Can't sleep due to debt?

fatbelly

macman wrote: »

A couple of things I noticed:
Water rates: this cannot be zero if you have a mortgaged property?

It can if you live in Scotland

OP - you need a debt management plan.

Debt-free in 4 years

You're probably banking at TSB so will need a new bank account.

Bag yourself £100 when you swap

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts

Angry_kittens

Hi Lucy, well done for taking the first step!

3 things stand out to me (aside from what has been mentioned above, I won't repeat it).

Your credit card, I am assuming part of your monthly goes towards fees / interest. Could you balance transfer any of this to another card with 0% interest, you obviously still need to tackle the debt, but this gives breathing room. Although this is a moot point if you go down the DMP route, as this will freeze interest and charges anyway.

Your mortgage - have you ever made over payments in the past, when your situation was better, that would allow you to temporarily freeze payments until you "catch up". Again, a short term solution but allows a chunk of the debt to be tackled now, alternatively could you extend the repayment term? My mortgage is 25 years, but I know someone with a 40 year mortgage, this will reduce monthly payments now but can be switched back once you can afford it to avoid additional interest.

Your utilities, have you done a uSwitch comparison so you know you are on the cheapest rate? I pay £40 a month all in for duel fuel - this may require a mindset change, last year I didn't use my heating at all between May and November!

I've made assumptions here so may not be relevant, but best of luck! I've been lurking on these forums for a while and you are definitely in the right place to get some good advice.

heartbreak_star

Could you let a room perhaps?

Good Luck!

HBS x

sourcrates

Agree with Fatbelly, a DMP will get you out of this without losing your house.

Get some advice from stepchange, we also have a dedicated DMP thread in the stickies, have a good read through it, it's a long thread, but it will answer most of your questions.

quintwins

If you do choose to follow the advice of transferring to a 0% card make sure you close your old one. This is where I kept going wrong and just kept spending on the old cards.

Personally I wouldn't go down that route, if you get on to a dmp they will freeze your interest and lower your monthly repayments to a more manageable level.

Candyapple

What did you spend the £27k on? Do you have anything of value you can sell from it?

Was there a reason for the big pay cut as in do you still work for the same company? Can you find another job that pays the same as your previous position?

Are you still with your boyfriend - if yes, then have you asked him to repay you for the debt/bills he ran up whilst living with you?

Neocon

You are absolutely not alone so please don't worry that you are. A lot of us are in your position

ReadingTim

Whilst it's a drop in the ocean in the grand scheme of things, as a single person with no dependants, you don't need life assurance.

Lucy_89

Hi everyone, thanks for your responses, there has been a lot of useful information here that I can go through and try. I am feeling more energized to tackle this problem head on now, I think the big turning point in my mind was realising even if I stopped eating for a month I would still have increasing credit card debt. I have scheduled time in my day tomorrow to phone stepchange.

In terms of how the debts accrued in the first place, the TSB loan was a loan I took out for my boyfriend who needed a new car (it is not secured to the car), and he couldn't get one as he is named on his sister and brothers car. The zopa loan I had took out as we had went on a big holiday last year which was meant to be the "big one" before turning 30 and settling down to have a family. The credit card was initially just for one off purchases but has gradually grown to be more important to me than my bank card.

My drop in income and boyfriend leaving are both one in the same situation, he worked where I did, and looking back in hindsight I only managed to get such a well paid position because of him but when our relationship broke down and he left my home and I couldn't face going back to work there so just had to quit and get something elsewhere. Everything was going perfect up until that point and never in a million years did I think if I was to fast forward less than a year I would be in the situation I am now.

Sometimes I wish I could just forgive him and let him back into my life so things could return to how they were before.

Mnd

Is the life insurance a condition of the mortgage?
Suggestions like cutting back on groceries won't solve this, you only spend £4 a day, read the above comments and follow their advice about getting help from Stepchange or similar
Good Luck