Looking for some advice on options and payments

Samaras9

I'm at a stage now where I don't even know what debts I have because I've been ignoring letters etc. The majority of my unpaid debts were payday loans and I know a few have been written off due to company practices but not sure on others. The only debt I have been paying is a provident loan which has now reached a level of about £180 per week.

I want to get my credit rating sorted out longer term (not caring about next few years more for when I'm older, I'm only 24 just now) and I've looked at debt management plans and stuff but not sure what the best option is at all.

I'm on a salary of £1700 roughly per month although £300 of that is a secondment pay which may or may not be made permanent and I also have a son who I pay money for every month. Does anyone have advice on the best steps to take, roughly how much I'd pay on a DMP or any other options?

I realise I'm to blame for my debt (I went a bit off the rails after splitting up with my ex when I was 21) but I'm just looking for some advice now on what to do to fix it.

rockm87

Hi and welcome to the boards, you really need to understand what you debts you have and see if you are able to make a budget to manage it.

You should be able to get a free credit report from noddle. It will be able to tell you what accounts you have open and what the debt is.

If you are unable to manage it you need to speak to a debt charity like Step change.

Samaras9

Thanks. I had a look on Noddle there and I have roughly £12000 of debts, majority is provident and an old overdraft I'd forgotten about. Some payday loans too which is what I initially got myself in a mess debt wise with.

Although I earn a good salary, it's really difficult to keep up a decent standard of living while paying £700+ to Provident every month so I'm not sure where to go or what route to go down.

Ilona

Samaras9 wrote: »

Although I earn a good salary, it's really difficult to keep up a decent standard of living while paying £700+ to Provident every month so I'm not sure where to go or what route to go down.

Hello. Therein lies your problem. I have a decent standard of living on a pension. I cut down on my day to day living expenses to give me some money to spend on treats. I save up for bigger items, recently changed my car, saved for three years to get the car I wanted.

Prioritizing your spending and budgeting accordingly is the route to go down. Deciding what is the most important to you. Is buying your lunch out and going out several nights a week important, if so, you have to find that money from somewhere. If getting rid of your debts is important then put that at the top of the list after mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities, transport to work, and food. You can still have a decent standard of living because you will work out the difference between what you need and what you want.

If you post up a Statement of Affairs, listing all your incomings and outgoings people will be able to make suggestions of how you might tweak your budget to give you more cash to throw at the debt.
Good luck
Ilona

rockm87

Hi
I agree with Ilona you need to re-evaluate what you deem to be 'decent' I think. Having a warped sense of what is decent has probably landed you in this mess to start with.

Try you SOA: http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

and post here for feedback, you could probably cut down on something which will mean you get rid of your debt.

Once you stop servicing your debt you will have more available income.

National_Debtline

Hi

I agree with the others that completing a statement of affairs and trying to cut down on any excessive spending is the best way to start dealing with your debts.

If you did start a DMP with Stepchange the amount you would pay each month would be the amount left over on your SOA, after your household bills and reasonable living costs. A free DMP might be a good option if you haven’t been good at managing all of your debt payments in the past as it would consolidate them into one monthly payment.

As well as Noddle it’s also worth checking your credit files held by Experian and Equifax as some creditors don’t record debts with all three of the main UK credit reference agencies.

James
@natdebtline