26 years old and 55k worth of debt - please help!!

debt426yo

Hi everyone,
This is my first post here and I'm so glad I found you all as my head feels like its going to explode.
My partner and I have only been together a little over 3 years and have managed to build up £55k worth of debt - at least £40k of that is secured loans. We also have £175k mortgage.

The reason for our debt is that we got duped by a real witch of a woman who got us to invest in a "business venture" and promised us £100k salary between us. Needless to say, this was BS and we lost our investment of £20k and had already bought a new house with high repayments (which we are fixed with until september this year).

We had to borrow more and more to cover payments (like many do) but now we're in the poo (sorry)
Our house has been up for sale since April but we havent had much interest. If we sell it, we're debt free but until then - we're in desperate need of some help. I'm between jobs at the moment and we have been VERY overdrawn for the last two months and dont know what to do.

Can you help??? Any advice is more than welcome.

Many thanks

Debt426yo xx

lewt

lower the asking price?

newmum1

I think you'd be wise to post a SOA see sticky at the top of the forum then we will all try and reduce your outgoings. dont worry

postingalwaysposting

welcome debt426yo... welcome to dfw, no matter what you have done it the past we will not judge you, we are here to advise. Firstly look at this post http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280 and produce a soa, you can then post it here and we can try and help with repayments untill you sell your house. I must say though congratulations in making the choice to pay your debt off with selling the house and renting than live in debt but in a nice house. take care and there is a way out, it may take a little bit of work before you sell your house but you will get there... good luck

chevalier

Will await your SOA

But also just out of interest have you reported this woman to the police? Maybe she has 'obtained money by deception'? You may find that you are not the first, and you may not get any of the money back, but it is another avenue to look into?
chev

debt426yo

Here's my SOA!

My god! Seeing it written down makes it seem even worse!
I know we spend a lot on cigarettes - we're talking about it right now to try and cut down or quit.

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £1,200.00
Partners salary - £1,200.00

Total - £2,400.00

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £872.89
Council Tax - £126
Gas - £30
Electric - £30
TV License - £11.37
Sky £52
Phone - £35
Food - £200
Car Insurance - £60.73
Petrol - £60
Life Insurance £0
Secured loans - £591.90
Un secured loans - £37.59
credit card - £82.00
Child maintenance - £100
Other - £100
Cigarettes - £300
Water - £57.50
Inland revenue - £30.00

Total: £2,776.98

Thanks again XX

postingalwaysposting

debt426yo wrote: »

Here's my SOA!
Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £1,200.00
Partners salary - £1,200.00

Total - £2,400.00

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £872.89
Council Tax - £126
Gas - £30
Electric - £30
TV License - £11.37
Sky £52 ~ this is technicaly a luxury can this go? or can you reduce package/swap to freeview?
Phone - £35 ~ can you reduce this or is it a package?
Food - £200 ~ is this only for two adults? if so i bet you can shave at least £50 if not more off this bill, iff you pop over to the old style forum you can find lots of hints and tips
Car Insurance - £60.73
Petrol - £60 ~ again can you use the car a little less and bike/walk to places or do you live in the sticks?
Life Insurance £0
Secured loans - £591.90
Un secured loans - £37.59
credit card - £82.00
Child maintenance - £100
Other - £100 ~ what does this include?
Cigarettes - £300 ~ yes this really has to be cut down to at least 1/2 if not more
Water - £57.50
Inland revenue - £30.00

Total: £2,776.98 ~ so you are spending a difference of £376.98

Thanks again XX

you seem to have missed a few bits out ie birthdays/christmas/car tax/car repairs/mot/lunches (unless this is classed in your food budget) are all these the 'other' expense?

once you sell you house are you then renting? if so will that payment drop slightly?

sorry my advice is not too good but more people will be along in the morning :T

take care ~ pap

irishmist_2

Hi there and welcome,
I am fairly new to all this and more experienced people will be along who can offer more detailed advice.

See that you are already considering cutting down on cigs and that would clearly free up a lot of money - just to say if you see your GP they can refer you to a range of stop-smoking services that may be helpful if this is something you decide to do.

Good luck with your next steps x

Toto

debt426yo wrote: »

Here's my SOA!



Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £1,200.00
Partners salary - £1,200.00

Total - £2,400.00

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £872.89
Council Tax - £126
Gas - £30 check on quidco to see if this is the cheapest you can get?
Electric - £30 ditto
TV License - £11.37
Sky £52 Can you cut this package or better still get rid and move to freeview?
Phone - £35
Food - £200 Hop over to the Old Style board where you will pick up loads of ideas to cut grocery shopping. For 2 adults you should be able to halve this with a bit of guidance
Car Insurance - £60.73 Is this the cheapest? If you're not working do you need a car? Could you car share, use the bus sometimes?
Petrol - £60 ditto
Life Insurance £0
Secured loans - £591.90
Un secured loans - £37.59
credit card - £82.00
Child maintenance - £100
Other - £100 what is this? do you need it?
Cigarettes - £300 if you can't stop how about switching to roll ups?
Water - £57.50 that's a lot, are you on a meter?
Inland revenue - £30.00

Total: £2,776.98

Thanks again XX

Hi debt, well done for making the first move to sorting out your finances. The first thing that strikes me about your SOA is the income, are you actually getting £1200 a month while you are in between jobs? I've posted a few tips for you on your SOA. I didn't see anything there for car MOT, birthdays, christmas, clothing is this the other fund of £100 per month?

Now, to the house, could you drop the price a little? are you getting viewings? what is the feedback?

Sorry for all the questions.

debt426yo

Hi, Thanks for the advice.

Yes, the 'other' category is to cover things such as birthdays, tax, mot etc oh and also the dog expenses.

following your advice, i am going to....

1.cancel the sky tomorrow and switch to freeview
2.make an appointment with GP to try and quit smoking
3.search for cheaper car insurance
4.try and allocate a lower budget for shopping

I cant reduce petrol unfortunately as have to travel to south wales twice a month to pick up partners daughter (we live in Blackpool)
Partners company card pays for work petrol.

I'm going to go and visit a friend next week (also a financial adviser) to see if I can still pay everything off if we reduce house price or see about a remortgage for september when fixed term ends - is this a good idea or not?

My salary is a bit complicated, I received a full salary at the end of June. July will be slightly less but I have an informal job offer that I should start on 31st July and my income will be around £1500 before tax and NI (so pretty much the same)

Thanks again peeps XX

Toto

Well done, that's a great plan of action. Do sign up to www.quidco.com and get some cashback on insurances and things. Don't stress too much if you don't reduce the shopping budget over night. Just try to cook things from scratch rather than have ready meals, food plan for the week before you go shopping so you only buy what you need. I don't know about you but I was (and sometimes still am) awful for throwing food away.

I would also speak to the police about this woman, you've been ripped off and she shouldn't get away with it. Do keep posting, we'll be here to help you all the way.