Debt becoming overwhelming? Can I pay this off or am I deluding myself?

ryanm8655 · 29 July 2020 at 5:16PM

Emmia said:

MrGorsky said:

Maybe look to stop spending on expenses you can’t afford, such as mobile phone, internet, entertainment, clothes shopping and haircuts. I’ve not paid for a haircut in years since being in debt ... maybe the person who lives with you could give you a trim? You’ll not be far off your repayments.

Also look to boost income with matched betting, current account switches and eBay, I earned thousands from those.... particularly matched betting

Whilst I don't want to pour cold water on your suggestions, matched betting looks like a pretty risky strategy given the situation the OP is in.

Not to mention matched betting has dried up these days. I made about £500/month from it on average for a 6 month period but ended up getting banned from most bookies and it was very resource intensive to get that return.

OP - to be honest I think you are deluding yourself. Unless you can see yourself working anytime soon to boost income (as a full time carer that sounds unlikely) then you’re going to be on benefits for the foreseeable, with barely enough to scrape by. Paying debt on top
of that is just unrealistic. You need to speak to one of the debt advice charities already suggested and get the best solution. You won’t be buying a house anytime soon so I wouldn’t be too worried about entering some kind of mental management plan.

Best of luck but I think you know what you’ve got to do and it should make your life a little easier...

ditty1234 · 29 July 2020 at 6:08PM

m-holland said:

Hey folks,
Can you look at my SOA and advise me if I should continue paying off debts as is or enter a DPP as advised by StepChange. I have put notes next to a couple of things for more explanation.

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 894.83 *(Carers Allowance, Income Support and PIP)
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 894.83

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0 (Person I live with gets full Housing Benefit)
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 25 (Dual Fuel split with person I live with)
Gas..................................... 25
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 43 (Under contract, will reduce it next year when contract ends)
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 25 (Virgin Media Internet only)
Groceries etc. ......................... 280 (estimate suggested by StepChange, I think its high but im not sure)
Clothing................................ 42 (Very much a guess, I used Littlewoods for most clothing purchases)
Petrol/diesel........................... 100 (estimate, motability wheelchair van with poor mpg)
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 30 (This is a rough estimate)
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 8
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 25
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 613

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Capital One....................1451.15...80........26.4 (Persistent Debt has pushed min payment to 3%)
Capital One....................973.46....40........30.34
Tesco CC.......................551.2.....25........39.94
118118 Loan....................1178.6....59.83.....37.7
Aqua Loan......................2135.65...92.86.....42.9
Littlewoods....................1338.41...0.........0 (Partly based on a BNPL which includes interest but will be paid off before interest is applicable)
AO Finance.....................231.81....13.52.....34.08
Barclaycard....................341.53....5.........29.55 (Barclays temporarily extended my 0% purchase period on this due to COVID, but this expires next month)
Bank of Scotland BT............905.13....9.........0 (Got another year of a 0% BT on this.)
Vanquis........................126.66....10........59.92
Aqua...........................1412.66...80........54.95
Total unsecured debts..........10646.26..415.21....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 894.83
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 613
Available for debt repayments........... 281.83
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 415.21
Amount short for making debt repayments. -133.38

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -10,646.26
Net Assets.............................. -10,646.26

[i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]

@m-holland I do hope you are still reading here, as some very valid points have been made. I think one thing to realise is that while your income might seem low it is equivalent to a lot of working folks, mainly as you don't have to pay rent or council tax - the money should be almost comfortable to live on if it wasn't for the debt. The best thing about flooring your credit score is that you then can't have credit and will have to learn to live without it. It is hard, but it is possible and the level of interest you are paying is monstrous, and you should not be payin that in any shape or form. Read the DMP support thread and all of the other threads in this section, and you will find the courage to take the right decision.

m-holland · 30 July 2020 at 4:33PM

Hi again folks,
You's have convinced me that I do need help with my debts.
I've been reading all your comments the last day or two, and doing lots of other research with CAB, NationalDebtline and MSE as well.
I'm gonna have a lot of paperwork to look out and print off over the next few days.
-----
As an aside, does anyone know if this would affect a Section 75 claim I have outstanding with Aqua?

Debt becoming overwhelming? Can I pay this off or am I deluding myself?

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