What do i do now??

shezzy

Hi there, just wanting some advice please, i went on the cccs website and did the debt calculator which at the end gave me advice about what to do in our circumstances, the total debt is 54000 and they said because we have'nt any spare money to pay anything to the creditors they can't help us....so what do i do now? Write to everyone myself and see if they will accept a pound each debt and freeze interest or just stop paying everyone all together? We have enough money on normal household priority debts and none of our debt is secured. Please someone.....what do i do now?


shezzy

SunderlandBlackCat

Hi Shezzy & welcome to the board.

Theres a template in Southern Scousers First Time Posters thread for filling in a Statement of Affairs (SOA).

Once you've filled that in we will be able to go over it with you & suggest ways to reduce what you're paying out & maybe even increase your income.

shezzy

just to explain we have four children, and my husband works away so that is why the food and petrol is high. We owe £123,000 on our mortgage over 24 years and and it's worth £134,000.

Blackpool council £103.22
C&G 5.99 apr £812.97
Powergen £100.00
Tesco life insurance £15.00 and
£44.18
Tv licence £11.37
United utilities £26.84
Phone/internet/tele £71.78
Legal and general insurance £5.00
Food/clothing £600.00
Petrol £240.00
Pet insurance tesco £9.15
Building and contents insurance tesco £25.00
Motor Insurance tesco £23.00
Car tax £11.00
Car MOT £5.00
£2103.51

Loans/credit cards/catalogue

Loansdirect £386.69 7.4 apr? £22,500.00 4 years left
Blackhorse £264.24 16.9 apr £10,000.00 2 years left
Cahoot £96.85 11.7 apr £4000 ongoing
Ltsb card £98.00 15.9 apr £5500
Ltsb card £87.00 15.9 apr £5440
GE Money £63.28 24.0 apr £2100 16 months left
Barclaycard £45.00 14.9 apr £1800
Littlewoods catalogue £41.00 32.9 apr £750
Capital one £7.00 34.9 apr £280

£1089.06


£2103.51 + £1089.06 = £3192.57

SunderlandBlackCat

Sorry Shezzy I didn't notice you'd posted it before.

It looks from your previous posts that your total income is £2155 & theres a shortfall of just over £1000 per month?

Obviously the minor tweaks you could make to your outgoings aren't going to cover this & even if you got a long term full time job there would probably still be a shortfall so you're going to have to come to some sort of an arrangement with your creditors.

Have you spoken to anyone at CCCS yet? It may be worth speaking to Payplan &/or the Citizens Advice Bureau.

If it does come down to doing a DIY plan there are template letters & a step by step guide to making token payments at Your Guide to a Successful Informal Arrangement (PDF)

I think the Citizens Advice Bureau also provide template letters etc.

If you haven't already then have a read of Martins article on where to start with problem debts at Debt Problems: Where to start, what to do, where to get help.

I hope this helps

hypno06

Hi there,

SunderlandBlackCat has given some excellent information, so I am sure you will make some progress using some of those links.

However, even with doing a DIY payment arrangement you still need to cut back on your spending one way or another, or increase income otherwise you will end up in the same situation again. I notice that your SOA doesn't include amounts for holidays, birthdays, emergencies with the car etc, so presumably you couldn't afford to pay these without increasing the debt.

I see what you say about having four children, but £600 a month is still a lot to be spending on housekeeping.

Head over to the Moneysaving Old Style board here and they discover ways of making your money go further with the shopping. Also visit the freebies board and you will find all sorts, from free cinema tickets to free chocolate (my personal reason for visiting this board!).

Also, the sky, even though it covers your phone etc, could this be reduced. You may be paying for channels you never watch, and if that is the case, then reduce the package you receive.

Hope that helps, good luck and keep posting to let us know how you are getting on!

RAS

Hi

You have been given some excellent advice. You are going to need some sort of arrangement through one of the agencies or self managed. Please do keep to the free agencies CCCS, Payplan or CAB as they do not charge for thier services.

Whatever happens, you will need to reduce your expenditure and or increase your income. The things that really stand out are the Cap one and littlewoods debts and the Powergen payment. These are tiny debts at massive APRs, so can you get rid of them.

Given that you have 4 kids, how about putting their old stuff on e-bay or doing a car boot. Anything else you have bought and do not use that could go that way?

Re Powergen, turn the hot water down to 60 degrees (you only need a screwdriver to turn the dial) so that you do not heat water and then waste all that money cooling it down as it is too hot, turn down the thermastat and make the kids wear jumpers. you should be able to knoock 30 percent at least off that bill.

When you have seen the debt charity, post back here and people will help you a bit more.

Valley's_girl

Hi Shezzy
You have been given some great advice. You can get some great tips on reducing your food budget and other savings on moneysaving old style board.
I am doing my own dmp due to ill health and I was unable to afford the payments. I send token payment to 7 of my creditors every month 5 have accepted no more probs.
Can you increase your monthly incomings could you sell some stuff on ebay and amazon just to make a bit extra.
Try and have a look on this website http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/ they are a great source of help to me and you can ring them for some advice.
You could also contact the CAB and maybe they will be able to help.
Try not to worry and good luck!
Ally xx

sanfrancisco

If you sold your house and paid £10k equity off of you other debt, what would your debt outgoings be then. This wold involve renting. How much would the rent be for similar house. If significantly less this may work.

Do you have any thoughts on going bankrupt? Try posting this similar post on the bankruptcy board, they may be able to reassure you and answer any questions you have.

Do you work? Do you see your household income increasing lots quite soon? (Do you have any little ones about to go to School).

Good luck and keep posting. There is always a solution.

immoral_angeluk

Have you tried talking to Payplan? They may be able to help...

southernscouser

Hi chevvy.

A couple of things from me.

You should be able to knock £200 off your food bill easy with help from the Oldstyle board.

Also, your petrol is high. Is it feasible to downgrade cars, perhaps to a diesel?

Also I couldn't see a breakdown of your income anywhere?

Regarding your debts, do you have payment protection on any of the credit cards or PPI on the loans?

And have you considered changing your mortgage to interest only for a while? I don't know if this is possible at all! :think: