Constant spiral of debt

Lemonhead45

Hi All, I'm brand new to the MSE forum so go easy on me..! I have been living in a constant spiral of debt for longer than I care to remember. I live from pay day to pay day and am forever in my overdraft. I have loans and credit cards that I pay the bare minimum monthly repayments on. I rent a house with my wife but cannot get a mortgage due to our poor credit. I work full time and earn a relatively healthy salary, but my monthly wage is gone as soon as it's earned. My bank allow me to keep increasing my overdraft limit which leads to increased daily fees. It's a vicious circle that I can't get out of. My credit card provider has suspended my use due to my being in persistent debt and paying more in interest, fees, and charges than towards my actual card balance. This constant spiral is now beginning to affect my mental and physical health, and I desperately need some help and guidance please.

stu12345_2

hello and good morning.
can you fill this in so we can get the exact picture of your household finances.

and please don't worry about mortgage credit report, you obviously can't afford to repay one , so that should not be a priority.

https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php

and read this first steps stickie post

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6496941/in-debt-and-wannabe-debt-free-first-steps/p1

RAS

Hi, agreed, we really need to know what you family income, responsibilities and and out goings are. You also need to understand what led to the debt , even if you don't with to share that. Sometimes a bit of a problem turns into a crisis because of unexpected events, sometimes it's just the old spending £20 and six pence when we earn £20.

There are ways out of this that will enable your credit record to improve in about 7 years, so all hope is not lost.

Please do avoid these "cut your debt by 79%/81%/ 87%" adverts. They are introducers for insolvency companies who charge a fee to companies who will charge you £5-8k and then expect you live a very limited life style for 6 years. These are designed for people who have assets like a house to protect. If you were going to go insolvent, you may be able to take advantage of options that cheaper and more effective.

But there are other options. 

So fill in the SOA, format for MSE and let's see what's sensible.

And as a first step, get yourself a new basic bank account with one to which you owe no debt. It's important to check the banking groups. These don't require a credit check. You can go traditional like Barclays or Co-op or online like Starling or Monzo.

sourcrates

You rent, and have no significant assets, so choice is debt management or debt relief order.

New, safe bank account is a first step, get one from a bank with whom you have no debt.

Get your payments re-directed to your new account, don`t use a switching service.

Your OD then becomes just another non essential debt to service, if your reliant on loans and credit cards, stop payments to these as well, obviously keep paying essential debts like rent/council tax/utilities/ food etc.

Depending what level of debt you have, look at debt management, or DRO if debts are 50k or under and you meet the required criteria, other choice for those with no assets is bankruptcy, but only if the situation requires it.

Completing the SOA will tell us more, but essentially those are your choices.

tacpot12

Actually your description doesn't sound like a downward spiral. You seem to be coping, but not moving forward, but also not moving backwards. It might be useful to try to analyse if things are getting worse. Doing so might give you some further insight into the particular difficulties you are facing and their cause. 

Good luck with it. There's lots of help and support here, so do post your SOA.