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First Time post on here - felt sick and a loser
weymuffred
Posts: 1,260 Forumite
IMPORTANT NOTE FROM MARTIN.
BEFORE REPLYING PLEASE READ MY POST ON THIS SUBJECT.
BEFORE REPLYING PLEASE READ MY POST ON THIS SUBJECT.
I have lurked on this board for a while and have many sleepless weepy nights wondering how I am ever going to sort the mess we are in out.
Our income is 99 per cent benefits due to me being unable to work due to illness and my wife being at home to care for me/daughters
Income - Which is made up of the following:
WORK pension - 217-49 per month
Housing benefit - 206-54 per week
Income Support - 10-61 per week
child benefit - 116-60 every 4 weeks
tax credits - 74-20 per week
Carers allowance - 187-80 per month
council tax rebate - 119 per month
outgoings -
rent 895pm
council tax - 119pm
life cover - 43pm
gas - 60pm
Electric - 97pm
Water - 79pm (meter) now 29 per month
Telephone/internet - 65pm
sky/licence - 70pm
clothes - 1500 yearly
housekeeping - 900 pm
xmas/birthdays - 1000 yearly
animal/vets - 119 per month
loan - 210 per month
Ext warranty - 14 per month
debts
HSBC - 12500
GE Money - 1800
Aktiv - 3500
Inland Revenue 760
Any help will be appreciated.
Have you got a job yet? :think:
NO? Then :shhh:
NO? Then :shhh:
0
Comments
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Well done for coming here, its a start. I'm sure lots of other people will give good advice but the first thing I notice is your Gas and Electricity, its very high. Look at Uswitch.com to change if you can. Also your phone, Internet and TV seems a lot. Can you not combine them somehow to get your costs down? Can you drop Sky and get everyting from cable instead etc? Who do you use? Lastly the vet bill is a lot, what's this for?0
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weymuffred wrote:I have lurked on this board for a while and have many sleepless weepy nights wondering how I am ever going to sort the mess we are in out.
Our income is 99 per cent benefits due to me being unable to work due to illness and my wife being at home to care for me/daughters
Income - 2389 monthly
outgoings -
rent 895pm
council tax - 119pm If you're on benefits is this as low as you can get it?
life cover - 43pmThis seems a little expensive compared to others - try some comparisons?
gas - 60pmThis is expensive, try https://www.uswitch.com
Electric - 97pm as with the gas
Water - 79pm (meter)Make sure you're well aware of how you're using water - turn the taps off while brushing teeth, shower instead of bath etc
Telephone/internet - 65pmI'm sure there are cheaper deals than this out there
sky/licence - 70pmDo you really need Sky - this could be th first thing to go, in most cases its a nice to have not a necessity
clothes - 1500 yearlyfor how many people? We get most of ours through ebay or in sales
housekeeping - 900 pmWhat does this cover? For how many of you?
xmas/birthdays - 1000 yearlyfor how many people? What do you budget per present, can you cut this in any way
poceket money - 40 per weekfor how many kids and how old are they?
animal/vets - 119 per monthHow much?!!!!!!! how many animals?!
loan - 210 per month APR, balance, term left to run?
Ext warranty - 14 per monthWhat is this please?
debts
HSBC - 12500 APR? Balance? Minimum payment?
GE Money - 1800 as above
Aktiv - 3500as above
Inland Revenue 760what for?
Any help will be appreciated.
Firstly congratulations on making a post, its not easy but these boards are a wonderful source of support and advice so you're in the right place, and also some very good company
I'm not great at looking at these yet, but have made some comments and there will be plenty of others with great feedback along soon.
One thing I would say is that you've made no mention of cars - am presuming this is because you don't drive but if you do then don't forget to add that in.
There is also no mention of socialising, haircuts anything like that....
Good luck, and well done again
JMProud to be dealing with my debts :T DFW Nerd: 2410 -
Just wanted to say hello and welcome and of course good luck
Looking at your phone/internet and sky can you get ntl in your area as they are cheaper for all 3
Can you loose sky or downgrade the package:j WILL GET THERE SOON :j
WATCH OUT FOR THE PIG FLYING PAST!!
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:0 -
Hi weymuffred!
Firstly are you entitled to any help with your rent and council tax?
