please help!

gawebb99

we owe about £30,000 in debt

loans, store cards, credit cards, overdrafts

what can we do

have always made the minimum payments but its a struggle, havent been able to afford food this week.

we dont own our home, or have any valuables

we both work full time

what are the options?

please, losing sleep over this.

fermi

There is always a way to solve these things.

Start here --> http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan

And --> Debt counselling: get free help

Call a few of the free help organisations in that 2nd link tomorrow, and they will help you go over your options.

gawebb99

thank you, ive been searching and looking for weeks now. just dont know what the best option is.

anyone been in a similar boat?

thanks

fermi

Moved this thread to the Debt Free Wannabe board, as you'll hopefully get wider help and suggestions there for now.

sourcrates

gawebb99 wrote: »

we owe about £30,000 in debt

loans, store cards, credit cards, overdrafts

what can we do

have always made the minimum payments but its a struggle, havent been able to afford food this week.

we dont own our home, or have any valuables

we both work full time

what are the options?

please, losing sleep over this.

Hi,

You should not be putting credit payments before buying food.

Unsecured credit debts rank at the very bottom of any "to do list".

I think you need to stop what your doing for a moment, stop paying these debts, get enough money together to get you through the month, that means budgeting correctly, essential payments first, rent, council tax, household bills, and food !!!

Anything left over can be used to pay your creditors. Then seek some help from one of the free debt charities :

http://www.stepchange.org

Stepchange is a good place to start.

Without knowing more about your situation it's hard to give specific advice but for starters, write and tell your creditors you are in financial distress, they are obliged to give you 30 days grace to seek debt help, I suggest you do so.

Work something out with stepchange that you can afford, and stick too.

gawebb99

i plan on calling step change as soon as i get a chance, difficult with the children around . hoping to get time to one day after work this week.

do i call the companies myself ie lloyds, mbna etc?

i worry we will end up in jail or something, i suffer from anxiety as it is.

NicA

Hiya,

There is always a resolve, starting to sort it out is the hardest part!

Without knowing your income you may be able to move debts around to 0% interest etc., meaning your payments will make more of a dent.

The advice given above is the best, ensure all priority bills are paid. I know the regs around IVAs and DROs recently changed one of these could be an option?

Good luck with everything.

fermi

gawebb99 wrote: »

i worry we will end up in jail or something, i suffer from anxiety as it is.

You won't. Put that well out of your mind please, if you can.

gawebb99

i bring home about £860 per month

my OH brings home about £1200-£1400

2 children

he is refusing to just 'not pay' , doesnt want to miss a payment

but we are £910 overdrawn...

something has to change

havent slept for weeks and my mind is in overdrive all day long

kinda just need someone to tell me what to do

sourcrates

gawebb99 wrote: »

i plan on calling step change as soon as i get a chance, difficult with the children around . hoping to get time to one day after work this week.

do i call the companies myself ie lloyds, mbna etc?

i worry we will end up in jail or something, i suffer from anxiety as it is.

As I said above, it's always best to write to them, just a simple letter briefly explaining your situation, something like this will suffice :


Dear creditor,

Acc no : xxxx xxxx

We are currently experiencing extreme financial difficulty, and we are no longer able to meet our contracted payments.
We are seeking debt advice from stepchange debt charity, and will be in touch in due course to agree a way forward.

We understand that FSA guidelines state we should be given a 30 day grace period to review our options with stepchange.

Yours sincerly


Send a copy to each creditor, don't panic, nothing will happen, you can't go to jail for debt, the debt collection process can take many months, even years, missing a month or two is a drop in the ocean.

You need to get OH on board with this, the most difficult part is actually realising things have to change, and that usually means defaulting.

People on this forum refer to it as there "lightbulb moment" !!!

Kitten868

Oh you poor love. You do not need to pay this all back to get a nights sleep, you just need a plan of what you can do. Promise
1) Go out and buy food with the credit cards it's the most important thing for your family.
2) call stepchange debt charity for help and advice

Without further details it would seem your best option is a dmp. Stepchange would contact your creditors on your behalf and would all be sorted by a set date.
If you want more information on how to settle this yourself you'd need to give us more info. Fill in an SOA and the lovely people here will work their magic helping you cut back to make payments.

You are not alone and this is not impossible. You've made the first step out of the hole, don't back down now x