New Year - Lightbulb moment! Its been a long time coming.

LuckyGinger

Ok so here goes..................

We are currently working on our SOA for you great peeps to have a look at for us.....
But its going to be a lot of guess work, the reason being is that we only moved into a flat 4 weeks ago, we have been homeless (living in a van) for the last 2 years as we couldn't keep up the repayments on everything, cut a long story short we managed to service the debts but when it was cold had to go onto sites and therefore utilised the credit, realised we couldn't maintain this lifestyle was effecting my mental health and we were arguing (always about money/we have been married 27 years and this is the only thing we argue about due to worry) Needed a base again. So managed to get a great deal, zero deposit and half price first months rent. Bear in mind we had nothing so have had to start from scratch, managed to get a lot second hand or gifted, so did well with the essentials.
Last year we managed to completely clear our overdraft (we were always at the £2000 maximum) so we have made so headway.

So back to now, we now have a flat to pay for so we know the credit cards and loans are going to now start defaulting, haven't done so far but we can't continue as is, its not sustainable, so we know its coming.
So my question is do I write to them now explaining the situation, is there a letter template to use etc?
with regard to the SOA, how do I know what I will spend on food etc, as it was different living in a van. Also thinking if we haven't got the credit cards to fall back on emergencies is it unreasonable to include an amount for emergency fund etc.
We just want to start living our lives again, we have both spent the last year working 2 jobs each and it has completely worn us out. Now both just doing one. But want to make some headway to clear the debt, whilst able to live.
Any advice/incite appreciated.

Willing2Learn

Hi. Welcome to the forum and happy new year It must be great, living in your new home!

Yes, there is a holding letter you can send out to all your creditors.
https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/Pages/Hold-action-on-your-account-%28sole-name%29.aspx

With your SOA, just do estimates when doing your SOA MK1 You can tighten up the figures for accuracy another time. If you have credit card and bank statements then you can use those to help you determine where your money is being spent. I recommend you keep a spending diary to log every single penny that gets spent. This will help you with SOA MKII, MKIII and MKIV etc

monetxchange

Would be great to see an SOA so we can all advise on anywhere you can save.

Getting an emergency fund together is vital. Your renting situation seems different - no security of a deposit or rent paid in advance isn’t something I’ve seen in a long time. Do you have a formal tenancy agreement? Just concerned that if it’s casual, you could end up being moved on at short notice.

I’ve also lived in an unconventional accommodation style in order to save money and know how hard it can get. In future I’d say there are options if you ever find monthly repayments unmanageable- DMPs with debt charities like StepChange for one. It’s not like the old days where you’d lose the roof over your head if you got in trouble. There’s loads of help out there, including on here

Willing2Learn

monetxchange wrote: »

Do you have a formal tenancy agreement? Just concerned that if it’s casual, you could end up being moved on at short notice.

Tenancy agreements may be written or verbal. Verbal agreements are as legally binding as written ones. The landlord would be required to follow the due legal processes if they wanted to terminate the agreement. The landlord would be acting unlawfully if they tried to terminate the agreement without following the required legal procedures.
https://england.shelter.org.uk/legal/security_of_tenure/possession_proceedings

monetxchange

Willing2Learn wrote: »

Tenancy agreements may be written or verbal. Verbal agreements are as legally binding as written ones. The landlord would be required to follow the due legal processes if they wanted to terminate the agreement. The landlord would be acting unlawfully if they tried to terminate the agreement without following the required legal procedures.
https://england.shelter.org.uk/legal/security_of_tenure/possession_proceedings

Oh, great stuff. Was just hoping the OP was secure rather than just a casual mate doing a favour kind of thing. Always great to learn more about your rights!

sourcrates

Hi,

Creditors won`t be able to do anything until your accounts default, but you don`t want arrangement to pay markers on your file, defaults are much better, as they disappear quicker, remember, all unsecured credit debt is classed as non priority, however, it can be chased the hardest.

The problem you may have is with renting going forwards, you are usually credit checked, this kind of puts you in a catch 22 situation.

A fully completed SOA will tell us more, we can then suggest options for you.