Debt debt debt!! Tired of it...

BettyDebt

Hi everyone

I'm new here and read loads of advice everyone has given and thought I could get some feedback from everyone re my situation...

Here goes and its a LONG one....

26yrs old, f, married no children just two dogs.
rent a house in my name and sublet with Landlords approval
I work full time, started selling my junk on ebay and have a pt job I occassionally go to.

My debts are as follows:

DEBTS

Company Amt owing Monthly payment Interest

Lloyds CC £7000 £140 11.9%

Gregory Pennington deal with the following:

Barclay card £8613.78 £142.42 5.75%
Central Debt CA £11 120.06 £223.41 0% reviewed every 6months
Central Debt CA £769.70 £15.70 0% reviewed every 6months
Newman £856.42 £14.57 ? Negotiated low at moment I believe

Gregory Pennington Fees: £69.90 monthly

Now I have two current accounts
One where I seperate the household expense and mine.
The house evens itself out in the end but could do with cutting down phone and electricity. Ppls rent incls bills. There are 5 of us in a 3 bed house.

HOUSE (I rent in London as I work in central London)

Rent income (incl mine rent) £1330

Expenditure
Rent: £950
BT: £48
Council Tax: £105
Elec: £55
Internet: £14
Sky: £51
Water: £30
TV Licence: £10.59
Gas: £30
Misc: £35
Total: £1328.59
Possible surplus of £1.41


MY INCOME

Salary: £1585 net (less Season Ticket loan travel)
Rent hubby: £250
£1835

Pet Insurance: £29.31 (2 dogs)
Debts: £466.00 currently paying to GregoryP (see above)
Credit Card: £140 (this is the monthly min – see above)
PAYG Mobile £10 (will try get this to £10 begin as I mean to go on)
Phone cards: £10 (gives me a months worth calls to family abroad at 4p a min)
Rent (2ppl): £500
Housekeeping: £150 (1 Adult food/ toiletries £35 pw)
Food Dogs: £70 (2 BIG dogs)
Car Insurance £20 (my half)
Spending: £100 (cinema, leisure)
Petrol: £20 (my half)
Total: £1515.31

Remaining: £319.69 (though this is never the case and recently had extra £150 in expenses from gym and moble which I have just cancelled.)

So with my NEW budget above and me cutting back on a lot I should have at least £320 a month spare…. The majority could go on my credit card to Lloyds as it has the highest rate.

All debts managed under GP were managed on the basis that I had no other debts (ie Lloyds) but I STUPIDLY managed to get this debt and am now TAKING CONTROL.
So when I do a financial letter to the banks I declare my rent as higher (as I am the sole lease holder I have the rent in my name anyway) and use the difference to pay the Lloyds.

I am now married though my husband is on a low income but pays his own way only contributes jointly to rent. We have our own budgets for everything else. Do I have to declare I am married and my husbands wages? I don’t want them saying his savings must be used for my debt! Also my husband doesnt want to realyl contribute to my debt unless I am really short for something important. He is trying to save a deposit for a house and in theory he should get through saving £20k in the time I pay off my 29k debt.

So based on all the detailed information…

I should pay the £69.90 between the 4 debtors as they will know I cancelled GP and assume they’d be happy with the small increase in payment. Though at what percentage?

Then Lloyds TSB I can pay (in theory) £450. Once that debt is out the way I can distribute that £450 to pay double my other bills.

Does all this sound right? It seems to work on paper but in practise!!? I feel calmer looking at the break down but its never feels like it works.

I have not included mot or road tax which is due in Aug. I assume then my surplus could be used in case of emergency or something due ie: dog vaccinations and car repair?? Whilst still paying min 1 month on my Lloyds CC.
I have not declared anything with Lloyds. No arrears or defaults.

Based on all of the above I’d never get away with bankruptcy would I? Though am weary to go down that route but 4 yrs of debts feels like a lifetime because I’ve been battling for so long.

Where can I find the templates for the financial statement and the offer/neg letters to banks?

My credit history is obviously bad and I fail to get any 0% balance transfer cards….


A million thanks to everyone for any advice. :T

idiot_3

hello, when you say central debt collection agency, do you mean cdea, central debt enforcement agency? they the ones claiming to be based in worthing?

they are nowt to worry about. were the debts hsbc/first direct?

how long have the debts been outstanding, and how long will it take to pay them back with your current payment?

sorry for all the questions, but i may be able to seriously help with these.

BettyDebt

Hi

It is Central Debt Collection Agency, no other name that i know. They took over two debts from Barclays - an over draft and Loan.

With this set up I should be able to clear it in 4yrs. I've been with Gregory Pennington for a yr now paying those amounts but my salary has increased since then (so had my Lloyds debt).

So at that rate 4yrs but as time goes on I'd like to aim for 3 yrs.

idiot_3

its a different company then. sorry can't do anything.

Marsie

OK then, lots of people will have far better advice than I on the rest, so I'll just pick on the bit I know about!

Even for big dogs, £70 per month seems extremely expensive. What are you feeding? To some extent you get what you pay for with dog food, but you can buy good quality at a lower price.

I have recently changed my dogs to Autarky (from Nutro) and am finding it excellent. It is a VAT free food as it is aimed at working dogs - I pay £14 for a 15kg sack. It is known to be an excellent quality fairly natural food. My dogs (Collies, often fussy) eat it extremely well, with no meat 'taster' addition which I used to need with the Nutro.

Maybe worth a look? Even with big dogs, perhaps eating 15kg each a month, that could be a big saving.

M.

roger56

Just some first thoughts:

Do you really need Sky at £51pm, thats over £600 per year. That would clear one of your debts in just over a year BUT do use the money do clear highest interest debts first (ie Lloyds). Remember the hidden cost of that luxury is more because of debt interest.

How about talking to Citizens Advice Bureau to see if you can cut Gregory Pennington out of the debt loop. Their fees at £69.90pm amount to just over £800pa. Thats another of your debts paid off in just over a year (BUT pay the highest interest first).

Now you say you are married but don't want to you husbands savings to be used for the debts. However, if you can use those savings to pay off the higher interest debts (11.7%) and then repay him and cover his loss of interest (say 5%) you start winning again. It's a thought and will benefit both of you in the end.

Well hope thouse thought are helpful and good luck.

Edinburghlass_2

Just had a quick skim through and yes you could make some savings on the Telephone Boards.

£48 for BT seems a lot and 4p a minute for international calls using a phone card can definately be reduced depending on the country called.

Pop over to the Home Phones Board and put up a break down of what you are paying and you will get plenty of advice to reduce your costs.

fatboyonadiet

Why not ring your CCs and ask for a reduced interest rate, might work, otheriwse either get a Life of Balance card or a 0% card and keep shifting them around when they run out.

BettyDebt

Thanks everyone.

I do order Autarky already. I do add meat though and include some treats so I definately could cut down on dog food.

Phone bills I'll look into cutting down though I do get a bit back from lodgers. As for sky it is one of the selling points for lodgers though I could look into some cheaper options.

I am not contracted to stay with GP and I want to leave as I know one yr of GP costs = one of my debts. I just dont know how to divide the 69.90 between all of them.

Thanks for all the help!

roger56

BettyDebt wrote:

I am not contracted to stay with GP and I want to leave as I know one yr of GP costs = one of my debts. I just dont know how to divide the 69.90 between all of them.QUOTE]

That one is simple. Don't divide, just pay off the highest interest debt first ie Lloyds.

Bargain_Rzl

roger56 wrote:

That one is simple. Don't divide, just pay off the highest interest debt first ie Lloyds.

...as long as you are also meeting the minimum repayments on the others.