Desperate, no money, another payday loan shame

birdbrains

I don't think I need to go into how ashamed I feel at this, but this is how it is at this point in time;

We got caught up in the PayDay loan cycle. It started many many months, if not a year ago I think if I can be honest. It was £50 here and there, a little "oh dear we're short at the end of the month" business.

Mismanagement of our finances and irresponsible budgeting has turned this into "we're going to need to get a payday loan to see us through the month because last months payday loan wiped our account". This has been going on a couple of months. We even drew up a little "plan" on how we could reduce the size of the loan each month. It wasn't the cheapest way nor, obviously, the wisest way, but it was the easiest way. Just get on to Wonga and add funds and forget it till next payday comes around.

Obviously this hasn't worked, and this is the situation I have on my head right now: I owe Wonga £750 as of right now (but come pay day it will be up to £918) I owe Quick Quid £437 (not even from this month, but have rolled it on and it is due this payday coming, obviously I realise if I roll it on now it will just worsten my problems) and I owe Payday Express £137.50, so come pay day a grand total of £1492.50 coming out

Only there's another problem...in that as of right now I have an overdraft of £100 but I'm overdrawn by £250 in total as a few bills that I, through being silly and not checking my bank account as dilligently as I should have been, thought went out on Friday. So I've got no money for the rest of the month at all. I am presuming some of those direct debits are going to bounce until I'm at my limit, but it doesn't leave me in any better a situation.

I'm stuck. I don't know what to do. I know how much I need to live on for the rest of the month, and it's so difficult because I know I could easily top up those payday loans but I know that if I do, I may as well be digging my own grave. I have transport to work for the month in the form of a bus pass, but that doesn't exactly solve the problem of how me and hubby dearest are going to feed ourselves, nor how we are going to do so next month.

Regarding next month, I had thought about arranging a debt management plan...since the cycle began my husband and I have had pay rises, but we were already stuck. As it stands, we could easily afford up to £300, even £400 a month if we lived frugally to pay these off so I think arranging a repayment plan would mean the pressure would be off and in a couple of months we'd be free of the ball and chain, but I've heard so many horror stories about payday loan companies just point blank refusing to accept such plans that I feel stressed about the prospect of the stress it would be to set up!

I'd like to know what you think the best course of action might be for us? While I see no other option, is it worth trying to bargain with my lenders? Is borrowing more money the lesser of the two evils to get me through this month? I just don't know what to do anymore

A silly, stressed, birdbrained fool

DreamerHelen

Hi There....

Please don't feel ashamed.....we all do what we can do and sometimes we don't make the best decisions but we do our best and I feel that's what you have done.

This is my advice for what it's worth....

I would open another Bank Account with a Bank that you owe NOTHING to....and get your Wages transferred into that new Bank Account....that way the Payday Loans can't get any Payments from your current money....

Then once you have defaulted with your Payday Loan Companies you need to contact them and offer them an amount each month that you can afford....they WILL probably fight back and refuse at first but eventually they will most likely agree to whatever you can afford....and if they threaten to take you to Court, well, the Judge won't tell you to pay more than you can afford because it's impossible....

That's my advice anyway....It IS possible to get the Payday Loan Companies to agree to a Repayment Plan because i've done it with two of them - Wonga and QuickQuid....so they are the two that will probably be most agreeable....not sure about the other one as I don't have any experience of that one....

Hope that helps a little...You are NOT alone in this...we're all here to help!!

nehfred

DreamerHelen wrote: »

Hi There....

Please don't feel ashamed.....we all do what we can do and sometimes we don't make the best decisions but we do our best and I feel that's what you have done.

This is my advice for what it's worth....

I would open another Bank Account with a Bank that you owe NOTHING to....and get your Wages transferred into that new Bank Account....that way the Payday Loans can't get any Payments from your current money....

Then once you have defaulted with your Payday Loan Companies you need to contact them and offer them an amount each month that you can afford....they WILL probably fight back and refuse at first but eventually they will most likely agree to whatever you can afford....and if they threaten to take you to Court, well, the Judge won't tell you to pay more than you can afford because it's impossible....

That's my advice anyway....It IS possible to get the Payday Loan Companies to agree to a Repayment Plan because i've done it with two of them - Wonga and QuickQuid....so they are the two that will probably be most agreeable....not sure about the other one as I don't have any experience of that one....

Hope that helps a little...You are NOT alone in this...we're all here to help!!

