Help feel so sick amount of debt we are in.

angeleyes

Dont know how long I can fund the debt we are in,bankcrupcy not an option we would lose our house I will list a list of our debts and see if any one can come up with any miracles

bank account 1 -overdrawn £3400
(intrest charges approx £50pm without paying any off)
Bank Account 2 overdrawn £3500 - same as above
MBNA cc1 £50pm (min payment) bal £2900ish
mbna cc2 £60pm (min payment) bal £2100ish
egg £ 19pm (min) bal £934
RBS cc £70pm (min) bal£3200
barclays £7pm (min) bal £230
loan RBS £105pm (5 yrs £5000 loan)o/s bal £5175 (took out sept 06)
car finance (partners name) £170pm 5 yrs taken out 1 yr ago
-want to get rid off but lose too much

other bills
Morgage £437pm
council tax £89pm (I am in the lowest band so will be correct)
gas/elec £65pm (recenty shopped round best deal could get )
life ins (both) £12pm
House Ins £45pm
car ins £35pm (again shopped round at renewal other month)
water £38pm
petrol £30pm
Sky tv £15pm - (downgraded to lowest basic 2 packages)
virgin media £22.00pm (internet & phone)
looked into sky but bt want £150 to install BT line first)
lottery £23pm (you got to be in it to win it!! - play automatically on line so no temptions in going to shop to put on)
£39- gym membership -not up til jan -trying to canc by saying moving too far away
ING acc £40pm - emergency fund -(just used up so bal is £40cr)
£25 deducted from wages direct for wage overpayment
£200pm food/toiletries etc - for 2 of us 1 dog and 1 cat

incomings
wages pick up basic £913 + £150-£200 O/t cannot be relied on though =£1150ish
+ partners share £450 this is half the household bills all the credit card debts are mine - although he does try to put more in when he can but he has own bills too.

I really need another 10 jobs !!
I will try and find out all the apr's - but have rang them up recently to try and lower the intrest but they wont.

considering going to CAB but scared as to what they will say to do and what will happen.
Phoned the bank up in the past and all they want to do is clear the debts with them onto another loan !!!!( guess what with them)

I have opened another bank account in case I need to get my wages paid in to another account.
I am starting to get charges as well (only this month and last month) so havent got thousands I can reclaim

**the only reason ended up in this mess cos we moved house and everything needed doing and cost more than we budgeted heating,asbestos found, plastering bathroom kitchen and the list continues **
10 months ago I just had the credit card bills **

please any help or advice to offer or what will the CAB do to help

tifnstav

i would get rid of the sky - just spend more time on MSE instead, if not watch freeview channels or read a book.
i would cut down massively on the lottery, thats a ton of cash.
and i would be putting the £40 for ING into getting rid of the debts - other posters may tell you different though.
what are your APRs on your cards etc? find out if you can and use the snowball to find out which to pay off first.
we have managed to get our food and toiletries bill right down - look at OS baords for tips and I am using up all the old toiletries i have been given for the last 40000 christmases. some interesting smells, i can tell you. but i'm not tempted in boots etc.
good luck my duck.

taxi73

Hi and welcome...I'd get in touch with the cab or ccs or payplan...I haven't been down this route myself but plenty have on here and will be able to advise you better.You are right consolidation isn't the answer.Your bills look pretty ok except house insurance seems expensive and water rates maybe better on a meter.You've listed petrol but no expenses for car tax repairs etc...The lottery money would be better spent on debt repayments as you are highly unlikely to win big....
Don't panic as others will be along to help you soon.

photonbucket

First off, scrap sky. There are over 30 channels on Freeview so phone up and cancel it TOMORROW!

Secondly, dont keep buying lottery tickets. You're not in any fit state to be gambling.

Thirdly, why pay £40-00 into ING for emergencies? This IS an emergency!

Those are the easy ones and should save you almost £100p/m.

