Help!! I am 30k in debt and in desperate need of help

monetxchange

Just a quick one to add - carefully trawl your tenancy agreement before considering suggestions to take in lodgers. Very unlikely to be allowed as could be classed as subletting.

TrushTush

Probably already mentionned, but can you move your energy company? We're a family of 5, I work from home and one of my children is home all day too so lots of electricity usage etc and we pay £100 a month for a 3 bed detached home. 

Go through all your bills and see how you can reduce them (if you're in contract set an alert on your phone / calendar for when you can move so you don't spend 1 more month in a contract that you dont have to be) 

Others have better advice regarding the actual debt management side of things, but you have made the first step, you can do this, there is a way out, it will take time but you can and will. We've got you. xx

Ceme3000

Another vote for energy saving. Single person here in a 4 bed house paying £58 a month for gas and electric, and I'm still in credit.  No dishwasher,  occasional tumble drier use and only heat the rooms I use, not the whole house.  

enthusiasticsaver

You have not put all the  interest rates and I am pretty sure a lot of them are not 0%.  That can make a big difference if you are only paying minimums especially if you are using the cards still to cover your spending.  Your debt is too high so I would suggest a DMP which is more geared towards your income so the repayments would be  more affordable than the £840 you currently pay.  The biggest issue you have is budgeting though.  There is no emergency savings so if the car broke down or you had another urgent expense or your son moved out you would be tempted to use credit and make your situation worse.  Having some emergency savings would prevent that.  I don't think bankruptcy is a good option given you rent as that will come up on credit checks whereas a DMP is an informal arrangement.  While you will have defaults if you go down that route it should not prevent you renting. 

You can cut back on satellite tv, groceries by meal planning etc and presents.  On the other hand you need to budget for emergencies and clothes as undoubtedly you do spend on that.  Catalogues are the most expensive way of buying clothes.  Stop using them and focus on budgeting and saving instead. 

Queen_of_the_Hive

I think you have been given some excellent suggestions so far. If you haven't yet done so I would definitely recommend setting up some kind of spending tracker. It could be something as simple as a list with dates and amounts. I have an excel sheet which has evolved over time but I keep a list of all my spending, this really helps to understand where money is going and where small tweaks here and there can slowly get the debt down.  Also just by reading and subscribing to debt free posts too is really helpful for suggestions and ideas which you may not have considered before. I have to say thanks for your post as a lot of people commented on the lack of contents insurance. I have to admit I don't have contents insurance either but I will now take a good look into getting some cover for my place. This section of the forum is really lovely and helpful so please keep posting.