Now the rest isn't meant to sound harsh but you really can make some huge cutbacks as your outgoings are unbelievably high, but this is where we're to help!
You are currently £600 down each month based on your outgoings.
Gas and electric are huge! Does this include any arrears? If not then check with someone like uswitch or check out the utlities board for help on reducing these. £40 a month for each should be acheivable.
Water. This also seems quite high. Again check the utilities board but also you can do things like having a shower instead of a bath, turning the tap off when brushing your teeth etc.
Housekeeping £900! :eek: Wow! People on this board can feed themselves and keep a clean house for £50 per person! You need to check out the oldstyle board straight away for this one!
Pocket money! How many kids is this for? Seems very high. Do they work for it/do jobs at all? How old are they?
You are also paying a huge amount for your pets. What do you have? Why are they so expensive? Have you considered insurance? Might be cheaper!
You basically have to sit down at look at all your different outgoings and look how to reduce them. You will have to make sacrifices. For example Sky. That is a luxury you might not be able to afford!0 -
Hi and welcome to the dfw boards.
- I make your present income as £2389 per month
your outgoings as stated are £2977.66 per month
an overspend of £588.66
thats the bad news.
the good news is that there are som many things that you could possibly change in order to correct this!!!!
some basic questions though
How many are there of you? £900 is a huge amount of money for housekeeping.
Do you have arrears on your fuel? If not you can surely find a cheaper supplier - currently spending £157 pmth on fuel which is huge. go through quidco to uswitch to get cashback too.
Have you checked out with the cab or local authority wefare rights team to check you are getting all the benefits you are entiltled to? this is to maximise income!!
van you give the aprs for the loans etc, and how much the minimum payments are?
how are you paying back the inland revenue?
why are your vets fees/ animal costs so high?
please answer
well done for the soa - it normally takes people ages to do it so good on yer mate
get back soon
puddsAugust 2009 grocery challenge £172.64/,,,,,
no point in doing grocery challenges, have no money left over to eat :0/0 -
gas - 60pmThis is expensive, try https://www.uswitch.com
Electric - 97pm as with the gas
go through Quidco - delete cookies if you go direct from this link or have done so in the past - might as well get money back form quidco too!!!August 2009 grocery challenge £172.64/,,,,,
no point in doing grocery challenges, have no money left over to eat :0/0 -
No losers, only winners on this board. You have just found the most supportive, honest and caring community on the web (IMHO) - and I speak as a long time lurker, very very occasional poster.
The really knowlegable people will be along in a moment (I'm still learning) so now is a good time to make a cup of tea and get yourself ready for the questions.
Based on my experience and lurking they will need answers to the following in order to give accurate advice:
Have you looked into switching your gas/electricity to a lower supplier - the amounts seem very high. Are you paying off arrears?
If you are on benefis are you entitled to housing/council tax benefit?
Are you prepared to get rid of/minimise sky to raise more money each month?
Can you cut the clothes budget (ebay, using what you have already)?
Can you break down what the housekeeping is for?
Can you cut back on Christmas/Birthdays/Pocket money?
What is the ext warranty for?
Have you included absolutely everything? Car? Haircuts? Going Out? Holidays?
Good luck, you have made the best first step posible by being brave enought to post on here.
Melou0 -
phew, I didnt expect so many replies so quickly, I ahve just burst into tears and i am a bloke!!! Can I reply just the oncce or do I need to reply to each post seperately.
Thanks for all the replies.Have you got a job yet? :think:
NO? Then :shhh:0 -
:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:
Hun - you just do it the way thats best for you either altogether or one at a time.
we're a nice bunch on here so dont get overwhelmed by it all and take your time.
We'll be here for you:D
puddsAugust 2009 grocery challenge £172.64/,,,,,
no point in doing grocery challenges, have no money left over to eat :0/0 -
weymuffred wrote:phew, I didnt expect so many replies so quickly, I ahve just burst into tears and i am a bloke!!! Can I reply just the oncce or do I need to reply to each post seperately.
Thanks for all the replies.
Welcome to the group. Many of the responses make similar points. There is no need to reply to everyone individually. If you think someone has been helpful just click the thanks button. One reply answering some of the queries and giving your initial plan would be the usual way (I think).
Good luck - you have taken the all important first stepProud to be dealing with my debts0
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