I am starting to feel the weight of all my debts mounting up. In total I owe 1.5 times what I earn a year and I don't even have mortgage! Most of the debt is on credit cards.

I don't think I would be eligible for a loan (to consolidate) because of some problems repaying the card debts in the past.

Has anyone been in this situation before? How did you find a way out? I feel very frustrated and my life is quite empty without having much to spend at the end of each month. Its getting me down....

What can I do?

Have you destroyed the credit cards to start with?

have you any assets you can sell?

Yes, a very difficult psychological step as I had become quite reliant on them. Which perpetuates the problem obviously.

Nothing of any value sadly, still live at home, can't afford to replcae the car I wrote off last year, so no real material assets.

1. Cut up the cards.

2. Call each company and explain that you are having problems and work out a repayment plan for the next few months to help. If you are up front with them they will generally help you out.

3. Never ignore a letter from them. Keeping in contact with them will benefit you and them.

4. If you have any assets that you can sell to clear some of the balance(s) then do.

5. If you have time in your life. Get a part time job. Any extra that you earn from this MUST go on paying off your balanse(s).

6. Stay calm and focused on paying off these debts.

It will not be an overnight fix but you will get there with some determination.

Set yourself a rule that you will not buy anything again unless you have the money spare or yousave for it and buy it when you do have.

Good luck.

Jason.

:D

You can join my club if you want:)

do you have a partner who could help you out?

If you don't have a partener, get one with a rich daddy :)

Ignore Carpet! If you do have a partner, the worst thing you can do is drag them down with you. This is something you have to get out of yourself and learn by it. Having someone bail you out is not the answer!

have you tried saving all your bills from a weeks worth of buys??

if you put them all in an envelope somewhere that you wont forget...then at the end of the week, look at them all and just see how much you are spending.

you will almost certainly be spending much more than you actually need to...so this could help you cut down saving some money there.


also...have you tried transferring all you existing credit cards to one credit card which has one of these 0% on transfers and balances for so many months???? that way you can cut up your credit cards..and just focus on one without totting up interest on the money you dont pay off each month.

a bloke (i cant remember his name now) has a book out all about getting yourself out of debt. hes very very good. had his own tv programme about it. you should go try and find it.

hope this helps???

Speak to someone at your local Citizens' Advice Bureau. They will help in any way they can.

Thanks for all the advice, its going to be a long term recovery to get back on track.

I may try the 'lump everything onto a 0% rated card' approach. I think Egg have a deal on transferring balances onto their card.

The most frustrating thing is that I have very little to show for my debt, certainly nothing tangible.

I doubt you'll be able to transfer that sort of balance to an 0% card but it's worth getting as much as poss transferred

egg are going 0% interest on balance transfers and buys until January 2004 at the moment.

I got one a few months ago and have a limit up to £6k on it.

http://www.find.co.uk/mcc/?Partner=google

this link shows deals that credit cards are doing, and is updated daily. sorry...dont know how to make it clickable.

:D

Get yourself an alternative income......

Where theres a will, theres a way, get a weekend job, or do something at night, bar work, taxis , whatever, this is the best way out.

the book costs £50.00 LOL

BB:)

extra job, wont hurt, and the 0% should take the pressure off abit and allow you to get the debt reduced quicker.

all the best

BB:)

£50!!!!!


bu66er....no wonder he isnt in debt!!!!

someone I know joined a stripping agency and did Stag nights and stuff for a while. She got £200 for a Saturday night's work and always worked in pairs with a minder. No touching and just involved being stupid with shaving foam ect

this is a valid suggestion you have to sell what you can

Hi

The book is "Your Money or Your Life" £5.59 at Amazon.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0340823208/qid=1055938707/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_3_1/202-7181387-6982225

As for Credit card RBS Advanta do 0% for balance transfers for 10 months!! Apply online and design your own card to get this.

Cheers
Adrian

How on earth did you manage it?

When do people realise that they have a problem?

Can you sleep at night?

Cut the cards up now!

And get another job, for evenings and weekends!

Go into your local Barclays and try to get one of their cards.
Its 0% for the life of the balance. You must spend at least £1/mth on the card but you so arrange a monthly direct debit to a charity or something worthwhile. Then cut the card up so you can't use it.
Don't be down on yourself. Learn the lesson and carry on.
Good Luck.

Ever thought of moving to Brazil? I heard its very nice this time of year ;)

Sorry not not much help really I know, can't really add anything to whats already been said, cut them up now and work your ar$e off to pay them off.

I would suggest a loan not a card - lumping it in a 0% car seems fine but the temptation to use that card will still be there! I know from experience on that one:D

Right, so far I have managed to get approved for an Egg vard for about 10% of my total debt. 0% until next Jan, which should help a little.

I already have a Barclaycard, its one of my main offenders for high interest! Might see if they'll swap it?

I'm not averse to working hard to pay it off, I've even though of doing PC repairs, home set-ups in my spare time.

It's really very reassuring to know other people have made the same mistakes and moved on.

Roger

cutting the cards is the only way followed by giving yourself a set amount of cash each week and sticking to it. When the money runs out then that's it till next cashpoint time

If you stick to this then you'll eventually dig yourself out

Don't forget a 4 pack is a fiver a w@nk costs nothing:D

I was in your shoes a while back, now all I owe is my car and bike insurance and it's liberating. I'm paying out about £600 a month less than I was before. It was hard work but definately worth it, now I enjoy planning how I'm going to save and then spend my money rather than thinking "I need it now!"

This may make you feel Better.its the U.S national debt.


Anyway,you could always start a cyber begging site,ie here.
Just pretend to be a flat chested blonde and start a website to raise money for implants,there's loads of suckers out there who'd donate....

:).....

hahah qwaliteeee

BB:)

rogp - you can always find loads of people much worse off, and people in surprising positions getting foobarred by debt.

I have a client who earns £120k. Take home pay is about 6.5k a month. He does have a large mortgage (300k - £1500.00 per month), but owes so much on credit cards that after he makes all his minimum payments and mortgage payment he has about £1100 per month for everything else. This is the same as someone on 16k with no debts. He won't tell me how much he owes on credit cards but as the minimum payment is usually between 3 and 5% he must have about 100 - 120k outstanding. If he doesn't spend money on anything else he may be able to clear his card balances in 5 or 6 years. :eek: