Need help quick! Spiralling out of control!

alyn84uk

Hello,

I recently bought a house back in January along with a big-ish loan to do the place up. Unfortunately recently my partner lost her job due to bullying and harrassment at work and therefore at the moment is not working. I am at witts end and am struggeling big time to pay everything. Please could someone advise me whats best to do. My credit rating is quite bad i beleive as i have been refused credit several times in the last couple of months in a desperate act to try and do something.

Here's an SOA of both me and my partners debts.

My wages: £1300 a month.
Partner wages: £0 (She gets jobseekers i think but its not much and it only keeps her going to buy us food etc.)

Outgoings:

Mortgage: £558
Loan: (17,500 / 7 yrs) £260
Car loan (2900 / 3 yrs) £96 (only 1 yr left to go)
Gas: £15
Elec: £19
Water £27
Buildings & Contents: £15
Council Tax £92
Phone £25
Catalgoue £20
Car insurance £35
Petrol £180 (Drive 2.0 ltr turbo volvo 60 miles round trip to work every day, cant sell because its under finance agreement)
MBNA 6£ min payment (balance £4300 / 0% till december)
Tesco £25 min payment (balance £1500 / 12%)
NatWest £9 min payment (Balance £400 / 16%)

MBNA partners (balance £3000 / 0% till june) min payment £25
M&S partners (balance about £500) not sure what payment is.
cancelled T-mobile contract partners £35 month

I've just been hit with over £300 punds worth of charges this month for about 6 direct debits thats gone over my overdraft limit. limit is £1500 / currently at £1800 odd.

I really dont know what to do! DMP or IVA? for both of us??

Please help, im going mad i cant control it all!

My partner is finding it really hard to find a job shes applied for loads but nothing works. I've had a part time job aswell as my main job but quit after just 3 weeks, i just could not cope, was falling asleep at my main job and relationship was breaking apart due to me being ratty and moody because of tiredness. And to make it worse, (still good news) there might be a baby on the way!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

Al.

RAS

Al

First things first as i need to go. This could be manageable.

Go to www.entitledto.com and check whether you can get any help at all?

Can you put anything on e-bay or do a car boot sale to get a bit of money to sort out the overdraft?

Can you pay CT over 12 months instad of 10? is the mortgate interest only or repayment?

In the mean-time OH needs to get round all the local agencies and to the supermarkets to get temporary work NOW. If she is pregnant, you need to reduce your debts so that you can pay the monthly minimums out of your salary for a few months, until the car loan ends and your child benfit and CTC/WTC kick in. Check the APRs on the other CC and the catalogue so you know what to pay off first.

Hope that helps a bit.

alyn84uk

RAS thanks for the reply.

I've been to entitled to, we are entitled to nothing apparently because of my annual wage of £21,800.

I have nothing left to sell unfortunately, thats how I've been getting to work and back the last couple of months by selling assets etc. I have some computer games etc but putting them on ebay i dont thnik ill get much for them when you take off the listing charges etc.

CT is paid over 12 months already i think, but will have to double check this. I'm sure i tried to pay it over 12 month but they would not let me for some reason.

Mortgage is repayment. Interest only only reduces the monthly payment by £100. got the paperwork to convert it here to interest only but other half will not sign as she thinks its a stupid idea and that we will never pay it off despite me explaining hundreds of times that its only temporary. Plus its £75 to switch it over.

She has been looking everywhere for work and it is incredibly hard to get anything. I dont beleive myself how hard it is to find something.

If she is pregnant then i need to do something quick (not that i dont need to do something anyway).

There is another year on the car loan to run freeing up that 96£ a month would be very handy.

APR on M&S is 16% MBNA is 0% till june, catalgoues are 0% if i make the interest opt out payment, otherwise theyre 29% odd! Just bought a laptop for her for christmas on this catalogue too. stupid idea!!

All my bank accounts are over their limits. I cant get no money out of the cash machines in any way. Need fuel to goto work next week. Really panicking! Other halfs money has ran out.

Dont know where to turn.

I'm a Lotus Notes Programmer, i could go and do contractual work abroad, but i have no idea where to start with this, no money for flights etc. even if i did get a job somewhere if you get me.

