Debts spiralling and not sure what the best solution is. Any help massively appreciated

Nervous1234

Hi Gaz

Firstly well done on taking the first step and asking for help.  It is really difficult to do that.

I would definitely speak to Step Change and they will be able to advise you further. Hopefully they will be able to assist you in speaking with who you owe money to pause the interest so the debt doesn’t get any worse.

Have a look at your grocery bill and see if there is anything you can step down a brand, for example instead of Heinz baked beans you get Tescos own. I actually find the Tesco Stockwell brand to be really good and you can stock up at Iceland, also might be worth seeing if any food banks in your area that can assist you short term. When your in a better position in the future you can repay the favour 😉

Also if you have worked for your employer for 20 years they must think highly of you. Ask for a payrise or at least the opportunity to work overtime 

Remember we all need help sometimes and it’s great you are getting yourself sorted for the future. 

Take care Gaz - you can do this 😊

theoretica

11gaz11 said:

[b]

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]

Total monthly income.................... 1,800

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,913

Available for debt repayments........... -113

For me, the starting point is that even without your debts (and your mother kindly helping with them) your spending is more than your earnings. And while you could trim £10 here or there from your spending, the better option would probably be to see if you can make more money. What are the thoughts about overtime coming back?  Is there something you could do in the hours you have freed up from not doing overtime to earn a bit extra? 

stu12345_2

I think your general expenses are not bad, but it's your rent cost to your wages that is out of whack.
 when I split with ex I bid and bid on social housing, I lived with my mum and got to see my daughter during the day at weekends.
 then I out bid 82 folk for a one bed flat ( I had a lot of points), cos I lived with my mum, no fixed tenancy etc
 my daughter  came at weekends, I slept on couch.
 I them swapped to  a 2 bed council home with a woman that wanted to downsize,, it was in a rough area, but I got it.
 I eventually swapped and swapped 7 swaps later to where I am now in a nice area of the UK. I've been in same property for 10 years

 i know it's hard to rent council or housing association, but on your wages, you may have to aim for low rent housing.

as soon as you rent private, you drop points cos you have a tenancy.

Brie

Have a look at your water company (or is there more than one?) website to see if there is anything on there about needing help to pay your bills.  I was just looking at something for our area where there are 2 companies, one supplies the water and the other deals with the waste water.  Both companies have different schemes for people on low incomes, with a negative budget.  Usually it will be to reduce your monthly payment to something you can better afford simply to help you stay out of debt.  Chap here I know has had his total bill reduced to £12 a month due to very low income and permanent health issues as well as having too many debts.

Re the life insurance - I wondered if your employer offered something as part of their pension scheme perhaps or as a separate benefit.  It is one of the things my parents always had - until we were all old enough to look after ourselves.  Sometimes it's a temptation to stop work benefits because they cost money but sometimes the money the seem to cost is actually less than is obvious.  For instance my last employer offered health insurance at a value of £56 a month.  But I didn't have to pay for this just the tax I might have paid if the employer paid me £56 more a month.  So think it came out at costing me £7 a month in tax deducted from my pay.  That was nothing really and I was very glad I had it when I needed a knee replacement which otherwise might have cost me £15k.  (or several years waiting on the NHS)

I agree don't bother hitting the overdraft.  Leave that as a safety zone to stop you being charged interest.

But yes - do talk to the bank about putting the loan on hold.  Also talk to any other creditor to see if a token payment would be accepted for 6 months/a year.  This is where the debt advice agencies come into their own as creditors know someone is serious if they are getting help to sort their debts.  Again - I know someone with a huge amount of debt - maybe £60k to about 12 creditors in total?  She's gone through an advice agency (like the ones I listed above) and they have agreed she can make token payments, some for as low as £1 a month.  She'll never clear these debts but it enables her to function without having to be made bankrupt.