Please help me - I'm desperate

Pixie5740

Mnd wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your problems, you have taken the first step which is the hardest

Looking at your SOA, The first thing I would suggest is your partner isn't contributing a fair share. 450 all in..bargain
You should ditch the satilite TV and forget about holidays for a while, as you have indicated in your second SOA
Also cut your clothes spending down

No water rates? Scotland?

Other people will come on here and talk further about charities such as stepchange will be able to help you and offer further advice

Good luck

Are you kidding? The partner is paying more than half the mortgage, utilities and grocery shopping and isn't even named on the deeds of the property.

Pixie5740

Willing2Learn wrote: »

Hi depressedatdebtdelilah,

Since you do not appear to have the disposable income to repay your debts and to afford ordinary things such as home insurance, I would suggest you consider a Scottish specific plan such as a Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS). Have a read up on it and see if you think it would help. There are other Scottish specific plans available too.

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/S/factsheets/Pages/debt-arrangement-scheme/das.aspx

And please get home insurance...

A DAS is a form of insolvency and if the OP's car is really worth £4,500 it would have to go. If the OP went down the DMP route instead (s)he could complete the DMP within 5 years based on the ideal SOA.

Taking into account the total income, which includes the £450 from the partner, minus the household expenses on the ideal SOA the OP has £605.27 to put towards debts every month. With debts totaling £34,300 then a DMP could be completed within 57 months, even sooner if the OP finds a more local job and can ditch the car.

Mnd

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Are you kidding? The partner is paying more than half the mortgage, utilities and grocery shopping and isn't even named on the deeds of the property.

Room only to rent round here £160 a week...I repeat. That's a bedroom,no food

Pixie5740

Mnd wrote: »

Room only to rent round here £160 a week...I repeat. That's a bedroom,no food

No neee to repeat. In fact no need to say it at all since we're not discussing "round here" or a room to rent since the partner is not a lodger. If anyone is getting a bargain it's the OP because not only is the OP paying out just under half the mortgage, utilities and groceries but the OP is building all the equity. Winner winner chicken dinner.

coolcait

Pixie5740 wrote: »

A DAS is a form of insolvency

No, it isn't

and if the OP's car is really worth £4,500 it would have to go.

No, it wouldn't

If the OP went down the DMP route instead (s)he could complete the DMP within 5 years based on the ideal SOA.

Exactly the same if (s)he went for DAS - but DAS also comes with legally binding protection from creditors

Taking into account the total income, which includes the £450 from the partner, minus the household expenses on the ideal SOA the OP has £605.27 to put towards debts every month. With debts totaling £34,300 then a DMP could be completed within 57 months, even sooner if the OP finds a more local job and can ditch the car.

It's worth making it clear for the OP - and anyone else - that DAS isn't insolvency.

It's basically a DMP with added legally binding protection from creditors adding interest, taking you to court etc

Everything you've said about DMPs would also apply to DAS - with extra protection.

Did I mention the protection?

CRANKY40

Get rid of the cable/satellite and do allocate some to haircuts/presents - just not as much. As you get rid of the smaller debts you can allocate the payments from them to the bigger ones and that will start to bring those totals down. Pet insurance seems a bit high? What do you have?

Pixie5740

coolcait wrote: »

It's worth making it clear for the OP - and anyone else - that DAS isn't insolvency.

It's basically a DMP with added legally binding protection from creditors adding interest, taking you to court etc

Everything you've said about DMPs would also apply to DAS - with extra protection.

Did I mention the protection?

Neither it is insolvency. I assumed it was since it's processed and monitored by the Accountancy in Bankruptcy. You do still end up on a register though which you wouldn't with a DMP.

Are you sure the OP could keep the car? I went through this with a friend and Step Change and their car was too high value it so Step Change said.

Did you mention that unlike a DMP a DAS costs money, even using a charity like Step Change? Interest might be frozen but 10% of the monthly payment is taken as fees to cover the running costs. Did you mention that?

