What is £1 worth to you?

Spoonhead88

sourcrates wrote: »

Many times I see posts from people, saying they have no money to repay debt, also posts from unemployed people, who are paying off debts with there job seekers allowance.

They should not be doing this, there are arrangements in place, provided by the government, for just these people.

A debt relief order would be beneficial to lots of these posters, yet there seems to be a reluctance to even enquire about one, why is that ?

I'm currently using esa to pay off debts. Could you tell me more about these arrangements?

Helvetica_Van_Buren

Basic_Samwell wrote: »

Been reading through loads of posts on here for past 30 mins or so and it's horrible to hear of people in varying degrees of debt. I read a post from 2015, I think, to do with a person who had children and had gotten themselves into about 20k of debt. Without sounding unreasonable, it was the usual story of realisation, cancel everything, sell everything, not gaining enough and expressing desperation on a forum and ultimately asking for money. It's hard and I'm sure there are many people up and down the country in similar positions. Anyway, I digress. What really bothered me were the comments from other users that followed, e.g. "I'll give you all the advice you want but I won't pay you a penny" and other posts of the same view. Now, I understand that people need to learn lessons and they got themselves into that position in the first place, but come on, it's and easy mistake to make. I think most people have made it in one way or another. I just don't understand why people won't help one another. Everyone donates and runs for charities, some big name charities, and lets face it they're big business; I don't trust them. A certain chief Exec of a very well known charity earning a salary of just under a quarter of a million pounds, think about it.

I would donate £1 no problems to elevate someones debt. Would you? I'm just curious to know peoples opinions on the matter. There are hundreds, if not thousands of users on this forum alone. If everyone was of the same opinion think of the good things that could be done.

I know i'm opening a can of worms here! And I'm expecting a grilling! lol. And no, I am not in debt.

:beer:

No, I wouldn't (and don't) just hand over a £1 to somebody on an internet forum.

You have absolutely nothing to verify that people's claims of destitution aren't false.

As much as I'm not a fan of the charity big-business structure, they at least have a degree of accountability.

And as other people have discussed - £1 isn't really going to be much use to someone in £20,000 worth of debt. They need to change their life, not be given £1.

enjoyyourshoes

Debt is a symtom solve the problem.

Behind the £20K debt on CC lies a litany of issues, psychological, poor financial education, lack system for handling expenditure, instant gratification, keeping up with Jonese's, overestimation of earnings, not realising the value of a £1 before they spend it.

The £1 donated will only add to the issue.

Individuals need to take personal responsibility and take learning from the painful experience. Many don't learn and come back month after month with relapses. Why. They did not confront and solve the problem !

Life is difficult and you have to learn from the knocks, not take the day route.

poppasmurf_bewdley

Basic_Samwell wrote: »

I would donate £1 no problems to elevate someones debt. Would you? I'm just curious to know peoples opinions on the matter. There are hundreds, if not thousands of users on this forum alone. If everyone was of the same opinion think of the good things that could be done.

What's a pound worth to me? Well, it's worth 1/20th of one of those little bags that I make up from the money out of my pocket every day. And when those bags are full, I take them to the bank and put them in my savings account. And over a period, they mount up.

Would I give a £1 coin to someone else who says they are in debt? No! Because for all I know, they could be doing exactly the same with that little £1 coin as I do.

The same goes for the beggar in the street. Too many of them are getting much more a week than I do.

Tim_Mullis

I love the concept, but I fear that less than honest folk would cease on the opportunity to gain money that they may not need. At times good advice will lead to getting out of debt in a faster and more permanent way than giving money.

sourcrates

Spoonhead88 wrote: »

I'm currently using esa to pay off debts. Could you tell me more about these arrangements?

Debt relief order.

In a nutshell :

no more than 20k of debt.

You must have £50 or less, left after all essential bills are paid.

You can have a car worth up to £1000.

You must not be a homeowner.

You must apply through an intermediary such as stepchange, it will cost you a £90 fee.

If your DRO is accepted, your creditors are forbidden from contacting you, you make no payments to your debts for a period of 12 months, (thus making it an ideal solution for the unemployed) after which your debts are written off, and you are debt free.

Google DRO for more information.

Smodlet

Hey, sourcrates, why does it cost £90? How is someone in such circumstances supposed to find £90? I would have thought this might compound the problem, e.g. if the only way someone could acquire £90 was through a less-than-reputable lender. Am I missing something?

Thank you.

nkkingston

Pretty much all of the insolvency solutions have some sort of fee associated with them - it's partly to put off people who might use them frivolously, and partly to pay for the service in a way that doesn't involve taking money from people who might use it as leverage to make sure debts to them don't count.

When you start an insolvency process, you do so knowing your debts are about to be wiped out (as is your credit rating) so you inform your creditors that you're planning to apply for a DRO/bankruptcy and basically stop paying them. The money you save in not paying them can be spent on the fee.

If you're still in negative money at the end of the month without your credit commitments, most debt charities won't advise going for insolvency, because you'll just rack up more debts after and have fewer available solutions. The £50 a month disposable income includes debt repayments - i.e. it's the amount you'll have left each month after your debts are wiped, not what you currently have to hand. A lot of people get confused about that, especially if arrears are rolled into their current bills or they've got an attachment of earnings.

For those who can't afford to raise the money for the fee from savings on debt repayments, there are also a lot of charities and funds out there that will cover it in whole or part. Unlike bankruptcy, you need to go through an Approved Intermediary for a DRO, who'll know who best to apply to for help with the fee - a lot of the charities are either very local or very specific (e.g. army veterans). Citizens Advice and Stepchange both have intermediaries, and I think possible Christians Against Poverty?

d70cw6

can someone give me £150k please?

enjoyyourshoes

d70cw6,

shouldn't it be 150,000 of you give me a £1 please ?