where do i start?!

panicstriken

Ok folks - im sitting here... staring at my screen and i dont know where to start!

can i start by saying that im hardly sleeping because of what i regard to be severe debt problems, and its effecting my home life as i simply cant switch off. Im arguing with my partner and nine times out of ten were arguing about money. The thing is, money hasnt been good for a while - but ive done my best to ignore the situation and bury my head in the sand (i know its been the wrong thing to do but i couldnt face tackling the subject, its got to the stage where im not opeing mail).

Before i explain the situation, can i point out that i know that most of this is through past over spending and serious short sightednous (is that even a word?!) - its something that i constantly beat myself up over, and one of the reasons why i cant sleep at night..... so go easy

Ok.... here goes........

Debts:

Credit card - approx £3200 failing to meet minimum bal
Council tax - £193 still outstanding
Bank Overdraft - £1050
Store card - £800 (approx with payment plan in place to clear by 2010) £36.10 p/m
Egg Loan - £7400 approx - £300 p/m - loan expires sep 2010
Mortgage - £78k - 30 years - almost 2 years in and are currently IO. £389 p/m (Northern Rock)
Unsecured Northern Rock loan - attached to mortgage - 16k - £100 p/m
Unsecured Northern Rock loan - attached to mortgage - 8k - £58 p/m
Virgin Media (net, TV, Phone) £170 outstanding - currently disconnected due to non payment

The Kicker - as well as my main bank account (the one with the overdraft), we setup a bills account to try and get ourselves straight, however - because certain bills were not DD we still draw funds from it - and thats backfired to the point where the bills account is £250 overdrawn (no overdraft setup on that account) - were being hit with £200 each month because of this and my wages are paid into that account, so ontop of my bills the charges are hitting and killing me.

So far im not behind with my mortgage or the big egg loan, but i fear its only a matter of time.

The bank have called me in to discuss the chrages and offered me a loan - but again its more debt. Now that offer has been revoked anyway.

My income is apporox £1300 p/m - my partner pulls in approx £500 (including working family tax credit etc).

In theory we have enough to keep meeting the minimum payments on things - but the bank charges are crippling our finances and we dont have a way out at the moment.

Of the debts the storecard and credit card are in my partners name and the rest in mine.

We obviously dont weant to loose our house - and im getting desperate. I fear that if we sink anymore it'll end us both in a financial and relationship meaning.

On top of this we have two beautiful children and getting to work and back each day costs me £7 - so you can imagine that we dont have anything left to live off. We dont go out - have no real quality of life, cant do anything with the kids and rely on our parents buying us food when were desperate.

Ive looked at remortgage to see if i can encompass all of our debts in the mortgage - but nobody will offer the kind of money i need - even though i could afford the re-payments of a 120k mortgage. (it woul be cheaper than were paying out now).

I feel that theres things i havent even covered in this post (like the usual monthly bills, ive left them out because there covered if i can get the debt under control) - but i hope you can at least pick up on the fact that im at breaking point - desperate for a way out of this and if anyone can offer any advice at all as to first steps then ill more than happily listen.

Many thanks

Lee.

RAS

Hi and welcome

We really need to see an SOA if we are to help you find a way to balance the books, see here for how to do one http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280.

And you really need need to talk to one of the debt charities so you can get some independant advice, see here for the list http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help

lauren_1

Welcome and congratulations on your LBM, firstly ring your credit card companies and explain the situation, some may tell you to take a hike but even if one agree's to help thats one debts possibly put on the back burner fro a bit. You can offer a token payment, they could freeze the interest, they could freeze all repayments for 3 months, The thing is you dont know unless you ask, and if your nice as pie they might play ball.

Try ringing the council tax and do the same thing and offer £5-10 a month.

Keep the store card arrangment, that seems ok at the mo if you can manage it.

I dont know anything about loans but some one will surely be along shortly who does.


