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JD Williams/paypal credit debt
grace68
Posts: 99 Forumite
Hi, I am just coming out of what feels like a 4 year fog, both parents getting cancer and dying, son having major MH/suicide attempts, me having a breakdown and left with anxiety and depression. I am a carer (unpaid) so only on benefits yet somehow managed to build up debt (why on earth did they give it to me with no real income?).
Anyway i have been managing to pay the minimum every month but the debt isn't getting any less and my bills are going up more than my income.
I owe JD williams 1700 and paypal 1500. I have contacted JD williams and explained situation, and they are happy as long as i keep paying min amount but i really need interest to stop so was wondering is it worth defaulting , and how long would it take for them to sell debt to someone like Lowell ( i have to older debts with lowell that i have nearly cleared and find it satisfying to see the balance going down. And how do i deal with Paypal credit who i owe 1500 too.
I have done an income and expenditure form on step change but would rather manage myself if possible. But only have about £40 realistically to cover the debts, currently Jd williams is about 80 every 4 weeks and paypal 50 PCM.
Anyway i have been managing to pay the minimum every month but the debt isn't getting any less and my bills are going up more than my income.
I owe JD williams 1700 and paypal 1500. I have contacted JD williams and explained situation, and they are happy as long as i keep paying min amount but i really need interest to stop so was wondering is it worth defaulting , and how long would it take for them to sell debt to someone like Lowell ( i have to older debts with lowell that i have nearly cleared and find it satisfying to see the balance going down. And how do i deal with Paypal credit who i owe 1500 too.
I have done an income and expenditure form on step change but would rather manage myself if possible. But only have about £40 realistically to cover the debts, currently Jd williams is about 80 every 4 weeks and paypal 50 PCM.
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Comments
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OK - it sounds like what you need above everything else is to put together a proper budget to cover your outgoings as a starting point 0- only once you've done that will you know what you can afford.
I'd suggest that letting the accounts default would indeed be a good thing for you - not least as it might force the issue with credit not being available to you for a while - and it sounds like that might be a good thing? (In answer to your question - they gave you credit because a)you asked and b) you looked on paper when they did their checks as though you would be able to pay it back).
Paypal credit is a filthy nasty creditor in my view - they try to plug their "service" to just about everyone regardless of financial position or the size of purchase being made - and indeed for a while it was almost easier to clock the "apply now" option than it was to find the one opting out and going straight to payment. As for catalogues - ask yourself if you would have spent that same amount of money if you'd physically gone into a shop and had to produce cold hard cash for it - for most people the answer will be no. They enable people to spend money they don't have, frequently on things that either they don't need, or that they could buy more cheaply elsewhere.
Fill in the SOA calculator - link in my signature - to produce your Statement of Affairs and then "format for MSE" and copy and paste the result into a post in this thread and let's have a look and see where you're really at, and where you might be able to tweak things - if anywhere. Then we're better placed to make suggestions, and you are better placed to start working to a budget that suits your income.🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her1 -
Welcome
Hoping the fog clears a little more now you've started to put it done here?
As Essex suggests, fill in the SOA calculator in their signature.
Meantime, make sure the housing and Council Tax are absolute priorities. Then water rates, utilities and food. I'd suggest you just stop paying the consumer debts like JD Williams.
But add the information about the debts into the SOA.
Assuming you rent? But please let us know.
If you've have not made a mistake, you've made nothing1 -
[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]Household Information[/b]Number of adults in household........... 3Number of children in household......... 0Number of cars owned.................... 0[b]Monthly Income Details[/b]Monthly income after tax................ 0Partners monthly income after tax....... 0Benefits................................ 812Other income............................ 900[b]Total monthly income.................... 1712[/b][b]Monthly Expense Details[/b]Mortgage................................ 0Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0Rent.................................... 480Management charge (leasehold property).. 0Council tax............................. 20Electricity............................. 160Gas..................................... 140Oil..................................... 0Water rates............................. 0Telephone (land line)................... 0Mobile phone............................ 25TV Licence.............................. 13Satellite/Cable TV...................... 35Internet Services....................... 10Groceries etc. ......................... 600Clothing................................ 10Petrol/diesel........................... 0Road tax................................ 0Car Insurance........................... 0Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0Car parking............................. 0Other travel............................ 25Childcare/nursery....................... 0Other child related expenses............ 0Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20Pet insurance/vet bills................. 25Buildings insurance..................... 0Contents insurance...................... 0Life assurance ......................... 0Other insurance......................... 0Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25Haircuts................................ 10Entertainment........................... 20Holiday................................. 10Emergency fund.......................... 30[b]Total monthly expenses.................. 1658[/b][b]Assets[/b]Cash.................................... 0House value (Gross)..................... 0Shares and bonds........................ 0Car(s).................................. 0Other assets............................ 0[b]Total Assets............................ 0[/b][b]No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts[/b][b]Unsecured Debts[/b]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APRJD williams....................1700......85........0PAYPAL.........................1500......60........0Lowell/littlewoods.............485.......40........0Lowell /caoital one............500.......40........0[b]Total unsecured debts..........4185......225.......- [/b][b]Monthly Budget Summary[/b]Total monthly income.................... 1,712Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,658Available for debt repayments........... 54Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 225[b]Amount short for making debt repayments. -171[/b][b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]Total assets (things you own)........... 0Total HP & Secured debt................. -0Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,185[b]Net Assets.............................. -4,185[/b][i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]
I rent, water and insurance are included in my rent (council house), council tax all up to date
electric and gas etc all up to date0 -
Welcome to the forum!
