Drowning NOT Waving!

2Bdebtfree_3

Hi I posted a few months ago about my debt, but since then have been just about keeping my head above water, however I now find I'm drowning and really need to know what to do next.

A quick rundown, mortgage arrears of £600, loan 1: £5,000, loan 2: £7,000, Council tax arrears of £150, overdraft £1,100 (facility £950 - bank just slapped £276.00 of charges on) this is where I just can't keep up, never seem to be able to get the overdraft down. Earnings per month vary so much (I'm self employed in both the pet industry and craft industry) with income of between £850 and £1000 per month.

Letters from the bank just keep coming (i've got my mortgage, one of the loans and my current account with same bank) A couple of personal cheques have now bounced and I've probably lost credibility with my suppliers due to this - so may find it difficult to get supplies for the craft side of my business.

It all seems to be a vicious circle, I don't spend on anything but essentials (food!) I don't know what else I can cut, I need my car for the pet side of my business (which incidentally I've got to tax at the end of the month :eek: )

Can anyone please help with what to do next? - I kind of feel paralysed in how to move forward).

LilacPixie

Post a full SOA. I thought i only spent on essentials too but following some advic here I have managed to free up an extra £200 a month which makes a huge huge diffrence.

blueneleh

Hi 2Bdebtfree,

You've come to the right place as everyone on here is really helpful and supportive and it makes you realise you are not alone!
Like lilacpixie says, post a SOA and current loan repayments / interest rates so that the more experienced moneysavers can take a look for you and see where you may be able to change things a bit.
I know what it's like being over your OD limit and having more and more charges building up. It seems never ending but there is hope so try to keep your pecker up as much as poss:)

GeorgeUK

Have you done a business plan to find out what you need to produce per month to cover all your expenditure? Is there a shortfall in either the amount you can sell or the amount you can make - is the pricing for your good correct?

Try posting up a SOA - the calculator's quite handy.
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

delboypass

Try getting a decent job???

Bringing in over 1k a month is never going to get you anywhere...

Im sure even minimum wage clears 1k a month??

seven-day-weekend

Minimum wage at 39 hours pw is just UNDER £1000 a month.

OP, do as people have suggested and post up your statement of affairs - you do seem to have a lot of debt compared to your income and I'm sure the experts on here will be able to help you.

2Bdebtfree_3

Thanks for the replies, I'm working on my SOA. I probably do need to look at my pricing.

As to getting a 'decent' job - I'm actually looking for a job that I can do as well as my businesses - probably be cleaning or something like that, but thats not going to happen overnight. In the meantime should I cancel direct debits as I'm not going to have enough money in the account to pay them this month, therefore I'm going to incur more bank charges which is just going to compound things? If I do that should I inform the companies first, or just do it and then tell them how I intend to pay them? (not sure how actually!) Thanks for you help.

GeorgeUK

I'd suggest you ask for professional advice. Sounds like you can't afford the repayments so even if you go on a Debt Management Plan with your creditors freezing the interest on the debts, as you don't have a guaranteed income i can't advise what the best course of action would be. They should be able to help and possibly deal with the companies too.

I'd suggest contacting CCCS or payplan in the first instance, but you could also send a letter to your creditors. Just make sure you have your money in an account that has no connection to anyone you owe money to - then they won't just empty it.

(Taken from Fermi's signature)

Professional, free and impartial advice on debt problems can be obtained from several charitable and 'not for profit' organisations. They never make a penny from the advice they give, which means it will be given with only your best interests at heart. You can contact:

Your local CAB Office and ask to speak to a 'money advisor'
The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) - Tel: 0800 138 1111
National Debtline - Tel: 0808 808 4000
Payplan - Tel: 0800 917 7823

This is the letter you could send, but i'd take it under advisement first.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=10232585#post10232585

RAS

GeorgeUK wrote: »

Just make sure you have your money in an account that has no connection to anyone you owe money to - then they won't just empty it.

If you have two days a month when you are in credit, try moving the OD to the Alliance and leicester as they will match the OD and it is at 0%.

Otherwise, move your account to another bank and set up an SO to pay a small amount off the OD evry month. Then start a charges reclaim, if possible.