Credit card - approx £3200 failing to meet minimum bal
Council tax - £193 still outstanding
Bank Overdraft - £1050
Store card - £800 (approx with payment plan in place to clear by 2010) £36.10 p/m
Egg Loan - £7400 approx - £300 p/m - loan expires sep 2010
Mortgage - £78k - 30 years - almost 2 years in and are currently IO. £389 p/m (Northern Rock)
Unsecured Northern Rock loan - attached to mortgage - 16k - £100 p/m
Unsecured Northern Rock loan - attached to mortgage - 8k - £58 p/m
Virgin Media (net, TV, Phone) £170 outstanding - currently disconnected due to non payment

The Kicker - as well as my main bank account (the one with the overdraft), we setup a bills account to try and get ourselves straight, however - because certain bills were not DD we still draw funds from it - and thats backfired to the point where the bills account is £250 overdrawn (no overdraft setup on that account) - were being hit with £200 each month because of this and my wages are paid into that account, so ontop of my bills the charges are hitting and killing me. Reclaim the charges if you can, you may need to be in credit to do this though.

So far im not behind with my mortgage or the big egg loan, but i fear its only a matter of time.

The bank have called me in to discuss the chrages and offered me a loan - but again its more debt. Now that offer has been revoked anyway.

My income is apporox £1300 p/m - my partner pulls in approx £500 (including working family tax credit etc).

In theory we have enough to keep meeting the minimum payments on things - but the bank charges are crippling our finances and we dont have a way out at the moment.

Of the debts the storecard and credit card are in my partners name and the rest in mine.

We obviously dont weant to loose our house - and im getting desperate. I fear that if we sink anymore it'll end us both in a financial and relationship meaning.

On top of this we have two beautiful children and getting to work and back each day costs me £7 - so you can imagine that we dont have anything left to live off. We dont go out - have no real quality of life, cant do anything with the kids and rely on our parents buying us food when were desperate.

Ive looked at remortgage to see if i can encompass all of our debts in the mortgage - but nobody will offer the kind of money i need - even though i could afford the re-payments of a 120k mortgage. (it woul be cheaper than were paying out now).

I feel that theres things i havent even covered in this post (like the usual monthly bills, ive left them out because there covered if i can get the debt under control) - but i hope you can at least pick up on the fact that im at breaking point - desperate for a way out of this and if anyone can offer any advice at all as to first steps then ill more than happily listen.

bank_of_slate

Hi panic

You've come to the right place.
PLEASE contact CCCs for some professional advice!
As RAS said, post a full SOA, it'll really help. Yes it's scary to see the figures written down but it's the start of your way out of all this.
...Linda xx

lauren_1

Try ringing the council tax and do the same thing and offer £5-10 a month.

Sorry meant to say offer £5-10 off the arrears, not your actual monthly bill.

van22663

Hi there,
Dont panic, you have come to the right place. Definately a good move to ring CCCS, they are really helpful. I approached EGG and Northern Rock myself and both agreed to take lower payments for 12 months. Egg card also froze
the interest but they do show it as a default on your credit file, you are stuck
with that for 6 years im afraid. However, i called them and asked them also to show on my credit file that it was an agreed arrangement, so it does not look like i have just ignored them. Sorry, i cant be of more help but i am sure you will get a few more people along later.
Best of luck.

dmbaxt

Hi Panic
I too was in a serious situation with my debt. I could barely afford to pay the minimum amounts and got behind with things, getting letters, etc.
I phoned everyone and advised them of the situation, some were how can I say 'less than helpful' others like Northern Rock who I have a loan with were fantastic.
I didn't know sites like this existed so I sought advice from the National Debt Line website. Just reading the information made me feel loads better. They have an income and expenditure sheet that works everything out for you - how much you have coming in compared to outgoings and how much you can realistically afford to pay each debtor. They even have a list of letters that you can amend to send to each one with the income sheet. You can even phone them 24 hours a day for advice if you need to.
It's not for everyone, but it's not another loan either so your not adding more debt, but it can affect your credit rating.
I'm no expert, but it worked for me. It's not a quick fix - I've been renewing my agreements with companies every 6 months for nearly 3 years, but I've paid off a couple of things and I've got about another 12 months left before the rest are paid for.
Good luck and I hope everything works out for you.

beanielou

You need to get a new bank account which is not linked to your existing debts ASAP - even if it is a basic account- and get your income paid in there.Reset up your DD's ect.Existing bank becomes another creditor.
Contact CAB or similar for debt advice.
Try not to panic~ you have made the first step.