I am at rock bottom

lixhul

I've posted before on my gambling issues that left me around -£4000 in debt. I stopped gambling on sports and instead took out 2 big loans and put it in crypto in December to try and reduce gambling debt. What happened is a crash (of course) like not been seen before, losing me over £6000 in less than a month.

I now have 4 consolidated loans valuing at:

Admiral - £8000 (consolidation of 6 credit cards for previous gambling debt)
Rate Setter - £8000
Nationwide - £5000
Nationwide 2 - £900
Total £21,900
Monthly repayment: £580 (APR is around 15% for all of them)

Total money left in banks and crypto: £9300

Total position: -£12,600

I have also got an Amazon business which has not done well and I am liquidating that, I owe £1,500 on that within next few months, might get £500 from left over stock. Sales just stopped after Xmas.

I am a male, 32. My salary is £21,000, and I have a mortgage which is fixed for another 3 years at £355. I live alone. My energy bill has gone from £35.66 to £95 a month. 3rd income tax hits me for about £200 I think for a year give or take. Council tax is £103, water £16, food £80. I also pay child maintenance at £210 a month. We don't talk, nothing to reduce here, it's legal minimum.

I have hit rock bottom, after hitting rock bottom with my gambling problem a year ago.

I have never had the luck or the opportunity in life, I have always done the right thing, but it never, ever works out. For some it does, for the rest it doesn't, and I've learned I'm nothing special and never will be.

What is the best way to deal with this debt? It's all unsecured personal loans, I applied for them quickly and got accepted without much checking to my surprise.

Thank you. I will post a position update when I get to a PC. No one knows, no-one can know. I will not ask for help from family or friends, I would rather die than them knowing.

EDIT: Statement of Affairs:

[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 1

Number of children in household......... 0

Number of cars owned.................... 1[b]

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 1484

Partners monthly income after tax....... 0

Benefits................................ 0

Other income............................ 0[b]

Total monthly income.................... 1484[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 346.4

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0

Rent.................................... 0

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 83

Electricity............................. 35

Gas..................................... 35

Oil..................................... 0

Water rates............................. 18

Telephone (land line)................... 0

Mobile phone............................ 12

TV Licence.............................. 0

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0

Internet Services....................... 25

Groceries etc. ......................... 120

Clothing................................ 0

Petrol/diesel........................... 80

Road tax................................ 1.66

Car Insurance........................... 25

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10

Car parking............................. 0

Other travel............................ 0

Childcare/nursery....................... 0

Other child related expenses............ 210

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0

Buildings insurance..................... 0

Contents insurance...................... 10

Life assurance ......................... 0

Other insurance......................... 0

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10

Haircuts................................ 15

Entertainment........................... 0

Holiday................................. 0

Emergency fund.......................... 0[b]

Total monthly expenses.................. 1036.06[/b]

[b]

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 3031

House value (Gross)..................... 140000

Shares and bonds........................ 6979

Car(s).................................. 7000

Other assets............................ 0[b]

Total Assets............................ 157010[/b]

[b]

Secured & HP Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Mortgage...................... 100739...(346.4)....2[b]

Total secured & HP debts...... 100739....-.........-   [/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

PayPal.........................1304.18...150.......0

Ratesetter.....................8203.97...153.8.....15

Nationwide 1...................5000......102.5.....13

Amazon Business................750.......200.......0

Admiral........................7612.59...255.4.....15

Nationwide 2...................811.01....41.64.....15[b]

fatbelly

You will need to work on a statement of affairs for us (link is to a calculator). Please format for mse, cut and paste.

What strategy we recommend will depend on whether the £580 contractual payment are affordable.

Clearly you need help with the gambling issues and to get the £9300 out of crypto and somewhere safe. In your situation you do not want speculative investment which is just another form of gambling.

I have seen others recommend https://www.gamcare.org.uk/ but that's not my specialist area. Others will comment. As for the debt, it's do-able. We just need to see the detail.

Coffeekup

lixhul said:

December to try and reduce gambling debt. What happened is a crash (of course) like not been seen before, losing me over £6000 in less than a month.

I now have 4 consolidated loans valuing at:

Admiral - £8000 (consolidation of 6 credit cards for previous gambling debt)
Rate Setter - £8000
Nationwide - £5000
Nationwide 2 - £900
Total £21,900
Monthly repayment: £580 (APR is around 15% for all of them)

Total money left in banks and crypto: £9300

Total position: -£12,600

I have also got an Amazon business which has not done well and I am liquidating that, I owe £1,500 on that within next few months, might get £500 from left over stock. Sales just stopped after Xmas.

I have never had the luck or the opportunity in life, I have always done the right thing, but it never, ever works out. For some it does, for the rest it doesn't

What is the best way to deal with this debt? 

I can't really comment on anything but posting a SOA helps posters make more informed decisions. 

I've was in a similar situation like you years ago, I never asked for help mainly due to embarrassment, I too felt about luck as you do, especially as I know 2 people that just stumble on luck once a year at least and reap rewards.
I learned I had to be "safe" and and or "boring" if I wanted to enjoy the finer things in life like  holiday's, going out and having the money to do so, having some savings now gives me more options.
It can help having someone to talk to. Maybe stick around here and start a daily or bi-daily diary everytime you have the urge... Post your demons here and and get a quick reply, it may help you keep on track and focused.

As for your debts for me it's difficult one as I know little about investments... 
The numbers say to me pay off the rate setter, and nationwide 2. Then use them payments to getting Amazon paid off.
For me the negative balance, you just have to forget about if you want to move on from this. You would be down of you had spent it on a holiday, or a car, clothes, beer, etc..

