My S.O.A. ~ Have I got any chance?

thecornflake

spurs501 wrote: »

Hi. Thanks for replying, My house is only a two bed semi, so do you think my gas and electric is high then? How much do you think I could get my gas and electric down to then?

With regards to the credit cards, I only ever pay the minimum (or even less)

It depends -

Do you have gas central heating?
Is your cooker gas or electric?

I have a 2-bed semi, gas ch and my hobs are gas but the oven is electric. I'm paying about £15-20/month gas (the heating was on for about 5 days) and I think the electric was about £15.

We have energy saving lightbulbs, but the TV is on a lot. Plus we only moved in recently and haven't switched to the cheapest supplier yet (Est £180/year saving according to one site).

pinkkaz

Your gas/electric does sound very high. Do you have a tumble drier? These (and all heating appliances) use tons of electricity. Check the link below for loads of ways to save electricity... and money!

http://www.foe.co.uk/living/poundsavers/home_front/save_energy.html

pinkkaz

Also, do you have any credit card fees that you could claim back (see Martin's article)?

spurs501_2

Just an update for you all:

I've cancelled the PPI on my personal loan (saving me £100.00 per month).

I've contacted ALL the credit card companies and so far most have agreed to freeze interest and let me make reduced payments for between 3 and 12 months.

I'm now looking into reclaiming the PPI I had been paying for 2 years on my personal loan.

I've reduced my weekly shopping bill by home cooking and buying cheaper brands etc.

It's going to be a long, long struggle I'm well aware of that, but I would rather struggle through than have to set up a DMP or IVA or even worse consider bankruptcy.

lunar

i know the feeling about it being a long hard struggle, i could prob take a dmp, iva or bankruptcy, if i had found this site a few months later i prob would have had to.

At least we will have company in the struggle! you seem to have made loads of changes so far, hope you get the PPI refunded that would be a real bonus. Im determined to get rid of all my debts by the time im 30, just ned to shave 1 year of my DFD!

EagerLearner

Hi Spurs - well done on knocking down outgoings so far - just wanted to say that if you have time there are so many cashback sites you can make free cash from (I have earned over £200 since January) plus you have Quidco and Pigsback etc pm me if you want a step by step guide, I can walk you through it - plus Grocery Challenge boards and so much more. We used to spend £160 per month on food and now it's more like £120 for the two of us, plus £90 in vouchers from Pigsback etc. Mainly MSE and being stricter are the rules of the game! Good luck with it all, sounds like you are well on your way - remember, small changes lead to big results x

spurs501_2

Thanks for all your replies so far!

One question I have for anyone that may know?

As already stated most of my credit card companies have agreed to freeze interest and accept reduced payments for a period of time. What happens when this period comes to an end? Will they negotiate further or is this a "one off chance"?

If anyone has had experience of this I would love to hear from you.

Thanks Guy's!!

chevalier

spurs501 wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies so far!

One question I have for anyone that may know?

As already stated most of my credit card companies have agreed to freeze interest and accept reduced payments for a period of time. What happens when this period comes to an end? Will they negotiate further or is this a "one off chance"?

If anyone has had experience of this I would love to hear from you.

Thanks Guy's!!

Hi there Whilst some may renegotiate with you after a certain amount of time, I would think the best way to think of this, is to assume that they WON'T, ie they will start charging you interest again. That should give you all the motivation you need to work really hard at paying them off before you interest freeze period is up!

best of luck
chev

spurs501_2

Anyone else got experience of what happens after the period that credit card companies allow you to make reduced payments?

Will they renegotiate or will they revert to normal payments or will they demand the full outstanding balance?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

lunar

my cc companies all refused to freeze interest, so no help from me. however my friend had hers frozen i think it was capital one, after the initial 6 months they put her on a lower interest rate. she has done a balance transfer a year later now that her accounts are in better order.