73K debt advise please

lonely_2

Sorry about this - just saw another of your questions. I tried to get my interest frozen before I went on to a DMP and all 7 of my creditors refused. Maybe I was giving them an excuse to say no, because I also explained that I was talking to Payplan - and the standard reply was when Payplan get in touch then we can consider it. But people do their own DMPs so they must be able to say yes to some people without the involvement of a third party. Can I just point out that if you ask for your interest to be frozen, and they do agree, this would still be recorded as a default (even if you making the minumum payments) because you have come to an agreement outside of the contract you signed - i.e. that they charge you interest.

John4702

Yes it is light bulb moment.

U dont understand, cards left at high apr will result in me haveing no money to pay of dent, none, thus resulting in infintiy to pay of my debt.

Get thoses cards into a mortgage and all of a sudden i have 600 month to throw at debt.

Or i sell up and rent. pay of remaing debt in 3 years. Job done.

I have my health and means to manage my debt, what will it achive in worrying about it.

I also have measure in place to advance my career so over time IT will get better. My first job paid me 3600 at 16, in 11 years i have made that 36K, the guy that sits a couple of desks away from me at work is on 80K. Contracting in my line of work can make up to 140 take home a year. Perhaps i have a blaza outlook but i am confident i will keep slowly building my career.

No i am not scared witless. Very worst case i sell my home and pay of debt in 3 years. Then start again at 30.

Its only our countrythat has a hang up about buying any way, whats to stop me renting for the rest of my life. Or moving over the channel to france where i will pick up a 3 bed house for 50K.



I really dont think you have had a lightbulb moment, what you seem to want to do is maintain the debt at the lowest apr possible.

As they say you can ony ask, they may say yes! But where will this lead, to you addressing a serious spending habit, or maintaining a lifestyle way beyond your means.

There is no easy way out of debt, it is a long hard road to pay off your creditors. Even at frozen apr it will take you nearly 6 years to pay it off.

May I ask you a question - does it not scare you witless the size of your debt? I have sleepless nights about my husbands £6,000 debt and am doing everything in my power to pay it off as quickly as possible.

SFx

hypno06

Ok, you asked about my debt and how I reduce it: Here goes:

We have combined joint income of £30000 or thereabouts - nothing fab. We also have a mortgage outside of the debts of £183,000.

We pay about £1300 a month in non mortgage debt payments as a minimum.

This we achieve by doing the following:

renting our spare room out and having a stranger invade our family "space"
taking second jobs whenever we can - often working up to 40 hours a week in a second job as well as a full time job.
cooking basic healthy meals from scratch using cheap ingredients and making things last.
forgetting about buying new clothes, shoes, etc until such time as we have cash in the bank to do so or when the kids need school stuff.
running cheap cars and finding free activities and days out to do with the family
doing mystery shopping, matched betting (not advisable here because of your previous gambling issues) piggy clicks etc
car booting and ebaying. I hate car booting with a vengence but it gets a few quid in which goes straight off the debt.
having "pasta weeks" where we eat nothing but pasta.
having "beans on toast weeks" you get the idea?

We manage. We still live, and we are focussed. I am determined that I will get this debt gone once and for all.

I come on these boards daily for advice and support and a bit of a laugh. It is not an easy journey for any of us, and there are people on here with debts far greater than ours. Everyone has good days and bad days and days when we feel that we are banging our head against a brick wall.

My mindset is one of getting rid of the debt by focus and by learning good habits that I can use daily and can teach my children. As a result I take pride in seeing my debt totals steadily reducing and it is a feeling I like.

I am afraid that it takes more than just jiggling debt from A to B. No one is judging you on how you got into debt - we have all had circumstance go against us in one way or the other, but we are trying to help you in your move forward if you want that help.

lonely_2

I may as well be speaking to myself for all the response I'm getting ;-)

John4702

Hypno06,

Fair play to u mate.

Hows this hit u.

Wrk 60 hours a week, 20 of this traverling. In the traverling hours i will study thus insuring an income of 4000 take home in 1,5 years time.

In the mean time be captain sensible with money and still try to pay back 500 a month.

Debt end date aprprox 3 years...

Study material is already paid for btw

John4702

sorry lonely, thats handy ino thanks. I wounder how people sort there own IVA's

scotsgirl_3

I understanad your point about apr's and not paying more interest than you have to, and you seem very determined that remortgaging is the way to go for you. However, before you decide to do this, I would suggest you make up a new SOA based on your situation after remortgaging.

Work out which debts you would pay off with the remortgage, and obviously remove them from the equation, then work out how much you would be paying out per month once you are paying the new mortgage payment. You should also work out how much the minimum payments are going to be on the cards you will have remaining ( including the new interest rates for those that are going up and won't be cleared by the remortgage) plus the payments on your loans etc and see if you are realistically going to be able to maintain all of these payments long term. I know you have a life plan, but you also need to be able to manage financially NOW.

You should also make sure that the SOA includes absolutely everythinng you spend money on. I missed so much when I first worked out my own figures, so you need to be absolutely meticulous and account for every penny - its the only way you will find out exactly where you are. It'll also let you see how much you will be able to pay monthly to the non remortgaged debts - so you can pop this into the snowball calculator and see when you can actually be debt free.

John4702

When u do an IVA do they give you any money for emergencies? Or the oddd pint down the pub? Or do they want expect u to give every free penny.

John4702

Scotsgirl.

Already done that. Hense my certanty.

Thanks

hypno06

John4702 wrote: »

Hypno06,

Fair play to u mate.

Hows this hit u.

Wrk 60 hours a week, 20 of this traverling. In the traverling hours i will study thus insuring an income of 4000 take home in 1,5 years time.

In the mean time be captain sensible with money and still try to pay back 500 a month.

Debt end date aprprox 3 years...

Study material is already paid for btw

I am not trying to say that you are not prepared to try, but no-one here was trying to judge you on the facts that you had presented. They were all trying to help based on their knowledge and experience.

Plus, despite having a life plan (which I think is a good thing by the way) these thing sometimes don't go according to plan and you need to be ready for that just in case. Positivity is good, but you have already seen what unexpected circumstances can do to your financial status and your state of mind.

You asked me what I am doing to reduce my debt. I told you. Simple as that. Sorry if I now sound defensive but you are seeming to want to reject help, information and advice. I hope I am wrong and that you make good steps forward, but these steps need to start now by assessing your current situation rather than relying on something that you are counting on in the future, which may possibly never happen, despite your own best efforts.

Be prepared, learn now from past mistakes and by the time you have a fab income you will be able to enjoy it.

As far as freezing interest goes, you may be able to do this yourself but you risk a default which will stay on your credit file for 6 years. This may not be something you want to risk given your hoped for increase in a couple of years time.