To think I’ve really fucked up - not sure what to do

[frostedstrawberries]

After a long period of temporary work and sometimes not getting any work for periods of time, I finally got something permanent in January.

I’ve got a big backlog of debt, though, of things that I hadn’t paid for a while because I couldn’t when I wasn’t working.

So now my take home pay is £2050 after tax NI etc.

But my outgoings are:

Mortgage - £800
Electricity - £200 (it’s so high because I’m repaying a backlog)
Council tax - £100 (I owe money on that too)
Car insurance - £70
Mobile phone - £40
Internet - £40
Petrol costs are sky high due to long commute - £300

So in theory I have about £600 left to play with. But it just vanishes. I have pets eating me out of house and home and I have wondered about possibly finding alternatives for them but I just couldn’t. Every day I have phone calls about debts I didn’t even know I had springing up seemingly out of nowhere. I am well aware I am a complete disorganised mess with it all.

I really, really don’t want to go down the route of a DMP - what are the alternatives? I naively thought all would be OK once I started working, but it’s not.

Face the fear not the dead

I really had to negotiate with the electricity company as it is to be honest: they were dubious about the £200 but agreed when I cried

I’m in a package with the phone and the internet, it’s tricky.

OK

You've got your head in the sand

Some good advise about changing suppliers for phone gas electric etc - this could save you 100's over a year for a few hours search on the internet.

You need to vote the bullet and did out all your debts and paperwork and answer then phone!

You can't deal with the unknown but you need to have the facts and makes some lists.

These should include the interest rate

Were you claiming any beifits whilst on zero hours contract?

Would you consider a few shifts in a local pub on Friday/Saturday nights?

Can you eBay and use the money to pay off debt?

Get looking

Agree with all the others. Also - your mortgage is quite high for your income. Does that mean you possibly have a spare room you could rent out or Airbnb? Once you've got a handle on debt, it would be helpful to have extra income coming in also.

I would give the pets away tomorrow (sorry but you just can't afford them at present).
Then look at working on one day at the weekends in a shop, pub or something, as well as your full time job so you have a day's extra pay coming in a week.

No, of course no benefits. I don’t know what a lot of the debts are and it feels like every time I am starting to get sorted it gets worse.

Contact Christians Against Poverty, recently recommended by Martin Lewis for debt advice. They really are excellent.

Speak to CAP (google them), they are brilliant at negotiating repayment terms for all your debts.

Can you use public transport to commute, would it be cheaper?
Or as a pp said share with someone.

Is your role possible to do from home? This might not be an immediate solution as you’ve not been there that long but something to consider in the future as a way to cut commute costs.

Where is the ‘leftover’ 600 going?
Which pet food is it and where from - you might be able to save money here if you get it either online or fron B&M for example.

Just wanted to hand hold and say please dig deep and find the courage to face this and to sort it out. It is way better than letting it become a huge bogeyman that stalks your nights.

It’s not as bad as you think.

How do you think you will get a new mortgage deal if you don’t wise up and answer your debt call?

All you need is a spreadsheet with your outgoings. And what you have left over

Which is £600 so divide that by four and that’s what you have each week

£150.00 - food/fuel

I would look for some weekend work or a job closer to home

Christians Against Poverty are brilliant for this kind of thing. No evangelism, just advice and support. Having someone "there" with you in it all is worth so much!

I definitely couldn’t use public transport - I’d be needing to set off again by the time I got home and it wouldn’t be any cheaper!

The £600- I guess on just living. I do need to work it out properly.

I really can’t do a DMP, it would be pointless if I don’t even know about some debts.

You need to do the spreadsheet and then work out whether you can afford to keep the pets.

It's been a long time now but I used to be a money advisor helping people sort out debt. You've had some good advice here but I think you need to gather every single bit of paper ( or online) information you have about each and every debt plus the telephone number that keeps hassling you ( I think Tunis is what you mean) and go to see a debt advisor. You can locate one using this

Seeing someone face to face makes it all much more real, they can answer questions easily and can help you get a handle on what you owe and what your options are. Debt is scary. It's also manageable in the long term. They can help with letters and phone calls. There is usually a big wait though but I seriously think you need to bite the bullet. You can do it online but face to face seems a better option to me for you. In the mean time can you write down everything you owe and to whom, every single penny you spend on anything at all. Eg 55p banana, £2.80 coffee, £800 mortgage. Stop spending any money except in cash and write it down ( you can use an app but paper is my way).

Pets: no you can't afford them but guessing they provide a useful source of love and companionship. Can you look for absolutely bargain food for them? Bulk buying forums? Charities may help and there a are a few pet food banks now ( because rescues can't take on so many pets that people in debt can't afford so this was a way of helping).

