£31,000 Credit Card Debt and My Anxiety is Unbearable

Grumpelstiltskin

OK So go back and rethink your SOA. Some things are either wrong or you are paying way too much, TV license and insurances jump out. Are both your children at Uni? Even so they could be doing part time jobs and chipping in.

What did you use the credit for? What is the secured loan? a car?

FlorayG

husnu1 said:

FlorayG said:

Car insurance £132, buildings insurance £125. contents insurance £100, haircuts £70...every  month? 

I will try to get new quotes for the building's insurance and maybe cancel the contents. The haircuts are for four adults, three of them female. I have done this in a bit of a rush and a state of panic, but I will go through it again.

I wouldn't cancel your content, but £2,700 a year for house and content insurance is an insane amount, I pay about £250 a year, also my car insurance is less than £400  ( and my haircuts cost me £10 every six weeks , but I'm not fussy)

husnu1

I'm sorry, everyone. I will check my SOA, redo it, and then post it again. I think I made some mistakes because I panicked. I just can't for this to be over so that I can start living an everyday life again.

husnu1

Grumpelstiltskin said:

OK So go back and rethink your SOA. Some things are either wrong or you are paying way too much, TV license and insurances jump out. Are both your children at Uni? Even so they could be doing part time jobs and chipping in.

What did you use the credit for? What is the secured loan? a car?

Credits were built over the last 4 to 5 years. I was only doing one job at the time, and now I am doing two jobs and will be for the near future. My car is not really secured because it is on PCP balloon payment, and I have 3 years to go. I just realized I made a few mistakes on the SOA due to panic, but I will update you with a more correct one soon.

kimwp

The correct/best next step will come from an accurate SOA, so take your time to get it right. The next step after that could take months while you wait for the companies to respond.

kimwp

One step you can take now is to call your creditors and tell them to only contact you by email or letter (whichever you prefer). 

Grumpelstiltskin

OP You will have to realize nothing moves fast in debt collection. As Kim has said it will be months before your debts are defaulted and only then after you have checked they are enforceable will you start to think about making payments to them. In the mean time you should start to save towards an emergency fund and possible settlements.

Does your partner know about the debts? If you have any joint accounts they will be effected.

husnu1

I just updated my SOA, correcting a few mistakes and clearing it up so it is easier to read. Does anything still stand out, and will the creditors accept this? Is the surplus money enough for the creditors to accept a DMP?
I was not sure if the car is secured. I think it is only secured against the vehicle itself. It is on a PCP Baloon Payment.

Household Information
Number of adults in household...........  4
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned....................     1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................      2,724
Partner's monthly income after tax...... 746
Benefits................................                 0
Other income............................             0
Total monthly income..................       3,470

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 444
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 392
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 221
Electricity............................. 131
Gas..................................... 131
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 58
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 52
TV Licence.............................. 15
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 18
Internet Services....................... 40
Groceries etc........................... 750
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/Diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 45
Car insurance........................... 132
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 91
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/Nursery....................... 0
Other child-related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc)... 70
Pet insurance/Vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 15
Life assurance.......................... 91
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, Christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 70
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Total monthly expenses................ 3,041

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (gross)..................... 500,000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s)..................................         25,000
Other assets............................     0
Total assets..........................      525,000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................        Debt (£)...Monthly (£)...APR
Mortgage.......................          80,000......(444).........0%
Hire Purchase (HP) debt.......  26,000......(392).........0%
Total Secured & HP Debts....106,000......-............-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................     Debt (£)...Monthly (£)...APR
Aqua Credit Card...............    4,640.......128...........0%
Capital One....................        4,681.......183...........0%
Virgin Money...................       12,649......355...........0%
MBNA...........................         10,609......450...........0%
Total Unsecured Debts........32,579......1,116.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income....................              3,470
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,041
Available for debt repayments...........          429
Monthly unsecured debt repayments.......    1,116
Amount short for making debt repayments: -687

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 525,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -106,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -  32,579
Net Assets............................           386,421

Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser

Grumpelstiltskin

OK That's  better. Car  expenses look high, how old is the car? Life insurance, high as well.

I know you are catering for 4 adults but groceries look high, do you use the cheaper supermarkets? own brands or expensive brands, shop when reductions are being made?

husnu1

kimwp said:

I'm not at all anxious about money and it would take me 1-2 days to do my SOA from scratch - it's at least half an hour to extract all the outgoings for each month. There seem to be two adults children, is that right?

Your TV licence is £44, is that correct? 

Your building and contents insurance seem very high, do you shop around for this?

There are four adults, including my children. They are 24 and 22 years old and are currently studying full-time. You are right. I made a mistake with the TV Licence and the Home Insurance, which I have corrected on the updated SOA. Thanks for pointing it out.