Help

spendylou

I have accumulated quite a lot of debt about 35k and need to sort it out as soon as possible. I have 3 big loans, 3 credit cards, 1 store card and a couple of other small loans. I have been doing some research on this site amongst others and need some advice as to what I need to do first. I am looking at an IVA, but am worried as my husband has had his house for 10 years and the last thing we want is to lose the equity. My husband is self employed and has his own debt problems and has just taken out a consolidation loan over 7 years to repay his debt. I come out with approx 1600 per month but my outgoings are around 1150, my husband does not always come home with a regular wage, so I find myself paying for all the food and petrol for us both with what I have left. My earnings above include overtime and oncall claims, but this has been taken away from me as my job has moved to another location, so within the next few months when i am relocated into another position i will only be coming out with approx 1300 which doesnt leave me much to play with. I need a solution - can anyone help me?

mrsmortenharket

hello there!

You need to post a statement of means listing all your incomings & all outgoings.

It tells you how in Southernscousers post up above in the stickys.

Then list your debts with their interest rates.

You will get help from us Sometimes it can seem harsh but its reality iyswim.

Also re food etc on the OldStyle Forum are excellent threads to help you cut down on food shopping etc...

Good luck

Lisa

lynsayjane

hi lou
like previously said the best thing you can do to help yourself is make a comprehensive list of all your outgoings and incomings, remember to allow for birthday/christmas savings etc. annual things (ie car tax) divide by 12 to get the average monthly cost, weekly things multiply by 52 then divide by 12.
Also list all your debts with outstanding balances, credit limits, apr's and post all of it on here, we'll have a look over it and see where we can help you make some savings, there may also be some balance transfers that we can advise to help you.

you've made the right move by posting on here, please keep posting and we'll give you all the help and support we can
x

spendylou

Hi,

Here is my SOA. On completion of this i have now realised what a mess I am in,

Incoming

Me - 1300 ( was 1600 with overtime/oncall but no longer get this as moving jobs, my job has moved location)
Husband - self employed so anywhere between 1000 and 2000

Outgoings

Me

Car 289
Phone Insurance 5.99
Mobile phone 35.00
Sky 49.50
Direct Line (Car) 42.44
Food 150
Petrol 60

Loans/Credit cards

GE Money (Debenhams) - 9 (min payment - balance 300)
Lloyds TSB Credit Card 60 (min payment - balance 3000)
Alliance and Leicester loan - 65.73 (3000 over 5 years)
HFC Bank - 4.73 (min payment approx 250 to pay off)
HFC Bank - 29.68 (min payment approx 1000 to pay off)
MBNA credit card - 134 (min payment - balance 8000)
Northern Rock - 120.84 (5000 over 5 years)
Northern Rock - 211.61 (15000 over 10 years)
Capital One - 10.00

Total outgoings 1277

Disposable income 23

My husband pays for the mortgage plus all of the utility bills, gas/electric/water/council tax/broadband/mobile phone etc, and he has very little left. My husband has just consolidated his debts via a 22000 loan over 7 years. We do have some equity in the house but as my husband has owned the house for 10 years (we have been married a year) and is 40, i dont think this would be the right move considering he cant afford to pay into a Pension.

Currently I cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel. I went to Natwest last year for help as payments were constantly bouncing but they refused to considate my debt as I had a credit rating of 7. Since then, my situation has got worse, we have been living off credit cards etc and i am constantly at my overdraft limit of 2900. I am being charged with 80 worth of charges by the Natwest and I am too scared to try and so the bank charge claim in fear they will get nasty - i am not sure if any bank will take on my overdraft. Over the last 6 months i have been too scared to ask for help, purely through fear of rejection, but it has come to the point now where i need some help. We both havent consolidated our debts as this makes the situation look even worse for anyone to take us on.

I know i havent included interest rates and outstanding balances but will ring my creditors and obtain these over the next couple of days. In the meantime, can someone please convince me that there is light at the end of the tunnel?

lynsayjane

oh lou you sound so worried, please don't be. I can't promise an overnight solution, it's going to take a lot of hard work to fix, but you have made the right move by facing up to your debts and posting on here.

I think it would be a good idea to tell your husband about the site if you haven't already and perhaps suggest he also adds his soa so we can help him too.

