Thousands of pounds worth of debt

OriolaW

sourcrates wrote: »

Who said this ?

You make no payments to a debt relief order, if you have less than £50 left after all bills are paid, you will qualify.

The lady on the phone. It seems we've managed to balanced everything out. She mentioned a temporary payment arrangement or the debt relief order.

She said I will have to change my bank account and cancel my direct debits which are my gym and tv which is a pain

lovehackney

Hi OriolaW,

If you're serious about paying back your debt, maybe cancelling the gym membership and TV (assuming you mean a TV package, not TV license) are the places to start?

You have no money left to pay priority bills but are still paying for these?

sourcrates

OriolaW wrote: »

The lady on the phone. It seems we've managed to balanced everything out. She mentioned a temporary payment arrangement or the debt relief order.

She said I will have to change my bank account and cancel my direct debits which are my gym and tv which is a pain

The lady on the phone from where ?????????

National_Debtline

OriolaW wrote: »

The lady on the phone. It seems we've managed to balanced everything out. She mentioned a temporary payment arrangement or the debt relief order.

She said I will have to change my bank account and cancel my direct debits which are my gym and tv which is a pain

Hi Oriola


Who did you contact for advice? It sounds like something is getting lost in translation here.


Dennis
@natdebtline

OriolaW

lovehackney wrote: »

Hi OriolaW,

If you're serious about paying back your debt, maybe cancelling the gym membership and TV (assuming you mean a TV package, not TV license) are the places to start?

You have no money left to pay priority bills but are still paying for these?

I would be paying for tv,broadband and phone anyway the 27 pounds I will be paying for all of that is cheaper than what I'm currently paying for just broadband and phone. The gym membership is a non contractual one.

sourcrates wrote: »

The lady on the phone from where ?????????

National_Debtline wrote: »

Hi Oriola


Who did you contact for advice? It sounds like something is getting lost in translation here.


Dennis
@natdebtline

Sorry! Stepchange. It was the woman at Stepchange who I spoke to.

Chazz.Collins

Either way, paying for a gym membership (contractual or not) is a non-priority compared to utilities, etc.
You can still run and walk around for free, do workouts at home (youtube have a buttload after all), which will save you money.
£27 a month is good for a full package, but do you make any phone calls? I have a £27 package as well, but phone calls are pay as you go and tend to whack it up quite a lot....
Also, maybe worth trying to get a sim only mobile deal and cancel contract, if you have one?

Can you lay out all your outgoings to see if there's anything else that could go?

OriolaW

Chazz.Collins wrote: »

Either way, paying for a gym membership (contractual or not) is a non-priority compared to utilities, etc.
You can still run and walk around for free, do workouts at home (youtube have a buttload after all), which will save you money.
£27 a month is good for a full package, but do you make any phone calls? I have a £27 package as well, but phone calls are pay as you go and tend to whack it up quite a lot....
Also, maybe worth trying to get a sim only mobile deal and cancel contract, if you have one?

Can you lay out all your outgoings to see if there's anything else that could go?

No I don't. I wouldn't be able to use Youtube if I got rid of the package.

I tried to using that stupid for and it was getting on my nerves so called StepChange instead

She reduced everything to the minimum and I was still in a deficit. She already put that on the list as £8 a month. I'm telling you that even if I took off the gym membership and tv I would still be above my means. I ended up reducing food to £40 a month. We spent a long time trying to balance everything out and it was very difficult to do no clothes or hair expenses either. I had to leave some money for travel because some places that I work it's just not possible to walk there if they book me that morning.

I also owe less than I thought around 3500..which is still a lot

sourcrates

£3500 ?

You don't need stepchange to help you with this, for that amount of money, all you have to do is write to each creditor proposing say £5 per month token payments for 6 months, at which point you'll review the situation.

As them to stop interest and charges, then try and save as much as you possibly can, then as and when funds allow, pay each one off.

You can carry on like that for as long as it takes.
Simples.

Chazz.Collins

OriolaW wrote: »

No I don't. I wouldn't be able to use Youtube if I got rid of the package.

I tried to using that stupid for and it was getting on my nerves so called StepChange instead

I wasn't suggesting cancelling the package (it's great that you don't make calls), I was suggesting you cancel the gym in favour of working out at home, using youtube. If you're paying for both, you may as well cancel one and reap the benefits of that, whilst still being able to keep fit.

Can you lay them out here?
e.g. rent - £xx
water - £xx
gas/electric - £xx
etc

It might help us to see what's happening in between the lines.

Do you go out at all, with friends? For a meal / drinks at all?

OriolaW

I don't think I want to do this anymore. Stepchange sent a booklet I have no looked at it. I think the DRO is step too far which I'm too young for

Can I approach the companies with the temporary payment arrangement?

Surely those cannot be my only two options