In a Financial Mess and need help plz!

flashmc

Hi All,

To cut a long story short after a foolish 4 yr stint at uni and gathering as much debt as possible:

I owe Barclaycard £2600 - through one of their debt collection agencies
Barclays £2615 - through RMA
Plus Capital One £1130

Basically i've had my head in the sand and ran away from both Barclaycard and Barclays because like an idiot i got stuck in a cheque cashing nightmare where each month i had to cash cheques to eat/pay rent etc.

So i got another bank account and got my pay put in that, but basically have avoided making any repayments on my other debts.

I know this is due to my own stupidity but i have debt collectors hounding me

I've agreed to pay an ammount with each - £50 a month for each debt but this is going to take 4 yrs and half the debt is interest and fines.

I've also completely screwed my credit rating up (can't even get a contract mobile).

I'm now in FT employment and want to fix my wrongs but is there anything i can do?

I would appreciate any help at all!

Thanks

**Amy**

:hello:

Welcome to Debt Free Wannabe.

Firstly i would say try posting a SOA (statement of affairs) Have a look here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

That way we can try and help you sort out what your expenditure is etc.

Also what are your interest rates etc. on your debts, or are they all frozen now?

This would be a great start for you, and hopefully help you be able to pay off your debts sooner.

x

Karmacat

Hi flashmc

Okay....the help that can be given on here is to help you look at your outgoings, and reduce them, so that you can put more money toward repaying your debts. When you've done that, there are two more steps: earning a bit of extra money, sometimes by 2nd jobs you might not have thought of, sometimes by online stuff, and also keeping going with keeping expenditure as low as possible, which is a task all on its own. Are you up for this stuff?

If you are, find the post at the top of this board thats a sticky, one that stays at the top regardless, and find out how to write out a Statement of Affairs, basically a budget for all your expenditure, often adjusted monthly because thats mostly how people's money comes in.

We've all been in debt, the ones still posting are 99.9% *still* in debt, we *do* know what its like. Go for it!

PS - reclaiming charges may be appropriate to you, I don't know - there are articles and template letters for reclaims on the main site, that Martin makes freely available.

flashmc

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £1,150


Monthly Outgoings:

Rent - £298
Council Tax - £110
Gas - £25
Electric - £15
TV License - £5
Internet - £10
Phone - £20
Food - £200
Travel Expenses (Work) £190
Barclaycard - £50
Barclays - £50
Housing Benefit Repayment - £25

Total: £998

Concerning fines from the bank with my Barclays Account i was getting charged £10 each time i went over this happened approx 60 - 70 times in a 3 yr period. Plus another 5 £30 (ish) fines for cheque bounce or direct debits that failed to go out. I wonder if these are valid to claim back

The most important step for me was to stop cashing cheques as they were making me overdrawn and the way my finances were working they were randomly coming out on any 10 days over a 28 day period. I've addressed that and in return got a letter from Barclays asking for my full overdraft back, i feel like a criminal!

This is the first time ive been in half decent employment since leaving uni thus the want and need to fix this situation ive caused myself.

Thanks folks for your speedy replies btw

Chris

phildamb

flashmc wrote: »

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £1,150


Monthly Outgoings:

Rent - £298
Council Tax - £110 - Do you live on your own?
Gas - £25
Electric - £15
TV License - £5 - B&W license?
Internet - £10
Phone - £20
Food - £200 - Just yourself?
Travel Expenses (Work) £190
Barclaycard - £50
Barclays - £50
Housing Benefit Repayment - £25

Total: £998

Concerning fines from the bank with my Barclays Account i was getting charged £10 each time i went over this happened approx 60 - 70 times in a 3 yr period. Plus another 5 £30 (ish) fines for cheque bounce or direct debits that failed to go out. I wonder if these are valid to claim back

The most important step for me was to stop cashing cheques as they were making me overdrawn and the way my finances were working they were randomly coming out on any 10 days over a 28 day period. I've addressed that and in return got a letter from Barclays asking for my full overdraft back, i feel like a criminal!

