Spiralling debt help

Help_me123

hi. I’m in around 40k of debt with 2 loans (16k total) and the rest on cards. Combination of made redundant a while back. Never missed payments. Have a mortgage and second charge. Mortgages total approx £560k and house is worth between 660-700k. Earn a salary of 65k and have children. I can’t carry on and am scared I won’t make payments soon. Have tried to take money out on house but it’s a no and it’s looking unlikely for a third charge but I need to sort it out so I can make a positive change. Can any one suggest if going to Stepchange would be my only option?

Brie

Stepchange is a good option as they can be very helpful. But we can do some initial work on things for you if you are willing to provide a statement of accounts (SOA - link in my signature). Fill it out honestly and accurately with as much detail as you can from your last 3 months of bank/card statements. Include any explanation of any anomalies like if you are splitting bills with another adult in the home or whatever. We'll ask lots of questions based on what you paste back here and hopefully find a path to follow.

Meanwhile - I always recommend that people read about the different debt solutions available. It will help prep you.

Debt solutions - what is your best option?

sourcrates

Struggling to make ends meet has been a thing of the past since debt management became a popular, informal way to deal with your debts.

You do not have to keep channelling every penny into debt repayments, its simply not necessary.

There are various debt solutions available, but as a homeowner you have the choice of a formal debt solution, in the form of an IVA, or informal, by way of debt management.

With debt management you pay your unsecured creditors according to your available disposable income, instead of the minimum contractual repayment, Stepchange are a free to use debt charity, and can help you with this, or you can choose to go it alone and self manage, its a simple choice, all you have to do is make it.

The banking industry is now well used to customers opting for debt management, there is no acceptance as such, you just do it, and carry on with your life, just takes a little effort to set up, and job done, no pressure, most people wonder why they waited so long before doing it.

As with any debt solution your credit file will be trashed for 6 years, but that should never be a top priority anyway, getting rid of the debt is the goal here.

Jemma01

Are you a single parent, or is there a second income that can help? Any benefits you receive for the children? How old are the children? Any of them working?

SOA would be really helpful.

fatbelly

Stepchange is one source of fee-free help. Others are Payplan, Christians against poverty, Community Money Advice, Citizens Advice, Money Wellness. But if you are reasonably organised you can do it yourself. All the above have minor downsides.

Unsecured debt is no big issue and the only major mistake you can make is securing it against your house, which it sounds like may have happened previously

Sunbakedscobble

First of all well done on reaching out. Debt is awful is all know how you are feeling and how scary it can be. I have just come to the end of 34k DMP. I used payplan and honestly that phone call to them 4.5 years ago was the best call I have ever made. The help, support, encouragement , advise from them was amazing. Whenever I have needed them they were there. It was such a relief to know my debts were getting sorted, and I have note worried about them anymore in all that time. I tried and failed drastically on a delf managed plan (ended up in an even worse state) so a managed one was best for me..but lots of good advice on here if you are strong enough to self manage. Good luck