Riddled with debt please help

Lee1990

Hi im 23, im horrendous with money as youll soon be able to see after reading this, i owe around 10 payday loan companies somewhere in the region of 5-6k i also owe 2 credit card companies around £250 each and owe friends and family and ee for my phone contract around £500 as well, iv twice started one of thos debt solution programmes, where they say they will deal with the companies and you pay them one lump sum every month but i havent been able to keep up the payments. I earn just shy of £2000 a month after tax but i never have a penny to my name because as soon as its in my account its gone again, this has ruined my life and i honestly cant see a way out of it. Its getting to the point where i cant take a lot more. I end up borrowing more and more and its starting to effect my social life now as well, if anyone could give me some advice on what the beat thing i should do is i would very much appriciate it. And please no comments like "well you should of thought about that before getting payday loan" thanks

Busymumofthreeplusdog

I'm fairly new here too but I'm sure some of the more experienced members will be able to offer you support and sound advice. I wondered if it's worth contacting citizens advice bureau?

marliepanda

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

You can try filling in one of these to see where your money is going.

Have you considered bankruptcy?

if things are as dire as you say, with multiple PD loans, and twice 'failing' to keep up with debt management plans, I'm not sure what else you can do...

Do you feel this is your light bulb moment, aka a time when you feel you have to knuckle down and sort your debt out? I only ask as you say 'this is starting to affect my social life' but looking at your finances, as you describe them, you cannot afford a social life right now (except very quiet nights in with a few friends, a homemade pizza and a DVD...)

Sheep933

Firstly i make a list who you owe money to and how much.

You need to go into debt management with all of your creditors best way to do this is with Step Change (CCCS) they will go through your budget and come up with a affordable monthly payment they can sometimes stop interest.

You need to tackle the debt now before it gets worse.


Step Change
0800 138 1111

Valli

The thing that jumps out at me is 'it's starting to affect my social life'

Maybe a couple of months of NO social life and you could start to make a dent inthe debts.

Because, what your post suggests to me is that, at present, your social life is a priority. Maybe you need a rethink - with £2K coming in a month you would be able to make a dent in your debts sharpish if your social life were NOT a priority?

Sazzie23

Valli wrote: »

The thing that jumps out at me is 'it's starting to affect my social life'

Maybe a couple of months of NO social life and you could start to make a dent inthe debts.

Because, what your post suggests to me is that, at present, your social life is a priority. Maybe you need a rethink - with £2K coming in a month you would be able to make a dent in your debts sharpish if your social life were NOT a priority?

Good point, unfortunately if you keep spending more than you have coming in this will continue to be a problem. Its ok to say - i'm saving up/paying back/overdrawn and therefore i cant go out to drinking/for dinner/partying this week but perhaps you could come round and i'll get us a bottle of wine ?

Kate_fixing_it

Sazzie23 wrote: »

Good point, unfortunately if you keep spending more than you have coming in this will continue to be a problem. Its ok to say - i'm saving up/paying back/overdrawn and therefore i cant go out to drinking/for dinner/partying this week but perhaps you could come round and i'll get us a bottle of wine ?

Thanks Sazzie, I know this was aimed at the OP but sometimes a comment like this can strike a chord with others... like me! I've been beating myself up over saying no to the more expensive of two requests from DD1 but we simply can't afford both. I think I needed this little reminder.

OP: as others have said, you sound more concerned about your social life than your predicament. Ask yourself, how much can you really relax and enjoy yourself with this in the back of your mind? It's never nice to cut back but without it this will only get worse.

I don't mean to sound at all preachy (I'm in no situation to do so) but from experience I can promise you that life is better all round with less debt. I've been in the PDL mire, I'm out of it now and whilst I still have a way to go before my debts are cleared my life is infinitely better than it was a few months ago.

Kate x

Monkeyballs

Hi Lee,

You have to step up and take control of your finances, as others have pointed out "this is starting to effect my social life" is a dead give away that you you really just want the debt to go away so you can get on with living a party lifestyle.

You mention you have tried using a debt management company twice and they failed as you didn't make payments? Which companies did you use and what were you paying? Have you had a pay rise since then? It could be that when you filled in the income & expenditure form you were either too strict or missed things off which led to a repayment which was just waaaay too high?

At this point I'd advise against bankruptcy because I went through it seeing it as being a get out of jail free card and racked up the debts again as soon as I was given the opportunity - you need to sort out your priorities and learn how to manage our money first.

Post more details using the SOA link attached and we can start from there.

MB

poppasmurf_bewdley

A Debt Relief Order may be better for you than bankruptcy.

See:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/bankruptcy/alternativestobankruptcy.htm

to see if you would qualify.

hettiecarro

Hi
Don't mean to be harsh or anything, but it is interesting that you have not responded to any of the posts on this thread since your original post.
I buried my head in the sand for YEARS, until my life was in a total mess due to debt. It has taken me 5 years of hard slog to get to grips with my situation (as you can see from the signature strip on my post).
I am 62 years of age. Don't let bad money management ruin your life like I did. Come back on here, post your statement of affairs (SOA) and dedicate yourself to getting back on the straight and narrow.
Of course - no-one can MAKE you do this, but I would wholeheartedly hope that you do. I can guarantee that you will get loads of support if you decide to go down that route.
I also learned who my TRUE friends were during that time. Those who really cared about me as a person have been quite happy to just enjoy 'free' type activities while we got back on our feet. And the others? When I stopped being 'Lady Bountiful' were nowhere to be found - so better off without them methinks. It's hard enough to fund my OWN life let alone other peoples.

Valli

OP hasn't actually logged back in since his OP.

It's a shame, really, because, if he faced up to reality (and his debts) and reviewed his priorities he might well be in a postion to make a dent in his debt quite quickly.

But it's guesswork, because we haven't got a SOA, we don't know what is owed and to whom so these are stabs in the dark.

But I am fairly certain that the first step would have to be to curtail the expenditure connected with his social life.