The only way is down (for the balances)!

catandy

Ok fresh start for me - I had a diary thread on here that charted my doom and gloom all caused by my idiocy in bankrolling ex/ his family/ his business and anything else I could think to add to the mix of no hopers and bottomless pits. after almost 18 months of angst and stress and worry things finally came to a head and I finally rid myself of 12 years of my life history, a lot of head aches and a lot of tears/ heartache.


NO MORE!!!


this is the fresh start that me and my kids deserve and will have. I'm not answering to anyone now, I've cut ties with all the nonsense that was going on and now its time to concentrate on putting my life back together. not for anyone else, yes my kids will be more secure and that's good but mostly this is for me. to get some semblance of normality back into my life and to see a way forward.


ok balances outstanding (and it doesn't make for pretty reading)!


rent arrears £410
charging order £246
council tax £624
companies house £225 (ccj)
bt (ccj) £142.50
tax credit overpayment £5096. (appealing this but until I get a judgement its owed)
dvla fine £1100 (ccj)
family loan £3000


sheesh scary stuff - that accounts for 10834 before I even look at the 23500 of unsecured debt from credit cards, one bank loan, an overdraft and good old Wonga - which I make a grand total of 34343 (which is a pretty number )


I work employed with a job with commission but all my figures are worked out on a basic month (as commission is by no means guaranteed). I've put payment plans in place for rent/ council tax/ water/ ccj for companies house and am currently negotiating dvla fine / tax credit overpayment and bt ccj. the charging order is on hold until I clear my rent arrears and I haven't even thought about the family loan yet..


payments to non priority debts stand at £1 per month on-going however this will change once I get the priority debts under control. and I currently have a dfd of about 300 years away?!?!?


aims for the rest of this month are

• send of 2 outstanding ppi claims I have (not worth much but better in my account than the banks)
• get thru to pay day without getting in any deeper (end of the month).

I've thought long and hard about going bankrupt and for now I'm not going to do it. purely selfish reasons - I would have to explain to the official receiver why I've been paying bills for someone else but not paying my own debts (I know, I know - prize idiot of the first degree here!) and yes unfair to the companies involved but I cant turn the clock back. All I can do is move forward and put this right the best way I can.


oh and to those who wonder why I don't sell the car that I got the fine for from dvla and use that money to pay off some of the debt? I drive an N reg corsa which is worth about £200 and is kept together by the rust on it and me talking nicely to it so I don't think that would make much of a dent in the balances!

catandy

Letters for PPI ready to be posted so that's one good thing ive achieved this weekend. I'm planning on having a blitz thru the flat whilst my kids are away for the weekend, get paperwork under control and then work out what order stuff comes in.

in_need_of_direction

While you're blitzing through, can you find anything to sell? Welcome to your new start. Hope it goes well.

roxy7699

subscribing. Enjoy your weekend and well done on the start.

catandy

that was the idea of the blitz - our junk is someone elses treasure (or whatever the damn expression is). got a load of stuff for a car boot for next weekend, have got 100 odd CD's and computer games that ive started pumping into music magpie - up to £22 so far and still going strong - fingers crossed we get to £30. also got 5 black bags of clothes/ bedding that will go the cash for kg place I make that another £13 or so ...


I've also picked up every bit of change I could find around the place and put in in the tin - £3 or so already in there... (we're an untidy lot!)


meal plans done for this week - we're not going to starve but we are going to have some 'creations'. I'm also toying with the idea of a weekend job ... got to think some more on this as I do a 50+ hour week with just the employed job and travelling and so on.. going to take a look what is out there and play it by ear.


PPI claims in the post


not yet got to the stage of working out what I do next i.e. what I pay off first etc. cant even get my head round thinking about it at the moment. I'm going to send of the I&E form to one of the DCA that is due (BT CCJ) so I can come to some arrangement with them, hope I hear something from WTC soon so I know what's going on there and need to make an offer for the fine for DVLA. at the moment I just cant see the way forward - I know priority bills come first and I've got them into payment plans


rent - 25 extra per month off arrears
council tax - 28 per month to clear arrears
water - 10 per month etc.
electric/ gas up to date as on pre pay meter
TV license - due to run out next month
car insurance - up to date and paid monthly
car tax due end of next month (70 odd quid or so?)


so get the 3 outstanding sorted and im on top of the priority stuff - then its just day to day budgeting. just gone thru all the money in / money out malarkey again and I make it I've got 100 left each month after priority debts already arranged and basic living expenses. so it looks like my offers to the other 3 priority debts are going to have to be minimal payments - couple of pounds each per month. I've got nothing built in as an emergency fund and no leeway so I cant see what else I can do until I pay off some of these arrears then assess again. reality is council tax will be paid for this year Feb., water the same giving me march free of both (wowee!). a massive 125 extra to look forward to.


Ok time to look for ways to up my income - that second job isn't an option any more I've got to find something to make more money.


and the loan to the family member isn't even being thought about at the moment

catandy

ok there it is in final big bold letters so I cant ignore it any more - 34343 outstanding spread between 17 creditors!

Grumpyoldmoo

Well done on making a fresh start.

DollyDreamer

Bless you !! seems you have not had an easy time of it at all ....

I also feel I am in similar postition to you and it is a struggle and its very much uphill at the moment but lets hope once we get to the top going down the otherside will be easier

I plan to follow you on your journey and hope to offer support Good Luck xx

in_need_of_direction

If it were me, I'd start an emergency fund with any extra income I could generate. That way, you reduce the chances of needing to access more debt if something crawls out of the woodwork. I'd then aim to clear the rent arrears to reduce the number of debts by 1 and to free up the monthly amount currently paid. It could be though that you've other small debts with high interest rates that you would be better off tackling first. Best of luck.

catandy

yes first on the hit list is rent arrears - need to at least know that me and my sons aren't going to be homeless as I think that would just about finish me off now.


does anyone know if you can renegotiate a ccj payment - ive got one set up at £40 pm which is more in relation to the % of the debt that I owe than it should be. ive still got another 5 months of it at that rate and it means that I will be paying £40 pm for a 200 odd pound debt and £5 or so a month on a £5000 which I don't think will go down too well with the creditors... I hope that makes sense it does to me but im not the best at explaining myself

roxy7699

Cant advise on the ccj but I like your thinking. Once the 5 months is up you can always offer to spread that out again if the other creditors don't like the split.