From rock bottom to debt free. My journey

Stormy817

I'm at the very beginning of my debt free journey.

I've recently lost my job and a relationship has ended so I've gone from an almost £60k a year income household to Universal credit and staying on my mums sofa as a 44 year old. This really does feel like rock bottom but I'm determined to get out of this for my own mental health and for my two daughters.

My debt history 

updraft (£3095 left to pay) they've agreed on a three month cooling period of £20 per month. Not sure what I will do after the three months. 

Capital One credit card – £2,000 balance

John Lewis credit card – £2,000 balance

Argos card (£900 left to pay)

Commsave credit union through work. Now my job has ended the outstanding balances are Introductory loan £3795 remaining and orbital loan of £3000.

Littlewoods account with £70 left to pay, obviously not worried about this one as much as the others.

Very account with £890 remaining, some BNPL balances which I'm worried about.

I did have a Klarna balance of a few hundred but I made some money selling some games so this balance is now £86 and they've agreed to three payments of £28 to clear the remaining amount. 

My phone bill with three is £44 per month and they have been absolutely useless helping me with my bill.

Zilch, balance £23 not worried about this.

I will need to start paying some child maintenance soon for my youngest daughter, not sure how to go about this but I have spoken to someone about it.

I also pay £17 a month into a junior isa for my youngest daughter because she didn't qualify for a child trust fund so I wanted to make sure she also received around £1200 on her 18th birthday like her sisters.

I've set out my debts in order of priority

🔴 High Priority (risk of bigger consequences):

Commsave Credit Union – These may have strict repayment terms, especially since I'm no longer with my employer. I've made them aware of my situation. 

Very (BNPL) – BNPL can hit with late fees and credit file damage.

Phone bill (Three) – I need to avoid defaulting if possible. They’ve been very unhelpful so far.

Capital one - Spoken with them and they've agreed to £20 per month starting july 27th

John Lewis - they have agreed to me repaying back £25 per month to clear the amount. Starting july 28th

🟡 Medium Priority:

Updraft loan – Larger balance, but better communication than payday lenders.

Argos card – Still needs dealing with, but less urgent than Commsave.

🟢 Low Priority:

Littlewoods - £70 isn’t keeping me up at night.

Zilch - £23, small balance.

Klarna - Almost cleared. Not worried.

Clearpay - closed account. Zero balance. 

Sarahwithlove

Will you be looking for a new job? 

kimwp

Hiya! Worth posting in the main debt free wannabe forum board to get some advice on what to do re your debts. If you can't afford them, then you should stop paying them and start building up an emergency fund.

You'll need to put together a statement of affairs (link in my signature), to help figure out what the best plan is, but don't wait to sort this to post.

Stormy817

Sarahwithlove said:

Will you be looking for a new job? 

Yes, I'm looking. Hoping to have three days cleaning on Monday. It's not alot but it's a start