Debt Trouble

[Jo3y83]

I am in debt, a lot of it. 2 loans and 3 credit cards later I've just about got my head above water. I'm 25 years old and I have £1000 debt for every year I've been alive :tinysmile_cry_t:

I now have 2 jobs to try and clear some of my debt but the whole debt is really getting me down :tinysmile_cry_t:

I am trying to remain positive though and I know this won't last forever.
I'm not alone am I?

Jo3y83

[Amethyst]

Re: Debt Trouble

Hey Jo

First of all you need to write down every single debt you have - start with rent/mortgage arrears/council tax/ utilities as they are most important, then all your loans, cards, hirepurchases etc with approx amounts and who they are with.

Also are you getting hassled by any of the companies, have you sought help anywhere else.

Welcome to the site hunny, and don't worry - you most definately are not alone in this

Love

Ame
xx

[WendyB]

Re: Debt Trouble

No you are not alone, lots of us here are in similar situations, or have been. There are plenty of people here who will be able to help you out. At least your head is above water at present, so thats a start.:tinysmile_grin_t:
best thing to do would be to post up details of your debts. Debtor, how much owing, if you're in arrears etc, if you have any penalty charges on the accounts and so on. Post them all this thread for now, then we can see the whole picture and get any idea of what can be done. Then it may be better after that to post a thread for each individual one, but post on here first.

Don't worry, you will get help here.

Wendy x

[Jo3y83]

Re: Debt Trouble

Where do I start?!
Barclaycard Limit £1300 Owed £1292
Capital One Credit Card Limit £200 Owed £150
Egg Credit Card Limit £3800 Owed £3506.80
Barclayloan £10,000, £237.74 a month for 6 years
Personal Loan (a friend loaned me some money) £300 a month until Jan 2011
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I'm currently not in arrears and I pay the minimum payment every month. I also have a £1000 overdraft with my bank that is maxed every month. Thank you so much for your help. It's so nice to know there's others in my situation or have been in this situation.

Jo
xx

[WendyB]

Re: Debt Trouble

Thats a start then. Is that it? What about mortgate/rent/utilty bills/council tax? They are top priority so if you have any of these let us know.

Do you have any charges on the credit cards that you can claim back (late payment charges, overlimit charges etc)
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You are pretty close to the limit on Barclaycard, so I suggest you don't use it and try to stay away from the limit, the minute you go over limit they will slap a charge on which will mean your minimum payment won't be enough to take you back under the limt, so then you'll get another overlimit charge the next month.

[Jo3y83]

Re: Debt Trouble

I don't have a mortgage luckily. I live with my parents and I pay them £100 a month rent.
I haven't had late payment charges on my credit cards for some time as I try my very best to make sure I pay them on time.
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All my credit cards were cut up at the beginning of the year :tinysmile_grin_t:

[Paule]

Re: Debt Trouble

Hi Jo & Welcome

You've made a good start

What i suggest is that you fill in the following Income Expenditure sheet
Legal Beagles

Then you will be able to see everything that is owed
You can them sedn it to one of the team if you need to.

You are lucky in the fact that you are still maintaining payments and dont seem to be over your limits.
You have come for help before you get in trouble which is a positive sign, that you recognise there may be trouble ahead.

So if you fill in the I/E form it will also work out how much surplus money you have, after priority debts such as mortgage utilities etc.
It will then work out a pro rata payment to offer your creditors.
Just be realistic with the figures and then the outcome fugures will be managable

[WendyB]

Re: Debt Trouble

Well Jo, you're obviously being really sensible about this, thats a good way to start. And you're lucky in the respect that you live with parents.

Just because you haven't had any charges for some time doesn't mean you can't claim them back. If you have your statements then go through them and add up the charges, see how much that comes to. If you haven't got your statments, i suggest you send SAR (Subject Access Request) to get statements etc. These cost £10 for each one, so as money is tight go for the one which you think might have the most charges on it first, then pick them off one at a time. You can go back 6years with charges claims.

[Jo3y83]

Re: Debt Trouble



Thank you

[Jo3y83]

Re: Debt Trouble

I just want to clear this debt and start savings for things like a car, wedding and eventually children! I can't do it with this amount of debt!

[WendyB]

Re: Debt Trouble

Just had a quick look, can't stay long cos boss is due in. Whats the "other" 1000/month?
thats a lot of money to be paying out. And from your sheet you are over 500 in debit every month - how are you managing to keep your head above water?

Just a quickie, the phones outgoings seems high - if its a mobile can you not switch to a cheaper call plan or get a pay as you go card? There's laods of good deals around at the moment. The O2 simplicty is good, and the genie chip.

[Jo3y83]

Re: Debt Trouble

The £1000 is my overdraft with Barclays. It's maxed out every month so I'm always negative. My boyfriend is clearing the rest of my phone contract so I'll be switching to Pay as You Go as of August and I'm limiting myself to £30-£35 a month

[WendyB]

Re: Debt Trouble

What a lovely boyfriend!
Mobile phones are an essential- can't live without mine! Neither can my 15 year old daughter unfortunately lol. £30 a month is still quite high though? I have switched her onto Simplicity from O2. For £15 a month she gets 500 free text messages and the £15 for calls. And unlimited free calls to other O2 numbers, which most of her friends are on. Or there's the genie card (not sure what its called now) I put £10 a month on mine, you can either have 300 free texts and use the £10 for calls (100 minutes) or 100 free minutes and use the tenner for texts. If you put £20 on you get more. I've got laods of those sim cards hanging about, O2 keep sending them to me lol. If you want one I'll post you one of mine, all unused.

[Amethyst]

Re: Debt Trouble

Ok - in that Other 2 Box you want to put the cost of the overdraft rather than the whole thing. (so £35 plus interest or whatever barclays charge these days)

I would seriously look at switching accounts and dumping the overdraft where it is - then sorting out a repayment plan for it.

That way you arent at risk of them removing it from under you and landing you in the poo.




Phone wise I use O2 PAYG - top up £15 a month and get unlimited calls to other O2 phones (which I made sure the people I actually want to call have )

[Amethyst]

Re: Debt Trouble

Doing that leaves you with £389 a month ''spare'' of which probably £100 a month would go to paying off the overdraft on a repayment plan for a year.

So that leaves you with £289.

Credit Cards - are you just paying the minimum each month?


Also whats the £120 Other - and have you included the friend loan you are paying £300 a month back to ?