Can't afford minimum payment -advice please?

[daysmustgetbetter]

I know I'm a idiot
When I moved into my house I had nothing
I got my appliances /sofa from littlewoods
I put them on buy now pay later but now I'm struggling.
I get £1,000 a month
£460 is rent £100 is gas /electric £90 council tax and I pay them £240
I'm left with £110 for food
It's killing me
I've asked if I can set up a payment plan they said no
I honestly don't know what to do
If I don't pay the full amount will they pass me to a debt collection agency ?

It's too late for that. OP has already failed to pay on time and won't be eligible for any 0% cards.

That is extremely rude and really insulting to people who work in McDonalds.

They are actually a great employer.

Also if your credit is good. Get a credit card and pay off little woods. Your payments will be lower

Where does it say OP has failed to pay? I didn't see that in any of their PPs

@uncomfortablydumb53 there's nothing in the. OPs posts to suggest she's vulnerable. She's choosing to only work 25 hours pw which means she can't afford the debt.

OP, you seem to be ignoring all the advice about taking on a second job. You don't need experience to wait tables or take orders in a pub. You're only working part time, so doing a full day at a weekend plus one or two evenings a week will mean you'll still only be working 40 hours a week but you will be considerably better off.

I'm sorry you've lost your mum, but that shouldn't stop you getting a part time evening or weekend job on top of your part time main job.

you’re either desperate

or

You’re not

OP lives with TWO working adults

and she doesn’t feel like she can ask more of them than to cover their food

surely op your children would be perturbed enough by this situation to, oh i don’t know, offer to help out more?

Yh. I'd imagine this is why they've refused.
Call them back & cancel the payment with them taking back there stuff & pay the fine/fees or request it be forwarded on to debt collectors who can accept any payment based on your income or negotiate a singular amount.

what are you currently doing op? for work

Your children need to contribute until you get more work.

You need money you take whatever work you can find, set your children a good example.

No, you don't want anyone in care work who doesn't want to be there.

If the OP is going to be distressed by it, it's unfair on both them and their client to be forced into that type of job if they are not cut out for it for any reason.

I'd clean toilets with my own toothbrush rather than do care work. You do not want me doing it, I assure you - there are a thousand other jobs I'm much more suited to.

Your adult children need to be contributing to the household bills - this will then mean that you are able to pay your debts - I guess they sit on and use the equipment/household furnishings that have got you in this seat and im sure they would be willing to contribute to the household bills. You may find they are horrified that they could help and didn't realise.

The government consider earning between £162-£235 should be paying £41.60, Between £236and £307 should pay £57.10, Between £308-£409 should be paying £93 per week

This would be madness as she only works part time & her credit isn't good & the payment has gone up from £2,500ish to £4,500 due to fees & interest from not paying the original debt she needs the contract cancelled & the stuff taken away or to negotiate a smaller amount.... possibly with a debt collector

The interest rate is ridiculously high but this is how they make money rather than through just profit from selling goods.
If you go to your local CAB they may be able to help you with drawing up a budget and contacting the firm.
They will also check if you are entitled to any benefits, there would be an assumption that working adults who shared your home were contributing to the housing costs. Brilliant that you kids pay for their food but they should really be putting something towards rent, CT and bills, and things like this debt as it was for household goods.

Would it work out cheaper to get a credit card with lower interest, use it to pay Littlewoods completely and then just pay back on the credit card?

I agree. They need to contribute more.

they are also using the appliances you purchased!

They are benefitting whilst you are in debt.

if they didn’t live with you they would have to pay all those bills themselves.

sit them down and tell them the bills need to be more equitable from now on because you can’t manage to raise 3 adults.

Call them back and say you are being impacted by the cost of living crisis and need to set up a repayment plan ask to be put through to their collections team or similar they may ask you to complete and income and expenditure and then they should put you on an affordable payment plan x this may impact your credit file though x if they don't play ball call payplan and they should be able to help x sometimes if your outgoings are more than what you have coming in they will decline a formal plan as you can't afford one and then once the debt moves over to a debt collector they will accept a plan on the account as its an unsecured debt x

Get a 0% or low interest credit card and pay off the debt and the monthly payments will be much less. I have one with about £1500 on and only pay about £40 per month. You need to move this debt to somewhere more favourable.
And explain to your children that you can't afford to live like this and they will need to pay more. At least £100 per month each. I'm in a similar boat,my youngest is still at school and my wages are topped up with UC but that will come to an end when he's 18 and I won't be entitled to anything. He plans to go to uni, but if he wasn't he wouldn't be able to live here for nothing.

Absolutely do NOT do this. Taking out cash from a credit card is an awful decision.

First option is that you stop subsidising your adult kids so heavily and get them to chip in an amount each month that would enable you to make the repayments.

Second option is you call Littlewoods and ask to speak to the collections department and try to negotiate over the phone with a human being.

If that doesn't work (which I'd be surprised at) then you could apply for a loan, payable back over 2 years to make the repayments manageable.

Mmm yes…she sounds like SUCH a scrounger! Single mum, job, no benefits…. silly cow! How dare she believe herself worth of a sofa or a kettle? Who does she think she is trying to furnish her house to a basic standard?

Doesn’t she realise she can’t afford it?

Doesn’t she realise it’s only the wealthy that deserve to be comfortable?

Doesn’t she realise that if she only worked HARDER, or was SMARTER, then she’d earn the right to buy a fucking toaster.

... shes already failed to repay the debt & its gone up £2000 in interest & fee's which is why they're not giving her a break or lower repayments she needs to cancel it altogether & talk to debt collectors or a financial expert.

Their not being difficult to punish her theyre doing this to stop her scamming them so advising her to lie & claim to be recently hardshiped by the cost of living crises will be flagged straight away

there are plenty of evening cleaning jobs - 10 hours a week will add 40 hours a month to your income and you do the job until you have paid off the debt

at 11.44 per hour for a cleaning job - thats £111.4 per week, with 20% tax on that you'll still clear £80 a week. The debt would be cleared within 12 months

You need to talk to a debt agency like Step Change for advice and try and get a second job?

Please speak to someone at Citizen's advice. It should be possible for them to either help you themselves or point you to someone who can. There are people who can negotiate on your behalf with your creditors and get the interest frozen/work out a repayment plan and help you get back onto your feet. It will mean that you won't be able to get credit after that for a very long time, but it will help

But also - I think you need to ask for more from your children, whether you want to or not. They aren't just using food, but energy and wear and tear on replacement items - like washing machine, furniture etc. Explain it to them and they will understand if they are decent kids

I also agree with others. If you love your job, stay with it and get a second job at evenings/weekends, whatever it takes to bring in more money and pay that debt off as quick as you can with extra earnings ( plus extra money from your children). Sometimes needs must. It doesn't need to be forever

Likewise
i would despise being a carer and absolutely
not cut out for it

BUT

if i was DESPERATE as the OP says she is…. i would draw on the skills i learned whilst caring for my mother and i would draw on fact t i’m a basic decent person who would only ever be kind to anyone in need of my help