Bills due this week & cant afford them.

mazgoodgirl

I am in a right dilema & am in need of some advice. Last night my DH announced that he thinks that he should go bankrupt. His loan alone not including credit cards etc is £25417.54 which make our monthly payments £309 the next one is due on 10 March, and the last few months have been a constant struggle to keep all bills and debts upto date. In jan i was made redundant so not having my wage to help we have found ourselves spending more and more on the credit card. This has been a decision we have talked alot about the last few months and i think that it would relieve a huge pressure on our marriage.

Today i looked at the bills due this week we have £168.21 in the bank, DH gets about £216 wages on Fri. My rent is £77.30 due today, Debt to Morrisons £25.00 Due tomorrow Direct Debit, Loan £309.97 Direct debit Due 10th march, account fee £12.95 Due 10th March,Barclay card £25.00 due 13th March, Sky Credit Card £25.00 min 14th March, Studio Cat £10.00 min Due 14th March, Council Tax £46.00 Due 14th March. I really dont know which bills to pay first, plus we are also on elec & gas meters so we need to make sure we have enough for that each week.

My rent is in arrears of £75.00 and i hoping to clear this debt so we get a free rent week end of this month. We have about £1000.00 to spend on the credit cards so thats not going to last that long.

I have already made appointment to see CAB on Fri re Bankrupcy and DH doensnt want to go through more stress to come to a credit aggreement with all the people he owes money to so thats not a option. The questions i have are the following:

1, I was declared Bankrupt in 2001 this was before i met my husband will this have any affect on my husband bankrupcy claim?

2, We have been advised from "friends" to withdraw the money we have left in the bank today or tranfer it to my account which is seperate one to pay the rent, and start saving as much as we can even though a Direct debit is due tomorrow for a debt?

3, Arrange for my husbands wages to be paid into my account on Fri so that it will not all get taken because of the loan payment due.

4, To start maxing the credit cards up so that we will have more cash to use on essential bills and shopping as we will need it once the claim goes through.

Obviously we wouldnt go out and spend like shoppaholics but for years i have gone to charity shops for clothes for the kiddies, i still dont have a hallway carpet after 4yrs of waiting i could go on and on with what we would like but hubby is planning to go bankrupt in April as we have also been advised its better to wait plus it would take us a few weeks to raise the money needed.

Any advice would be appreciated x

devonsdreamer

Hi there- Has your husband taken any other advise? You can have a look online at cccs (I found it very useful) before your OH goes to his meet with CAB.

I would say if you are 100% sure that Bankruptcy is his ONLY option that I would stop paying his debts and make sure your RENT IS PAID.

As you stated you will need to raise the fees, you have gas and electric meters so they will need credit and of course eating which cant be done if you are paying the debt!

After I went BAnkrupt the car and the tumble dryer broke luckly a friend could help us with some of teh car work but it still cost over £400 a big shock when you have no credit to use and have to hand over cash which was ment for food.

Good luck in whatever you do

RAS

Hi

I would suggest that you post over on the BK board as well, but as a starter, try to cancel the DDs so you do not incur more bank charges, speak to the creditors and tell them you are going to see CAB on Friday and will be in touch after that. Then turn the telephone to mute.

Get a basic bank account and get all your benefits, salary etc paid into an account in your name and get the rent and ct PAID. THE OTHER PRIORIity is your utility bills.

postingalwaysposting

mazgoodgirl wrote: »

To start maxing the credit cards up so that we will have more cash to use on essential bills and shopping as we will need it once the claim goes through.

Dont do this. If you start maxing out the cards it may be frown upon when you start applying for bankruptcy.

RAS

To add to this, if you are not alread joined up, get onto your local group of www.freecycle.org - like e-bay but the stuff is free of charge so you should be able to replace stuff if necessary, and they do kids clothes etc.

Also see if your local credit union will take you on and start to save small amounts each week. Then if you get hit by a big bill, you may be able to get a resonably priced short-term loan to cover it.

With both of you having been BK, your options for credit will be really small and you need to have a budget that you can keep even on one salary, so post your SOA and join up the Money Saving Old Style fourm.

saver03

mazgoodgirl wrote: »

Debt to Morrisons £25.00

I was just wondering what this is?

devonsdreamer

Got to say - i wondered too- didn't like to ask:)

chevalier

If you know you are going to go bankrupt, it can be seen as being dishonest to max out cards before you do. The official receiver might query this. I would have thought it would be far more stressful having to deal with a bankruptcy than dealing with the debt.

You could do a debt management plan with either CCCS or Payplan. Then you are paying them a monthly amount and THEY deal with your OH creditors on his behalf. This would take a load of stress off him. It would also give you a realistic amount to live on so no more using credit cards etc, so making the debt worse.

Have you got anything you can turn into ready cash, either on ebay or amazon, do a car boot etc? Have you had any luck getting another job, even if it is shelf stacking in tescos?

I am just not sure that you are really out of options yet. And bankruptcy is a big step.
chev

busy_today_mate

Pay your rent and council tax. As long as you have a roof over your head you are laughing. They aint going to put you in jail for this. Keep the faith.

onamission_2

your priority has to be rent, council tax, food electric and gas. everything else can wait. cancel the direct debits now as the bank cannot cancel them within a couple of days before payment.
get online to payplan or cccs asap.

good luck

optimisticbutstruggling

Hiya,i know the feeling...i have £20 in bank this morning & 3 direct debits to pay....I have spoken to the CCCS this morning...very helpful ! or fill out their debt remedy form online for a solution.I reckon the best thing to do is pay priority bills only & as i have...cancel all dd's so u cant get more Bank charges !
Having read loads of fantastic advice from people this weekend i am sure you can avoid bankruptcy...try CCCS...
Best of luck....
xxxx