Debt depression

karenandrei

I don’t know if I should have started a new thread or not but I just wanted to explain my situation.

My husband have always seemed to struggle with debt for as long as I can remember. I also suffer with depression and was first diagnosed in 2002. I am on anti depressants. My husband also suffers with depression although he hasn’t sought treatment and copes with it better than I do.

I work full time and my husband works for an agency so works intermittently.

We signed up to a DMP with StepChange in January and made our first payment at the end of March. Although this was a relief up to a point as we have a lot of creditors, it leaves us very little money to live on. We have £30,000 of debts. Some of this was our fault (although due in some part to our depression) and some not (e.g sickness). I think our debt free date is January 2030.

My depression is showing no sign of improving at the moment, although I am just about managing to still go to work. I have just changed my medication again as the last lot was making me feel worse.

Basically I cannot see any hope. As I said, we don’t have a lot of money left over each money to enjoy ourselves with. I am being bombarded with emails I’ve signed up to suggesting ideas of what to do over Easter, and I know we won’t be doing anything. It just adds to my depression.

What really upsets me is knowing that it will be like this forever - there is no light at the end of the tunnel. The only way we could afford a holiday for example is if we won the lottery. We have been married over 25 years and only had two proper holidays, and have never been abroad together. I cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel (unless you count being debt free in 2030). We do not go out at weekends as we can’t afford it. This makes going to work even harder.

How do I find the strength to carry on, knowing that we are trapped and there is nothing we can do to change things? Can anyone give me some advice?

I am sorry this post is so long, I didn’t intend it to be.

MovingForwards

Do you rent or own your home (with or without a mortgage)?

Do either of you work in finance or law etc?

What is your income per month and how much you paying on the DMP?

karenandrei

Hi

We rent from the council. I work in law.

I get £1406. My husband hasn’t had any assignments this year.

We are paying £228 on the DMP.

Karonher

Are there other agencies your husband could sign up to? It does sound as if the one he is with is not much use to you.

MovingForwards

Are any of the debts joint debts? If not then your husband could look into debt relief order for his (as long as they are less than £20k and some other requirements), especially as he is not currently working.

I know some law firms are not very open to staff having IVAs / bankruptcy so neither are probably an option for you.

Did stepchange discuss any other options with you?

As with a DMP you still are allowed a small budget to live over and above just paying rent/bills/food/debt etc.

karenandrei

Karonher wrote: »

Are there other agencies your husband could sign up to? It does sound as if the one he is with is not much use to you.

He is signed up to one other one but he hasn’t had anything from them. Unfortunately he had to turn down some assignments earlier on in the year because I was ill (he works away). He should hopefully be starting another one on the 23rd April for two weeks.

karenandrei

MovingForwards wrote: »

Are any of the debts joint debts? If not then your husband could look into debt relief order for his (as long as they are less than £20k and some other requirements), especially as he is not currently working.

I know some law firms are not very open to staff having IVAs / bankruptcy so neither are probably an option for you.

Did stepchange discuss any other options with you?

As with a DMP you still are allowed a small budget to live over and above just paying rent/bills/food/debt etc.

None of the debts are joint debts. We were given all the options, but StepChange advised a DMP was the best option (and we agreed).

StepChange allowed us £25 per month for emergencies.

EssexHebridean

An easy fix for the emails for a start - go through them one at a time, scroll to the bottom, find "unsubscribe" and click on it. It won't give you any more money to live on but it will at least mean that you're not having it rubbed in your face every time you log in to your email!

One thing you could consider is doing online surveys for a bit of extra spending money? There are all sorts of companies offering anything from 10p for something taking 20 seconds to several pounds for longer surveys - you're not going to make your fortune on it but it could potentially add a bit to the pot for you.

karenandrei

EssexHebridean wrote: »

An easy fix for the emails for a start - go through them one at a time, scroll to the bottom, find "unsubscribe" and click on it. It won't give you any more money to live on but it will at least mean that you're not having it rubbed in your face every time you log in to your email!

One thing you could consider is doing online surveys for a bit of extra spending money? There are all sorts of companies offering anything from 10p for something taking 20 seconds to several pounds for longer surveys - you're not going to make your fortune on it but it could potentially add a bit to the pot for you.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, you’re right about the emails and it’s something I will do.

I have tried surveys before but it used to take an age to complete them and I didn’t make a lot from it. To be honest I tend to go to bed early most nights now so I wouldn’t have enough time to do them.

EssexHebridean

The surveys are something that your husband could do during the times he has less work via the agency though? You get quicker with them the more you do, too. Might be worth bearing in mid for those odd moments when you find yourself sitting down in front of the TV with time to kill - even an extra £5 Costa coffee voucher is a little luxury that the two of you can share that couldn't otherwise be afforded, no?

sourcrates

Hi,


How old are all these accounts you have, how much debt is yours, and how much is your husbands ?


Have you ever sent CCA requests to see if the creditors all hold legal paperwork to enforce the debts ?


Any reason why insolvency or bankrupcy has not been mentioned ?


You sound very down in the dumps about all this, and seem to be accepting of your situation without question, well i dont subscribe to that train of thought, there are plenty of things you can do to improve your situation, even something small like an increase to your budget, stepchange can only recomend, they cannot make demands of you, if your budget does not stretch, then increase it, tell them your struggling on the budget you have, increase it to a level thats good for you, then tell them the new figure, no ifs, no buts, its your DMP not theirs.


You need to take back a bit of control here otherwise this is going to pray on your mind worse than the debt did.