can't pay debts due to massive pay cut

sul_2

Hi all, new to this forum , Desparatley need help. I owe £17,000 total between 2 credit cards. And i have 2yrs left on a 7yr loan (not secured) which i owe about £8,000. I have just been informed that my company are changing my shifts and that i am to have a paycut of about £750pm. I can pay mortgage and utilities but thats about it. Can anyone help with some good advice. cheers sul

Jenna

Hey there sul,

First of all, welcome to MSE! You're in the right place for some good advice and I'm sure all the experts will be along shortly (you don't want me, I'm blonde lol).

Make yourself a cuppa and post up an SOA (if you're not sure what it is, you can get all the details from the sticky at the top of this forum). That will really help people give you the best advice.

If they're changing your shifts (I presume to fewer hours), can you get a 2nd job elsewhere to make up the difference in pay? What job do you do?

HTH xx

sul_2

hi jenna, I will be workin 3shifts in a factory so it would be very difficult to get a second job. Thanks for your suggestion though. Sorry but what is an Soa and Sticky. thanks

poppyg_2

statement of affairs - basically lists all your incomings and outgoings x

Karmacat

Hello sul

Welcome to mse. I understand that you feel terrible right now - believe me, we've all been through it. You sound like you want to focus on the credit cards and the loans, and I know it sounds odd, but the best way to do that is to do an soa, a Statement of Affairs - a layout of what you spend and how you spend it. At the top of this DFW board, there's a sticky, a thread that never leaves the top, about how to lay it out, what to include, how to write it out, all of that. Do have a read of that and try and see if you can do it on your own situation. When you post it up, other people can come in and have a looksee - often there's a lot of unexpected ways you can cut down outgoings, not only the main ways that Martin outlines on the main site. When you've done that, cut down as far as you can (and there are a *lot* of ways to do it, believe me), then you can look at finding ways to increase your income - there are lots of ways to get a little bit extra, and a few ways to get a fair amount extra. It depends on your time, often on your internet abilities, sometimes on luck (like, believe it or not, playing no-deposit bingo).

So, do have that cuppa, but also look at the sticky, see what you can put together about your own situation, and then people will be able to give you advice thats really relevant to you, not just generalised woof.

Best of luck, and keep posting.

RAS

See here for an SOA http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

Once you have your information together, it may be as well to talk to a debt charity to see what is possible if you cannot sort this.

Do you have room for a lodger, as they are tax free, up to £370ish per month.

Jenna

RAS - thanks for posting up the link to the SOA, I couldn't work out how to do it!

Sul ... as others have said, an SOA is a Statement Of Affairs (basically a list of your income, outgoings and debts) and a "sticky" is a thread that is always "stuck" at the top of the forums - to make it easy to find.