Drowning in debt and cannot talk to people in Real Life? A problem shared is a problem brought into perspective - come and join the lens.

[Ta1kinPeace]

This thread is loosely linked to several previous ones on the same topic.

We live in a society that makes it horribly easy to get into debt but makes it incredibly hard to admit you have a problem and even harder to get out of debt.
Everybody is welcome to share problems, ideas, solutions, but not be judgemental please

I am not in debt, any more.
Here is a link to some spreadsheets that might help explain how
SPREADSHEETS-for-Debt-Control-Budgeting-Mortgages-etc

and lots of people use this
YouNeedABudget

The important things to remember are

• yesterday is as past as the Crimean War

( we will not judge how you got into debt, but we will support you on the way out )

• this is an anonymous forum

( we will not tell your employer, family or friends of the reality of your numbers and we are here day and night )

• this thread is about supporting people through the huge mindset changes needed to come out of debt

( feel free to offload all of the feelings that drive you to want to spend, that make it hard to save and that generally make life crap at times, including getting those closest to you to recognise the changes needed )

Join in, bare your soul and come out the other end.
Its worth it.
You are worth it
The long term results for you, your partner, your children, and your friends and family are worth it.

Hi Lea,
Welcome to a very good corner of MN
first off, convert your Tesco and Very repayments to standing orders and cancel the direct debits and then ignore them.
THe overdraft will be killing you on charges so that is the tip top priority.
How did it happen?

Kids clothes - charity shops I'm afraid - but if you go to a naice market town you will be able to get loads for the price of two new things.

Fridge freezer - defrost it first.

Kitten - will the vet consider a payment plan as pets are an expensive luxury, but good for the soul.

Work - start looking for a seasonal christmas job NOW

Housing Benefit - do not phone them. Do everything by letter as then they have to be more careful what they say and promise.

I need a lot of help with my debts.
Most evenings we are too scared to go to our house in case people show up.

I have £20 to last a week. Very little food left in the house.
1/4 tank of petrol. Need petrol to get kids to school and nursery.

It will be a long week...

Thanks for the quick reply.
How do I put my credit card and very account on to standing orders? I can't seem to find the account number and sort codes for either of them, should I ring them?
As for how I got in this situation.. Christmas, last year. Myself and my partner had just left the seasonal job and I was back on benefits and he was doing very little work and getting taxed ridiculous amounts on it. We struggled so much with just day to day living costs along with trying to buy presents for everyone, especially my daughter. We managed to have a good Christmas but at the expense of payday loans and then eventually the credit card. Thankfully this Christmas is sorted. I set up a saving scheme with Park so this Christmas is paid for.
The overdraft happened when I went into my bank to talk about my financial problems and they offered me a bigger facility which I stupidly accepted even knowing if I went this far into it I would never get out of it. I could just about manage to get out of £200 so this seems impossible.
My biggest problems seems to be having no savings meaning that whilst trying to pay off all my outstanding debts, I have little left over for neccessary things like new clothes. My daughter is 3 so quickly grows out of clothes or they get ruined when she's out playing so needs must. Not to mention a lot of things seem to happen all at once. I feel like I can't catch a break being constantly bombarded with companies needing to be paid or unexpected costs. The fridge freezer has been on hold for months already, having to defrost it manually every 2 weeks on the dot otherwise we lose all our fridge contents as it gets dangerously warm in there.

lealexa
when your card statement next comes, after you have checked that every item on it is correct, look at the payment slip at the bottom.
That will have all of the details you need to set up a standing order from your online banking.
Make it for what you paid last month plus £2 (or rounded up to the nearest fiver)
Have it go out of your bank two days before the direct debit did
and then cancel the direct debit.

If you plug your numbers into the spreadsheet (see thread somewhere on the board) you'll see how the magic trick works.

whycantI
Sounds like you need to talk to stepchange. They are fab.

Thanks. Will give the spreadsheet a go when I get my laptop. Is it easy to understand? I'm useless with spreadsheets
I've found the account & sort code for the credit card - thanks, will set it up now. Had a look at my very statement but nothing on there to allow me to set up a standing order, annoying really as that's the one that I could do with not having to worry about! Any ideas?

Lea If you call the Cats Protection League they should help you with the cost of spaying your kitten.

Thanks Angel I'll give them a call and see what they say. I wasn't actively looking to get another cat, I've got one already but a friend didn't want her anymore and I'm a sucker for unwanted cats/kittens!!

lea
no credit card will EVER encourage you to set up a standing order
as by paying with Direct debit you are paying them hundreds over many, many years
paying by standing order drops it to a fraction of that and a couple of years

I'm starting to see what you mean Talkin I've found both sort codes and account numbers after looking realllyyyy carefully (squinting) at the small print on my statements. I've set up the standing order for the credit card now and guesstimated that at £5 above the minimum payment, it will take me about 19 months to pay off. Pretty sure the interest free period extends that long but I'll have to double check.

Finally found the information I needed for very although I've only got 7 months of buy now and pay later left so it's going to be an expensive repayment if I try to do it within that time frame and considering the state of my overdraft, I'm not convinced I'll be able to do it

Lea have a look at Dave Ramsey website etc he has "baby steps" for getting out of debt. First step is to save $1000 (or equivalent) which I have never been able to do (or save even €5 but never mind that !) but tbh I think it's based on the assumption you have enough to live on after paying debts min payments. If that's not the case you need to get help to get min payments reduced. Then once you have enough to live on (eat etc) you should save something towards things going wrong so you don't get into more debt if that happens. Then you pay off your debts starting with the lowest balance etc etc
I would see if the bank will convert your overdraft into a loan (assuming you can afford repayments) and try and pay it off.

The beginning is the worst & dealing with creditors very tough but you'll get there ! Don't be tempted to take out consolidating loan as it just doesn't work in my experience.

Lea also try and get a free fridge freezer - have a look at freecycle.org & other similar sites. If you look ev day or more something will pop up for definite. Try wanted on gumtree too or even a local charity let them know you need it badly ! There are ways.

Yes - it does happen. About four years ago, I moved into a place that had one - still working fine - and ended up giving that one to charity and keeping my own. People often upgrade kitchens and put out working white goods as a result as well.

Sorry - five years ago. But the principle holds, I think.

Yes
I've given away white goods

Hi again,read though half of the threads....the changing from direct debit to standing order....does it make a difference if the card is on 0% interest fre

petal
no, for interest free cards it makes less difference, but it does still chew through the balance quicker
and being a fixed amount you can then ignore that debt till its gone

Thanks...so lots of credit cards with 0 % interest or some 4 % not worth doing a lone to just have one payment going out?

Me too ! Bought our chest freezer (under counter) on little woods tho - nearly paid off ! 🙄

capuk.org

petal
clear down anything with interest first, pay the utter minimum on the 0%
then when the interest ones are gone, whack the 0% in turn by which one runs out first

toberich
glad its nearly gone
the all up costs of those "deals" is horrific

MSE website has the best 0% deals
Also best savings accounts
Just changed boys CTFs to cash isas and will now get 3.25% interest

Yes cap are great, I've mentioned them before 😂

My emojis have gone weird, sorry

Thanks for all your messages! I will definitely look into those websites if it gets to that point. At the moment I think all it needs is a control board of some kind, that's what the repair guys told me but didn't specify a price and it'll be £60 alone to call them out again so however much the part is on top of that. Have no spare money at the moment to do it so it's been on the back burner for a while. Didn't want to have to buy a new one or get another one second hand if I didn't have to since its only 3 years old anyway! Fingers crossed getting sorted with the debts will free up some spare money before it gets any worse