I want to stop drowning

debtaghh

BabyStepper wrote: »

Others have said that a dmp will have no impact on your chances of renting a new place, should that situation arise. There is a limit to how much info leasing agents can get about us, and they wouldn't know about the dmp.

What's the situation with your husband's job?

The job he is in he has to declare certain things and it could affect him. Where I live you are credit searched before you are given a contract for a new property and I have spoken to an estate agent about it. It's difficult as there is already a shortage of houses where we are.

debtaghh

Financial aim for the year :

Clear Nuba and both Tesco credit cards which come to approx £15k ( laptop has run out of battery )

January goal= clear 1k of debt ( including minimum payments) and lose weight I've gained .... 9lbs!

BabyStepper

debtaghh wrote: »

I have some savings that I could use worst case scenario

A shortage of housing is not a reason to keep yourself up to your neck in unmanageable debt, that doesn't make any sense. Your housing situation is vulnerable with or without a dmp. You don't have savings to use for a move, you have money you took from a credit card, increasing your debt before you needed to so you could keep it in the bank. You don't have savings because there is a deficit in your budget. The last time you moved you planned to use your 'savings' but ended up increasing your debt by borrowing £1,700 from your dad and then relying on the goodwill of a family member to give you £2,000, an offer they later withdrew landing you in further difficulty. If you are asked to move you are in serious trouble. Surely you can see that? You have not reduced your debt in 2.5 years with this method, this is not getting better, time to do something else?

I also think you should tell your parents you have £85k of debt to service and a monthly income of under £3k. Whether or not they support you, at least they will stop lending you money which is making things worse.

Good luck!

BabyStepper

debtaghh wrote: »

Financial aim for the year :

Clear Nuba and both Tesco credit cards which come to approx £15k ( laptop has run out of battery )

January goal= clear 1k of debt ( including minimum payments) and lose weight I've gained .... 9lbs!

How will you clear £15k when your budget is in deficit? Where will the £1k come from this month?

debtaghh

BabyStepper wrote: »

How will you clear £15k when your budget is in deficit? Where will the £1k come from this month?

I'm not in deficit every month it depends my dh's overtime plus I pay about £600 off anyway so it's £400 extra. I was hoping to be frugal and I've also listed a few bits on eBay.

BabyStepper

debtaghh wrote: »

The debt has gone up by thousands yes partly because of our own doing but also because we have a shortfall every month of about £500 unless my dh gets overtime which he hasn't had for a couple of months.

You need to save up to cover the shortfall months and not overpay the debt with it yet. I believe you have had this advice already so this is just a reminder. You need to stabilise your budget and lay some groundwork for the debt repayment. With an unstable budget you will need to borrow again, as has been happening already. Do you know how many months every year your DH gets overtime?

debtaghh

BabyStepper wrote: »

You need to save up to cover the shortfall months and not overpay the debt with it yet. I believe you have had this advice already so this is just a reminder. You need to stabilise your budget and lay some groundwork for the debt repayment. With an unstable budget you will need to borrow again, as has been happening already. Do you know how many months every year your DH gets overtime?

My dh's overtime varies and there is no guarantee. I currently ha e some savings which is why I'm trying to focus on reducing my minimum as this will really help with our monthly's

BabyStepper

debtaghh wrote: »

Our shortfall is about £230 but will be more from next sep.

You need to know exactly how much your shortfall is if you are going to start addressing it.

You seem to be using your overpayments to debt like a savings account, borrowing back when you need it. This strategy is not working.

debtaghh

I can't say what my shortfall is as every month we have different income coming in. Without any extra money then the shortfall is approx £400 not including saving for anything. But my dh does get overtime most months.

BabyStepper

Your savings are not savings, it is money you withdrew from a credit card. This is not the same thing, you have not been able to save up several thousand pounds, you borrowed it. Telling yourself you managed to do something you did not is unhelpful in getting a realistic look at your position.

The only way your credit cards will reduce is if you stop using them. If you overpay when you can't afford to, you will need to use them again. It is really that simple. The available credit on your cards is not yours to use. They will only go down if once you have paid them, they remain paid!

As a rule, £1,000 emergency fund is recommended for houseowners and £500 for renters. You will need a savings pot for when your monthly income is lower than your essential outgoings. I would get this one going as a priority. After that, a savings pot for Christmas, car repairs, all the things that are not in your monthly budget. THEN start with the debt overpayments.

Most importantly you need a way to chart your progress so that you know if you are making any. It will be very slow and like you said, in 6 months you are going to re-evaluate and consider a dmp if you are getting nowhere with it all. 6 months is not long in the world of mse so every penny will count.

I know you have been given all of this advice before, no harm in repeating it.