I'll go have a look at your soa now just wanted to give you a virtual hug before I did.
xx

lynsayjane

spendylou wrote: »

Hi,
Incoming

Me - 1300 ( was 1600 with overtime/oncall but no longer get this as moving jobs, my job has moved location)
Husband - self employed so anywhere between 1000 and 2000

Outgoings

Me

Car 289
Phone Insurance 5.99is this totally necessary? I found in the past that most insurances didn't cover a lot of things and were not worth the money. if anything were to happen you can get a new phone fairly cheap on ebay and get a sim from the company
Mobile phone 35.00 this is awful high, I'd cut it down and use your phone less utilising free minutes and text
Sky 49.50 this is one of the big taboos on here, you can't afford sky sweetie so either cancel and get freeview or if your still on a contract cut it down to the minimum for the rest of the term
Direct Line (Car) 42.44I don't know much about car insurance but you can try uswitch to see if you can make any savings on this, also switch through quidco and get cashback
Food 150is this for just the two of you? this could be cut down a bit by meal planning and freezing meals in advance. visit the old style board for lots of great info and cheap but nutricious recipes
Petrol 60is this as low as you can get it? walk to the shops for a paper and only use the car for essential journeys to save a little

Loans/Credit cards

GE Money (Debenhams) - 9 (min payment - balance 300)
Lloyds TSB Credit Card 60 (min payment - balance 3000)
Alliance and Leicester loan - 65.73 (3000 over 5 years)
HFC Bank - 4.73 (min payment approx 250 to pay off)
HFC Bank - 29.68 (min payment approx 1000 to pay off)
MBNA credit card - 134 (min payment - balance 8000)
Northern Rock - 120.84 (5000 over 5 years)
Northern Rock - 211.61 (15000 over 10 years)
Capital One - 10.00

Total outgoings 1277

Disposable income 23

without the apr's it's hard to suggest ways to save on interest payments etc, once you get them you can try using the snowball calculator at
http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx to work out the best order to pay in.

personally I'd say once making any changes from your soa you should be able to clear your two smaller debts (hfc bank and debenhams) in a couple of months which would give you a big psychological boost if only a small debt busting one. it will also then increase the amount you have towards yoru remaining monthly payments

I'm presuming that the mortgage and things work out about the same as the things you pay meaning your 50-50 outgoing wise? if your hubby were to visit we can look at his incomings to try and suggest further help to reduce his too.

hope this helps somewhat and don't forget we're not just here for good advise but support when your struggling too
xx

spendylou

Thanks for looking into this for me and really appreciate the fact there are people out there willing to help

I will cancel sky and my phone insurance

I will look into changing my car insurance, although have just renewed my policy and have my husband on my policy too

My mobile phone is on an 18 month contract which ends in about 12 months time so I am a bit stuck with that one, however we are going to cancel our landline and use our mobiles, £35 is the line rental, I get loads of free minutes and texts, plus dial a phone have just reimbursed my half price line rental of £25.

I cannot really cut down on my petrol, a full tank which costs about £30 lasts me two weeks, I only have a ford fiesta and drive little more than to work and back.

I was being a bit generous with the food. We have been skimping by with Morrisons betta buy mince and frozen meals for the last two months. I did a shop on the 15th March and it cost me £90 (we were low on everything, deodrant, shampoo, bleach, washing powder, you name it we had to buy it) and we still have plenty in the freezer so i will keep a tab on what i spend and try and keep it as low as possible.

I could probably gain a little more disposable income, but i really need to do something with my bigger debts, especially the larger credit cards as i am currently only paying off the interest, for example the payment to MBNA is ALL INTEREST and has been for 12 months. It is really doing my head in. Do you think they would freeze or lower the interest if i asked them?

lynsayjane

WOW that was easy with the sky, most folk say no at least once before seeing sense, I was the same!

As for mobile contracts, you can change the tariff you are on while you are still in your contract, I tried online and was told no but one phonecall and it was sorted. Remember that you will need your landline if you are using the net from home so that may not be possible/practical.

As far as morrisons goes, well done you! A lot of folk on here shop in lidl and aldi, I don't have one in waking distance and don't drive so I can't say for quality/price/choice, but it's worth a try if there is one near you. The frozen meals I was referring to is batch cooking, ie spending a day cooking many meals to be frozen at the time then defrosted for use. I'm on my own here and find many proper meals are dificult to cook for one so I save up the plastic dishes from take away's (or buy in poundland) then make a big lasagne and freeze in portions which work out great for lunches at work etc.
Saves a lot of time and electric too.

As for freezing the interest on your cards I'd say go for it. The worst they will do is say no. Perhaps include a copy of an soa with it (I'd include a share of things like mortgage and utilities in it too though) to show that you have limited income to give and that they are getting a 'share' of it according to how much debt you have with them.

spendylou

OK, I have a few things to get on with I suppose! I feel a little better now, but I really am going to need to be strict with myself. Its the little things like going out to the pub at weekends i will miss, i have had a football season ticket for the last 6 years - i cant renew that. The list is endless - all my own fault though - we had even agreed to go to Mexico next year with some friends on holiday - i dont think i will be going!

lynsayjane

You don't need to totally cut out visits to the pub, thats one thing I've tried so hard to do is still have a life while getting rid of my debt, granted I had much less than you but I also earn less than half what your about to! Just ensure that when making up your monthly budget you allow a little for entertainment. If you spend it all on the first night in the pub you don't get anything for the rest of the month.

Or you could do a boot sale once or twice a month with the proceeds paying for a couple of nights in the pub, then your not losing any money!

spendylou

would an IVA be an option to me to clear my outstanding loans and credit cards quicker.