Desperate times, I see no way out of debt

ThreetwentySeven

I have been trying to find some advice on situations similar to mine, but am yet to come across any.

- I have around £10,000 of debt, not including student loan.
- I get paid around £1500 after tax and deductions, pay out over £600 a month towards loans, £5-600 for rent, food and utilities, the rest goes on credit card min payments, mobile, travel to and from work leaving me with barely 2 pennies to rub together.
- I have bad credit and cannot get a debt consolidation loan, though I don't know why, I checked the bad credit loans and checked my credit report. Is it because I already have loans?
- I have a guarantor loan, and 2 payday loans, which could be the reason I can't get a large unsecured loan?
- it's not worth going into a debt management plan because they can't touch my guarantor loan, which is the largest amount. Plus I would still have no money until it was setup and I got a few months into it, even then it would be a small amount saved as I would still be paying for the guarantor loan.
- I can't afford to go bankrupt and debt management companies have advised me against it anyway
- I am a private tenant, sharing with 2 friends, I don't own a car or have anything of value
- I do not have any family that can help me.
- My friends can help me now and again with small amounts, but it's a vicious cycle as I have to pay them back when I get paid, meaning I need to borrow again.
- I can't afford to live in a smaller flat, because it would have to be 1 bed or studio, leaving me to pay all the bills and as I can't live with family this is about the cheapest place I can live right now

It's all very hard to cope with and I feel really alone and having bipolar disorder really makes it hard to keep myself together.

Please help

greensalad

Can you post a SOA so we can start looking at where you can cut spending?

Bobarella

Hi ThreeTwentySeven
Really sorry you are in such a pickle for what is not really a huge amount of money.
Perhaps as the OP suggests if you could post a break down of what you owe and the APR plus min payment next to it that would help people give you advice?
Try and keep calm. It's really hard when you are stressed but there is always a way out.
Bob

rockm87

welcome, let's get started

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

complete this and post, and let's really see what's happening.

ThreetwentySeven

I used snoozing to calculate my SOA.

It may seem small, but just to read that my debt isn't that large makes me feel a bit better so thanks for that

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1500
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1500

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 247
Rent.................................... 325
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 55
Electricity............................. 27
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 11
Telephone (land line)................... 5.5
Mobile phone............................ 16
TV Licence.............................. 7
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 7
Internet Services....................... 2.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 140
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 963


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Secured Debt.................. 3229.....(247)......49.9
Total secured & HP debts...... 3229......-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
barclaycard ...................400.......25........2.52
capital one ...................1000......48........19.9
vanquis card...................250.......25........29.9
pounds to pocket...............284.......147.......277.2
natwest........................2000......25........10
118 money......................2353......236.......71.82
Total unsecured debts..........6287......506.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,500
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 963
Available for debt repayments........... 537
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 506
Amount left after debt repayments....... 31

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -3,229
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,287
Net Assets.............................. -9,516

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i]

sourcrates

Hi,
You need to be honest with your SOA, you never spend money on clothes ? you never get your hair cut ? £100 a month on food ? i spend that a week nearly, and i live alone.

Is the guarantor loan included in the "secured" section ?

Have you considered a debt relief order ?

Info here :

http://www.stepchange.org/Howwecanhelpyou/DRODebtrelieforder.aspx

On the face of it, it looks like you may qualify, you can include the guarantor loan as well, but that will not stop the creditor from chasing the guarantor for payment unfortunately.

Could the person who stood guarantor for you afford this loan, whilst you were in a DRO ?, it would last for 12 months.

ThreetwentySeven

As you can see it's not looking great. Right now I have no money, we had to pay an ununexpectedly large electricity bill And I still have my mobile and capital one payment to come out of my bank. I don't suppose anyone can suggest something to tide me over until I get paid on 22nd. I can't keep borrowing off of friends, I can't get stuck in that loop and it's going to start annoying them.

ThreetwentySeven

3 of us live in the flat, so we spend 300 a month on food, but we budget pretty well for food, Aldi is close by so we shop there. As for the haircuts, I have curly mixed race hair and only trust a family friend to cut it, so that's free

ThreetwentySeven

My guarantor is not happy to take on the payments, as he can't really afford it, he has a mortgage to pay and doesn't want another loan hanging over him. He has a lot more at stake if he struggles with payments.

sourcrates

Cant help with the short term, but long term, you should definitely look into a more permanent solution to your money troubles.

I would strongly suggest looking into a debt relief order, it costs £90, lasts for 12 months, you make no payments, and after 12 months your debts are written off.

You must have no assets, a car worth up to £1000 is ok, not be a homeowner, and have less than £50 a month left after all payments.

I would certainly look into it if i was you.

ellesbellesxxx

The reason you won't get another loan is because you are already using a lot of your available credit, by giving you another loan they cannot guarantee you will pay off existing loans, therefore your affordability is stretched further.
Also, payday loans will flag up on your credit report.


This is a really tight SOA - is there no way you would think about a debt management plan?