so confused , dont know where to start feeling scared ?

danbim

hi all, husband and i have large debts and are dont know where to turn, we are both working and have a mortgage on our property. there is so much info on her which is great but really dont know what steps to take first. we are trying to pay our debts and not missing payments but we are paying minimal amounts on credit cards and the interest is swallowing any payments. I am in no way looking to not pay what we owe , just want it to be more managable without getting into the awful spiral of using credit to survive . can someone please help point me in the right direction. It has took a lot of courage to ask for help and i am really nervous of being judged at the mess we are in

JustinCredibleGillespie

Hi & Welcome

Have a look on the cccs website, go through their debt remedy questionnaire, a Debt Management Plan may be the best option for you.

JCG

xx

McKneff

You have taken a major step in posting on here.

Debt happens and its a slippery slope so no one is going to judge you. If you get any negative comments then just ignore them.

If you can post an SOA, Im sure someone will post a link to one for you so you can make a start there.

Fill it in then come back on here, there is loads of help for you.

danbim

thank you both so much, is there a template ? for an SOA

HeadAboveWater

Hello and welcome!

Here is the link for the SOA calculator.

As McKneff said, nobody on here will judge you. Hopefully you'll get lots of help and enouragement. There's a lot of people on here either going through something similar, or else already been through and got out the other side!!

Good luck and keep us posted

Walaboobah

I know exactly what you mean, we are in exactly the same situation and have recently entered into a DMP with CCCS who I cannot thank highly enough.

You have done exactly the right thing, post your statement of affairs and you'll get loads of helpful advice

stupid-fool

Hi

You are not alone. We are just half a step on from your position, but it's essentially the same.

We've been forced to take stock of our stupidity due to our mortgage company ending an interest free arrangement which was helping us keep up with all the minimum payments. We now need to find a way forward.

Our half step forward was to contact CCCS yesterday and run through our financial status. The advice for us is a DMP.

We have always managed to keep up with at least the minimums whilst keeping our family including 3 teenage kids afloat, so the thought of entering into an arrears situation and destroying our remaining credit score terrifies us.

There is masses of information on here - almost too much and I don't know where to turn for an honest explanation of what to expect once we start this journey. Whilst I have all the paperwork prepared to start the DMP process, I can't bring myself to post the letter today.

I'm sure we aren't the only 2 on here today in exactly the same position - lets start to get ourselves debt free !!

BlushingRose

We were the same.
We'd been paying the minimum payments and had managed not to default or get into arrears with any of our payments, but were having to use credit cards for day-to-day living...vicious circle as that was meaning that the debt was getting higher. We'd already tried a consolidation loan but couldn't really afford the payments, so that meant more spending on the cards until one day....*crash*

We went to the CCCS and went on a DMP in Jan this year and it's been a life saver. I'm not going to say things are easy, they're not, but we're now paying things off at a level we can afford without using credit and no-one's come knocking at the door, no-one has sent us nasty letters and it's all good.

I was TERRIFIED at the beginning....what about the credit rating, we haven't defaulted....but as someone said, yet. We hadn't defaulted, yet. If we'd carried on trying to make ends meet we would have done and soon.

My advice, contact CCCS or another free DMP provider and at least have a chat with them. They're lovely, they understand and they don't judge.

Oh, and 'stupid-fool', get that paperwork sent off x

stupid-fool

BlushingRose, All I can say is thank you - you start to make me believe we can do this :T

Can you tell me one thing - if we go into DMP having never defaulted, is it just recorded as an agreement and therefore not as serious?

I want to do the right thing and start pay what we owe in full before it goes totally upside down. Did your creditors recognise that as I have this horrible feeling that I need to hit rock bottom before they will switch into help mode?

eyeopener2

Hi Stupid Fool (great name BTW)

I wouldn't worry about your credit rating, if you enter a DMP it will be trashed as you have entered into an agreement to pay your debts outside of the contractural obligations. Hey, you may get defaults, you may not.....it doesn't matter.

We have been conditioned to believe that our credit rating is everything, it's not.

So if your fed up with being in debt, sick of the worry and sleeples nights and just want an end to it all do as the others say and write your SOA, that initself is an eyeopener and for the first time in a long time you will see the true position and this helps you sort things out.

Please don't worry about defaults or suchlike, it's not worth it. The only thing that is important is getting out of debt.

You'll be fine.

E2

moneywaster55

Hello, I cannot add anything to the above. I am new to this site myself but what I can agree with is. I would rather have a not so good credit rating, than the daily torment of unmanageable debt, which brought me here too. I am just speaking from my personal experience and fully realize, we all have different views.

Here is to a brighter future, this site is just AWESOME full of fabulous advice. People who have been there and come out the other side, people that are going through the same as ourselves and a 100 different situations in between. A mountain of support and information