Im a Full time employed single mum of 2 year old trying to clear debt of 10000.I havent a penny?

please offer genuine advice n dont jus say i shouldn of got into debt people make mistakes.bcause of missing payments because i had to put my son first i hav bad credit and cant get a consoldation loan im paying back 4 cards a bank loan and car finance as well as my household bills of 850 am i the only dick in this situation.

ur not the only one, i ended up in a mess because of a divorce, suggest u contact paypal find them on the net, they are a government sponsored free service that will help u sort finances out, very good they calculate what u can afford, u pay them they then pay ur debtors, mostly they also get all interest and charges stopped so u dont get any worst good luck sorting it will help feel a lot better

Can you sell anything? Like your MP3 player, TV, DVD player etc etc etc.

how about selling the car and buying a cheaper one, cut down on use of washing machine and computers. don't make any unimportant outgoing calls, switch off any non essential electrical items don't leave them on standby. finally ask family and friends for help

Make a plan. Start for paying the debt with the highest revolving (not fix) rate. Then, when you are done add this amount to the money your a paying on your second highest rate debt, and so on. If you need to incur in more debt, try to negociate a fix rate and do not use your credit cards until you are in a better position.

Hi sounds like you need expert help to sort this out try pay plan they are not like the firms you see on the TV they are completely free and will if they can help you have nothing to lose by giving them a ring hope this helps

http://www.payplan.com/?WT.srch=1

What about debt consolidation? That way you mite have to pay back a tad more but you will only have one monthly small payment. x

for a start you need some sensible advice. go to citizens advice, you may be able to wipe out some of the debt.. i wish i could help you more. but you need professional advice.

I agree with selling your car and getting a cheaper one, you can get ok cars for under 拢1k. Have a clear out and sell anything and everything you don't need.

This might sound lame but I'm sure i've seen adverts on TV etc for companies offering help to those in a lot of debt, they claim that they can help you pay off debt faster and will help you deal with it, I can't remember all the names of the companies, i remember one being called Ocean Finance or something, maybe you could look for them on the net?

First of all my heart goes out to you any single parent will understand how hard this is. Have you tried contacting the CAB? They are usually very good in this situation to help you come up with a plan. There are lots of people in your situation so do not feel alone. Good luck.

I know exactly how you feel hunney, I was in the same situation I still am now to be honest but I am now married, I was on my own with my son until he was 5 years old, and I got into terrible debt, the only thing I kept doing was taking larger and larger loans to consolidate,
then eventually when I met my husband we got a 125% mortage which paid off all my debts and some of his.
I havent changed though as I have just ran my credit cards back up again!!.
If you cannot get a loan I would do what a friend of mine did and went to one of the debt busters agencies, or just cut back on everything cancel all the luxurys for a while such as sky, internet mobiles, take aways etc 10 grand isnt actually too big of a debt i owed at least 25k
try writing to your creditors trust me they will try to help if it means getting their money back as the alternative will be you go bankrupt and they wont get back a penny then.
Going bankrupt is also a good alternative.
at the end of the day just dont worry about it, its only money and what can they actually do to ya, as long as you offer to pay something a month you cant be punished.
Good luck I hope you get sorted out. x

Go to your local citizens advise, explain the situation. There are trained specialists that can give you advise on what to do and who to speak to. You may be able to enter into some voluntary agreements to ease payment presures and make things a little easier. Sit down and review your life style. Cut out the things you can do with out, Set your self a target and achive it. Keep in the back of your mind that if you keep your head down now, and push to clear your debts you will have a better future. Dont sit back and do nothing things will just keep getting worse.
Good luck and I hope you manage to get things sorted, or get the winning lottery ticket!!!

First things first and that isn鈥檛 paying off the credit cards. You and your child need to get to where you can afford food, clothing, shelter, transportation and utilities. If that means talking to a relative or somebody at a church to stay on a temporary basis, fine.

If you are like me, you and your child probably have this addiction to food. I suggest you talk to your current employer and explain this fact to him and that if he doesn鈥檛 put you on a more regular schedule you will be inclined to look for work elsewhere. Additionally, you might want to see if there is any work you can do. Like pet sitting or house cleaning.

After you have steady income I suggest you start saving for an emergency fund. This is for EMERGENCIES ONLY! A new dress or the latest new shoes for the little one is not an emergency. Put it in a place where you will actually have to break the glass to get to it. I suggest saving $1000. CASH! I don鈥檛 know how old your child is, but I am guessing he or she will get sick. That鈥檚 what happens when you have kids. When they do, you will need that money to pay for medicine.

At this time I suggest you start a budget. You look at what you are bringing home. You figure what you will need for food, clothing, shelter, transportation and utilities. You save for your emergency fund.

During this time, you are not paying on credit cards. You are doing you best just to provide an existence for you and your child. Chances are you will fall behind on your CC bills. You might get calls from collectors wondering when you will be paying them. More often than not, they will more than likely say nasty things about you, your family and anyone else. I suggest you read the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to know your rights. If they start abusing you over the phone, hang up on them. Just remember they are not your friends.