My mum buys us most of our shopping every week.

Tried to get a homeowner loan to consolidate over longer period even though i did not want to do it but it was at like 15% and i could not afford the monthly payments, plus the credit scoring failed!

Only things i can think of to cut down on are selling car and getting diesel cheaper to run, but need money to buy new one? It all one big vicious circle!

Any more ideas? Been thinking of defaulting on something except the mortgage????

priority in my opinion are, mortgage, car loan, car ins, petrol etc. gas elec. because if i cant get to work ill get sacked sooner or later then i will definately of had it.

Any more ideas?

Thanks,

Al.

Oh the other problem aswell is I started to do AVON to try and get some extra money, unfortunately its not working out very well and i've spent most of the money i received and should of payed AVON with!!!!

RAS

This places starts to liven up about now, so bumping the post.

You really do need to talk to CCCS and or payplan, National debtline (see non profit debt counsellor link at the top of the page).

And as to OH and the interest, it is pretty much, she gets a job NOW, you go interest only for a year or you sell up ASAP.

Sorry to be cruel but she has to understand the consequences. What does she want if she is having a child, as the current situation is a no goer? Hopefully CCCS or one of the other agencies can talk sense into her. Alt can you get her on here?

QueenDebbie

You should seek advice as soon as possible.

The interest only mortgage may be a good option, if it's temporary.

Your priority debts at the moment are the mortgage, any secured loans, gas and electric and Council Tax, and your car if you need that for work. Credit cards, unsecured loans and catalogues are non-priority and you will probably be able to make some sort of arrangement. It's best if you seek advice about your options for CAB, CCCS or PayPlan.

Larumbelle

Random thoughts, as I'm no expert on DMPs vs IVAs:

Start trying to claim all those bank and card charges back. Go to the reclaim... board and find out how if you're not sure. Don't be put of by the test-case thing people are still getting their money back.

See if you can send the laptop back. Depends how long ago 'just' bought is but many catalogues are okay with it. You have a certain amount of time to anyway under distance-selling regulations.

As for jobseeking, has your OH tried jobseeker direct? They may be able to help. If not, why not check out the boost your income thread to see if there are any lucrative little sidelines that could work out. Is it that thetre isn't ANY job at all out there? Or is she perhaps being a little picky where she really cannot afford to be?

If you did get a job abroad, many of the companies, even agencies, will pay your flights and accommodation, and sometimes for family visits too. My OH used to do this for six months of the year.

I agree that the interest only on the mortgage could be a very good idea. Is your OH aware of how desperate the situation is?

I would be inclined to open a basic account, no overdraft or visa facility, with my local building society and get the wages paid in. Food on the table and a roof over your head is more important than paying a bank overdraft.

All of this aside, however, I do think thay it is really time, as the others have suggested, that you call CCCS or Payplan. If only to discuss your options.

Good luck and keep posting :grouphug:

Bluerover

I have no advice as I am still learning how to "behave"with money. But wanted to say Congratulations on making a descision to start doing something I had the "Ostrich" mentality for many years but now have pulled my head out of the sand.

Bets of luck with the baby too....

hypno06

An excellent post ^^^^^ by silvercharming - I think that you have options between you - better ways of getting extra income, for you and for OH,

But most of all, you should speak to CCCS etc, or put your details into their DebtRemedy thingy online and see what that comes up with. they are fab people to speak to and you won't have to set up a dmp with them - I have spoken to them a number of times in the past year without doing a dmp or anything - they just give me my options and help me keep things in perspective!

Good luck, I am rambling a bit, so not too helpful! Keep on posting though, the advice and support on these boards is pretty darned amazing and will get you through these bleak moments.

Congrats on the baby, by the way.

alyn84uk

I just want to say thanks to all of you who have replied, talking about it makes such a big difference.

I have spoken to PayPlan before, about 3 months ago but did not go ahead as i thought i could solve it myself but to no avail. I did not include my partners debt then as i did not know she was in so much debt also etc.

To be honest i dont think she realises what the consequences are and like you said just bury's her head in the sand, i love her to bits and if i could i would pay her debts too but i just cannot afford to.

