What can I do?

Endsmeet_2

Thanks for the encouragement, everything just seems to be bouncing around my head at the moment.
I've just turned 40 but I suppose that I could get a 20yr mortgage in 5 yrs time but I will need to think about that then I suppose.
Its just wearing me down at the moment, feeling that I've let everyone close to me down and there is nothing I can do about it.
Keeping getting that feeling that my good feelings from before will be short lived
Thanks again

tealady

Hey, just tell your self that we ALL make mistakes. As for "letting someone down" well tell yourself that you are only human( like the rest of us) and as long as you don't repeat what you have done then you have learned something and grown, thats what being an adult is all about. Set yourself a target (an achievable one), and walk forward into the future. Life is not a rehearsal, it was meant for living so go out there and enjoy.

Endsmeet_2

I know that you are right and I am being so stupid making myself ill, I just need to get my head sorted and hopefully my debts will follow.
Are the debt companies that good?
I don't want to be fooled into something then to have it crumble around me a few yrs later, obviously I will sort out my spending in the future but I need some....alot of help now, basically I know that I have to trust them but I've been bitten so many times in the past

Again sorry about the sob story, betcha heard it all before?

tealady

Go to a free debt management service like CCCS the Citizens advice or another (whos name escapes me at present). if you do a search on this forum you will find plenty of mentions. The free ones are charities (one is supported by banks I think). You have to be 100% honest with them though re your debts, don't worry they will have heard worse. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Endsmeet_2

Looks like I will give payplan a ring as most seem to have used them.
Thanks again to everyone and will post back when its getting sorted

Endsmeet_2

Just rang payplan and they are going to ring me back tomorrow (26th) at 9am to take down all my details and discuss my options.
Just one thing I am a little confused about, do they have a set allowance as when I was telling them my monthly outgoings, I was getting quoted figures some of which were a little less than I was saying e.g. my rent was £217 but she said something about £180.
Little confused as that will leave me short and if all the allowances are simi to that I will be in more debt.
Very confused

angelavdavis

Hi Endsmeet,

Good luck with Payplan!

I would advise you start a spending diary to monitor what you are actually spending - start taking in sandwiches to work (if you don't already) and ensure you remove all cards from your wallet and take only an "emergency tenner" with you. It might not save loads, but it all helps!

A few other things to consider:

1) Phone up each credit card company and find out what your aprs are, then check your statements to find out the minimum payments and update your SOA - this helps identify who the high interest culprits are.
2) Check your loans to see whether you can overpay them (check the terms and conditions). This will also help identify which loans you can start overpaying once you have cleared any higher interest debts.
3) Once you have all the information for the aprs, terms, totals owed, etc. Check out the snowball calculator. This will give you your debtfreedate. Bit depressing at first, however, the trick with this, is to use the information from your spending diary to see where you can potentially save any money every month and then you can enter the information on the calculator and see your debtfreedate come down!
4) As you have little outgoings that you can reduce, you need to consider if you can increase your income in some way. Get a part time job? Anything to sell on eBay or car boot sale that you can throw at the debts? Although you have a final salary pension scheme which is good, are you actually being paid a fair salary for your post? Whilst you can sometimes do overtime, if it isn't that reliable, you could instead be doing something more reliable to earn extra. These are all things that will actually help you reduce you debt sooner.

As mentioned, take your SOA with you to Payplan.

Good luck!

bandraoi

What has the money been spent on?
Have you anything you can sell?
Could you go for a promotion/change companies and increase your salary?

One thing that MIGHT help, but only with extremely careful management, is if you switch to an Alliance and Leicester 0% overdraft account, at least then you could use money at 0% to rob Peter to pay Paul.

It would slow the rate of increase in your debt.

angelavdavis

bandraoi wrote: »

What has the money been spent on?
Have you anything you can sell?
Could you go for a promotion/change companies and increase your salary?

One thing that MIGHT help, but only with extremely careful management, is if you switch to an Alliance and Leicester 0% overdraft account, at least then you could use money at 0% to rob Peter to pay Paul.

It would slow the rate of increase in your debt.

To be honest, if Endsmeet has recently been refused 0% credit cards and loan increases, I suspect sadly that he won't meet A&Ls credit criteria for getting this account. His best bet is to go to Payplan to see what they suggest.

Endsmeet_2

Hi,
I am so confused at the moment that I think that I will wait until payplan get in touch and go from there.
Its only a days wait and hopefully I will be able to sleep tomorrow tonight
Thanks for all the advice thou