help or advice needed urgently

gelf_3

ten years ago I landed a job with local government after bringing up my son singlehandedly. I had lived off benefits and was always struggling with my finances. I opened a bank account with Lloyds Tsb so that I could have my salary paid in. They offered me a credit card and I accepted. I used this for all sorts of luxuries, which I had never had before.I naively carried on spending and only paying the minimum payment. Before long I had applied for and got 9 more cards and two bank loans. I carried on living in cloud cuckoo land and just paying off the minimum payments and using my cards to live on and to pay off the minimum payments on others.
Well here I am with all my credit limits used up and approximately £50,000 in debt. I still work for local government in the housing sector and bring home £1250 a month. My son still lives with me and pays me £180 a month. I have missed payments on my credit cards and 1 loan payment. I have received letters from the CC companies. The constant phone calls are getting me down and I don't know which way to turn. I have caller display on my phone so i dont answer it unless its someone I know. They call at weekends too. yesterday Capital One phoned 16 times {they are the worse}
I logged on to this site for the first time today and I feel better knowing that help could be at hand and that I am not the only person in the world with financial difficulties.
Please help me get my head out of the sand and live my life again
:eek:

Amberamber80

Welcome Gelf,

I'm new here but could totally relate to your story! I did exactly the same (but I didn't have a kid even worse). This is the best place to come!!!! You will get loads of advice and help....it's made me see the light and take control again. Post your Statement of Affairs, everyone will ask for this so we can help you. For me that was the most frightening thing, writting EVERYTHING down and totally at the end! Good Luck!

Amber x

nimbo

your in the right place peeps here are really helpful.
i'm fairly certain that you can ask all cc companies to only contact you by post as i know how horrid it can feel to get those calls...
An SOA would be really helpful as it shows you exactly where you are, on a monthly basis.

just being here is a positive thing.

nimbo

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

this might be a link to the SOA page.
(i am blonde so it might not be...)

hillbilly5

Hi,
Well done for facing up to the situation.
We were in pretty much the same situation - 58k in debt with cc's and 2 loans. Crunch came this last mnth when mbna upped interest and repayments and this was the straw that broke the camels back, as we could no longer the minimum repayments on everything.
Contacted cccs after reading alot of positive things on this site about them - huge weight lifted off our shoulderss.

DMP starts 1/3 and have already had a definate acceptance of this from one creditor - only about 16 to go!! We will be debt free in 7 years! Great to feel that we are now in control of the situation and that there is someone to turn to for help. Don't worry about the phone calls , hold your ground and ask them only to contact you by letter. It will get better but contact cccs/payplan as you will feel so much better

moneydesperate_x

Hello and Welcome

Reading your post took me back a few months, I was in exactly the same situation, but without the children!
Lloyds TSB helped me on my way into debt, CC, Loans etc followed and yep here i am with £37,000 worth of debt.
The best advice I can give you is to contact CCCS, I started a DMP with them this month and am now heading for a debt free future, ok so it will be in 2018 but hey better late than never!

This website is addictive, be warned!
Good luck, you will have all the help and support you need here

CreditMonkey

Yes i'm shouting.......! oh welcome by the way....right now back to my rant.
Don't be scared of answering the phone. Its easy I answer all my calls or ring back to messages and i actually ring them more than they ring me.

1st thing go onto www.cccs.co.uk and do the debt remedy. It should tell you hopefully to start a debt management plan DMP.

You then tell all your callers that you are struggling and will be starting a DMP with CCCS. You offer to make token payments while this is setup and you only pay by cheque(tell them you have no means to pay over the phone...it works and buy's you time). They will call once a month untill DMP is up and running then you won't here from them again. Get a note pad and make a brief note of each call so you know who you spoke to and when.

Good luck and don't forget the SOA.

SpongeBobSP

Hi gelf, and welcome to MSE.

I agree with the posters above. You have taken the first step, always the hardest. Next you need to knuckle down and think about how you will sort things out. We are all in the same boat here, and so you have everyone's support and encouragement.
Be positive, you will sort this out whatever it takes. You have to believe that.