Debt Advice Needed!

Random_Lee

Hi folks,

Just looking for a bit of advice on how best to get myself out of a bad situation before it gets any worse.

Long story short - Apart from a £1200 overdraft with TSB I was 100% debt free until early last year, however I went from PAYE contractor to staff at work. This came with quite a big reduction in salary, and due to the timing of the change it meant I had to go 4 weeks on 1 weeks wage… this is when I got the M&S card to tide me over. Then I did get my first monthly wage I was put on an emergency tax code, so they took 40% of my whole pay. This meant I had to further rely on my credit card. It feels like I’ve been struggling to get back on an even keel ever since.

So cutting to the chase, this is what I now owe:

4K on M&S Card (I’m £400 over limit so owe them £406 this month)
1K on Vanqis Card (I owe them £135 this month)
£900 on Very account (I have to pay £175 this month to bring me back into their good books).

I'd stupidly missed the Very payments as I was under the impression that Buy Now Pay Later, did actually mean I wouldn't have to pay until later, but turns out they still require a monthly payment. I hold my hands up to assuming things rather than finding out properly, but what's done is done.

I earn roughly £2100 per month and my main outgoings are £600 rent and £400 for child maintenance. This leaves me with £1100 for council tax, utilities, food and bus fare etc. I also smoke, but have stopped the cigs and moved onto rollies, with a view to quitting completely which I hope to achieve soon. Usually story though, of the more I'm stressed the harder it is, but I'm working on it. I don’t drink or go out clubbing etc, and don’t have a car or any kind of lavish lifestyle. It may sound like I should be if I’;m paying £600 rent, but the city I live in is VERY expensive, and this is as cheap as I can find without sharing which is not an option.

I do have a history of bad credit after being a bit reckless in my 20s, but I sorted it all out eventually and the default came off my last year, meaning my credit score was “fair”… which was probably how I was able to get the credit cards. I checked again today on Noodle and it’s now down to “poor” due to the missed Very payments, meaning I have very little chance to get a loan to consolidate my debts into one manageable payment. I was going to try my own bank, but fear they’ll say no and it will further lower my credit score. I was then considering a 0% balance transfer to a new credit card instead but I really don’t know if that’s a good option, or if I would even be accepted now.

Any advice would be most appreciated, but please, I could do without the chastising as I’m stressed & depressed enough, and do know it’s all my own fault!

Thanks!

CalumHeath

You need to post a Statement of Affairs (SOA). This will list all of your incomings and outgoings.

Here's a link to it:

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

There's not much more anybody can advise until all of the facts are in the SOA format.

twiggy86

Hi!

No chastising here - just trying to be helpful! I would NOT recommend consolidation. You may have the best intentions now and I don't wish to insult you here in anyway, but there are NUMEROUS stories on here about people consolidating only to wrack up the credit cards again and end up in a worse position. If there is any chance you could do this, don't consolidate. Maybe try a balance transfer provided you cut up/cancel your current cards to avoid spending on them.

I would also suggest posting a SOA. I fully appreciate how this all started with the change in job, tax etc but I am presuming that this started a process of overspending to have accumulated nearly £6k of debt. I found it one of the most helpful things to do as it made me be honest about my spending and also flagged areas which I just didn't account for on a monthly basis (like car tax which happens every year! - appreciate you don't have a car but this was an example in my case). So now I save a bit each month so don't need to "suddenly" find a lump sum in one months wages.

Also, I found groceries the easiest category to substantially cut (£100+ per week down to £40-£50). Do you meal plan, write a shopping list, actually check your cupboards before you go shopping? All these steps really helped me (although I still managed to find 3 packs of lasagne sheets in the cupboard the other week!).

Hope you find this helpful And good luck!

anna_1977

With regards to Very, I had an account with them and BNPL is just that, I made no payments for the year and then paid in 1 lump sum just before interest was charged. You do however have to pay the postage cost of each delivery, that would have been detailed on the monthly statements from them.
What payments have you missed, amounts etc?