Now, after you have your basic needs taken care of, you have steady income, a budget and $1000 cold hard cash emergency fund in place. You can start to do one of two things. You could first, maybe start saving and looking for a place to live. Or, if your host doesn鈥檛 mind you staying, start paying off your debt using the debt snowball. This means listing all your debts from smallest to largest and paying them off one by one. Some will say pay off the one with the highest APR% to save money in the long run. They are right BUT we are looking for emotional wins more than saving money in the long run. And if you have to dip into your emergency fund, replenish it first before going back to paying your CC bills.

You sound desperate so my advice has been very direct. If I have offended, I apologize. However, when I read your question, I got the feeling you were real need.

You might be asking, 鈥淲hat about my credit rating?鈥?In your situation, credit score is not something to be concerned about. If you try for an apartment, yes they look at credit scores. But there are other ways to work it out. Showing your budget history from the past months, first & last months rent and your job history to the manager might convince him to overlook your credit score.

Do NOT consolidate debt. They trash your credit score as if you filed bankruptcy. And, if you lose your job, you are responsible for everything once again. All that money you paid to them will be gone. It happened to me.

Do NOT take out another loan. You can鈥檛 get out of a hold by digging deeper. It is up to you to take control of the situation and stop the lending.

Do NOT use any more credit cards. Your emergency fund will help you. CCs carry interest rates and compounded over time you spend way more money than they are worth.

Do NOT declare bankruptcy. First, it cost me $1200 for a lawyer. And, right now it sounds like cash is in short supply. Second, it is a gut wrenching process to go through. Showing up in court is no fun.

Finally, seek financial advice. There are broke financial advisors and successful ones. Make sure to do your research.

I hope this advice helps. Take care and good luck.

What I do write down everthing, all my incomings and outgoings, that way I can see where I'm spending too much.

Also, try comparing your energy suppliers for cheaper rates and savings with other suppliers, like electric etc.

The only other thing I would suggest is that key word budget.

Unfortunately it is very easy to get into debt, and hard to get out of it. Have you been to somewhere like CAB, or a debt counsellor? they may be able to give you some guidelines.

Otherwise, if you want to do it completely on your own, sit down and work out a budget, include all income and expenses, first of all see how much you have left over, then take an honest look at where you could possible save on expenses. You also need to write down a list of to who and how much you owe, then work out how much you can afford to pay each. I think the professionals will tell you to concentrate on get rid of the debt with the highest interest first. You will also need to write to every creditor explaining that you are in difficulties and suggest what you can afford to pay them each month and mention that if your situation improves you may be able to increase payment. They are more likely to take a kinder view if they know you are making an effort to clear your debts.

Be prepared for it to take a long time, try and make realistic goals, and don't feel pressured into buying something you can't afford. It's not easy but you can do it and it will be worth it, you'll have a sense of achievement when it's all over.

Few possibilities:

1. First start by not adding to your debt.
2. Don't buy things you don't really need, to impress the people you don't like with the money you don't have.
3. Cut all your credit cards, only buy things you need, food, clothing (most people have it, except your son as he is growing, buy larger sizes), bills.
4. Sell your stuff on ebay, local newspapers
5. Debt is a mindset (in the head), change the cause and effect will follow. As yourself seriously why are you debt, no blame to others. Make a list of reasons. Stop doing all them things.
6. Make some money by working, try some house related jobs. Many things. It depends your experience, and abilities and opportunities in your area. When you are making money, one thing is for sure, that you are not incurring debt.
7. Find someone nice to support you, such a parent, grandparent, friend, cousin - just ask. You will be amazed how many will help.

All the best.

I have a business background in this area. I note that reference is made to CAB - their fine and in turn will refer you to Payplan who are also mentioned in the thread. Alot will depend on if any of your debt is secured on property or vehicles. If all unsecured they will put you onto a debt management programme.

Bad credit is one of the worst problems to have... however there exists a solution.

I will hereby talk from my personal experience.

I did debt consolidation a couple of years ago, however If I had to do it again I would pay to some minor details,
if someone wants to get out of debt today it is pretty easy with a debt consolidation plan, however it may get a bit tricky at times, I suggest you get as much information as possible online on this first,

a good place to start in my humble opinion is astraight to the point ebook with question and answer I found :

http://umgarticles.atspace.com/debt-cons...

if it helps kindly remember me in your voting!.. cheers!

hey liddle chicken,let your circumstances decide,weigh up the pros and cons with regaurds to the unhelpfull people ya talking too.go to citizens advice,they are the cheifs and if they cant help,,,,,,,play dumb and go bankcrupt....i did and im laughing

go to your local county court and fill in forms to declare yourself bankrupt,there will be a small fee but nothing like what you owe and this should clear all your debt.