I am currently struggling terribly with our finances. We have 2 under 3 and Both me and my partner work full time, myself shiftwork so unable to take up part time jobs and we are drowning in debt. We have a car loan and personal loan (old car which broke and left paying it off) plus i stupidly took out two short term loans and on top of bills, daycare (only go two days a week) and everyday expenses i am falling behind terribly. I am going to call the bank to see if i can organise something with my personal loan but i don't know what else i can do. I feel like an idiot for allowing us to get into so much debt and i just don't know what else i can do. I think in starting to suffer anxiety as i keep getting weird chest pains like my heart is pumping really hard and even now i can feel my arms shaking because in so stressed plus i have lost so much weight im 163cm and weigh 51kgs. I can't ask family for help as they helped us out last year with our bond when we moved and my dad is probably losing his job so they cant afford it. I just feel so embarrassed about it and haven't told anyone at all as i am in a good paying job and shouldn't been in this situation Please anyone have any tips on what i can do.
7 Replies
Can you possibly get another bank loan to pay out all of your debts so then it's just the 1 loan payment every week. Thats what we did but i know it's not always possible for some. Best of luck i know the feeling it's horrible
Unfortunately my credit rating i believe is not good enough, i do have a credit union account so i may try them as i know they usually are better than normal banks. Thanks
I was in this situation not long ago,
My husband and I had $30,000 in loans and car payments on top of bills and very high rent, the best thing I can advise is to get on excel and make a budget, definitely go to your bank and try to consolidate the loans if possible, my husbands credit rating was atrocious and it took a few tries before they helped us.
The other trick I have is break up your bills such as phone/internet so if it's $100 a month pay $25 a week, telstra and most banks don't care if you pay like that and if your account goes into credit it comes off the next bill. Doing that saved our skin big time, you won't notice $25 going every week but at the end of the month $100 really hurts in one lump sum.
We are now down to 8 months left on our loans and 6 months left on car payments and we will be almost debt free at the end of it all... It does get easier but utilize every pay and breakdown those bills!
Also put gas, water and electricity on payment plans and say you can pay $40-$70 per week, whatever you can afford, those companies are great with payment plans also if you don't have all those accounts with one company then try to switch them, they give great bundle deals now if you have everything on one account, we got 12% off our total bill for bundling!!... Oh and one last thing, you will get there, it totally sucks when you're struggling with money but the best thing is that you've asked for help!
Good luck!
I like the idea of actually putting money into the bill accounts. I had always put money in a separate account for bills but always end up pulling it all back out. And i have been meaning to set up a payment schedule for electricity and gas, must do it now. Thanks for both being so understanding, as whenever i talk to my mum about money she always belittles me and makes me feel bad about my situation
We used to try to put money into a separate account for bills but you're right, you always end up stealing it back to pay for other things, if it's gone directly to the bill you might be low on cash but atleast you're paying off the bills in the long run.
Try and consolidate all your loans into one if possible. You can also contact your bank and get your loan repayments lowered for a few months to help in the short term.
Speak to your gp about your health sounds like anxiety/depression if you get a referral to see a psychologist it's covered by Medicare.
IF you try to consolidate and they won't help you, go to a reputable debt relief place, after several deaths etc in our family our financials spiraled out of control, we had bout $24,000 debt and no one would help us (even tho the bank said it would raise our mortgage by a tiny $20 a month - saving us $800 a month in repayments apparently we couldn't afford it!!!!) so we went to debt relief and they got us into a part 9 debt agreement - it's not bankruptcy, but all our debts were put into 1 repayment the interest was stopped and the repayment goes on what you can afford, the counsellor worked out a budget for us - it's going to take 5 years (1 down already) but it completely took the pressure away and made life worth living again, I had gotten so depressed about it all I was reading through my life insurance policy to see how I could end it all, cos I knew I was covered enough to pay out the house and leave enough for a new car and nice holiday for hubby and the kids if I died.... That's how low I got, please don't wait till you get to rock bottom before you get help.... The only catch is you can't borrow again for 7 years but in my eyes if you can have the amount you're paying back there each month, when you finish paying out the debt you should be able to save that much each month... And therefore hopefully not need to borrow again... They debt counsellor said that once you've paid the debt out lenders do lend to you again... So don't be afraid of looking into it... Saved my life that's for sure.... Best of luck and big hugs - cos I know where you are.... There is help out there.... xx