Struggled with debt for 12 years and now at the end of my rope.

spacey2012

Your Credit rating is trashed why have you not explored the Bankruptcy option.
You can still get your wages in a simple bank account.

ValHaller

Those payday loans are the straw which is breaking the camel's back. Get shot of those and it looks like you could scrape by. You have one at £200 owing but £260 monthly payment. Is this correct? What do you need to get rid of that one?

I am suggesting that you wait for the budget advice from others and you consider if you have anything you could sell, just to kill that one loan. That will leave you £20/month short which you can pull back probably, just enough to keep on top of everything.

ValHaller

spacey2012 wrote: »

Your Credit rating is trashed why have you not explored the Bankruptcy option.
You can still get your wages in a simple bank account.

According to the SoA, the DMP is manageable. The PDL's are busting the budget. It seems excessive to go BR over just £1000 of PDL's

spacey2012

142 ish months of re-payments at this rate
or 12 months bankruptcy and a clean credit record after six years.

Sometimes I think irresponsible lenders deserve Bankrupt borrowers.

cupcake32

Yes, one Payday Loan company we have the misfortune of dealing with takes the entire outstanding balance every payday and charges £30 interest per £100 borrowed. Every month we take it out again because we can't afford to get by without that £200. The amount we borrow has decreased somewhat in recent months and we hope to phase it out totally soon.
The statement of affairs has shown me that if we get rid of the Payday Loans then theoretically we should be able to scrape by, but I seem to remember that this was not the case. Even before the Payday Loans we were 'borrowing' quite large amounts of money off my Mum to survive each month.
I'm thinking that we've struggled for so long now and the thought of struggling on for another 17 years (as per the DMP estimated end date) makes me feel ill. Would you seriously consider bankruptcy if you were us?

ValHaller

spacey2012 wrote: »

142 ish months of re-payments at this rate
or 12 months bankruptcy and a clean credit record after six years.

Sometimes I think irresponsible lenders deserve Bankrupt borrowers.

Although it is off your record, bankruptcy stays with you for life and has to be declared in many cases.

I would say let the DFW budget experts do their bit first and see where this could go before calling bankruptcy as the best option. OP has overcome her reluctance at the formidable form and put a lot of work into a really good first attempt at an SoA. So I think she is up for sticking with it to consider any suggestions which come along. There usually is quite a bit more to be found at this stage of the game.

puddingpops

I'm not sure if this is an option or not.. but could you ask for the £260 from your mum as a loan? Then at least you could wipe that one pay day loan and slowly build up a bit of a surplus in the next month or so (with cutting down on groceries / clothes shopping or selling / making money online with surveys etc), which you could start paying her back with?

Either way, welcome to the board

ValHaller

cupcake32 wrote: »

Would you seriously consider bankruptcy if you were us?

It has to be on the table. But you say you are both bad with money. The question is, can you become better with it?

Can you earn some extra money eg evening job? Can you sell anything to kill a PDL? Like £260 would pay off the smallest loan and you would not need to reborrow - leaving your budget just £10 short. Can you cut back on spending?

2030 is a ridiculous period to settlement of a DMP. But if you get ahead of your budget, you may be able to save a little which will allow you to do a settlement on a loan within the DMP. If you can once get on top of it and get it running your way, it is easier to keep it that way and begin to shorten the DMP. But if you cannot get on top of it, then going bankrupt is the cleanest way to resolve it.

tesuhoha

I think you could reduce your mobile bill. I pay £8.50 per month with Tesco Mobile and my husband pays £10. Also, is it really necessary to pay white goods insurance? Maybe you should check if you are in the correct banding for your council tax. If not, you could be due a refund. Its not likely, but definitely worth checking. Also could you cut back on the pet insurance, look around for a cheaper policy or cancel it altogether?

Another thing you could do is look on this site re the possibility of switching to a cheaper electricity/gas supplier. It is often cheaper to have a duel fuel payment and pay by direct debit. If you follow the links on here you can get quotes. That does seem high. We are paying £112 per month for duel fuel and we have the heating on most of the time at the moment in a 3 bed house. The same applies to the telephone land line. Perhaps you could get a cheaper deal.

I would also cut out clothes buying for a month or so. Could you not get your car insurance down a bit?

cocalls

hello
there's a thread on the old style boards on feeding your family for £7.50/week while its not particularly healthy doing it for a month (i'd add extra veggies and fruit so it would prabablly be more like £20) would help towards those payday loans.

BTW feb and mar are free council tax months so you should have someextra money to chuck at those pesky loans.