tt lady:

I'd have thought your bf would be eligible for job seekers allowance at the least.

From being in a similar situation myself I can pretty much assure you that he won't be eligible for JSA. For some reason, this government thinks that as long as one person works more than 16 or so hours a week, the partner doesn't need any money. In short; a full-time worker is expected to support his/her partner as long as the partner is out of work - and given the state of the unemployment crisis that could be for some time. It stinks but unfortunately the powers that be prefer to throw money at people who don't want to work, rather than those of us who genuinely need the help from time to time!

I think the best thing you could do at this stage is write (don't phone) to your creditors and explain the situation to them. Be honest, and include a monthly expenditure sheet showing your incomings and outgoings. Ask them if they'd be able to freeze any interest and offer to pay a minimum amount per month until things pick up.

Until your boyfriend gets another job you will be struggling. Have you parred back your spending to the minimum level and do you know what you are spending your money on ? Start by keeping a spending diary and by cutting down where you can. Check that you are claiming all the benefits you are entitled to via www.entitledto.co.uk - I'd have thought your bf would be eligible for job seekers allowance at the least. Presumably you haven't got anything left from your boyfriend's pay off ? If so then use it to pay off the debt with the highest interest rate first.

If you can't get your expenditure down to your income (excluding debt repayments) then you are in real trouble. That is the thing you should aim for as a minimum. After that you need to think about your debt. The car loan is obviously the largest item - depending on what sort of loan it is it may be possible to sell the car and pay a chunk of it off. If you really need (think about the relative cost of taking public transport even if it adds a considerable amount of tiem to your journey) a car for work then get a cheap banger until you either get a better job or your bf is back in well paid work. Given your income £5,000 on a car loan looks high and not sustainable even without your other issues.

If you can't trim your expenditure or find additional income to allow you to make the minimum payments then you probably need to go into a debt management plan. Draw up a statement of your incomeings and outgoings and send it to all your creditors offering a payment each month that you can afford and asking them to freeze interest and charges. They don't have to agree but can't take more off you than you can afford to give. One of the free agencies can help with this - Citizens Advice Bureau, CCCS, payplan.

If you can't afford to make the minimum payments then you are going to get defaults registered on your credit report which will affect your ability to get a mortgage in teh future (for at least 6 years after they are satisfied). However, it will take you a few years to get out of debt and then more to save the deposit and fees that you'd need to don't worry about that yet - concentrate on getting straight first. When you are in a position to start paying your debt off then make the minimum payments and then divert any extra cash to the bit that is charging you the highest interest rate % (not amount of interest) as that is the quickest way to get rid of it.

You could also try the CCA route (many threads about this) and you might be sucessful in getting some of the debt deemed unenforceable depending on when you took the cards out in the first place.

I am 22 and live with my bf who got paid off in June 08. I have been paying all the bills since then and have run up some debts. We have £3300 on 2 credit cards, one of which is interest free until Dec. I also have £450 on a store card and my car loan which has aprox £5000 left on it. My bf helps out wen he can as he has been getting some temporary jobs but we find that we still use the credit card just to survive, for food, petrol etc as I only make approx £850 a month after tax. Do we just keep goin and pay the minimum payments each month, even though this is a struggle, until we can afford more or is there anything else we can do? Also in a few years, hopefully when we are debt free, we are hoping to buy a house but we have missed a few payments on these cards, will this affect us getting a mortgage?

Any advise would be gratefully appreicated as I dont want to spend any more nights lying awake worrying about it. Thanks