Terrible debts..need advice please....

OVERSPENDING_IDIOT

We don't do ready-meals or takeaways, we spend sensibly on food shopping.

I don't mean to come across in the wrong way but I don't think this is a case of choosing Netto rather than Tesco!

chevalier

deleted double post

chevalier

The thing is that it is not just a case of cutting back a bit here, it is cutting back ALOT! I had not realised that you were using the £265 for the debt repayments.

Your comment about Netto and Tesco is an indicator that you need to look at your mind set about EVERY bill you have

For example I spend about £300 on food for two adults, two children and 2 cats. But I buy my meat from a really good butcher, so that I only use 1lb of mince for two meals because it is such good quality. I get my veggies from the market which is much cheaper than Tesco. I got 8lb of potatoes, 4 onions, 2lbs of carrots, apples, nectarines, and bananas for a fiver this week, and that has gone up a bit. Don't assume that Tesco is automatically cheaper, by taking a bit of time to do research into local prices you will be surprised how much you can trim off that.

This site is about shopping smarter, thinking before shopping, not doing the same thing over again that is habit.

Another example, I have been getting my car insurance from the same broker for about 5 years, and just paying up each year. Last year my quote was £300, I got another cheaper quote which they matched. Saving me £123 just for 5 minutes on confused.com.

This year I got an even better quote than the above and switched providers. So now my fully comp insurance is £183, and I got £30 cashback from topcashback.co.uk too.

Time to give your finances a medical I think. You can do this, you have a lot of lee way in your budget. Bear in mind that if you went on DMP you would not get £500 as a food allowance for 3 people anyway, so you would have to cut down.

best of luck
chev

OVERSPENDING_IDIOT

Thanks very much for your money saving tips but I do already spend with caution & the main purpose of this thread is because I want advice on DMP's & IVA's & which would be right for me.

Bunnyinthelights

Does your OH work? If not, why? (Not trying to be rude, you eithre have to up income and/or spend less)
Do you recieve and tax credits?
Could you sell your car and go for a less expensive but reliable model?
(I have a little 206 that cost us £1200 and it's brilliant)
Can you get a part-time job?


Good luck, and keep up the good work.

Bunnyinthelights

BOth options are viable, but you will still have to implement the suggestions offered.
I am on a DMP, it's not always the easiet option-you will massacre your credit rating, get grief from creditors and have to pay back everything eventually.

An IVA was not an option for me as we had equity in our property and my debt was mine alone and I didn't feel that it should be used to pay my debt (and I had been bailed out 2 times before by OH)

Have you called Payplan/CCCS?

You will have to go thru all of this with them-in more detail as well.
I just did my review and they gave me grief about my mobile bills being too high...

gfplux

OVERSPENDING_IDIOT wrote: »

Thanks very much for your money saving tips but I do already spend with caution & the main purpose of this thread is because I want advice on DMP's & IVA's & which would be right for me.

I think you are missing the point.

What ever route you choose you will have to get your spending under control. You have got in to this problem by spending MORE than your income. So properly analysing your spending and getting it under control is as important as looking at DMP's & IVA's

kittiej

Having never gone through it myself, but from what I can gather, entering into an IVA or DMP will still require a spending overhaul on your part.

I know the ads on tv make it look easy to enter into these things but they would do because they want to get their hands on your money.

I also suspect that if you do not try to get debt help before going bankrupt then this could cause you even more difficulties because you will not have shown the Judge and ultimately the OR that you have made or been prepared to make any sacrifices.

You don't seem to be 'desperate' enough yet to find the drive to make the huge cutbacks that you need to be making.

I have 2 adults and 2 children one of which is still in nappies and we spend £40 per week on shopping and tbh it really annoys me if we go over because it's like playing a game, setting yourself a target and trying to stick to it.

It's fun. Honest lol.

Seriously though, if you think it's going to be easy then I think you will be disappointed.

exessexmum

gfplux wrote: »

I think you are missing the point.

What ever route you choose you will have to get your spending under control. You have got in to this problem by spending MORE than your income. So properly analysing your spending and getting it under control is as important as looking at DMP's & IVA's

Gfplux is right. Until you learn to spend within your income you will get into this situation over and over again. I know it sounds like we are being really bossy, but it's only because we've been there. I started off, years ago with a £3000 debt. I was overspending every month and it soon increased.

So, I took what I thought was the easy option to get rid of my debt. I consolidated it onto a loan. Woohoo! Only my debt then practically doubled, with the interest.

So, a few years later I'd racked up another load of debt becasue I hadn't addressed my main problem -I was spending more than I earnt, every month.

So, January this year our debt stood at over £20 grand.

Now we have a proper budget which I do my best to stick to. I'm no saint and sometimes there are slip ups but our debt is going down. We should be completely debt free in 3 years and then we'll have spare money every month to do all the things we dream of doing.

I know your debt is higher, and yes an IVA might be the best way for you, but listen to the people on here, they know what they are talking about, even with an IVA you need to pare your living expenses down so that you don't find yourself in exactly the same situation in a few years time.

I wish you all the best, it's not easy but you can do it.

Keeping_Positive

Try the CCCS online http://www.cccs.co.uk/.

What ever you decide as others have said you will not be able to spend £750 a month on clothes and food for three. It is too much and can easily be cut back if you want to. For a family of five I spend £250-300 food and less than £30 a month on clothes.

Sell the clothes your 4 year old grows out of and use the money for new via Ebay,second hand shops etc.

Dont wish to sound harsh but things must change or it will get alot worse.