Easiest way to get your energy bill down is use less energy.... Turn off plugs at wall when out and asleep (microwaves, washing machine, hifi, tv and all it's linked equipment. If you have gas have the heating on less, put on a jumper or dressing gown. I bet you can bring the cost down by a third easily.

BlueJ94

If you can't afford to pay them back, get in contact with the loan companies and set up a payment plan. It sounds scarier than it actually is, everyone I've spoken to are super friendly and are always there to help. 

I started with 6k debt (May not seem a lot to others but it was a lot for me) now I'll be in the 3k bracket in March. 

[Deleted User]

Hello. I just wanted to express some sympathy with your situation and agree with others recommending finding somebody you can talk to. Somebody else on here recommended Dave Ramsey and watching a youtube video on his 7 baby steps has really helped me get clarity over how to tackle debt. I don't think there is a quick fix here but it can be managed. There are people who will be able to give more expert advice than me but I would think to use the £9300 you have to create an emergency fund then pay off either the smallest loans first or I have gone for paying off that with the highest interest. I think mentally you might start to feel a bit better once you get going with paying some off completely then just focussing on the ones you have left for each month. Take care of yourself! 

Fresno66

Hi, just wanted to echo the sympathy for your situation, I know first hand how much the stress and worry debt can have on your life.

Quick question, is there a way you can increase your salary ie. Training, learning new skills, taking on additional responsibility? I joined my local library online for free and have been listening to lots of audio books to increase my skills and knowledge which has been good for both confidence and my salary.

Not sure which crypto you have, but if you look at the long term charts the values are increasing so resist the urge to cash out as they could bounce back up again in a few months. 

lixhul

Thanks everyone. I will post a statement of affairs today.

The idea behind my madness was to go all-in on crypto and pay off my original £8000 debt which was all gambling debt. Typically like anything in my life, the markets plummeted literally almost straight away and I was stuck, bought more, kept falling, bought more, kept falling.

At one point my crypto was worth just under £2,000 from a £13,300 investment in less than a month. They're now worth around £8,000 and the rest of my money is in my banks, done a few switch deals and sold some things.

I was so worried to borrow another £13,000 but I thought it would work out, and I'm just so annoyed when I take a risk nothing ever works out for me, hasn't on my Amazon business or investment. I have little choice but to leave the £8000 invested because the markets look to be recovering a little, but no were near where I need to be.

I owe £21,000 plus interest and I have absolutely nothing to show for it.

kimwp

You can get through this, but a quick reality check is hopefully useful:

You talk about nothing going right, but you have a job and a home when many don't. You also talk about always doing the right thing but nothing working out, but you bought a high risk investment with a large amount of borrowed money, which was not a sensible thing to do. And most businesses fail, so there's nothing unusual in yours failing. You really need to gain a better understanding of what risks are involved before engaging in things like this.

Understanding these things is vital for you not getting into further debt. But you are in the right place to get help and I have faith that you can tackle this.

enthusiasticsaver

You still seem to be in a gambling frame of mind so I think dealing with that is the priority or you will continue to risk everything whether on sports or cryptocurrency or something similar. Doing it with borrowed money will never work as there is a high probability your gambling will not pay off but there is 100% certainty that you need to repay the borrowed money. 

As your debt is now being charged at 15% that indicates you are a high risk borrower so I would cut your losses liquidate the crypto currency and make a plan to reduce the amount borrowed. Hanging on hoping for the markets to recover seems a bit risky to me as you have absolutely no diversification on your investment and are hedging your bets on it rising but it seems to me equally likely it could plummet again. In the meantime the interest on your debt is costing you over £270 each month. 

  

TheAble

Yes, I remember your old thread. It's not really a debt problem you have, or lack of luck, or opportunity. It's plain and simple a gambling problem which is at the root of your misfortunes.

I think if you take a more straightforward path you will find that things improve for you. So no gambling or speculative investments or taking a chance on running your own business. Look to your salaried job and maximize your income from that, take whatever overtime you can etc. Minimize your expenses and pay off your debts, *from income* (not speculation), as quickly as possible. Then go on to build some savings etc and work on developing your career.

tlc678910

I agree with a previous poster that you are not seeing where you are fortunate in your life: you have a home, an affordable mortgage, you have a job, you are young and I presume you have your health.  You have a lot on your side.

What you have against you is a gambling problem.  You need to seek support from gambling support services.  You won't be able to improve your finances while you are gambling.

You seem to feel hard done to and aggrieved that your gambling (including crypto) is not paying off.  If gambling/get rich quick schemes worked for the majority we would all jump on board and be millionaires! You are looking for confirmation of your beliefs by finding examples of people being "lucky" while many more gamblers will have lost everything and ruined their lives.

A statistic I have seen several times recently is that getting companies make 60% of their profits from the 5% of problem gamblers.  If someone with a gambling addiction wins they will just go back and lose the money (and more) later.  Winning is not a solution for a problem gamblers.  If you are chasing losses you are a problem gambler.

As well as seeking gambling support if you want to improve your financial lot think about the meaning of the quote "the harder I worked the luckier I got" - Can you put all your energies into your job/ extra hours? Promotion? extra qualification? Applying for better paid work/ second job.  You need to get excited about your potential to make money through an honest days work not a "scheme".

I'm hoping my message might motivate you and it's certainly not intended to bring you down.  If you can't afford to pay your debts there is always a solution so don't get too worried about that.  Post a statement of affairs and take it from there.