I am asking for help

unimaginative_user_name

DepressedDad wrote: »

No, in fact I think that's more than we normally spend. We have a fare few DVDs / Games which we play and we tend to do free things such as Museums, walks, parks etc.

Completely stopped paying to go out!

Do you have DVDs and games your children have outgrown? Selling them on ebay or elsewhere could give you a bit to throw at your highest interest debt and reduce it more quickly.

fatbelly

DepressedDad wrote: »

I think the fact that my debt is unsecured and a DMP could let them secure the debt on our home. We don't want bailiffs taking our home / cars etc.

It's not a straight equation, although it's true that the only guaranteed defence against court action is to maintain contractual payments with all the interest that entails.

Or do an IVA.

downsizer3

What age are your kids?
Just wondering if they're young - could your wife do some childcare to bring in some money? Get a part time job or go full time if they're older?
DMP does look worth considering too.
Final thought - have you tried moving any to 0% cards to make more impact on payments?

greenanne

morning.
well done for taking the first step towards sorting your money problems out you have come to the right place.
i can't recomend highly enough starting a spending diary.you will be amazed at how much all those little spends add up to over the weeks.
also start looking round the house and clear out the things that don't get used any more,especially clothes and get them on ebay.it's amazing how money can soon build up and it can become quite addictive.
lastly start a diary on here.it's great for keeping you focused.you can also check out other peoples diarys to see how they are coping with exctly the same problems that you are having.
good luck.

JackieRHE

Your expenses seem reasonable to me - unless you can get your phone or insurances down you don't seem to have much leeway.

What about trying to pay off the debt by bringing in more money? People have suggested surveys and selling DVDs/clothes but you may have scope for a general declutter which would shift some of the highest interest card. Ebay, gumtree, Amazon and car boot sales are all possibilities.

Old kids toys can go to Argos to be swapped for a voucher I think.

If you could clear that card you would soon be able to snowball the other debts out.

Best of luck and as greenanne says, keep a diary for motivation.

heartbreak_star

You could probably halve your present spend a month and do paid surveys and things to make it up - if your wife's a SAHM she may have time to do this?

HBS x

heartbreak_star

And I forgot - GOOD LUCK!

HBS x

lizzy23

fatbelly wrote: »

It's not a straight equation, although it's true that the only guaranteed defence against court action is to maintain contractual payments with all the interest that entails.

Or do an IVA.

I thought on an IVA you were obliged to remortgage and release equity if its available at the end of so many years

DepressedDad

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to give me some advice. I now have a list of ideas to try

We always try to squeeze every penny but I will look for further ways to reduce income, including groceries and haircuts.

I'll ask my wife to contact her Mobile phone provider to see if she can downgrade. I have just entered a new contract with mine so know it isn't possible.

Spending dairy is good idea. We tried this before when things were even tighter but stopped. So will start again.

We did a carboot sale at the start of this year and made £60 but haven't sold anything online yet, so can defo give that a go.

I work full time and my wife has a PT job and does Kleeneze so we don't have a lot of spare time but I can look into surveys.

The thing which really gets me depressed is my overdraft. I hate looking at negative money.

In case I do get a DMP / IVA in the future I am thinking about opening a new bank account and use my existing account to pay debts and use my new one for my income and priority debts.

Does that sound like a good idea?

P.S if I didn't mention your idea in my list, that's because i've tried it! Thanks again

Malkin157

I would sell a car and clear Card 3 and depending on what was left over clear some of Card 1

Then you have an extra £50 a month to keep clearing Card 1.

If you are paying council tax over 10 months then you will have an extra £250 to also clear some of Card 1 in the spring.

Can you shift some from Card 1 onto Card 2 to take advantage of lower APR?