I am at rock bottom

Scottex99

Yeah agreed with the last few comments. Seems like you’ve run into some bad timing with the business and the crypto investment but you’ve not helped yourself either. You can’t make snap judgments like borrowing money to invest in highly risky assets to pay for gambling debt and expect it all to work out within months. 

No offense intended as I’ve wasted 10s of Ks punting in my 20s and now have substantial crypto holdings (and work for a crypto firm). The reason I’m able to be bullish about BTC and ETH etc is I’m not over-invested and even a -15% red candle day doesn’t bother me too much as I wasn’t scrambling trying to find a quick route to gains. There are no shortcuts, there is no way to get rich (or pay off debt) by funding some magic scheme. You have to be sensible, save, invest well, make good decisions. You’re still early 30s, plenty of time to make money, and get yourself in a good place, hopefully find something you enjoy doing along the way. And get help with the gambling too if it’s a problem.

Cheers and GL.

Scott

lixhul

Hi all, thank you for the comments. I will post a statement of affairs below. Gambling does not go away, it'll always be there no matter what. I don't have any bookies anymore so that is a huge start and I feel better for that.

Yes I have a house, car, job etc, but I've worked so hard for those. I went to university, have a first-class degree, have a master's, skipped parties, lost friends for rather focusing on myself etc. I have basically no friends. I should be able to see the difference between saving up for so long and sacrificing socializing with improving myself, but now I don't.

At one point I had over £100K through what I was doing, but now I am where I am through gambling, businesses that haven't worked, and bad investments. It's the FALL that is much harder, I've fallen a long, long way down. I have been a tad suicidal this weekend because crypto has yet again collapsed, putting me financially at the lowest I've ever been in.

I have been in my job for 12 months now, I am hoping for a pay rise, I don't know how to ask for one, but I really need one. All help is appreciate. I understand in hindsight what's happened, but I am where I am. I either sort it or jump off the Humber Bridge, that's where I am at. The stress I just can't describe.

[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]

Says I am running at £500 negative a month if I really tighten my belt. Means I have about 5 months left. I am out of options, I am working etc.

fatbelly

My initial advice was 

Clearly you need help with the gambling issues and to get the £9300 out of crypto and somewhere safe.

That still stands.

Now I have seen your soa I would add

Your expenditure seems very low. It may be that you are very controlled in that area. Even so on paper you have £450 per month and are trying to service debts around 23k with contractual payments of £900.

You should pay off one of the large loans with your savings. Even so, the remaining payments will be unaffordable

So you need a debt management plan (stepchange or payplan) to kill the interest. 15k debt at £400 per month clears in a little over three years so I wouldn't consider any other option, particularly with a property to protect.

Racky_Roo

Do you have a spare room you could rent out to cover the shortfall?

lixhul

I think my option.is to just hope crypto plays balls. The majority of my debt was to loan that, it just crashed the moment I invested. That £9300 is now £6900ish, it crashed again. My original investment was £13,300 last month.

The loans are unsecured does that matter for anything?

My mortgage rent ends in 3 years, preferably I'd like a decent score still because the rates are going to shoot up the way things are going. I'm gonna start a diary which is basically how crypto is doing.

If I go to this step change and ask for it all to be consolidated would I be hit with higher interest and reduced score?

CapricornLass

I'm sorry to hear of your problems, lixhul.  Certainly things are dire at the moment, but it is possible for you to get out of this.  However, it will require oodles of self-control, and as you say, a lot of belt-tightening, and that's going to go on for a couple of years.  There are NO quick fixes, only hard slog.

Firstly get help with the gambling.  You've done well to get rid of the bookies, so you know you can fight it, but will be a life-long fight, much like an alcoholic with alcohol.  There is help out there, and there's no reason why you cant get some of that help.  I think sharing your problem with people who understand, won't judge (they will almost certainly have heard far worse!)  and can guide you to helping yourself will also make you feel a lot better in yourself. I fully understand that you don't want your friends and family to know, but I do think you need to talk to someone about it   Problem shared and all that?.

