I can't afford life, I don't know what to do

[VirginMedium]

I earn a pretty good wage for the last 5 years or so. but I am a SP to a teen and a tween and I haven't always. over the years I have added to the mortgage and bought things on HP to pay for maintenance and washing machines, dryers etc. it has caught up with me. I have about £10k in loans and I am at my £2k overdraft limit and it's only the 9th of the month, 3 weeks until pay day.

I don't think we are extravagant, and my eldest works part time and funds herself mostly. it is pretty much just household bills and credit payments!

WTAF am I going to do??

There are loads of options. You could contact a debt charity like Step Change or CAP, they can help. You could post your income and outgoings here for us to offer suggestions. There are plenty of options, having your lightbulb moment is the start

Can you sell anything?

Well in the short term, do you have enough food in the house to last you the month? If not, can you get referred to a food bank?

In the medium term, you need to get those debts restructured so your monthly payments are reduced and you can afford to pay them off while also affording to live. I don't know much about this, but there is some advice on .gov and hopefully some others will soon be along with advice, as there are some MNers who are great with financial advice.

www.gov.uk/options-for-paying-off-your-debts

When I was struggling for money as a single parent I got an evening job in a bar a few nights a week. I also did the old mn favourite of taking in ironing for a while.

What do you do for a living?

Hi op I'm not a sp but DH and I did struggle for a long time!
I couldn't now live without a weekly budget. that doesn't mean no fun, you can build that in, but without pinning down each penny I couldn't live now.

Definitely get some debt advice, I'm sure there will be a way to restructure them and get those payments down.

Is there any way of increasing your income? What do you do for a living?

I agree with the previous poster who recommended step change. My friend's husband works for them as a volunteer and he says it's just incredible what a difference it can make to someone's life.

@orangeisthenewpuce I am disabled, I have CFS and a condition which affects my mobility. I don't have capacity for a 2nd job. my first job is too taxing as it is. I don't have time or energy for even the bare minimum in terms of housework, quite often

Fair enough

@HollowTalk if I go to step change or a organisation like that, will I then have a bad credit rating?

so, for debt management THERE IS A FEE!!! 😮

Costs
Some companies will charge:

a set up fee
a handling fee each time you make a payment

Have you got a good credit rating to lose though? Christians against poverty help people with debt too. I wouldn’t pay for debt management.

Can you post your bills here? How much your food shops etc are? Maybe we can help you identify anything you can cut back on?

Are you eligible for PIP?

This is 100% not true for CAP. I was 20K in debt and they set me up a dmp. It never cost me a penny. I am now debt free. It changed my life.

Step Change don’t charge and are really helpful. They’ll go through your budget and will work out what you can afford to pay each month and contact your creditors for you. It does mess your credit record up for awhile but does that really matter if you’re not planning on taking out more credit?

Could you apply for PIP??
It's not related to income but to your capability for carrying out certain tasks.
I work and get PIP the mobility component for epilepsy.

Can you downsize op? I was in a similar financial situation as you and I moved to a cheaper property and was able to sort out my debts. It was the best thing I could have done after years of struggling and getting further into debt.

You could try seeking advice from.Turn to Is or Christians against Poverty, they won't charge you .

Some companies do charge for debt management plans, but Step Change is a charity and they don’t charge.

You need to go to a charity like Step Change. Do not pay anyone a fee. You need independent advice as to what your best option is, which is likely to be debt management or possibly an individual voluntary arrangement.

I don't suppose downsizing and/or moving somewhere cheaper so you can pay your debt off with released equity would be a possibility?

But first you need to have a really good review of your budget so you know what you can and can't afford, because you need to be on a sustainable budget so you can afford day to day living and put a bit by for annual and irregular expenses without borrowing because your credit rating will be ruined for 6 years, but that's necessary for you to get out of debt. It might feel like a drastic solution, but if you can't make inroads in your debt due to interest, the alternative is that you could more or less tread water for years, paying thousands and most of what you pay going on interest.

Have a look at Moneysaving Expert and do everything that's relevant. You mention a disability, are you getting all the benefits you're entitled to?

www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan/

Good luck

Go to step change/CAP.

Borrow Dave Ramsey - Baby Steps book from a library.

Go to MSE website.

Get a food bank voucher if needed.

Good luck, it's a horrible place to be but you CAN turn this around

For info, Stepchange do not have any volunteers - all their staff are salaried, trained debt advisors.

OP - Stepchange & CAP do not charge any fees for debt advice. Simply contacting them for a debt advice session will have no impact whatsoever on your credit file. They will tell you your options and explain what the impacts & benefits of those options are (including any impact on your credit file).

Even if you go to them & don't take up any debt solutions that's fine, it will still be worth it as they'll go through a budget with you which will help. And you can always take your time before going forward with a debt solution. They're charities, they won't push you or be trying to sell you anything.

As others have said, the organisations suggested don’t charge for their services. Avoid any companies that charge.

No, they are a charity who can help and advise.