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Big debt, don’t know where to start!
Jclayton28
Forumite 5 Posts
Hi everyone, hoping you can help, I’ve spoken with money advise service but they didn’t really help me.
I have 3 types of debt, credit cards, personal loan and HMRC corporation tax debt. I’ve been putting my head in the sand for a few years now, several things have happened, bought a house which needed basically everything doing (hence the loan) and this maxed all the cards too. We then had a baby which again put a strain on the finances. My wife is now a stay at home mum so no income from her side.
I have 3 types of debt, credit cards, personal loan and HMRC corporation tax debt. I’ve been putting my head in the sand for a few years now, several things have happened, bought a house which needed basically everything doing (hence the loan) and this maxed all the cards too. We then had a baby which again put a strain on the finances. My wife is now a stay at home mum so no income from her side.
Where I’ve been embarrassed to reach out for help is that my income is actually quite high, but with it I’ve now got proportionally high outgoings too!
It’s got to the point now where two of my 4 credit cards have contacted me to say that because I’ve been in persistent debt for so long they’re going to stop the cards. HMRC are also contacting my by mail regularly.
My question is where do I start?! Do I prioritise HMRC and keep paying minimum on the cards? Do I blitz trying to clear the cards so that 6 months down the line I’ll feel the benefit of that and have extra cash each month to put towards HMRC? Do I take out a secured loan to consolidate everything or pay off HMRC? I just don’t know where to turn or what to do.
thank you in advance
james
My question is where do I start?! Do I prioritise HMRC and keep paying minimum on the cards? Do I blitz trying to clear the cards so that 6 months down the line I’ll feel the benefit of that and have extra cash each month to put towards HMRC? Do I take out a secured loan to consolidate everything or pay off HMRC? I just don’t know where to turn or what to do.
thank you in advance
james
0
Replies
Can you post a statement of affairs for us?
https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php
That is very unusual indeed. Have you spoken to anyone at StepChange? Link here : https://www.stepchange.org/
StepChange CAN and WILL help you with any financial problem or worry. You are asking questions on this site that the advisors at StepChange are asked every single day. You have already prepared a comprehensive statement of account so you have that ready to discuss with an advisor.
You ask where to start and I would say please start by contacting StepChange. And go through all your problems with a named advisor who will be allocated to you. I have been in terrible financial trouble myself in the past and I know how it can make you feel. Sometimes it's difficult to talk to people on the phone about all the things that are worrying you and getting you down. But they REALLY can help! They do not judge you and there is no need to be embarrassed.
Do give them another chance because they helped me so much. Of course it is not an instant solution, nobody can offer that but I am now debt free, having come out of the other end of a Debt Relief Order. It stayed on my credit report for six years, as does bankruptcy but it was worth it.
StepChange - in common with the other debt help agencies - are authorised to help with arranging solutions and that is also really beneficial. You've taken the first step and you've put a lot of personal information on here (and had 95 views so far) so why not try talking to someone in a confidential manner about your problems? Also, have you shared everything with your wife? You are in a partnership and she deserves to know and share your worries. It isn't fair to keep her in the dark. You just keep saying 'I' but there are two adults here.
There seems to be a few categories left at £0.
Clothing................................ 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
* I shall only get involved in new threads, once a dialogue has been established with the OP *
I'd agree.
Is the HMRC debt actually at 0% interest? Is that usual?
* I shall only get involved in new threads, once a dialogue has been established with the OP *