Urgent 27k debt help

Darren1984

Hi

I am new to the forum and in need of help.

I have managed to build debts of 27k over 3 credit cards, how i have done this is another topic but about 8k of this has been spent in the past 4 months

Before after i paid all my bills etc i always had money left to spend on myself but now im at the point where i can pay £700 towards the cards but it leaves me nothing to spend on myself which is my own fault i know

I would really appreciate any advice anyone with a wise head can give me

Fish_n_Chips

when were the cards taken out ?

Darren1984

I have had rbos for 5 yeara and that has 5k on it, mbna for 3 years that has 10 on it and barvlaycard for 3 years that has 12k on it

Fish_n_Chips

you could write to them and ask to freeze interest and pay x amount each month

tripled

Is there anything you've bought that you can still return? What sort if things did you spend it on?

If you complete an SOA (http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php) then people should be able to give you some guidance, but you need to immediately be thinking how you're going to cut your spending by 2k a month just to stop getting into more debt.

Darren1984

Hi

A lot of it was gambling but i wont be doing that again as this has scared me, i cant return anything and after i pay all my bills and food i have 700 left from wages which now has to go to these credit cards

tripled

The first step is to decide if you've given up gambling. Properly. Not even a few pounds on a "dead cert". Unfortunately in the long run bookies seldom lose, or they wouldn't be in business. It might be worth contacting Gamblers Anonymous for advice, or somewhere on this forum I believe there is a support thread.

With regards to managing your finances, unfortunately until you default it's unlikely the banks will be much help. I suggest you complete a SOA as I suggested above and people will try and guide you. However, their help will be no good if you don't keep away from the bookie.

I'm afraid there won't be a quick fix to getting out of this - just the 8k would take almost a year to pay off @£700 p/m, never mind the rest. You may need to prepare yourself for a bit of a slog. It may be worth setting up a diary, so you can report your progress and get support from other people also battling their debts.

Good luck in turning everything around.

Fish_n_Chips

do you own your home ?

if your not bothered about your credit file just stop paying them

Darren1984

Hi thanks you for your reply

I wont be gambling again i promise

If i could clear the 8k thought i would have an extra 200-300 free in payments which would make life much easier

Ebe_Scrooge

Darren1984 wrote: »

If i could clear the 8k

You have 2 options on that. Firstly, you cut your outgoings ( or increase your income, maybe a weekend or evening job ) and throw every spare penny at the debt. Post an SOA as suggested above - people on this board are friendly and helpful. They may not give answers you like to hear, but if you want to clear the debt then that's what needs to be done.

Alternatively, you stop paying the debt. This will often lead to lenders freezing interest or accepting lower payments, or both. But this is not an option to be taken lightly - for starters, your credit file will be utterly trashed for years to come, and there's no way you will be considered for further credit.

But really, take a good hard look at your outgoings, reduce whatever you can, and post an SOA on here - the friendly community on here will be glad to offer what help and suggestions we can.

Darren1984

Thank you for your reply and i will.do the soa asap

I dont want my credit file to be terrible, i want to focus on somehow getting 8 to 10k off the debt so it gives me so space to breath, i dont care that i wont be able to go out or do much for a year, it wont be nice but if i can get back to having a few hundred left to spend on myself then i can live with that

My question is lets say my minimum paymebts are 700 but i only have 680, if they agree to say 650 per month will this effect my credit score ? I am not going to stop paying the debt no way, i am right on the edge here, i just have enough to make the repayments, if i only had 300 a month to pay to it then i would be in serious trouble