Beginning my journey...

daisy_jean · 21 March 2018 at 10:28PM

So tonight, I am finally facing upto my problems...

Over £19,000 in debt. Robbing Peter to pay Paul each month, and I can no longer keep it up. I have submitted my details to PayPlan, and am hoping to apply for a DMP. I earn 1350 a month, and currently £1050 is going towards debt payments each month (which includes several payday loan companies). I can no longer cope with it, and need help to reduce my payments before I crumble. No payments are in arrears but they will be shortly if I don't do something about it.

All my own fault, and that I hold my hands up too it. But I am in my mid-30's and need to take control. My husband doesn't know anything about it. Well he knows I have debt, but not the severity of it. None of our debts are joint. I am scared s$%tless of his reaction (not because he's a bad man, far from it), I just am.

Anyhows, I'll await PayPlan's response and take it from there.

DragonflyCandy · 22 March 2018 at 11:34AM

I don't have much advice I'm afraid but there are a lot of folk on here that will have some really good advice, I just wanted to say well done for posting and things will only get better from now. There have been people on this forum 3 times that amount of debt and have come out the other side x

jwil · 22 March 2018 at 11:42AM

Good luck and well done for making that first step.

another_casualty · 22 March 2018 at 12:15PM

Payplan are great . You have done the right thing by going to them, and being here also.
Payplan will advise you to open up a bank Acct that is not related to your debts. They will go through all your outgoings , much the same as filling the statement of affairs here. They will then come to an amount you should pay each month by standing order and review your budget annually . The only downside if you do go on a dmp, is that your credit score is shot for 6 years.

Best of luck

enthusiasticsaver · 22 March 2018 at 1:07PM

Another casualty has given you good advice above re opening up a new bank account etc .

I think if you are paying more than £1000 out of your salary of £1350 each month to debts then yes a DMP is the best option. Hopefully your creditors will freeze the interest and your payments will be manageable and less robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Do you have a mortgage or any joint accounts with your husband? If so, it is only right you tell him as his credit record will be affected too and he would be better breaking financial links with you if possible.

Mnd · 22 March 2018 at 5:44PM

The one thing I would say is you need to tell your husband. Tackling this isn't going to be easy, you need his support. Please talk to him, he may be angry to start with but he can help you tackle this

National_Debtline · 22 March 2018 at 6:18PM

Hi daisy_jean

Well done for taking steps to deal with the situation. One really important thing to do is stop the payday loans taking any further payments. You have to cancel something called a continuous payment authority (CPA).

You can send this sample letter to your bank https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/Pages/Withdraw-your-continuous-payment-authority-from-your-card-issuer-%28sole-name%29.aspx, and this one to the payday loan company https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/Pages/Withdraw-your-continuous-payment-authority-from-payday-loan-company-%28sole-name%29.aspx.

This is a big step towards getting back in control of your finances. It's then a really good idea to get in touch with one of the free debt advice agencies to talk through all of your options. Good luck with it all.

Susie
@natdebtline

onedaysomeday · 22 March 2018 at 6:50PM

Well done for taking the first step xx

zippygeorgeandben · 22 March 2018 at 11:19PM

Yes well done. On MSE we tell people that you have to have your LBM yourself, no one can find it for you and it seems that you have found it. Tackle your debt HEAD ON!

Vikipollard · 23 March 2018 at 5:34PM

daisy_jean wrote: »

So tonight, I am finally facing upto my problems...

Over £19,000 in debt. Robbing Peter to pay Paul each month, and I can no longer keep it up. I have submitted my details to PayPlan, and am hoping to apply for a DMP. I earn 1350 a month, and currently £1050 is going towards debt payments each month (which includes several payday loan companies). I can no longer cope with it, and need help to reduce my payments before I crumble. No payments are in arrears but they will be shortly if I don't do something about it.

All my own fault, and that I hold my hands up too it. But I am in my mid-30's and need to take control. My husband doesn't know anything about it. Well he knows I have debt, but not the severity of it. None of our debts are joint. I am scared s$%tless of his reaction (not because he's a bad man, far from it), I just am.

Anyhows, I'll await PayPlan's response and take it from there.

Hey

.

You're in a similar amount of debt to what I was in 2006 - any my husband didn't know either. To make it even worse, it was the second time I'd done it (he knew about the first, and we sorted it with my divorce settlement from my first marriage, when it came through).

Telling him (again) was probably the second hardest thing I've ever done in my life. Not going to lie, he went onto a different astral plane, and things were uncomfortable for a few weeks, but then he accepted that, actually, if he was being totally honest he knew that I must've been using a credit card as my wages were not high. Not that it was frivolous spending - all day to day stuff, as supporting four children is not cheap.

In a funny way, the relief after I'd told him is what I remember most. I wasn't hiding anymore.

Your husband will most likely feel guilty that you've been dealing with this all alone - even if that's at the same time as being grumpy and cross. Please tell him. Let him in and let him help and support you. I don't doubt he has benefited from some of the things which the debt paid for (mine did, and it wasn't holidays or eating out; just living).

The very best of luck.

daisy_jean · 23 March 2018 at 9:15PM

Thanks for all of the best wishes and advice guys, it's really appreciated and backed up my naggings doubts that I was doing the right thing.

I already have a bank account that is not affiliated with any of my debts - I'm in the process this evening of transferring all bill-related direct debits over to it (electric, water, child benefit, etc). I'll contact my administrator at work next week about transferring my wages to this account too.

I have also this evening submitted my full "plan finder" information to PayPlan. My only nagging issue is that they'll call me within 24 hours - phone calls are my worst nightmare, and I much prefer letter/electronic correspondence (it leaves a trail!).

The only joint thing I have with the husband is a joint account (literally used for the rent and council tax... not sure why we bother with it!) with a minor overdraft (interest is like, £1 a month on it!). I might just casually suggest closing it for it's lack of use though...

The question is what I do next... You're saying CPA's, but won't that cause major issues before the plan is started? Admittedly my credit rating is shot to pieces so missed payments probably won't impact that much, but so far I've never missed one. Should I cancel, but make token payments until the DMP is set up and in place? What about credit card/store card direct debits - do I do the same for them?

Beginning my journey...

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