High income but deep deep in debt-any advice?

A question about : High income but deep deep in debt-any advice?

Hi- I am in massive debt including an overdraft, personal loans, credit cards and more recently to make my life worse payday loans. I got in the mess a couple of years back when i lost my job. ended up accumulating debt in the hope that will be able to pay back when i find on. took me almost 2 years to find a job by which i was deep in debt on personal loans that i promised to pay back moment i find a job. did find a decent job with a high income (100k+) but monthly loan repayments that i am on promise to pay back plus the pay day loans means am back to zero in the first week of the month.

I have a family with a kid, and i am really really struggling every single month- this is even affecting my family and job due to constant stress and depression. bankruptcy or debt plan etc are not an option as i dont want to risk my job. on +ve side, all i need is 6 mths or so debt relief and i would be ok. but each day survival is tough - i know if i survived the next 6 mths, my job would take care of me so i dont want to risk my job at all by either stop paying whosoever i owe or with sort of plan that let my employer find out about my situation.

I am really on edge with my situation and each day sounds like a month in itself without no cash so dunno how i will survive 6 mths- it seems credit scores only look at one side of the equation ie. current debt rather than also looking at the income and earnings situation. can anyone help and advise pls- else am spoiling my credit score further by applying to random companies. my bank (natwest) is useless, my salary has been going there for last 6 mths, and before that for 7+ years apart from the 2-yr jobless period but they just keep on saying that my credit score is bad and i should wait for 6 mths to apply for a loan. the point is i wont need a loan in 6 mths- i need it now. and if they have salary coming into the account, they know the ability to pay. but it seems they are more interested in the overdraft fees they can charge every time i keep missing a payment here and there than genuinely helping me.

Best answers:

• In a heavy situation like this, i would advise speaking to the bank to make a sizeable consolidation loan up to Ј25000, use it to pay off loads of trivia which frees up some monthly outgoings, take it over 7 years to minimise monthly repayment. two years in you can re-work it to reduce the term/cost. Do not just look to NATWEST, there are emerging players trying to get hold but if NAWEST are being difficult i appreciate your options are limited.
  Then look what is left and do the usual of highest APR first.
  Other outgoings of rent etc require a lot of work but there are always savings we can make, right up to 8p showergell!
• post some details
  https://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html
• Hi Debthelp
  Welcome to the board; you've made the first step
  Please can you fill in an soa; that clapton has given you a link to. There are lots of lovely people on here who can give you some great advise once you've posted an soa. Lots of these people have and still are going through exactly the same situation; you are not alone and you can get through this
• Thanks sss- i have asked natwest for exaclty that- give me a loan for any period longer than 1 year. i dont probably need 7 yrs to pay back. but i need to pay back all payday and credit cards which are just killing me every month/ i had a loan from them (overdraft converted to loan when i lost my job 2 years), that one was for 10k - i have paid it without missing.delaying any payments and now only 4 more payments are left.. around 400/mth. they wont give me another loan for 6 mths. i am saying if i can get a consolidated loan for 20-25k from them, pay off that 1.5k loan, all the payday loans and credit cards then the problem is gone. but i have tried 3-4 times, they just refuse referring to my credit score. am just hitting a brick wall here... feel like giving up some time but have survived for 2 yrs without and 6 mths already, its now the last 6 mths so cant give up now. but each day is so tough and sometimes its annoying to know that how easy it is for someone like bank to help. the whole system seems irrational and more geared towards driving someone to ruin when they are down rather than helping the situation out. in summary, i think the credit scoring system is the main issue here- everyone seems to use it so no wonder i get declined by everyone apart from ppl who want 2300% apr etc. its just beats me why these credit scoring systems dont have my annual income as one of he inputs.
• try taking it over 7 years 2 reasons:
  banks like long tern income
  Banks see lower repayments are more likely to be acheivable
  Your advisor gets incrementally more, the higher value and longer term so its in their interest to work with you for a commission return.
• It's impossible to provide proper advise or reasons to why you have been refused until we have full details; income and expenditure
  You may well have a huge amount of debt already and the bank don't want to add to that; how do they know you will pay off other loans and credit cards?
  You may also have access to a lot of credit already and they don't want to add to it
  You really need to post an soa so we have a better picture
• tried posting but getting this error message:
  Sorry as a new user you are not allowed to post with links. This is done to stop spammers clogging up the site. Please edit your message below to continue.
• that was for posting SOA
• Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
  Household Information
  Number of adults in household........... 2
  Number of children in household......... 1
  Number of cars owned....................
  Monthly Income Details
  Monthly income after tax................ 7915
  Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
  Benefits................................ 0
  Other income............................ 0
  Total monthly income.................... 7915
  Monthly Expense Details
  Mortgage................................ 0
  Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
  Rent.................................... 1495
  Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
  Council tax............................. 140
  Electricity............................. 80
  Gas..................................... 25
  Oil..................................... 0
  Water rates............................. 0
  Telephone (land line)................... 45
  Mobile phone............................ 25
  TV Licence.............................. 15
  Satellite/Cable TV...................... 44
  Internet Services....................... 0
  Groceries etc. ......................... 900
  Clothing................................ 300
  Petrol/diesel........................... 0
  Road tax................................ 0
  Car Insurance........................... 0
  Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
  Car parking............................. 0
  Other travel............................ 150
  Childcare/nursery....................... 1240
  Other child related expenses............ 0
  Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 30
  Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
  Buildings insurance..................... 0
  Contents insurance...................... 0
  Life assurance ......................... 0
  Other insurance......................... 0
  Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
  Haircuts................................ 30
  Entertainment........................... 0
  Holiday................................. 0
  Emergency fund.......................... 0
  Total monthly expenses.................. 4519
  
