCK

Takeaway_Addict

You need to learn to budget, have you done an SOA yet?

tidydan24

Thanks for all the advice especially like mrchandlerbings. Lol. I haven't spoken to cccs yet, didn't really think that they could help in that sort of situation. Neither of us can get an advance on wages unfortunately. Will give cccs a ring now and talk to them.

dancingfairy

Can you just buy the bare minium in terms of food, nappies etc. Have you got things lurking inthe cupboards that could maybe make a meal if you bought just a few essentials?
Do you need petrol for work? ie can you walk to work/cycle/ask a mate for a lift/ get a bus (if cheaper than petrol obviously).
Have you tried Salvation army/food bank/soup kitchen/church type places for a bit of food/nappies?
I'm sure things will improve (it sounds like you've had a run of bad luck with the car and the tant situation as well ).
df

themull1

Have you got any jewellery to sell or pawn?

sistafromanothermista

I sold a few broken gold necklaces for £400 !!!!

mandz1

good luck in getting it sorted. have you spoke to cccs?
dont go to payday loan companies they really arent worth it, the interest is ridiculous.
If you have to survive for just 10days is there not a friend that can lend you £50 till then. i know its not ideal to ask friends and family for loans but you have little kiddies and im sure noone would want to see them without the essentials they need.

Hope you get it sorted

FireWyrm

How much have you got and what do you need?

First stop would be an inventory of what you have in the house right now. Adults can go without food wise comfortably for 7 days, I know, I've done it. The kids need food, so your priority is to feed them first even if you don't eat. Buy yourself two loaves of bread, some peanut butter, a jar of jam and that's you sorted for food for the next week. Sandwiches will stave off the hunger pangs without breaking the bank. It's actually shocking how much we eat when we don't actually need to. Survival is a state of mind and humans actually evolved to experience periods of fasting rather than eating regularly.

What have you got in your store cupboard...I can probably offer some suggestions for meals with what you have.

What do you absolutely need to survive the next 10 days? Can you get it from the likes of Aldi or Lidls?

Answers to those questions will help with more targeted advice.

speshfesh

I really feel for you, I know it's not ideal but friends and family would be my first call and CCCS also.
What kind of amount do you need as a bare minimum for essentials? It may be less than you think once you've really thought about it (I'm thinking the pain of asking friends/family may not be a bad as you first thought once you've totted it all up).
Keep us in the loop.