It would be helpful to know how the income/expenses are split between the three adults in your household.
An initial thought on your SOA- £600 for food is high for three adults, you could easily cut this down to £400 and down to £300 with a bit of effort.Statement of Affairs (SOA) link: https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.phpFor free, non-judgemental debt advice, try: Stepchange or National Debtline. Beware fee charging companies with similar names.1 -
OK - comments in bold as usual...grace68 said:[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]Household Information[/b]Number of adults in household........... 3Number of children in household......... 0Number of cars owned.................... 0[b]Monthly Income Details[/b]Monthly income after tax................ 0Partners monthly income after tax....... 0Benefits................................ 812 have you checked that this is all you are entitled to?Other income............................ 900[b]Total monthly income.................... 1712[/b][b]Monthly Expense Details[/b]Mortgage................................ 0Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0Rent.................................... 480Management charge (leasehold property).. 0Council tax............................. 20 This is reduced due to CT Benefit I assume?Electricity............................. 160 This could do with being looked at - electricity use higher than gas where a house uses gas for heating usually indicates an area where savings can be made.Gas..................................... 140Oil..................................... 0Water rates............................. 0 You're in Scotland, so this is in with the Council Tax?Telephone (land line)................... 0Mobile phone............................ 25TV Licence.............................. 13Satellite/Cable TV...................... 35 Brutally, if things are super-tight, you need to consider switching to freeview etc.Internet Services....................... 10Groceries etc. ......................... 600 Very high indeed - there are definite savings to be made here. Maybe think about joining the monthly Grocery Challenge over on the Old Style board to make savings though.Clothing................................ 10Petrol/diesel........................... 0Road tax................................ 0Car Insurance........................... 0Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0Car parking............................. 0Other travel............................ 25Childcare/nursery....................... 0Other child related expenses............ 0Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20 Can this be reduced at all by way of a pre-paid prescription certificate?Pet insurance/vet bills................. 25Buildings insurance..................... 0Contents insurance...................... 0 I hope this is just an omission - if not use £10 a month saved from the Grocery budget to pay for this, and get it sorted NOW!Life assurance ......................... 0Other insurance......................... 0Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25 Where is this being saved as there is nothing in cash assets and I'd expect to at least see January's £25 in there by now?Haircuts................................ 10Entertainment........................... 20Holiday................................. 10 Again - where is this being saved? Also, it doesn't seem realistic - three people on holiday for £120?Emergency fund.......................... 30 Another "where is it being saved? [b]Total monthly expenses.................. 1658[/b][b]Assets[/b]Cash.................................... 0House value (Gross)..................... 0Shares and bonds........................ 0Car(s).................................. 0Other assets............................ 0[b]Total Assets............................ 0[/b][b]No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts[/b][b]Unsecured Debts[/b]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APRJD williams....................1700......85........0PAYPAL.........................1500......60........0Lowell/littlewoods.............485.......40........0Lowell /caoital one............500.......40........0[b]Total unsecured debts..........4185......225.......- [/b][b]Monthly Budget Summary[/b]Total monthly income.................... 1,712Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,658Available for debt repayments........... 54Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 225[b]Amount short for making debt repayments. -171[/b][b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]Total assets (things you own)........... 0Total HP & Secured debt................. -0Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,185[b]Net Assets.............................. -4,185[/b][i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]
I rent, water and insurance are included in my rent (council house), council tax all up to date
electric and gas etc all up to date
Are the Lowell debts already included on an existing DMP?
Are both the JDW & PP debts in a Buy now pay later 0% period? If so when does that end?
You are currently a long way short of the amount you need to even meet the outgoings above, and while there are certainly savings possible, I think it's going to take a while to get things levelled out so you know where you are at. My suggestion is to stop making payments to the debts at the moment, and concentrate on getting your budget under control.
How much do you have saved in your emergency fund at the moment? Is there enough there to clear ANY of the debts and still leave you with a small EF "just in case?"
First priority though is to sort that contents insurance if it isn't just that you've missed it off the SOA.🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
No DMP just been paying Lowell.
Hard to cut down food budget other adults are autistic/learning disabled adults and have very fussy diets/needs etc (i wasn't sure whether to include what they pay me for their keep rent (extra 900 in income area) and that covers their rent /bills /food the rest of their money , not included with mine covers their support needs. I could take their money off mine but then would need to adjust all bills?
JDW and paypal not interest free which is why my balance keeps going up.
managed up to now as in a fixed 2 year energy bill which has just ended.
Have no emergency fund, something we need to change i know0 -
So that's what the £900 other income is.
I think a debt management plan is probably the way forward, with a bit of budgeting on food and some of the smaller things to give you maybe £100 per month.
If you talk to stepchange Scotland they could help you to set one up and also consider the other Scottish debt strategies - we're not experts on them here.1 -
not in scotland but will speak to step change, thanks0
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@fatbelly I think things have gone awry here with someone assuming the OP is in Scotland earlier in the thread, that's not the case, so you are still the expert in possible routes for her.Statement of Affairs (SOA) link: https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.phpFor free, non-judgemental debt advice, try: Stepchange or National Debtline. Beware fee charging companies with similar names.0
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OK, it seemed definite (You're in Scotland).
In England a dmp with/without Stepchange's help is still a good option if we can get £100 or a little more available - clears the debt in 3-4 years.
The alternative in England, if the assessed surplus is less than £75, is a DRO. The landscape for these is changing, so you'd have to discuss it with stepchange. There are two DRO Hubs being set up. One is under CAB.
They are due to start next week2
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