Safety net credit and debt help....

Recreate

APR I have no idea about any - although most are frozen now as have been lingering for many years.

Mobile is on contract, but this will end in November so I can look at a sim only option then. Handset should last me a while longer.

Recreate

and Xmas I usually just spend what I can afford at any given time - usually small amounts for my little boy over the past few years.

is it better to spread debt payments equally across all of them or should I focus on one more for example?

Fireflyaway

I was in a similar situation. I have used most of those payday companies too!
What I did was to decide that mine and my families well-being was more important than my credit score. I made sure the rent and food, water and electric was sorted then wrote to the unsecured creditors. Told them my circumstances had changed and I offered reduced payments. Once the balances were small enough I settled them by way of partial payment. This method messed up my credit score but it was worth it for the peace of mind. Your income is good. When you have no debt things will be good for you. Listen to dave Ramsey on youtube. The debt free screams are really motivational. People pay off crazy sums. Good luck. Things will change x

Willing2Learn

What is the rent arrears for? And are you up-to-date with the mortgage?

Edit: I think you have shared ownership, hence the rent. I would settle the rent arrears first, if it were me, as a roof over my head is number 1 priority....

Recreate

Thanks Fireflyaway & Willing2Learn - appreciate the comments.

I think you could be right - the rent arrears are relatively small (300) and so I could get that sorted quickly. Mortgage is fully up to date, no payments missed - so hoping that the rent arrears wont be a major problem as long as I stick to an arrangement with them and they visibly see it reducing.

Will focus on the priority bills and currently working on a budget over with Stepchange at the moment. Need to try and get arrangements in play for the CCJs as well.

I agree that my income is good and Im very lucky on that score, I just seem to have fallen into the usual trap here and am kicking myself for avoiding letters and hoping that if i didnt read them then they would go away!

Nidge83

Wow nearly 3k income and 1 child.
I'm paid a lot less than 1.8k and have 2 children and a wife in education.
Why do you pay rent & mortgage?
I'm also in the spiral of the safetynet until my wages go up in 18months time its very depressing and I feel like it could break me one day but so far I'm staying strong for the family 😔

daisyfrau

Someone else has mentioned thus but it seems it's the mortgage plus rent that's killing you. 35% of your income before adding council tax and utilities. After you've cut down your bills and spending as much as you can, you will need to consider if this mortgage plus rent arrangement is affordable to you in the long term.

I know it can be tricky to get out of/sell shared ownership properties, and that it can be a good option for someone who can't afford a traditional mortgage, but you need to consider how much it would cost to rent somewhere suitable for you and your son vs the cost of shared ownership. Are you living somewhere expensive? What might be the rent for somewhere modest but still suitable, even if it is a bit of a step down?

Shared ownership might be the right choice for you, I can't tell you that, but if it's not, then you should consider selling up...

JCS1

This thread is nearly a year old