Help! I've been an idiot using PayDay Loan companies!

DBurns

As I'm sure you've probably guessed from the title, I've got myself into a bit of a sticky situation with a couple of PayDay loans. I know that these types of loan are just pure evil and I completely regret ever taking the first ever one. Once this get's behind me I will never go back again, I have without a doubt learnt my lesson.
Right, it all started several months back (probably a year now) when I had a car troubles and decided to take a small loan and it's been a downward spiral from there. Month after month of increasing the loan in size to then eventually getting a second loan from another company to pay off the other and now I have two at their maximum and do not know what to do.
I'm hoping this will help so I will outline my incoming and outgoings along with how much I owe to Wonga & QuickQuid.
Incoming
£1600 P/M (last Thursday of every month)
Outgoing P/M
£540 Rent, gas, water etc.
£193 Loan
£55 Car Ins
£50 Phone
£40 Internet, xbox, experian.
£55 Loan
£40 Credit Card (currently @ £200 which is the limit)
£50 Credit Card (currently @ £500 which is the limit)
£220 Fuel for Car
£1243 TOTAL
This leaves me with £357 to go towards food and anything else that comes up.

PayDay Loans
£1418.35 Wonga (due on the 31st Jan)
£1389.37 QuickQuid (£201.87 due on the 30th Jan, 1187.50 due on the 27th Feb)


With squeezing in some overtime I think I could probably up my wage a bit and have enough so after food I have £400 PM to go to these horrendous loans. This is basically what I've been doing the last 3 months but that's just been feeding interest and not reducing the loans in the slightest.
I literally have no idea what to do, all I've heard from people is just how horrible these companies are to deal with. I've never missed a payment so it's always gone smoothly for me and I'm yet to see their other side.
Any help or advice you could give me would be very much appreciated. I'm stuck in a rut and desperate to get out.
Thank you so much for reading,
Daniel

opinions4u

Stop spending. Move your post to the Debt-free Wannabe forum for more detailed assistance.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=76

forgotmyname

Time for a reality check. Its going to be very very difficult to get more credit in the future so thats going to force you to budget better.

You really need to cut your outgoings. Use the car less, Cut back on the phone and internet etc. Xbox and experian can go towards paying one of the debts.

Maybe time for a clearout and sell those items you dont really use. Or items that can help pay a bill off and purchase back later for less.

longtermplanner

Contact StepChange and ask for their help with the payday loans: http://www.stepchange.org/Paydayloans.aspx

This is going to wreck your credit record. You are going to have to start budgetting better. Why are you paying Experian anything? Cancel it! And ditch sky etc. Downsize your mobile contract if possible, if not when it ends do not get an upgrade, switch to a cheap PAYG sim only deal. £347 a month should be masses for food and bit of entertainment and some saving so that you aren't in a mess when your car needs a repair.

paddyrg

Outgoing P/M
£540 Rent, gas, water etc.
£193 Loan
£55 Car Ins
£50 Phone <-- can you cancel/suspend this for PAYG instead?
£40 Internet, xbox, experian. <--Sell XBox, cancel internet, !!!!!! Experian?
£55 Loan
£40 Credit Card (currently @ £200 which is the limit) <--cut up card
£50 Credit Card (currently @ £500 which is the limit)<--cut up card
£220 Fuel for Car <-- All essential? Walk more, carshare

Just a few thoughts - but you need the Debt Free Wannabe board for support from peers to get out of this position

Apples2

DBurns wrote: »

I'm stuck in a rut and desperate to get out.

It's great to see you have had your lightbulb moment before this all crashes around you.

Xbox has got to be the first to go, you don't NEED online gaming.
There is a very good market in second hand Xbox games, get selling them. Sell the Xbox too, it's hardly one of lifes essentials.

If you can't get out of the mobile contract, keep the sim and sell the phone.

They are just a couple of simple options but when you are desperate to get out of debt you will do anything...

SilverSaloon

Agree with paddyrg - cut up the credit cards. Delete any "payday loan" apps you may have installed on your phone.

You need to get rid of the home phone (if its not in contract) and internet etc and look at selling the xbox, or at the very least sell the games you dont play and dont buy any new ones.

Cut down on the food shopping by only buying essentials and try to make the food you buy last longer (cook several meals that can be frozen and eaten later). use a shopping list so you dont buy stuff you dont need. Try to use up stuff you have in cupboards and freezer for a few weeks.

Have a good clean out - get up in the attic - sell anything you dont need that has some value either on ebay or gumtree. Maybe do a few car boot sales once the weather improves a bit or find an indoor bootsale

Try to cut down on your electric and gas bills. Turn off lights, unused appliances. Be wary of what consumes a lot of electric. Turn your heating down a bit or off if you can for longer and put on a wooley jumper.

Use the car less. Anywhere you can walk do so. Avoid parking costs by parking further away for free on the side streets and walking to your destination.

The "old style" board will give some good pointers on how to save some money - well worth reading and can be fun too trying to cut things back a bit if you allow it.

[Deleted User]

Have you spoken to both Wonga and Quickquid? I believe they're likely to freeze the interest on your request and set up a repayment plan with you, not entirely sure if that is the case but I believe it is. Worth a try at least!

graspandsave

eat out of the freezer/cupboards rather than shop for more food. there are great websites for frugal eating living- as said previously go to old style money saving board for all the pointers you need.


desperate times call for desperate measures: can you take in a lodger to up your income? think about sharing bedrooms with family members until there is less financial pressure.


agree with others- sell stuff you don't need, and all the extras -like xbox etc. You don't need those sort of outgoings in tough times- get rid.
do you have a bicycle? use that for longer journeys rather than the car.
google hypermiling to get more mileage out of fuel for your car for when you really do need to use it.


good luck

Parsimonia

DBurns wrote: »

This leaves me with £357 to go towards food and anything else that comes up.

As well as trying to negotiate an interest freeze and all the other things suggested by others on here, I'd be looking to divert £300 of that £357 each month to paying off your loans.

It sounds as though you live alone - a single person can easily live for a month or two on £60 a month for food and other consumables (bleach, toilet paper etc). Your meals might get a bit monotonous (plenty of bowls of Aldi porridge for breakfast and dinner, plenty of sandwiches made with Aldi bread and cheese triangles for weekday lunches etc. , unless you're a good cook and know how to make some cheap soups and casseroles...) but I'd take dietary monotony against bankruptcy and a trashed credit score any day!

If you smoke and drink, now might be a good time to go cold-turkey until after Easter!!!

I'm guessing you're tied into your £50 a month phone contract? If not, that'd be the amongst the first things to go!

£55 a month for car insurance is extortionate!! What the hell do you drive, a Ferrari? Can you downgrade your car to reduce your insurance payments? Failing that, can you find a cheaper way of getting to work (e.g. liftshare.com) so that you can sell your car to release cash AND save yourself the insurance payments?

Do you have anything to sell to raise some cash (guitar, bike, hifi, wii, camping gear, drum kit etc etc etc?) You might not get back what your precious possessions are worth, but every little helps.

Have you thought of getting a second job or working every hour of overtime possible?

Could you not go to your regular bank and ask them for a loan at a better interest rate?

I didn't read the whole thread, so apologies if all these suggestions have already been made...

I hope you get this sorted, and are soon able to put it all behind you....

WillyWonga

Best advice go to CAB or stepchange.

Because these are Government approved debt counselling charities whenever Wonga or Quickquid get a proposal from them they will 99% accept them as if it went to court they will question why the firms refused the offer coming from a debt charity.