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Drowning in aqua debt !

honeybee_6
honeybee_6 Posts: 56 Forumite
edited 17 November 2018 at 8:06PM in Debt-free wannabe
After managing without credit for twenty years as a single mum ( previously had credit cards debts in twenties ) I took the slippery slope a couple of years ago and now things have spiralled out of control !

I now have approx £10, 000 of credit card debt, the worst being Aqua with a ridiculous amount of interest to pay.
Part of the reason and accumulation is that I am caring for my 94 bedridden mother and my own work situation has thus decreased to almost nothing .
I am self employed and so I do bits of work when I can .
I have been using the cards to pay bills etc and now cant cope with the high interest payments anymore .

I just coudnt pay the aqua minimum payment at the end of last month , needing to prioritise rent , council tax etc and managed to scrape together the payment for 0% card which wasn't so high .virgin card as yet also not paid .

My mum and I share rent and she gets attendance allowance etc , but practically everything goes into a pretty high rent .
In an ideal situation we would try and move to somewhere smaller and cheaper but I cannot afford to move plus she is to ill and frail to do this .
In the not so distant future I think things will come to a sad end here and I will be forced to move immediately. Although I am not too concerned about myself , knowing that I will struggle to find anywhere to live , allowing dogs and cats , I guess I will then at least be able to up my income . However for the reason of potentially needing to rent again I have been trying to keep my credit score reasonably healthy .
I feel like i am spiralling into a void of debt , but if I could reduce the aqua payment I may be able to at least keep just about afloat .
As yet I haven't contacted them and need to asap . I would prefer to write than speak and Ideally I would like to ask them to freeze interest etc at least for a few moths and accept lower payments .

As the default hasn't shown on the credit file yet, there looks like the option of 95 % chance of applying for a 9 month interest free credit card . I know it will only reduce the amount a little , plus I may get rejected .

If I go down the route of the dmp I would prefer to arrange it myself , but again want to try and preserve my credit score for future renting if needed !

If I find a way of paying Aqua today ( £190) , they will want a similar payment by the end of the month and again by the end of December , which is pretty impossible .

My thought was if I could somehow find a way of keeping the payments going , I could in a few months try for a loan with a lower interest rate to pay off this , but doubt I would be accepted with a unstable income .

The stress is making me ill and I need to keep on top of things for my mother !

I feel like I am going around in circles not knowing the best route !
Sorry I know this is a bit mixed up ! Thats how I feel .

Balance on Aqua : £ 5190. Amount owed immediately £188 ( default )Interest £164
Mimimum payment then due of £240 by the end of this month .

Mbna . £4000. 0% £50 paid

Virgin £2522
£70 owed and £70 due !

Any advise most appreciated .

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