+1. Have a nice day.

manzanilla

Can I ask if you have any other debts? Credit cards, catalogues, loans etc?

re the "what are we going to eat" the first thing to do is make a list of the food you have in the house. Those bits at the bottom of the freezer, the strange things at the back of the cupboards. Then set about finding ways to eat them up!

Also you and husband can set yourself a challenge for the next two or three months - no alcohol, no takeaways, no ready meals, take sandwiches into work, no clothes etc If there are just the two of you then you can do it it for a short while and it can be a liberating experience You can't live like it for more than a few months though.

Worth a try?

joedenise

Once you have your list of what you have in the cupboards & freezer go over to the Old Style board and ask for help on there and list what you have. It's amazing what some of the Old Stylers come up with.

There are already a few threads on there that you can look at - try "£7 per week - menu ideas". There's also a couple of websites worth looking at for cheap meal ideas:

https://www.agirlcalledjack.com - a mum feeding herself & son on £10 pw; most recipes are for 4 so should be enough for evening meal with leftovers for lunch next day (I find the recipes are a bit skimpy for 2 full meals for adults)
https://www.cheap-family-meals.org.uk - a monthly meal planner with recipes for families of 4. When orgininally done was at a cost £100 pm - someone (can't remember who) recosted it earlier this year and prices had gone up a bit but I think it was still less than £125 pm

HTH.

Denise

fatbelly

You should be able to cancel your continuous payment authorities with your bank. The following thread was written before it was established that you could do that. But for safety I'd follow the instructions anyway

Dealing with Payday Loan Companies

Your priorities are food, fuel and anything that could result in fines and/or imprisonment if you don't pay, like Council Tax, Car Insurance, TV Licence.

These jokers are a long way down the pecking order. They can have what's left over by way of a debt management plan. Unless you are mega-confident about doing this yourselves, get StepChange, Payplan or National Debtline on board to help.

happycamel_2

Have you got anything can sell to free up some money? Clothes sell remarkably wellness eBay, Music Magpie for CDs and DVDs. Kitchen gadgets you don't use etc.

Try keeping a spending diary so your budget is realistic and you know where the money goes.

harrys_dad

There is some excellent advice in the posts above. Maybe you could also post up a Statement of Affairs so we can all chip in and help you to live more economically and have more left to pay down your debts.

Whatever you do, make sure you never ever take any more money on a Pay Day Loan.

chevalier

HI there
I just want to be clear that what you owe in total is 1500 pounds? If that is the case could you go cap in hand to a family member and explain your predicament?

With that wiped out then you could budget properly?

Or else ask at a credit union. Some will give loans specifically to get people out of the payday loan trip
good luck
chev

*Foolish*

I don't really have anything to add to the excellent advice you've already been given.
However I've 'been there done that', it's a horrible feeling, but there's plenty of us who have been in the same situation which just seems to spiral out of control. You've done the right thing by facing up to it now and seeking some advice.
My experience with a repayment plan with Quickquid was ok, I did it via their online chat, they offered £50 a month, I said I could on afford £35, we agreed on £40. It took a lot a to-ing and fro-ing with Wonga, often getting no response and they still hadn't offered me a figure before I started my DMP. Payday Express, I have a loan with, but hadn't contacted them to arrange a plan as I knew I was going onto the DMP.
If you only do one thing, definitely, definitely get a new bank account. Most basic ones are very easy to set up online, at least then all the money that goes into your new bank, you are in control of.

Best of luck.

birdbrains

Thanks for all your advice, I will definitely be looking at those meal plans etc. I think I can probably get my family to spare me a little cash to feed myself with, sadly no one is in the position to lend me £1500

As for my other debts, I have a catalogue account and my husband and I each have a credit card. The credit cards are pretty useless at this point in time for living on - they were maxed out trying to deal with this payday mess and now we've only been able to pay the minimum off each month. I also have a 12 month loan out that we took when we were hit with a considerable (for us) expense.

I never mentioned these debts because once you remove those blasted PDL's out of the picture, we'd be in the position to keep on top of them quite comfortably. I'm supposing that if I looked for help to clear the PDL's I'd have to consider them all fairly and pay them off equally? I'd rather not have to come to that, as I'm confident in our ability to pay them once our wages aren't being vaccuumed up but if I absoloutely must then I suppose I must?

I will post a SOA shortly

Thanks again for all of your advice

birdbrains