This is the first time ive been in half decent employment since leaving uni thus the want and need to fix this situation ive caused myself.

Thanks folks for your speedy replies btw

Chris

Are you able to do any overtime in your place or take a part time bar job or something to put directly towards your debt?

flashmc

Rent - £298
Council Tax - £110 - Do you live on your own? - With 3 others although only 2 of us pay the council tax - other 2 are students. Bad judgement call on my part!
Gas - £25
Electric - £15
TV License - £5 - B&W license? Shared between 4
Internet - £10
Phone - £20
Food - £200 - Just yourself? - Just me
Travel Expenses (Work) £190
Barclaycard - £50
Barclays - £50
Housing Benefit Repayment - £25

phildamb

flashmc wrote: »

Rent - £298
Council Tax - £110 - Do you live on your own? - With 3 others although only 2 of us pay the council tax - other 2 are students. Bad judgement call on my part!
Gas - £25
Electric - £15
TV License - £5 - B&W license? Shared between 4
Internet - £10
Phone - £20
Food - £200 - Just yourself? - Just me
Travel Expenses (Work) £190
Barclaycard - £50
Barclays - £50
Housing Benefit Repayment - £25

So the other students dont contribute to the council tax? Your paying the multiple occupancy on it so I assume they are registered as being at the property. Im sure if the council thought the two students were exempt you would be paying the discounted rate? Have you contacted the council to verify what you are paying? £200 a month in food for one person is a hell of a lot!! I spend just under £100 a month for me and Im not a small person...where are you shopping? Would it cost you less to move nearer to work?

flashmc

The council tax situation is something that we arranged with our flatmates due to us needing a house at that time, students are exempt and they didnt want to live with us if they had to pay the council tax, so we agreed that the 2 workers would pay and the council tax would remain free for them. Stupid idea but needs must at the time. We're spot on with our council tax payments as i've been down there myself.

This ends in september as we have new accomadation where everyones paying.

I possibly spend to much on food but the nature of my work means im out the house 12+ hrs a day so take aways are a bad habit that im trying to work out.

I can't move nearer to work because the its not worth the depression of living in a pit village when all my friends and gf are living in the city. I work about 40 miles away from home, not ideal but needs must.

10past6

flashmc wrote: »

I possibly spend to much on food but the nature of my work means im out the house 12+ hrs a day so take aways are a bad habit that im trying to work out.

Just an idea, but if you have just a few hours spare a week, try doing some home cooking, you'll be surprised how easy and cheap it really is.

You could cook for the whole week and freeze it, taking it out as and when required, believe me, I've never so much as cooked an egg until I joind this site, now I do curry's, veggie dishes, pasta dishes, I freeze the dishes when cooked, they cost half the price, and so much more enjoyable.

For example, today I've cooked a pasta dish, and made a quiche, took just under an hour from start to finish.

You can purchase a packet of pasta for under £1.00, a tin of chopped tomato's 50p, and some cheese, from that you can make 2 dishes, costing around a £1.00 each.

For the quiche, a packet of Batchelor's pasta sauce, 3 eggs, again, in total around £1.50, the quiche wil last for maybe 3 meals.

Just something for you to consider.

jak

Meal plan and you will save a fortune. I spend £85 for 2 adults (one with a massive appitite) and we eat well, although we get 1 or 2 meals a week at work which helps!!! You could probably eat for £100-125 quite easily with some prep. and if it saves you £100 pcm, then it's worth the effort! You could batch cook to reduce the time you spend on cooking and try lots of simple reciepes. Chicken is good as it does several meals and jacket spuds are cheap. Try cottage pie- eat half, freeze half. Take packed lunches and collect coupons=free food!
J
X

jak

PS. You might not want to let the tv license man in if he calls as if you each have a lock on your door, you each are meant to have a sep. tv license! (Well when I was a student- that ws the shared house rule!) So A word of warning!
J
X