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??

£10k debt is not that much if you have a good income. So the issue must be your spending.
In the short term go to a foodbank if you need food.
After that go to a charity like Step Change or Christians Against Poverty for help to look at how you can manage going forward.
Or you could post on moneysavingexpert forum and ask for advice.
But with both these options you have to be totally honest about how much you have coming in and how you spend it.
This is a temporary problem, but £10k and a £2k overdraft is a low level of debt for someone struggling, so this can be sorted.

Have you applied for ESA and PIP if you have longstanding health issues that impact you daily? Have you tried the earn£10 a day thread on here?

Are you able to consolidate with who you are already with?

Maybe see if you qualify for PIP?

It sounds like the OP has consolidated and/or remortgaged more than once already. It's a really risky strategy unless regarded very much as a one off solution combined with iron willed budgeting going forwards.

Because if you don't, you end up with more debt not less, it's a really common outcome unfortunately.

No, step change won't affect your credit rating, I don't think. The thing is that at the moment if you struggle to pay any of your bills that will affect your credit rating. There are lots of companies who advertise that they will help you but they do charge and you should avoid them at all costs.

Could you try to contact citizens advice bureau to ask them? I don't know how busy they are at the moment though.

Consolidation is often a very bad idea, it can end up with more debt and without dealing with the underlying issues.

HRTWT so apologies if any of this has been suggested already. Go to citizens advice. If you need it they will refer you to a no fee debt management company. If you have a good credit rating could you consolidate to a lower monthly repayment?

Another vote for stepchange I had £5k debt and they were able to help me it took me around 3 years but they negotiate with who I owed money to and some of the interest was wiped! I did have a blemish on my credit report for 7 years but that was because I missed payments before stepchange honestly it changed my life xxxx

As bad as it feels now you can honestly get yourself out of it. I was in more debt than you as a SP and only had a rubbish part time job. It took years and lots of sacrifices but I got there in the end.

Use a benefits calculator to check you are claiming everything you are entitled to.

Set up a budget. Honestly I found this hard because I had no clue what was a reasonable amount to pay for each outgoing. I kept all receipts for a month and worked out what I had spent. And then compared with the amounts that similar households were discussing on the MSE forum.

Groceries was one of the best/easiest places I cut back on. Meal planning, reduced items and eating veggie made the most difference.

Step change has already been advised by PPs and I would also fully recommend them.

tools.nationaldebtline.org/yourbudget/

Work out what's coming in, what's going out, and what, if anything, is left over.

Talk to your creditors. They are not legally allowed to take money that you don't have, and they are legally bound to be supportive if you're struggling. You could quite easily get your repayments reduced to a token £1 per month for each of them, and many people have this set up for years whilst they get themselves sorted.

Don't panic. They can't take money you don't have. They just want you to stay in contact with them.

Stepchange first but also debt camel (fantastic website!!) National debt helpline maybe as well

And be proud of yourself for facing into it, don't back away now, there are options, there is a way out

Do NOT pay for debt advice

CAP were amazing and helped my parents sort their debt and finances. There was a fee of £75 but the charity covered that cost. They have been debt free for 7yrs now and could finally eat and have the essentials without having to literally sit at the table and count pennies to make ends meet month to month.

Yes I also work and get PIP

I thoroughly recommend CAP. The work they do is amazing and it’s something I would like to support when dh are older. Non judgemental help with ongoing support.

Contact your local councils money management service, all local councils have one and you can get good advice about how to manage your money from someone in your area and they will also do a benefits check too.

one thing to bear in mind is these services are stretched at the moment, so the best thing to do is to look at your local councils money management website page as they will list all local support

Saint Vincent De Paul provide help with food, clothing, financial advice etc. They help people in all sorts of circumstances, if you request then a member of a local team can chat with you and help figure out what help they can provide www.svp.org.uk/request-help

@GrazingSheep I don't have anything worth any money 🤣 I have my house and my car but I need both

thanks for all the helpful replies and suggestions, I will follow them all up tomorrow. I feel so stupid, it's not like I am on minimum wage or a zero hours contract. I have qualifications and a decent job. I just can't manage to live within means. it's stupid

I do already claim PIP 😖

Happens to the best of us! The main thing is to take any help you can get early on. Gingerbread are a charity especially focused on help single parents too, though not sure if they provide material support- www.gingerbread.org.uk/information/managing-money-and-debt/money-in-an-emergency/

You aren’t stupid, life on one income can be very difficult these days.

Don't feel stupid. There's millions just like you; intelligent and at their wits end with money. You're far from alone, and any debt advice agency will have seen many of you before and will see many after. I work in this field, and embarrasment is the one thing that gets in the way of so many people seeking advice for so long. But when they do, they always say 'I wish I'd come years ago!'

Before going to speak to any charity or service, it’s worth doing a proper budget. Write down everything that comes in and everything that goes out. Not what you’d like it to be, or what it should be, but a real month’s accounts.

Anyone that can help you will need to see this, and it’s the first step towards understanding where the money is going.

Step two is working out a feasible balanced budget (which includes paying down the debt) and step three is putting it into action.