help with SOA please

mildredalien

You're doing a great job trying to help her, but is there any reasons your sister isn't on here asking for help herself? Until she reaches her own 'lightbulb moment' about where her overspending has got her, it's going to be very difficult to change - and you might find that bailing her out now only staves off the inevitable in the long run.

Perhaps she could get some advice from a free professional service about how different options to tackle her debt might impact on her job (CCCS, payplan, CAB etc.) She will need to make a huge amount of savings each month just to break even, let alone start to make a significant dent in her debt unfortunately. She would need to put some serious hard work into living frugally for a while, which seems unlikely at the moment. I wish you both luck!

so84

Hi there,

I am the sister!!!!!!!!!

Ok firstly here is what is happening, I did have a lightbulb moment last year, this made me test the water and contact one of my creditors to see if they would do a dmp with me and they did. I have been too scared to do any others and since had to pay £950 for maintance and ground rent, with another due for this month which i wont pay until Dec as I am hoping to get a bonus. If I dont then selling the house in the new year. There is a lot of money in the flat but what else can I do.

One of my loans is finishing in 8 months time. the other in 20 months.

I do not put the £200 away each month for the mainanance fee. so already i am only minus £300.

I do not spend £150 on grocories i do the bare minimum.

I havent had a hair cut since June and instead of dying my hair at the hair dressers i now buy the cheapest i can get or just stay grey unattractive and disgusting with split ends and frizz.

I only bought shoes and some clothing this month cos i was visiting the family in spain and it is so much cheaper there than here so it was an investment.

The gym makes me feel good and happy, its the only thing that makes me happy in my life its the only thing i can control.

I CALLED O2 TO CHANGE MY CONTRACT ON MY PHONE, THEY WOULD ONLY LET ME GO ONE TARIFF LOWER! THIS REDUCES £5 A MONTH!!!

Then i have called BT cos im paying £45 a month for phone line, internet and some silly vision thing that costs £4. I have called them the lowest they can go is £36 even tho i have been with them for 6 years now! I dont need the tv that can go for the £4 but internet is a must for me to have a tennant I cannot not have wifi. I am not in contract with so called sky they can do phone and internet only for £29 and £19 for 6 months but I will contact BT and see what their phone and internet only is today.

I will go into payment plans with Barclaycard but only after they look into my PPI claim first.

I have requested a season ticket loan with work so that will take my travel down a tiny bit to like £120 I hope.

Also what is not mentioned in the SOA is my pre paid card i get with work, I top it up with £100 from my salary before tax and when i use it at sainsburys and stuff they give 5% back on the next months top up, I use this for work lunches, before you all go mad about me buying lunches - I get a £3.50 a day allowance with work, so I use this to buy my eggs cheese bread, chicken etc for dinners and bring in the next day, I use it on mondays for cereal for the week etc..... and then work gives it back to me in my next months salary through expenses.

I do not have takeaways or go out for meals anymore. Id rather be in the gym then eating!

I dont pay buildings insurance and i know my contents ins is high so i will change that today too.

I need to get a crown on my tooth and that is £200 but i can claim it back thru work ins but i cant afford to pay it to claim it back.

Same with my work proffessional status it costs £125 and work pay it back but again I cant afford to pay it out so im incurring charges monthly for this until i can pay it

Its one big pickled mess. Luckily i recently had a boyfriend that took me out, now i dont have that so now is where I will just do nothing at all........ guess its my problem that i just try to juggle cos i always have, but now there is no more to juggle with!

I also havent bought a birthday present for anyone and have missed meals and nights out because i cant afford it - I am letting my friends down too. But again its my own fault. I guess id rather be debt free then have friends. And no way will i be able to have a boyfriend now while im sorting all this out. Guess im 1 year 4 months till im 30.... I will work on getting debt free. maybe selling the house is a good thing, but then my credit rating is so bad now because of my one defult that i doubt even a rental company would let to me

[Deleted User]

If you've been with BT for 6 years, how can they refuse to let you cancel :huh:

so84

No I want it cheaper not to cancel, why cant they offer me a better deal after all this time. I am out of contract. so i am lucky i can move if need be. Sky called me today to offer £19 for 6 months phone and broadband, going to £29 thereafter, is that a good deal? but the £29 is so close to the £36 that BT offers with the TV but i know £7 saving is what I am looking for and it will help ease up my outgoings for 6 months at least......... what do you all think?

so84

I also need to buy deodrant, razors and shower gel and shampoo, am I allowed if i buy all own brand stuff?? there are offers in superdrug at the moment, but this is an essential right.

Heffi1

How much do you want to be debt free, it seems reasonable to buy the personal grooming items you want, but do you really need that much each month on the gym? There are cheaper options so you can keep fit, even if that means going for a run around the block, you still get the adrenaline kick and the high from the exercise, but not the really high cost, also how much are you committed to getting this down, you could sell your expensive fancy phone and pick up a cheap payg one so you could keep in touch with people, you ahve wifi at home so there is really no need for it on an expensive phone, we forget that we do not NEED these things we WANT them.

When you have worked out if it is a want or a need then you will know which things to keep and which to get rid of.

How do you expect to pay back £30k of debt if you do not make some harsh cuts now?

so84

I cannot cancel the gym I am tied in for another 8 months....... I cant get into more debt by not just paying them!!! and I have tried own brand tampons and they hurt but I guess I want to be debt free and suffer cos its my own fault right!!

Walaboobah

Can I just ask why you cannot go on a DMP if you work in Finance? Is the company you work for linked in anyway to your creditors? If not, I don't see there being a problem as I don't think CCCS make any contact at all with your employer

Walaboobah

so84 wrote: »

I cannot cancel the gym I am tied in for another 8 months....... I cant get into more debt by not just paying them!!! and I have tried own brand tampons and they hurt but I guess I want to be debt free and suffer cos its my own fault right!!

I know what you mean about the gym hun, I tried to cancel hours but we are tied in until 2015 as we signed up as part of a healthy living initiative but once the 8 months is up I am sure you will be able to find it cheaper as £50 a month for single membership seems ridiculously high.

We pay £32 per month but that is for both of us to use

so84

Walaboobah wrote: »

Can I just ask why you cannot go on a DMP if you work in Finance? Is the company you work for linked in anyway to your creditors? If not, I don't see there being a problem as I don't think CCCS make any contact at all with your employer

my employer does credit checks yearly and I am regulated by the FSA. I have told them im on a dmp with one creditor. However for the role i do and to keep my chartered status I need to sort myself out soon.

on a good note - I have saved £20 a month today if i move to sky or keep bt as just phone and bb. Then i saved £15 by getting a season ticket loan at work. the chq will come next week.

And as i type I am cancelling my contents insurance and will find a new one .... they are still quoting me £25.50 bloody santander!!

I dont need to go the gym, but I go up to 5 times a week - I dont get home till 8-9pm and so I dont spend money mid week and im not restless at home and I dont eat much when I get in and I even go on saturday mornings sometimes which means im not tempted for a glass of wine on a friday night. (at home!! Not in the pub!)

thanks for your advice everyone and to my sis x