Advice please? Not back to work after maternity leave & debt

[Jenniferb21]

Hiya

I have a 2 year old (soon to be turning 3 so will get free hours of childcare) and also have 6 month old twins. I’m not going to go back to work because paying for even 2 to be in childcare would defeat the object.

But I’ve got about £2k on a credit card. Would the credit card company expect DH to become responsible for the debt? I don’t know what to do and DH knows about it but isn’t very impressed because he’s paying off his own credit card (we had to buy a lot more inc a new car that we hadn’t anticipated and wouldn’t have needed if we’d of just had one baby)

Does anyone have any advice for me
Please?

Just to confirm if I’m not working I have no income and will be totally reliant upon DH we aren’t on benefits and not entitled to any. DH earns just under £50k. I used to earn £30k plus bonuses. We aren’t struggling to pay bills or anything but because of the credit cards we aren’t comfortable either.

Thank you x

I think if you are married it becomes a joint debt.
I am not sure. Could you ring the credit card company and arrange for a repayment plan?

Your dh is not responsible for the debt, but your joint martial assets can be seized to pay it.

No answer to your question... But would it not be cheaper (less interest) if DH takes a loan out and paid off both credit cards?
Because if you don't pay towards yours, you are going to get hit with an insane about of interest... Surely it would be in the better for the family finances to pay it off. You need to think as US not MINE / HIS.

A credit card debt is your sole responsibility unless it was a joint card. I worked in card services debt recovery for many years. You will need to fill out an income and expenditure form and offer a payment if you can't keep up minimum repayments. Even a token payment is better than nothing.

Not ideal but you can meet the min payment by using child benefit. Until your back in work I'd just do that

If your DH is on £50k you need to shrink your spending by the £80 a month it will take to set the card up on a standing order and have it gone in less than two years.

How much is on his cards?
Does he have them on standing orders?

Perhaps try to transfer it to a zero interest card and pay it back when you are back in work or yes if all finances are joint then I assume on a salary of 50k your husband could pay a small amount off each month. Or could you do a few hours work at a weekend to avoid childcare fees - we had 4 kids under seven and had to just work around each other to avoid debts building up and because childcare costs would have wiped out any benefits of us both working.