Please help, £60,000 debt.......

Millie007

My husband and I are in a real pickle can anyone help, basically we took out a loan years ago with HSBC and then took another loan to pay off credit cards this carried on and on for a number of years and before we knew it we have debts in excess of £60,000.

We have today been to Citizens Advice where they have recommended declaring bankruptcy this is not an option we want to take we both feel the debt we have is our fault and we don’t want to take the easy route of declaring bankruptcy. We both understand that it will be a hard struggle but we want to try and clear the debt ourselves.

Can anyone please give any advice on how to save money from the below, we are currently going to try and sell everything of value and pay off the smaller credit cards / catalogues which should save around £57.71 we are also looking into trying to release some of the equity in our house (which I don’t think there is more than £5k in equity) if we could release £14,000 / £15,000 this would be a saving of £300 per month.

We are trying to reduce the monthly food shopping but we can not save any money on petrol costs as we both commute to work and do not have means of public transport.


Income 1 £ 1,410.00
Income 2 £ 1,095.03

Overdrafts
HSBC £ 1,100.00
NatWest £ 1,250.50

Halifax £ 129.00
Egg £ 83.00
Egg £ 5.00
Egg £ 10.00
Tesco £ 40.00
Barclay Card £ 35.00
Amex £ 38.00
Ikano £ 17.95
Next £ 22.0
La Redoute £ 5.00
Comet £ 12.76
Petrol £ 240.00
Food £ 160.00
Tesco 6.9% apr £ 269.95
HSBC 6.9% apr £ 422.00
Egg 6.9% apr £ 225.50
Mortgage 5% apr £ 451.38
Life insurance £ 7.20
House insurance £ 14.50
Pet insurance £ 18.00
BT £ 37.00
Vodafone £ 26.00
Orange £ 25.00
T-Mobile £ 33.00
Powergen (gas & electricity) £ 53.00
Water £ 26.58
Council Tax (over 10 months) £ 116.00

Scully's_Girl

You're going to get alot of responses on here. The good thing is, you don't list SKY. People tend to go right for Sky on these things. Bankruptcy can hardly be seen as the easy way out, but youre to be commended for wanting to take a stab at this.
Is there any way you can consolidate some of those cards into a current 0% offer? Even if there is a 2% fee, its better than 7% across the board.

PS: £10 says that someone will recommend you drop the pet insurance. I'm not so sure I agree, but in an emergency something may have to go.

Lara44

Millie007 wrote: »

Overdrafts
HSBC £ 1,100.00
NatWest £ 1,250.50

Halifax £ 129.00
Egg £ 83.00
Egg £ 5.00
Egg £ 10.00
Tesco £ 40.00
Barclay Card £ 35.00
Amex £ 38.00
Ikano £ 17.95
Next £ 22.0
La Redoute £ 5.00
Comet £ 12.76
Petrol £ 240.00
Food £ 160.00 See old style board for lots of ways to cut this
Tesco 6.9% apr £ 269.95
HSBC 6.9% apr £ 422.00
Egg 6.9% apr £ 225.50
Mortgage 5% apr £ 451.38
Life insurance £ 7.20 Check this is cheapest - go through Quidco for cashback etc.
House insurance £ 14.50 Check this is cheapest - go through Quidco for cashback etc.
Pet insurance £ 18.00 Do you definitely need this?
BT £ 37.00 VERY high - read Martin's article on cheapest home phone
Vodafone £ 26.00 On contract? Change to PAYG & cut to £5 per month
Orange £ 25.00 On contract? Change to PAYG & cut to £5 per month
T-Mobile £ 33.00 Why do you need 3 mobiles? You must try to get rid of one.
Powergen (gas & electricity) £ 53.00
Water £ 26.58
Council Tax (over 10 months) £ 116.00

Hi Millie

Welcome to DFW. Don't worry you are in the right place to sort out your debts. Lots of people here are dealing with debts through all kinds of different approaches.

Right now we need to see your debts in full with aprs. Next we need to see a more full SOA - you are missing clothes, haircuts, presents, Christmas, car tax etc. Try using Martin's budget planner at the top of the page.