To be honest, i would love to do contractual work abroad etc, but i dont know where to start, could anyone point me to an agency or something. is there a subscription fee etc?? If so this may be a problem with my money situation.

What im thinking of doing is this:

My main account is NatWest, i did however open a lloyds account some months ago because they were giving 50£ away to a friend if you opened an account. The plan is, transfer my wages to go into lloyds, the mortgage to go out of lloyds, all insurances gas elec etc, the "essentials" then let payplan deal with the left overs including my parters two credit cards and contract bills etc???

There is jobs out there they just dont reply back to her at all. It really weird.

I know it sounds daft, but i dont want to send the laptop back, i did not get her anything for her birthday or last christmas because of money problems and i feel really bad, i rather pay it off bit by bit eventhough this sounds absolutely stupid. Love is a powerful thing.

Something has to be done now. Or it will just get worse.

silvercharming, if you could point me to an agency that deals with working abroad etc then that would be great thanks.

Thanks for all your support.

As for the bank charges, can i claim these back more than once? Can i claim back even if i am 300£ over my overdraft limit??

Al.

Larumbelle

Okay, you might not like this suggestion but I think a session of sitting down and talking frankly and openly about the financial situation is necessary. It might be scary, and difficult, and you might both get very emotional, but the longer you leave it the harder it will become. Of course you want to protect her but in the long run this IS protecting her. Also, if she doesn't know the full situation she cannot help to rectify it. That sounds mental but I only discovered the extent of our problems when bailiffs turned up on the doorstep. I'm not saying your situation will get that bad - I sincerely hope it won't - but honesty sooner rather than later is always the best policy. And if things are going to be bumpy financially for a while you will need one another's love and support more than ever, even if there isn't a littl'un coming into the equation.

The main agency my OH used was Kelly Services, but I think it depends on the field of work you are in. Try googling and see what you come up with. That's how OH used to get contracts. Register even if they don't have anything suitable, even if there is only a remote chance of anything suitable ever coming in, because remote chances come off sometimes;)

The switching to Lloyds plan sounds like a very good start and the best plan of action. I take it you are reconsidering payplan? I think it would be a senisble sense forward.

Maybe your OH could use some help polishing up her CV, or perhaps the reference from the last job is the problem? There are plenty of other people who can act as referees.

When you say 'claim the bank charges back more than once' it depends on what you mean. You can claim from the same bank and same account more than once but obviously they have to be different charges :rotfl:And no, being way over your overdraft limit is no barrier to claiming back. When I started claiming back I abandoned the old accounts completely and some were way past overdrawn. One account has yet to be settled but the other paid up without a word, clearing the overdraft completely and leaving me with a tidy sum to throw at other debt.

alyn84uk

silvercharming, I've tried sitting down with her and explaining things, but i get wound up explaining things, then she gets upset and it all goes to pot. We both know we are both in serious debt. She's worrying non stop about the credit cards she has because she cant pay the minimum payment, and ive told her to stop worrying. I think shes worried that they will send bayliffs around to take her stuff away etc. but she denies this when i ask her. I know its easier said than done but i think she is worrying too much. Then again she liked the idea of consolidating onto a homeowner loan a lot, made her mind go at rest eventhough she would effectively be in more debt then as it would be in joint names and my debts would be on it too if you get me??

I am seriously reconsidering payplan now, and will get my next pay pack paid into my lloyds account and will start claiming back the charges.

I have promised the OH to polish up her CV but i just cant find the time to do things. Its like theres not enough hours in the day.


So what ill do is transfer my next wage pack to lloyds account, trans mortgage and essentials to lloyds account, and call payplan to deal with all the "debts".

I dont know what to do with the AVON, i owe them 72£ and ive already spent it on fuel! I'm thinking of quitting anyway i really dont have the time to do it AND sort out everything else. i work effectively 7.30 till 6.30 incl. travel time every day.

I will begin to claim back the charges which will help.

She is careless with money a bit. I know its harsh saying that but she is. But i still love her and i will help her. I'll let you know how things go.

Thanks,

Al.