Like the previous poster said, get yourself on a water meter as the bill seems high. (Stick a brick in the toilet cistern while you're at it!).

The car insurance also seems a little high. Im 24 and drive a group 16 car for £390 a year. I guess the horse has bolted where that is concerned.

Having never been in debt, I am not an expert at managing cc bills and balance transfers so I will leave that to the more enlightened amongst us.

angeleyes

dont think I could handle a water meter, have washing machine and dishwasher both on at least once a day. (and dont like the idea of being stuck with it imagine later on with kids and even more washes to do !!!)

home insurance covers my engagment ring outside the house it is due up in sept and am looking round for quotes ( as I usually do ) also have accidental damage - if I canc i know the next day something will happen:eek:

thanks for the replies so far

forgot to add my mobile phone on £10pm contract for 18months but would pay this on pay as you go


dont think i could do without sky totally just gave up movies and sport , oh works evenings and weekends so only thing I usually do (boring i know) we dont go out very much if we do it's for orange wednesday and 2 4 1 meal at the pub nearby:beer:

HairyHandofDartmoor

Got to agree with the others! Cancel Sky, stop doing the lottery, and you could definitely cut your food bill down. I spend around £260 per month for 5 of us! It may seem hard but it's better than losing your house!

southernscouser

Hi angeleyes.

What APR's are you paying on your debts? Have you considered applying for a low life of balance credit card to get the interest payments down? Can help massively. You find that your monthly payment actually makes a dent in the balance.

Also I'd give the CCCS a ring, or at least have a look at their site and go through the debt remedy.

mrsspendalot

Hi and welcome to DFW.

take a look at the snowball calculator, add in all your debts and APRs and see what a bit of shuffling about with your payments would do to your situation. most people like www.whatsthecost.com

your figures don't look too bad, but in your situation you really should consider scrapping sky, lottery and the gym. How long have you got to repay wages for? Also, your food bill is not massive, but you could reduce it if there are no children in your house. I have a husband and 3 kids (aged 7, 4 and 1) and we spend £35-40 a week in tescos. I think you could easily reduce your shopping bill by £50 - £75 a month through careful meal planning etc.

Also if your electric bill is high, consider whether you need to be using your dishwasher so much. it is a luxury really.

the only other thing is savings - you can't afford to save for emergencies yet. losing your home would be an emergency and an extra £40 a month to throw at your debts could be the difference between bankruptcy and not. Just by stopping your savings and cutting £50 a month off your food bill frees up almost an extra £100 a month to throw at your debts.

good luck

cherubs53

Hi, it sounds awful getting rid of the extra things like Sky and the gym, my OH pays for Sky so havent been there, but I have just written to the gym to cancel my membership. The thing is that if you can free up just a bit more money each month and put that towards your bills it does make a real difference in a couple of ways. First of all extra repayments do genuinely reduce what you pay and secondly it makes you feel better. You are taking control of the situation rather than feeling like you are helpless and that makes such a huge difference. And this site is brilliant,dead informative and everyone is really helpfu and supportive. Good luck

Adrasteia01

Is it possible that you might be entitled to any benefits/credits? I'm told entitledto.co.uk is the site to look at for that one.

I'd recommend giving up the lottery or reducing it down to a ticket or two a month. It's money that you really need to be paying off your debts, and while it is nice to hope you might win the lottery and it will solve your problems, the odds are against it.

I'd suggest ebaying any unwanted belongings you have sitting around and put the money towards your debts.

It might prove useful if you found another way to bring some more money in - a second job or similar. I know it sounds depressing, but it sounds like the extra money could come in handy. You could also try websites like pigsback.com to save up points for vouchers etc towards xmas.

tamara

chevalier

Hmm
The cards are yours, but surely your OH benefitted from what you bought on them, like food and petrol, fittings for the house etc. You say he has other bills, but I think you need to do a household budget.

If he works evenings and nights, then could you get a bar job then you wouldn't need sky because you would be working!
best of luck
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