Secondly use your savings to clear some of these debts.  They are probably earning very poor returns for you anyway.   Unlike the others, I'm going to suggest that you clear the PayPal and the Amazon debts, even though you are not paying interest charges.  The point is that you will instantly free up £350 that you MUST use to pay towards another of the debts.  I would suggest that you concentrate on the Nationwide 2 loan.  Its a small amount, and with discipline and self control you can clear that within three months. And believe me, you will feel much better for having paid them off.

For the remaining three debts, however, I think the advice to approach Stepchange for help and get some payment plans agreed is good.  

And finally...

Where-ever you go in life, you will always encounter annoying people who seems to have more jam than Robinsons and always fall on their feet with little or no effort.  However, for every person like that, there are another 999 people who are like you and me and a lot of other people on these boards who will have to graft for everything and create their own luck!

warby68

I know you're clinging on to Crypto coming back and are not yet willing to accept and crystalise these losses. Its understandable but I'm not sure it will help you move away from the gambling and it will also probably prevent you obtaining help with your debts.

Perhaps you could postpone your final plans while you get some proper help with the gambling and let your mindset recover a bit from the current low point. 

You have good fundamentals in place, the home, the car, the job, a child - your job, especially with a bit of progress could see a DMP out in a few years and then you will be free and still quite young to move forwards differently.

Please also consider consulting your GP given the levels of stress you describle. Getting yourself better may take work from a few angles.

Scottex99

Yep, comparison is the thief of joy, I think that's the quote.

Doesn't matter how many people seem to be making it with no effort. For every one of those there are 100 in poorer countries than ours living off of £1 a day.

Forget any balances or wins you had with gambling or investing, those are irrelevant now.

Concentrate on yourself and how you are going to fix your issues. Saying gambling will always be there doesn't really cut i I'm afraid. I've done decent 4 figures on bets multiple times, chasing the dream, trying to get free holidays, clothes, nights out etc. I almost ruined myself in a big way then was lucky enough to get a job in Spain teaching English. they wages were terrible and I knew I had to quit to start my new chapter. And I did.

You have your property and car but it looks you're going to have to freeze interest on your unsecured loans and speak to a debt charity, like Stepchange as suggested above.

Cheers

sourcrates

lixhul said:

I think my option.is to just hope crypto plays balls. The majority of my debt was to loan that, it just crashed the moment I invested. That £9300 is now £6900ish, it crashed again. My original investment was £13,300 last month.

The loans are unsecured does that matter for anything?

My mortgage rent ends in 3 years, preferably I'd like a decent score still because the rates are going to shoot up the way things are going. I'm gonna start a diary which is basically how crypto is doing.

If I go to this step change and ask for it all to be consolidated would I be hit with higher interest and reduced score?

That`s not how the system works.

Your debts are not consolidated, you are asking your creditors to freeze interest, so that you can repay what you owe, at an affordable rate, over a longer period of time, any form of debt management will ultimately result in negative information on your credit file, that is unavoidable, the fact your loans are unsecured is a good thing, if they were secured against your home, its likely you would have lost it.

I`m quite concerned about your view on crypto, its typical gamblers talk, and shows to me your not yet really ready to tackle these debts in a pro-active way, your still clinging on to the hope of a big win, I`m sorry to say it, but I think you have further to fall before you actually hit rock bottom.

Loanranger21

I was in a poor situation when I was trying to service my mortgage, run a car, i  was alone so no-one to share the bills with. Interest rates hit 14.5 per cent and I truly thought I would have to get rid of the car. I then gave myself a damn good talking to and got a second job in addition to my 38 hour a week professional job. The extra job was 20 hours a week. It nearly killed me but not only got me out of debt but because I worked such long hours I had no time to spend anything and my utility bills came down as I was out ofthe house so much. Working 58 hours a week with fairly long commutes between home and the two jobs taught me that almost anything is possible with the right mindset. Hope this helps a little and wonder if you could get a second job.