Looking for help as out of options.

baldrat82

Hi im looking for some advice on how to help my current situation. 
Back in 2012 my wife an i completed a joint bankruptcy. We were discharged several years later but due to the current cost of living , personal circumstances and a variety of other things we have ended up back in debt.


We don't want to go down the road of bankruptcy again and are just looking for advice on other options or things we can do.

Currently i have a loan with my community finance sitting at £9800 and three credit cards with a combined total of £1800. 

My wife has a loan of about 7800 and credit cards of about 5000. We both work full time and are home owners. We Re-mortgaged just before covid and are in a fixed deal until 2025 with out home being about £115000

Our situation at the moment is that we have tried multiple options to get a 0% credit card and or a loan to consolidate our debts and have been universally rejected.

Our credit is ok and has recovered significantly since the bankruptcy but i specifically don't seem to be able to get anything for my debts.

As mentioned we don't want to consider bankruptcy as we don't want to go back to that but we don't seem to be able to get any sort of help .

Can anyone suggest any options we have not considered? Are their reputable companies who don't show on search sites?

Any advice is helpful, i currently earn about £26000 a year and my wife £29000 we have 3 kids and live in Scotland.

Thanks







 

saveallmymoney

It doesn't sound like consolidation would be a wise way for you to proceed.

My suggestion would be to stick to a budget spending less than you earn, and to gradually pay off your debts.

elsien

As above, if your debts are because you are spending above your means then a consolidation loan won't help because it's not going to stop you from building up more debt in the future unless you can identify the areas in which you are over-spending and take steps to address it. And stick very firmly to that.
So the first question is have you and your wife done an SOA and what are the reasons that the debts have build up? Cost of living isn't a clear enough answer because the cost of living increases aren't going away any time soon. 

p00hsticks

Have a look over on the Debt-free wannabe board
Debt-free wannabe — MoneySavingExpert Forum

If you put together a Statement of Affairs (SOA) and post it there they may be able to come up with ways you can cut down your expenditure and /or manage your debt better

MorningcoffeeIV

You need to play to your strengths - borrowing money clearly isn't one of them. 

So you need to tackle it the old-fashioned way, by spending less and repaying the debts with your own money.

As above, a SoA is an excellent starting point as it will show your true situation and what you need to do.

MEM62

baldrat82 said:

Hi im looking for some advice on how to help my current situation. 
Back in 2012 my wife an i completed a joint bankruptcy. We were discharged several years later but due to the current cost of living , personal circumstances and a variety of other things we have ended up back in debt.

It does not sound as if you addressed the overspending that led to your bankruptcy in the first place.  You really need to understand your finances and adapt to live within your means. 

baldrat82 said:

Our situation at the moment is that we have tried multiple options to get a 0% credit card and or a loan to consolidate our debts and have been universally rejected.

You cannot borrow your wary out of debt.  The solution will be to address your spending and cut back to free up extra cash to throw at your debts. 

baldrat82 said:

Can anyone suggest any options we have not considered? Are their reputable companies who don't show on search sites?

Yes, stop focusing on borrowing as a solution.  This is what got you into this situation.  The fact that you can no longer borrow from mainstream lenders is actually doing you a favor.  You have a household income of over £50K - you'll need to budget your way out of this.  A conversation with one of the debt charities would serve you well.      
 
 

sourcrates

As homeowners your options are quite limited, but debt management is a well trodden path for a lot of people in your situation.

If budgeting alone will not work, then look at doing a DMP, it will be called something different in Scotland, National Debtline (Scotland) is a good source of debt advice, as is the stepchange website (Scotland).

MrFrugalFever

Head on over to the Debt Free Wannabe Board for further support/guidance/advice.

Budget, stick to it.
Take on extra work/overtime/second job.

We are not in a ‘cost of living crisis’ but rather a ‘can’t continue having the luxuries we’re used to crisis’. In order to get yourself back on the straight and narrow hard choices have to be made, if you cast your mind back to the year after you filed for bankruptcy, you could only spend what you earned, how did you manage then?

Nofinway

Appreciate you have three children so it will not be easy but for the immediate future I would take on as many jobs as you possibly can and earn your way out of it. 
I had three jobs at one point and was gaining very valuable experience which actually really helped in my 'main' job. I kept one of the additional jobs on for 5 years as I really enjoyed it.