I want to stop drowning

enthusiasticsaver

Use your husbands basic pay and if there is a chance that your job may finish in September put that in too. As motivated says up the categories as far as you can. I know your dad has agreed you can forego the £100 a month you pay him but you still need to find room in your budget for the £70 to your mum.

motivated

debtaghh wrote: »

I've done a step change calculator but will try the one motivated suggested.

Stepchange helped us out massively in the beginning as they do all the work for you. But once I found my confidence I went self managed with NEDCAB. this means you have to do all the budgets and letters yourself. Although it generates them for you. You just need to add bits to them and send them yourself. It does give you a bit more leeway though.

If your confidence is low then Step change may be the way for you for a while,
They are so lovely on the phone which initially is scary but I worried for nothing when making the first call. I actually cried on the phone to them. At the end of the call the lady told me to make myself a cup of tea and relax. They will get everything sorted for me :A

Splatfoot

Hello, I've been reading from start to finish. Phew.. what a journey. I'm no expert but can see no way around it apart from a DMP. like one of the other posters said, letting agents shouldn't be able to see this, so it won't make any difference to renting. What I would do, is do your costings, if you were to go to Step change, on your lowest months. That way, in months of overtime for DH and extra work for you, you can save this or use it to pay your family back.. We are in a DMP. Honestly, it was one of the best things we've done. Months of sleepless nights and stress gone. I have no doubt that had we not gone into one, our debt at £41,000 would have carried on increasing. We host language students now to make extra cash and try to save this. We try and have a small break once a year but it's usually camping or something. Our kids are happy, they have a home and less stressed parents. It was a no brainer for us. Good luck with whatever you decide.

debtaghh

Hi,

After speaking to DH we will stick to our original plan of reevaluating our situation come June time. If things haven't improved then we will do a dmp. I will try and be good with money etc and see what happens. My Dh is having some changes at work which means he could end up with no overtime or loads of overtime so we will also see what happens with this as this will have a huge impact on our situation.

[Deleted User]

Morning Lovely,

Just popping in to say hi. Not much I can add to the mix above but please don't totally rule out the DMP in the long run. Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well with DH and his work situation.

You are doing well and I'm here if you want a chat xx

debtaghh

Morning,

Not much to report here, I've just been plodding along. I made a small payment to the Nuba. With no council tax for the next two months I'm hoping we can pay a little more off than the minimums but will have to see. I've been feeling up and down lately due to things in the real world. One positive is I've been doing some exercise lately and have lost nearly half a stone!

[Deleted User]

Well done on the weight loss and even small payments help to see the figures move.

Have a lovely day xx

enthusiasticsaver

Plodding is ok. Good you making payments. If you do decide to do a DMP you will need a basic bank account with no links to your creditors. Also the first step is to save an emergency fund, let the debts default and ask for breathing space. Do an soa so you can see what you can comfortably afford towards the debt even on a basic month. Don't set the payment too high.

WannabeFree

Morning

Would it be better to save anything left over rather than making over payments? Then you have it to one side for the minimum payments if DH doesn't get overtime one month?

You're doing well, keep going

x

Spendy_Spenderson

Well done on the exercise Debtaghh, that's fantastic! I've also recently started exercising and know how hard it is to stay committed and find the time so well done. Importantly it'll also help with mindset and hopefully help you manage the things happening in the Real World, as well as weight loss.


I agree with WannabeFree, it might be worth saving the extra from Council Tax towards the leaner months, to save you having to rely on debt during this time. That way you can continue paying the minimums, meaning the debt will be going down, but you are saving towards the things you'll need and for those difficult months. And if you do decide to do a DMP in the future, it can be the start of an Emergency Fund