Last chance to sort out my life - debt

TheAble

The main areas that are causing you grief are:
Car leases
Pet insurance
Mobile phone contract
Sky tv
Your expenses in these areas are burning up roughly £145k every 10 years and so may go some way to explaining why you're in a spot of bother! Appreciate you're in contract and so on but once out of the contracts you definitely need to wind these down.
I would forget about buying another house right now, sorry to say. But don't worry, it can still happen down the line, and will feel much better once you've got your affairs in order first.

enthusiasticsaver

You have been here before so this is a pattern you are repeating which is spending regardless of income and using borrowing to plug the gap.  I do not think that the OR would agree to more than £500 a month for 2 cars on an IVA. That has to be one of the things you first address.  I also doubt you will get a mortgage any time soon so I would put that to the back of your mind and just focus on getting out of the debt hole you are in.  The soa does not show food, childrens expenses etc etc so is incomplete but looking at the outgoings you have detailed the main issues you have are the cars, the pet insurance, sky,  mobile phone.  You pay more in rent than mortgage so I guess you only own a small proportion of your current property. 

If you really are in negative territory on expenses without taking food etc into account then a DMP may be something you might consider.  Again the cars will be a problem though. You can change your situation but it will not be quick or easy.  You need to start though and learn to live without credit. 

Startfreshstart

Thanks for the feedback all, im
planning to look at the full SOA tomorrow. 

My salary from employment is approx £44k and I work for a government organisation. My partner is also earning 25k and again works for a government organisation. I think the problem was the business as this provided us with an extra 100k pa when it was going well. It’s now providing 2k pa!

I do appreciate the feedback and I suppose I really was hoping for magic in that I thought I could get some debt written off and pay back a token amount via the full and final IVA, the idea came from reading the forums and seeing what others have done. 

I don’t want a mortgage immediately, in fact I’m happy where I am. But I can’t help feel that this is my life now,  I’m 29 and realising that I can’t continue and do want a comfortable forever home outside of a City with other nice things that I actually own. 

It seems like I need to pay everything back, I do have a small amount of savings but I keep it for emergencies and I’ve often bailed out the business should something occur (generally it’s bailed me out though) 
It’s sometimes difficult to take constructive criticism too. 

Thanks 

Startfreshstart

Just to point out I live in the north so the salary is probably on the better side of average. 

warby68

£44k salary is around £2780 after tax compared to £2400 in your budget on standard tax codes. Where does the extra £380 go? Tax adjustments? Pension?
For an IVA or bankruptcy there are allowable limits for lots of categories of expenditure. That's why you can't include whatever you like to 'prove' you can't afford your debts - in your case 2 x cars, fully loaded Sky, £70 phone, £130 pet insurance are obvious ones which might fall foul of these limits. You might qualify for a DMP or you might be considered able to cut your cloth and actually repay in full, the latter having the advantage of not doing damage to your credit file if you want a new mortgage in a few years time. 
Whilst your SoA is far from complete, it only takes a small adjustment to cover that £106 pm shortfall - one car for example and you're there and servicing your debts. That's why you're probably not in insolvency territory but simply in get a grip of what you can actually afford territory.
Good luck

BabyStepper

You seem to be in some denial about your problems here. Your business used to make you £100,000 per year, what did you spend that money on? Why do you still have £40k of unsecured debt + 2 car loans if you were making such a lot of money? You've mentioned a couple of times that you adn OH make good wages. That will help, definitely, but does not make the debt ok. I've found it also helps to be realistic about what you have done, how the debt was accrued and the situation you find yourself in. We're not judging here, but taking a good, honest look helps you figure out what needs to be done. 

There is no harm in exploring different debt solution options but I agree with previous posters who say you're probably in the territory of making a budget, sticking to it and paying everything off in full. 

Come back with your fully completed soa.  

  

Startfreshstart

Thanks doing the SOA today. The cars are debts just because I leased, has a bad experience with an old car and completely honestly wanted to drive nice cars. The money I made in business over the last 5 years went to nice holidays, kids having all number of clubs and special birthday parties, I’ve also spent lots on short breaks and days out. 

I ended up with the mentality because I’ve worked hard I should be able to have and do what I want, and I think this is where I fell down. 

I’m pleased you don’t think I need to go bankrupt, perhaps I just need some reassurance I can manage this back to success, I think this time it will have to be the last as it causes me stress and anxiety - only once it’s at the point of tipping. 

Thanks again 

Startfreshstart

Also thanks for pointing out the salary variance - I’ll check that because I don’t owe any tax so normal code, I do have a pension which I think I pay 4% or similar 

ryanm8655

Startfreshstart said:

Also thanks for pointing out the salary variance - I’ll check that because I don’t owe any tax so normal code, I do have a pension which I think I pay 4% or similar 

I work for government and pay 5.49% on pension. The other deduction could be student loan.

kimwp

Just curious - what was the business?