Is it all too late???

sourcrates

Hi,
Ok, you are getting a few replies saving a few quid here and there, but your not going to be able to clear 48k worth of debt by going to aldi instead of Waitrose, a more radical solution is needed.
You don't own a property do you, my advise would be to go Bankrupt, not as scary as it may sound, I had a larger debt than you, I too don't own a house, I chose an IVA, and really now wish I hadn't, I spent 6 years scrimping along, it was bearable, but knowing what I know now, I would have chosen Bankruptcy instead.
More often than not it lasts just 12 months, you may have to pay into it for up to 3 years, but if you have little or no spare income, then it would all be over in a year, and you could start again.


I suggest you get some good advice on your options, an IVA may be an answer, but a DMP will take you forever to complete, if it were me, I`d go Bankrupt.

foolsgold01

sourcrates wrote: »

Hi,
Ok, you are getting a few replies saving a few quid here and there, but your not going to be able to clear 48k worth of debt by going to aldi instead of Waitrose, a more radical solution is needed.
You don't own a property do you, my advise would be to go Bankrupt, not as scary as it may sound, I had a larger debt than you, I too don't own a house, I chose an IVA, and really now wish I hadn't, I spent 6 years scrimping along, it was bearable, but knowing what I know now, I would have chosen Bankruptcy instead.
More often than not it lasts just 12 months, you may have to pay into it for up to 3 years, but if you have little or no spare income, then it would all be over in a year, and you could start again.


I suggest you get some good advice on your options, an IVA may be an answer, but a DMP will take you forever to complete, if it were me, I`d go Bankrupt.

I cannot go bankrupt because of my job and future prospects and hence I am not comfortable with an IVA either at this stage. The debt (rightly or wrongly) is mostly in my husbands name but caused through a variety of reasons to support us as a family, problems with cars, moving house at Christmas and other bad decisions along the way! Bankruptcy is not an option but I do get that it brings that feeling of a massive weight of your shoulders that many find a relief. Its not that I find it scary, I would lose my job!

foolsgold01

HappyMJ wrote: »

Personally as your dad is paying you £11 per month for your child then I wouldn't include that as your income and I'd open up an account in your child's name where this money can be put. As you say it isn't your money. It also won't be counted in any IVA or DMP you may go on to.

Oh how simple what a good idea. I will need to ask my dad at the same time of having 'that conversation'. :T


I am trying to avoid any such DMP's/IVA's at this stage too but I do wonder if its 4 years all too late. Hubbys consolidation loan 'sold' to him by Lloyds which he didn't allow me to be involved in has annoyed me something chronic it must be said!

foolsgold01

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

£land do 900g bags of Weebox Cat Stars biscuits.

The biscuits are quite small.

The biscuits are small which is good but the savings massive :T
I shall check these out thank you!

Vikipollard

Hi OP - I also work for the Police (civilian), so I feel your pain. Just wondered, is there any negative effect on your OH's role if he takes out an IVA?


Accepting that the debt was accrued jointly, but is in separate names, can YOU afford to pay YOUR debts (the £10k in your name)? The reason I'm asking is that if you can, and either a dmp or a more formal insolvency solution won't negatively effect OH's career prospects, would/could that be an option?


In my case all the debt was in my name and my OH didn't know about it until my world imploded and I couldn't cover my bills anymore. I went into an IVA (which was the right thing for me), but as I wasn't on the mortgage and therefore could not be forced to try to release equity/take out a secured loan at month 54, mine lasted 6 years. They did take into account the whole income/expenditure for the household in determining what I could afford to pay.


You really need qualified (free) advice though on what options you have.


Also, is it worth talking to your Vetting unit? They may be able to advise what effect any debt management arrangement would have on future employment opportunities within force. Whilst in my IVA I had to be MV/SC cleared as they changed the clearance level for my role, but it went through fine. I just explained why it had happened (divorce/left with nothing) and showed it was subsequently under control.


Good luck whatever you decide

foolsgold01

Thank you for your reply VP. We have had mixed advice with regards to joint debts, joint income although most are in his name. Yes I could afford the loan and I only have £360 on my credit card. However its £235 a month out of our income but I guess it would be manageable...just. I just don't know how my husband would feel about this coupled with CAB advising that the creditors may not like this as I do earn good money! The loan was for my car but its a personal loan.


I will speak with our vetting unit too before we do enter any agreements together. My hubby is in the ambulance service so I don't think he would have the same problems. Although he is qualified to work in Social Services and is currently looking into this but will cross that bridge when we get to that re other jobs as our circumstances would change for the better too. I don't know if he would need to be vetted there?


We have someone from Payplan calling back tomorrow but I wasn't overly enamoured with her yesterday - she got some of our figures wrong and cut us short as she had to phone another person - I didn't feel it was very professional and we didn't feel particularly supported or really aware of what she was doing at the other end of the phone! As a result I am not sure now if I also would like to seek advice from StepChange and wonder if I can?

double_mummy

of course you can get advice elsewhere if you were looking for a car you wouldnt just look in one place and this is much more important

skogar

I would also pay off the low balance credit cards first. No idea where you live but could you move somewhere with a cheaper rent? Where I am you could find somewhere large enough for about £400 a month which would save you over 200 a month. Also what type of car do you have. If quite large you could sell and go for a very small ecconomical car instead and might not have to go for a significantly older car.

If it was me I would be looking at moving to a cheaper house (if pos, selling the car andbuying a cheaper one. Then try and reduce grocery spends.

foolsgold01

skogar wrote: »

I would also pay off the low balance credit cards first. No idea where you live but could you move somewhere with a cheaper rent? Where I am you could find somewhere large enough for about £400 a month which would save you over 200 a month. Also what type of car do you have. If quite large you could sell and go for a very small ecconomical car instead and might not have to go for a significantly older car.

If it was me I would be looking at moving to a cheaper house (if pos, selling the car andbuying a cheaper one. Then try and reduce grocery spends.

Good evening Skogar....we live in what is known as affordable rent with the Housing Association (bit of a joke as its a big part of our every day money worries) and we pay so much more than we used to. The 4 bedroom HA properties here are £900 a month for example. We live in the South East. The price is based on 80% of what private renters pay.
I agree with my car too. It is a Nissan Qashqai 60 plate (second hand) and the reason for my £12k debt (now £10k) but this was planned for and affordable for me (and I thought us as a family) but separate debts and accounts have caused us with the left hand not fully knowing what the right hands doing! This will now stop!! We are combining our income into a basic account (no overdraft) in case of anything bad happening further down the road. I am just adamant to make this work for us and feeling as if we can as I have uneartherd my husbands bank account information and trying as hard as I can to sort this mess out (I am the sensible one ). Thank you for your advice and yes we need to sort our grocery spends out as these are (I think) one of the biggest problems for us - we get the most expensive bread and milk shops ever!!

skogar

Hello,

Many thanks for the reply. I had no idea where you were so no idea if the cheaper rent idea would work. We live in one of the cheaper areas of the UK for housing so it seemed a lot.

Best method for cutting shopping bills I've found is meal plan, make a list and then the tough bit only buying what you need. Loads of ideas for cheap meals on the old style thread or nip down to your local library for some frugal cookbooks.

Other thing I found really useful was a spending diary. Helped to see where I was wasting money for little gain. Also the fact I had to write it down made me think more about what I was spending and usually stopped me buying it. Win win.

Hope you get sorted soon.