I don't know much about DMPs, IVAs, Br etc, but there are ways to maximise your income such as second jobs - is this an option? Can you get a better paid job? Can you car share with any friends to work? Can OH leave you to work and you could get rid of 1 car?

Have you looked into clickthroughs for points/cash on Pigsback and other sites like greasypalm rpoints, and paid survey sites such as valued opinions? What about mystery shopping?

I think you will have to think carefully at your options as you are right up to the edge of your income with no easy ways to cut back on spending here - I'm sure other people will give you some advice as well as CCCS etc.

Do you have an idea of what the underlying cause of the problems with money are? Have you had some bad circumstances or could you recoup some of the debt by selling the things you bought?

There is plenty of support here whatever you decide to do.

Lara

sanfrancisco

albertross wrote: »

If possible, get rid or cut down on these:

Look into any other avenues you have of increasing your earnings.

Yes.

Second job?
New job?
Overtime?

Don't just think of now either, this debt will take a while to pay off. Can you plan your career, so that say this time next year/2 years time you will be earning more? Courses etc?

Really think outside the box, if you want to get rid of this debt, be radical. Could one of you get a job next to the other and then you could move there and get rid of car/save on petrol.

You seem motivated. Is your other half on board. It is important that you both are.

Good Luck with it all.

sanfrancisco

Also, could you rent a room out?

Are you eligable for working tax credit?

Crown

Hi Millie and Welcome to DFW,
Is it possible that you could give us a few more details of your debts and current credit record?

Firstly have you got to a point that you cannot afford to make repayments to your creditors without using othr forms of credit such as your OD to pay for?

Have you received any defualt notices from your current lenders?

Do you have any Arrears on your Mortgage or any secured Loans. Also do you owe anything on your Council Tax? these are priority debts and need to be sorted before anything else if so.

Can you get any more credit at a better rate of interest in the sense of switching your debts to new 0% credit cards?

Please take a look at the 1st time posters thread what can be found at the top of this forum and post upa a statement of affairs. try and include everything that can you can and include if possible the amounts with the APR/Interest.

Well done in deciding that you are going to stick it out and pay off your debts. I am in the same position with debts of around £49,500 and do not want to take the easy way out as I spent the money and will pay it back. Once you have posted we will have a better idea of where you can make savings and be able to offer more advice.

Good luck and once gain welcome.. you are not alone in the debt battle.

golddigger_3

Hi

Welcome - your debt is a little less than ours and we are not going bankrupt either for the same reason- we feel responsible and want to tackle it ourselves. (That is not saying for one minute that going bankrupt is not being responsible - its the only option for some people especially with low incomes -just not an option that we wish to take ).

We have started a spend diary that we write in every day EVERY penny that we spend and I have started taking cash out with me - its not so easy to spend when you see it going out of your purse/ wallet!

I won't comment on your SoA as other more experienced DFWs can do that better than me, but I would just say, stick to your guns, economise in every way possible and maybe get a part time job. Overpaying some debts helps if you can do that.

There is a link to the snowball calculator which will help you to organise the debts and help you to decide which to pay first.

https://www.whatsthecost.co.uk

Another thing you can do is to ask creditors to reduce interest rates. Make sure they all know your situation - Im not sure if your at the "sticking your head in the sand" situation yet (not answering the phoen or opening envelopes) but if so, its such a relief to finally start to to deal with it.

