Newbie with Payday Loans & Lots of Debt

Matchstickgirl

Hello,

First of all I want to say how much I admire you all and how envious I am of your successful efforts so far! :T If only I had taken the right steps like yourselves a while back.

I am new to the site/forum and admittedly feeling very depressed, daunted and overwhelmed. I finally sat down tonight and calculated that I have a whopping grand total of £32,760 total debt. :eek::eek::eek:

That amount alone absolutely terrifies me. However, my biggest concern is the horrendous pitfall of payday loans that I have managed to get myself into - £4,000.:mad:

Has anyone else got experience of getting into a pickle with them? I would be immensely grateful in learning how you managed to unpickle that pickle in order to deal with your main debts!!!

Finally - I really feel like I have no idea where to begin . I have an income which at present is mostly spent paying off the payday loans/loans/credit card minimum amounts. I have no items to sell. I would really appreciate any information/tips on a) payday loans b) negotiating with creditors c) saving pennies!!!

Generally I would be grateful for any advice knowledge you would be so kind as to share! It feels like it's going to be a very long journey ahead.

xXx Matchstickgirl xXx

tealady

Hi and welcome
The 1st step is post your SOA (statement of affairs - theres a sticky at the top). Then we can have a look and suggest ways to cut down
The next is to stop spending on anything that is not essential ( at least for a short while). Things such as bought lunches and coffees, mags and make up can make a big dent in your budget (even if they only seem like small amounts).
Keep a spending diary (back of an envelope will do) and be brutally honest. That 60p packet of gum may not seem much but it all adds up.
Also look into stuff like switching banks, insurances and utilities (to see if you can get cash back or better deals).
Oh and don't forget to switch things off when not in use, that wil save on your electricity bill.
There is loads of advice on here on how to eat and live cheaply, it may not be easy but it will be worth it.
Good luck

LondonGirl252

Hi Matchstickgirl,

Welcome to the forums and well done for facing up to this, it does get easier

As tealady said, pop up your SOA - being brutally honest - and people will be along shortly with help. I'm afraid I don't have experience of payday loans but others do I just wanted to post my support.

Good luck! x

dancingfairy

Hi. What you might have to do if things are as bad as you say and you can't free up money by cancelling non-essentials and cutting back is to open a new basic bank account - try Barclays or the Co-op. You may not pass any credit checks but if you ask for a basic bank account you shouldn't need to have any credit checks. Clearly a basic account is well err basic. Just make sure it is not linked to anyone you owe money to.
Next make sure you trasnfer over your salary to your new account and essential dd's only - ie mortgage/rent, electric etc. This is to give you complete control over where your money is going. Next you need to work out how much you will have per month to pay off your debts and you need to prioritise the debts - mortgag/rent arrears, council tax arrears and utility debts are all the most important, others can wait or make do with token 1 pound payments until the priorities are sorted.
Payday loans are likely to try and raid your account as soon as they know you are in trouble - this is why it is vital to get that new account set up as soon as possible. Either you can set up a payment plan with them (by standing order only) or worst case scenario they will raid your old bank account and you will just have an massive unauthorised overdraft to deal with (but not the payday loans).
Clearly setting up a new account and having everything default and then to try and set up payment arrangements is a worst case scenario and will wreck your credit file, so if you don't need to do this then it's probably best to cut back first.
Hope this helps.
df