Terrible debts..need advice please....

bathgatebuyer

Good luck with Payplan. However, a few quid here and there WILL make the difference. I used to spend a few quid here and there when I didn't have it - within a few years I had about 5 credit cards and a few loans. £34K debt and a family crisis later, and it's taken 2 years to get to £3K of debt and a way out of it. Unfortunately it does start with the small savings.

Like others, the clothes and food bill does seem to be very high. I can understand why you need to spend on a growing kid every month for clothes, but you can go a few months without needing any new clothes for yourselves easily. £50 a month on clothes for a growing kid - EBay / Primark / George at ASDA / Second Hand / Freecycle and you'll have change leftover! It really is that easy - sure it's a shock to the sytem when you first start out, but even with the assistance of Payplan you'll have to change some of your spending habits.

Harsh, but ultimately true. Even if it's not a nice thing to hear, there are ways you can cut back more and food and clothes seems the obvious ones - I guess everyone on here is saying the same thing as we've all been there and are all at various stages of recovery

rosiedee

I doubt anyone thinks you are looking for an easy way out, the fact that you've posted here says that's not the case. The main thing that people are trying to get over is that if you do go down the road of a DMP your monthly expenditure on food and clothing will be challenged. If you could really sit down and review that you might be able to avoid that route. I have to admit I don't really know how DMP's work, once your committed. I understand where your coming from re interest rates, I was in a similar situation this time last year, have you tried to swap to lower rates or called your current creditors to see if they will lower rates?
Please forgive me if I missed something with regard to the above in earlier posts.
Whatever you decide to do please know that everyone here, all almost everyone, is fighting your corner, it's just with past experience they might feel there are other routes to follow.
Good luck and God bless whatever you decide.

bestmumof3

Is your OH aware of the situation>?? Is she committed to saving money? Maybe she could take more control of the running of the household in terms of the food & clothes shopping? Is all the debt solely in your name.

Also, you do not make any reference to mobile phones. Do you both have one?

I would certainly start by reducing the utilities bills.

chevalier

ref the DMP the way it works is that CCCS/Payplan write to your creditors with a income/expenditure list asking for interest/charges to be frozen. The company also offer a pro rata to each of your creditors, so that no one creditor is treated preferentially. Some companies will accept this deal straight away, some will send your debt to a DCA, and some will harass you for a few months, and then accept it.

best of luck
chev

OVERSPENDING_IDIOT

Maybe I should have put forward a full SOA but I do spend as much as I've said, but maybe not so much on food etc but there's many things gone unmentioned, TV licence, phone bills, internet, home insurance, etc etc

tara66_2

Hi OI,

When you get to the point of seeking advice from payplan/cccs they will need to see the details of your debts and income and general expenditure in order to get a handle on your situation and give you the best advice re DMP etc.

If you are going to gather all this information any way then if you want, it probably wouldn't do any harm to post your SOA on here as well to see if what people can suggest.

In the meantime I can't remember if anyone has mentioned it but there is a DMP mutual supporters thread where if you have a read you will get more inf on DMP's.

Good luck with getting it sorted out.
Tara x