Congratulations on your lightbulb moment and visit here regularly.
There IS a light at the end of the tunnel

amytightwad2

Hi Milie
I don't post on here very much, tend to use it more for moral support to keep me going, for which it is excellent, as you'll soon find out.
Just wanted to say that once you start tackling the debt you will be amazed how good it makes you feel. Do the snowball calculator as suggested and then you'll see the reality of how long it will take to clear it. Trust me, as soon as you see that you'll be determined to reduce 'beat it'. My top tips are just don't buy ANYTHING unless it is vital to survival! Keep a spending diary and you'll become obsessed about NOT spending. It can actually be good fun.
Good luck, and I'm with you all the way.

moxie_2

I'm surprised CAB recommended bankruptcy. Did they mention a debt management plan at all? That's what I have with Payplan. CCCS also do them - both free of charge. Highly recommended, they will work out a budget with you - tight but manageable, see what disposable income is left and then contact all your creditors for you to work out how much and for how long you need to make payments to them. Assuming your creditors agree, you then make one monthly payment to Payplan/CCCS who pay your creditors on your behalf. It's a long haul but worth it if you want to pay off your debts and not have them written off, as in bankruptcy. Good luck!

Greggie

Millie007 wrote: »

My husband and I are in a real pickle can anyone help, basically we took out a loan years ago with HSBC and then took another loan to pay off credit cards this carried on and on for a number of years and before we knew it we have debts in excess of £60,000.

We have today been to Citizens Advice where they have recommended declaring bankruptcy this is not an option we want to take we both feel the debt we have is our fault and we don’t want to take the easy route of declaring bankruptcy. We both understand that it will be a hard struggle but we want to try and clear the debt ourselves.

Can anyone please give any advice on how to save money from the below, we are currently going to try and sell everything of value and pay off the smaller credit cards / catalogues which should save around £57.71 we are also looking into trying to release some of the equity in our house (which I don’t think there is more than £5k in equity) if we could release £14,000 / £15,000 this would be a saving of £300 per month.

We are trying to reduce the monthly food shopping but we can not save any money on petrol costs as we both commute to work and do not have means of public transport.


Income 1 £ 1,410.00
Income 2 £ 1,095.03

Overdrafts
HSBC £ 1,100.00
NatWest £ 1,250.50

Halifax £ 129.00
Egg £ 83.00
Egg £ 5.00
Egg £ 10.00
Tesco £ 40.00
Barclay Card £ 35.00
Amex £ 38.00
Ikano £ 17.95
Next £ 22.0
La Redoute £ 5.00
Comet £ 12.76
Petrol £ 240.00
Food £ 160.00
Tesco 6.9% apr £ 269.95
HSBC 6.9% apr £ 422.00
Egg 6.9% apr £ 225.50
Mortgage 5% apr £ 451.38
Life insurance £ 7.20
House insurance £ 14.50
Pet insurance £ 18.00
BT £ 37.00
Vodafone £ 26.00
Orange £ 25.00
T-Mobile £ 33.00
Powergen (gas & electricity) £ 53.00
Water £ 26.58
Council Tax (over 10 months) £ 116.00

Hi,

Im sorry to hear of your troubles, it must be a real strain for you both.
You obviously both work full time but have you considered getting a part time role that could give you a little extra to help pay off your debts.

I could send you some information about it, give you all the support you need and it this is a role that can be worked when you both have the time to spare so although it will need committment from you to do the role at least it wont come with any pressure....

Please PM me with your address and I can send you some information about it. Trust me it it pays out instantly and in January I had 3p to feed three kids. The money I got from this role helped feed them so it does help...

Always here to lend an ear...

Greggie
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Greggie

Greggie wrote: »

Hi,

Im sorry to hear of your troubles, it must be a real strain for you both.
You obviously both work full time but have you considered getting a part time role that could give you a little extra to help pay off your debts.

I could send you some information about it, give you all the support you need and it this is a role that can be worked when you both have the time to spare so although it will need committment from you to do the role at least it wont come with any pressure....

Please PM me with your address and I can send you some information about it. Trust me it it pays out instantly and in January I had 3p to feed three kids. The money I got from this role helped feed them so it does help...

Always here to lend an ear...

Greggie
x

alternatively i used to work for a bank and know how to work out what affordability you have to pay off your debts, using your incomings and paying out your essential outgoings which leves the balance for creditors. Using the % of the total of each debt then allows you to work out how much each creditor is entitled too.

Of course this will cripple your credit rating but i assume this is already in jeopardy...After 5 years your debts will be paid off.....

Again let me know by PM if I can assist.

Greggie
x