DCFC79

I see changing the car has been suggested, if you cant go ffor electric then why not go for 1 thats £20 tax a year.

Now TV is n alternative to Netflix, you can find Now TV codes on ebay fpr x amount of months, if you decide to cancel at the end you could be offered an offer to stay.

coolcait

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Neither it is insolvency. I assumed it was since it's processed and monitored by the Accountancy in Bankruptcy. You do still end up on a register though which you wouldn't with a DMP.

Are you sure the OP could keep the car? I went through this with a friend and Step Change and their car was too high value it so Step Change said.

Did you mention that unlike a DMP a DAS costs money, even using a charity like Step Change? Interest might be frozen but 10% of the monthly payment is taken as fees to cover the running costs. Did you mention that?

Well, I didn't mention everything to do with DAS .

If people want to know everything to do with DAS, reading this link will help them on that quest https://www.aib.gov.uk/debt-arrangement-scheme

Like the link shows, DAS is 'administered' by the Accountant in Bankruptcy. In the role of 'DAS Administrator'. Not in the role of 'Accountant in Bankruptcy'.

I can see why that might have confused you. But DAS is not a form of insolvency.

DAS doesn't cost you/the OP/anyone else an extra penny if you go with the likes of StepChange. The fees which are taken from the monthly payment are paid by the creditors. Not you. You just pay back what you owe.

There is a register. It's a register which has to be checked by anyone who wants to sequestrate you, and they have to confirm on an official court form that they have checked that register, and that you're not on it, before they can apply to have you sequestrated [N.B. this is not everything about sequestration - the Scottish Courts website will have more info for anyone who wants it].

I have no idea why StepChange told your friend that they couldn't keep their car. Was it very expensive? A high HP amount? Too much for the friend to keep paying alongside their debts?

You don't have to answer any of those questions, but they might be the reason why Step Change said that to your friend.

It's certainly not a DAS rule, in the way that the value of a car is a bankruptcy rule (but even then you could maybe keep a higher value car if you can show that it is needed).

Anyway. Back to where I started. You told the OP that DAS is a form of insolvency.

It isn't.

It's up to each person to decide if DAS is the right thing for them. They should at least make that decision knowing that DAS is not a form of insolvency

BabyStepper

Things sound very tight at the moment and I can only guess the thought of funding Christmas has made you take a proper look at your debts. First thing, try not to panic. Everything is fixable in time and with a bit of thought.

I don't believe you are at the stage of needing a DMP or anything like that just yet. There are lots of things you can try first. Plus, you have a partner who cares very much and has offered to help. That is invaluable, what a star, accept the help. No-one wants to throw their cash into a bottomless pit though, and if he is going to help you, you need a plan and to show him what it is or better yet, involve him in making it. You two are in it together.

The general principles are to increase your incomings, reduce your outgoings, and stick to your budget. None of these things are easy but will take some practice. It helps if your family know what your up to so they don't make unreasonable demands on you. Think about telling them. Your second soa looks good, start sticking to this plan immediately.

You need a bit of a boost to help you get up to date on missed/late payments, finance Christmas and get things in order. Sell everything you have that might be worth anything. There are better places and people on here than me to support with this but ebay, gumtree and other websites are useful. Try to pick up a second job over Christmas for a short boost to your incomings. I agree with others that your OH is already paying his fair share of expenses. However, if he can increase this to help with the debt then let him. We all need help from loved ones sometimes.

In general I think you need short term solutions to get you through Christmas. It will need to be a frugal one and you will need to keep your payments up to date. There will be other things you can do later such as renegotiating your loan (what a ridiculous interest rate) and working out why you have the debt and addressing that, but I would deal with the current situation first.

Do stick around and join us on here for the long haul of paying off debt. We are all in it together, trying to increase incomings, reduce outgoings and struggling to stick to our budgets. We're doing it and so can you.

Good luck.