How do I get out of this mess?

SPENDTHRIFT

Okay, I have consistently overspent my whole life, I just want nice things and if I can't afford them, they go on my credit card. Wll I ave now reached the point where my cards are costing me most of my income to pay off, the bank are declining my current account cards and I have no access to any money at all. My partner doesn't know how bad things are and would lecture me if she did, I owe £11,000 on credit cards and am up to my overdraft limit (with an agreement to pay it back) at the bank. There is little or no food in the house and I cannot access my bank accounts as they are frozen until I pay something into them at the end of the month. I have changed my credit cards to 0% interest cards, but will that help?
What else can I do?
Help

tealady

Hi In the short term have you anything you could car boot/ebay. It sounds like you need to sit down and work out what you owe and how you are going to pay it back otherwise a lot of your money will be spent on bank fees.
I think you also need to "fess up" to your partner as this will affect them then contact one of the free debt advice organisations for advice,

emma_lewis84

spend thrift - congratulations on joining and welcome to the site!
Believe me when I say that you've done a very brave thing in admitting you have a 'problem' and thats the first step in getting it resolved...

your debt is manageable, and if you commit to driving it down, it can be done.

I'm sure mega-brains will be posting on here (when they've all woken up!) with very practical advice - but I'd recommend that you:
a) sit down with your other half and come clean, explain that you never meant for it to get out of hand etc...
b) contact the card companies etc and explain your curent situation - they may help you come up with an affordable payment plan etc.

Can you transfer any of the debt to 0% interest cc's?

Old fashioned money saving board will help you come up with ideas for food for next to nothing till the end of the month( not long till payday) and once you've explained the situation to your GF, she may be able to help with food etc?

GOOD LUCK

floss2

I would agree - you need to consider telling your partner as she will probably find out the hard way fairly soon.

All the "nice things" you've bought over the years are possibly going to have to be Ebayed to recoup some cash to (a) live on & (b) start to repay the debts, not just cover the monthly minimum payments.

Why not get all your most recent statements out & list exactly what you owe to whom, and then talk to your partner?

rayday2

I think maybe you should contact a debt charity you can do it via phone or internet if you prefer. Take there advice, the reason I think you need to consider a payment plan is that you started your post saying you have been doing it all your life. So a slow long term solution will hopefully break those habits.

Good luck the two charities I would start with to get online information are the CCCS or National Debt Helpline.

If you were to tell your partner after you have got something in place plan wise they are probably going to appreciate the fact you are tackling it and not making it their problem.

CCCS_Alan

Hi Spendthrift

Welcome to the boards. I agree with the other posts telling your partner would be a good idea, at the end of the day its better to be honest in a relationship about everything. After the initial lecture about your spending I am sure she will be willing to help support you through the difficult times.

If you have been spending on nice things it may be time to use them to raise some funds to help get back on track.

I would say opening a new Basic Bank account would be a good idea. You would pay your income into this account and set up you priority DD like rent/mortgage, council tax, utilities etc. You can then control what you pay to your creditors from here by SO or over the counter payment slips.
Use the following link Basic Bank Accounts, and in the Basic bank accounts section click on publications it will provide you with a list of accounts and what benefits the account offers.
Be sure that the account has no connection to any of your existing creditors though.

If you can post your SOA up here you will be given lots of ideas on areas you may be able to improve in your budget to get a better deal.
Once you have your SOA ready you can try our online advice facility called Debt Remedy where you can complete a financial statement and be provided with advice on the best way to deal with your situation.

Hope you find this useful and good luck

CCCS_Alan