Good luck. Facing up to it is the start

You haven't included food for yourself in the outgoings you've listed above, and I'm guessing that will account for a few hundreds of your £600.

You could do with writing down a proper budget, include everything, periodic new clothes if you are going to need them etc. Then go through and see if there is anything that can be reduced - cheaper mobile, internet, gas/elec suppliers etc

CAB, CAP, Money advice service, one of them will sit down with you and get those debt repayments down to a manageable level but you have to be strong and call them. You can do it! The stress you have at the minute must be unbearable. Let someone help you.

Get your head out of the sand and write down and find out what those debts are. Then you can start. You can find out - like answering the phone. You just don't want to.
It's no good moaning if you won't face facts. Then get one of those money management apps on that fancy £40 phone you don't need and can replace with a cheaper more basic contract. You won't want to hear that either because it is essential to you. But it really really isn't. Log every single penny.
The lodger is a good idea. I don't think you pay tax on letting out a bedroom.

Start with a notebook - your costs per month are woefully inadequate as they don't reflect the detail there are plenty of websites for you to plan things in.

Decide a fixed amount that is towards debts and put that to one side is a good start till you decide where it is going.

Council tax is a statutory debt so I would immediately up the payment on that to start covering the backlog.

Gt everything else set to the minimum payments (ensuring they cover interest) and then target one debt (most expensive e.g. credit card) and put everything towards that till its gone and so on. You may need to prioritise bills for things like heating and water but anything you can cut to the bone do it - ie do you really need TV at the moment

Re commuting - is changing your car an option or is there a way to car share or even move longer term

Are you claiming any expenses from new employer - keep on top of that if so and redirect to bills

Leave yourself some play room if you can and allow for work clothes and haircuts and shoes. But get a bit imaginative e.g. have a sat charity shop raiding or have a wardrobe exchange with friends

Take a deep breath and list all of your debts. Your phone bill is way too high. How long until end of contract? Same with broadband.

Speak to the electricity company again, see if you can reduce even by 10 or 20 a month. They will have a departament that manages accounts in arrears, be honest with them.

Go on money saving expert and run their credit card checker, it will tell you (without harming your credit history) if you qualify for any 0% cards. If you have late payments then it's probably unlikely but worth a try. You can then transfer any interest bearing debt onto it.

Your car insurance seems high, did you shop around for it?

You will be able to sort this, but you need to face it first. Come back for more help when you need it, there'll be lots of people that havee been where you are and can help.

I recently changed utility supplier to one with a low customer service rating but it's much cheaper and we got a £50 Amazon voucher. If you recommend others, you can also earn more vouchers.

I have a small car which is cheap to run. I recommend A-Plan for car insurance - saved a small fortune. I've been with them for years now and have recommended them to others who have also been surprised at the saving. Great customer service too.

Check out giffgaff for your mobile phone. I pay £5 a month. You can also make money from them if you answer questions for other customers on their site.

I did 'no spend January' and surprised myself. My cc is now in credit!

Sell your clutter. You've probably got loads of stuff you don't need which you can sell.

Lots of little things can really add up. Good luck with it all.

What is a Tunis, carbuckety? Sorry?

I would estimate the pets cost around £20-30 a week in food, there, I’ve said it out loud. That’s fairly basic cat food (whiskers) but they won’t eat the really cheap stuff from Aldi and they drive me to breaking point.

I’m not trying to moan, sorry. I may be able to look at a lodger in the future but quite a few things in the house don’t work and I haven’t been able to afford to fix them.

You can go on a DMP even if you don't know all of your debts. We've been on one with Step change and we will finally be debt free next March after about 10 years. You have to get youe=r head out of the sand and tackle the debts that you know about. It is scary when you do that, but please believe me, the relief of no more fear when the phone rings or the postman comes is well worth it.

I was terrifed of the phone and the postman. Now none of my creditors has contacted me for nearly 10 years as Stepchange manages the whole thing. Things will only get worse if you refuse to deal with it. If other creditors come along after you have set up your DMP, they will be added on and your payments to the others will decrease to allow payment to be made to the new creditor as well.

You need to deal with this and Step change will help. They understand that you need money to live on and will help you to complete a budget that is sensible and will work.

Please, please OP believe me - it is a weight off your mind knowing that the phone will not ring and bailiffswill not call at your door.

Car insurance is high - I crashed, unfortunately.

You need to get a realistic picture of your outgoings. There's no food, pet food, any other pet costs like litter or bedding, tv license etc on your list.

Go onto MSE and get one of their expense templates and then work out exactly what your monthly spends are. You can't fix anything until you know what kind of income you have to play with is.