  Assets
  Cash.................................... 0
  House value (Gross)..................... 0
  Shares and bonds........................ 55000
  Car(s).................................. 0
  Other assets............................ 0
  Total Assets............................ 55000
  
  No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
  Unsecured Debts
  Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
  Payday loans...................3200......3200......1500
  Credit cards...................24000.....550.......20
  Overdraft......................5500......80....... .20
  Total unsecured debts..........32700.....3830......-
  
  Monthly Budget Summary
  Total monthly income.................... 7,915
  Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 4,519
  Available for debt repayments........... 3,396
  Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 3,830
  Amount short for making debt repayments. -434
  Personal Balance Sheet Summary
  Total assets (things you own)........... 55,000
  Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
  Total Unsecured debt.................... -32,700
  Net Assets.............................. 22,300
• you like your food?
• Best thing to do is try to make an arrangement with payday loans to pay back over 6 months. Change your bank account so they can't access your salary. Are you really paying Ј900 per month on groceries? Even so if you cut back one month on clothes and groceries you should be able to clear the payday loans and start afresh.
• sorry, groceries include lunch at work and food and other grocies for 3 people and any other sunderies. some of the expenses are on high side like childcare and rent due also to pressure to keep marriage working. end of day, its my fault to have accumulated so much debt in the first place, and it would be last straw to break my marriage if i moved house or suggested to my wife that we changed my daughter's nursery.
  as i said, lots of complications- all my own creation by adding up the debt. so pls request not to tease and advise how do i best get out if u can.
  many thnx in advance.
• what kills me is i work for over 65-70 hrs a week in most stressful environment, earn what is at the very top end and still dont have cash to survive every month. if i get a consolidated loan with no outgoing for 6 mths, i am sorted. but seems no one wants to help. and i cant really let anyone know the real situation so dependent on a bank for help whom i can pay in 6 mths. but cannot as my credit score is awful with that debt history.
• sorry, should have mentioned but there was no place to mention in SOA
  stock is "unvested"- i cannot sell the stock till 6 mths- thats why i keep on saying that i need loan only for 6 mths. thats obvious thing to do- will sell stock the day it vest and get rid of all debt. but my bank (natwest) refuses to acknowledge any value to unvested stock. 55000 is based on today's market value.
• OP looking at your SOA I do think you have massive scope to reduce your outgoings. You are living outwith of your means and you need to get a handle on this as a priority. Ive commented below against the areas you could review
  Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
  Household Information
  Number of adults in household........... 2
  Number of children in household......... 1
  Number of cars owned....................
  Monthly Income Details
  Monthly income after tax................ 7915
  Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
  Benefits................................ 0
  Other income............................ 0
  Total monthly income.................... 7915
  Monthly Expense Details
  Mortgage................................ 0
  Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
  Rent.................................... 1495
  Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
  Council tax............................. 140
  Electricity............................. 80 (look at changing supplier?)
  Gas..................................... 25
  Oil..................................... 0
  Water rates............................. 0
  Telephone (land line)................... 45
  Mobile phone............................ 25
  TV Licence.............................. 15
  Satellite/Cable TV...................... 44(opt for Freeview)
  Internet Services....................... 0
  Groceries etc. ......................... 900 (this is way over the top to feed three)
  Clothing................................ 300 (also way over the top)
  Petrol/diesel........................... 0
  Road tax................................ 0
  Car Insurance........................... 0
  Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
  Car parking............................. 0
  Other travel............................ 150 (what is this made up of?)
  Childcare/nursery....................... 1240
  Other child related expenses............ 0
  Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 30
  Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
  Buildings insurance..................... 0
  Contents insurance...................... 0
  Life assurance ......................... 0
  Other insurance......................... 0
  Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
  Haircuts................................ 30 (again way over the top)
  Entertainment........................... 0
  Holiday................................. 0
  Emergency fund.......................... 0
  Total monthly expenses.................. 4519