Going Bankrupt - 26 & Scared

Altior

Some of the comments are still overly harsh in my view.

I see someone who is pretty young and made some financial mistakes (understable) but they are trying to work their way out of it with seemingly no escape, hence considering the drastic bankruptcy option.

Hannah is trying to deal with this without burdening her parents, fair play. Many of her expenses relate to transport, expensive yes frivolous no.

Is there any option of car sharing when you’re not on the road during the working day? Plenty of people do this in my office. Even if you’re not in the same village there might be a colleague (or more than one) on your route. Or you could pick people up in exchange for petrol money.

Mrs_Ryan

AFF8879 wrote: »

Hi Hannah, I would seriously look into this if you haven’t already. It sounds like you’re a young high-performer at work, which is exactly the type of person they’re trying to attract with these schemes.

It may mean a longer commute or even moving out, but the material rise in salary could make you better off even then.

Fast Stream is virtually impossible. I have two good degrees and a lot of life experience and I’ve been trying to get onto Fast Stream for the last four years with no success. Trust me when I say that they’re only interested in those who’ve been to Oxford or Cambridge!!! I’ve resorted to taking a low paid entry level customer service job in the Civil Service just to make an attempt to get my foot in the door. It is not that easy!!!

suki1964

Jonathan_Kelvin wrote: »

OK, it’s absolutely up to you, but if you won’t increase your wage, and you won’t cut your expenditure then what advice are you looking for?

You are spending more than your income allows, and bankruptcy will not fix this, it will also leave you with immediate issues about paying your parents.

Your issue is not the debt, it is that there is not enough money coming in for the life that you are living.

Hannah, please read this

This it all what it boils down too

We are all telling you bankruptcy is not the answer. short term, for a few months, it may just about give you breathing space, but still your outgoings will be higher then your wages so it will be a matter of weeks before you are struggling again ( without the use of credit cards ) and your life will be on hold for the next 6 years ( minimum )

Find a way of giving the car back and paying as little as you can

Ask your parents ( tell them ) for a years reprieve on the "rent"

Cut the food bill to the bare bones ( it is really high for one person )

Tell all your creditors you are in difficulty , get the interest frozen, come to an agreement as to how much you can seriously afford to pay, and knuckle down.


Take an extra cash in hand job ( loads out there, not glamorous and not the best hours but they are there ) and accept the fact the next 18 months are going to be tough. But is it only 18 months, you will move on from this. Bankruptcy will take a decade or more to get past. Please don't even think of it

Sea_Shell

DUTR wrote: »

Why are so many trying to blame the parents?
£400 a month isn't that much for keep, looking at the other outgoings it appears a young person living beyond their means that has go them to the place they are currently at.

I don't think anyone IS blaming the parents.

We don't know if they're demanding £400 or just accepting £400. If the OP isn't prepared to enter negotiations over this amount, we don't know if this amount can be reduced.

I doubt many parents would dig their heels in and demand £400 if they KNEW the full extent of the problem.

Also can the OP confirm if their grocery spend is all just for their personal consumption, or are they subsidising the parents food cost too, as it seems very high.

DUTR

Sea_Shell wrote: »

I don't think anyone IS blaming the parents.

We don't know if they're demanding £400 or just accepting £400. If the OP isn't prepared to enter negotiations over this amount, we don't know if this amount can be reduced.

I doubt many parents would dig their heels in and demand £400 if they KNEW the full extent of the problem.

Also can the OP confirm if their grocery spend is all just for their personal consumption, or are they subsidising the parents food cost too, as it seems very high.

Many posts have commented on the £400 pm keep , that is not a lot considering, all other expenditure can be reduced (or didn't have to be at the level they are at) eg gym membership, not essential and probably not used, car selection again not the lowest cost selection as I have seen many adverts for new cars on the pcp for £99 pm, mobile phone again plenty of mid range handsets that should be purchased outright (to ensure adequacy) along with a sim only to ensure lower monthly bills, many people are long left home by the time they are 26 and soon realise essentials come first and not to over budget , the lifestyle desire has to be balanced.

Sea_Shell

Oh, I'm not saying at all that spends can't be reduced elsewhere too!!

Hannah232

I totally agree , I signed into contracts thinking I would eventually be able to pay my debt off but then it never happened.
Unfortunately a contract is a contract, I have tried already to speak to both the gym and my phone company. The gym allows you to freeze your account for one month but I have already done that already, otherwise you have to wait until the contract runs out. I rung my phone company and I would have to pay off a lump sum to get out of the contract which is a lot as I still have a year left on the contract. I plan to sort both of these issues out but I still have 6 months on the gym and a year on my phone
I have read all the comments about the car, I have already spoken to the car company and there is no way to reduce my monthly payments, the issue I am having with this one is the finance I was paying before was £80 a month but just before it finished my engine went and it cost £3,500, I could not afford the outright cost so I rolled it into a new contract which is why my finance now is £230, the only option is if I wait out the next 12 months and hand back my car when I have paid half of the total cost back, but that is another year away.....
I admit that I got sucked into contracts but I did get a very low good finance deal originally at £80 a month but I didn't keep up with my services so I got stung with the very last cost of an engine and got tied into another contract as I had no spare money due to my other debt.

Before I got into debt I had a very high credit score and I was very good at managing my money, believe it or not but over the years I guess I have lost my way a little. I have at times worked 2 jobs and I think anyone who can do this for a long period of time is amazing because this had a terrible effect on my full time job but I did stick it out for as long as possible. I will always pay my way where I can.

If there was a way to sacrifice my car and get a train then I would but again I do need my car for work, we have pool cars but not loads so sometimes these are not available, also sometimes the training or places I visit are the complete opposite way to where my work is so I would have to travel 30 minutes to work from my house then go back the other way an hour, where I could have just travelled in my car for 30 minutes. Hopefully that makes sense.

I am sure I can figure out ways to cut my budget and try to cut down my food or try to be savvy with clothes etc. but I it's scary because I don't see a way out for a lot of my things for a year from now and until then I am struggling very much.

Is there anyone here who applied for BR and can give me some advice as to whether or not they think this is a REALLY BAD decision or not? I understand the consequences I have read about BR in so much detail. The issue is my car...

I will also be speaking to a debt line tomorrow when they open.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE AND THANKS SO MUCH TO EVERYONE ONE OF YOU.

comeandgo

Did I miss your answer on are you getting all the financial pay back from using your own car for work?

Hannah232

Any time I travel to training or to meet providers I can claim mileage, however my petrol cost still remains the same as my budget as this is just my travel to and from work without these visits. I do not get any extra financial help from work, nor would I expect to, the standard that a workplace offers is mileage.
My car finance has nothing to do with my job.
Hope this helps.

comeandgo

You are being left short here. You should get 45 p a mile, what does your P11D say? You can get tax relief on the difference between what you are getting and the 45p. You complete a form for HMRC.
I would also check your insurance though, is your car insured for work purposes?