Time to jump in (my soa)

elly2 · 7 June 2007 at 8:41AM

hi i'm tracy a sahm of 5 living with my partner of 8 months i'm studying for my degree in social sciences as from oct with the ou, my partner moved here to be with me and atm we are both on benifits(he starts a new job on monday):T thought i'd do a soa on how things stand atm also will add apr rates as i find them(bear with me please)

income monthly £1280

outgoings
rent £40
gas £40
elect £40
t.v licence £11
sky £15
phone/b.b £25
pocket money £100
loterry £8
dog food £11

loans (both mine)
hsbc £80.00 16.9 apr 14 months to go
lloyds £110 (8 months to go)

c/c s

vanquis £30
sky £30
littlewoods £30 (these are paid above minimum payment but not by much)

hsbc £55 (mimimun payment but trying to pay £100) £2000(maxed) balance £1835.47 limit £2000 apr 13.9
capital one £60 same situ as above... nope it isn't balance£1028.10,limit 1200,apr is 35.6

catologues
studio £10 (130 0wed)
littlewoods £5 (40 owed)

debt recovery agencys
£40 (for argos and abound) dont know if a balance is needed on these(been in touch with 1 debt recover agency today and the balance on the abound stands at £1129.10 no more interest to be added and they will accept the £20 per month)

cigs £150 (dont slate me this uses a huge amount of the budget and i really need to stop, we both smoke)

provident £ 80 (784 owed)

if it all adds up right that is a total of £1060 :eek:

leaving £140 for us to eat

webitha · 7 June 2007 at 8:54AM

hey sweetie and welcome dont worry we are all a friendly bunch

first thing that pops out is the smoking this may be harsh to read and i dont mean to be mean but looking at it you are spending more on ciggies than on food for yurself and your kiddies can you go onto rollups, i did and it has saved me a fortune or can you not stop with help from your doctor as you are on bebfits he can prescribed patches etc you can get them free you lucky thing

also why are you paying rent is this arrears or the top up?

and what is pocket money? is this for the kids how old are they?are any 14 years +can they get a saturday job? sorry to sound mean again but you cant afford to give them pocket money if you explain to them im sure they wont mind my eldest two didnt when i told them theirs had to stop for a short while

also what are your outstanding bal on CC and their APRs

and get over to the oldstyle board fab cheap recipes and tips on there i feed 2 adults 3 kids and hand rearing a kitten who needs special milk for only £100 a month and we have never eaten as good very healthy stuff too

again welcome and im sure others will be along who might be more helpful soon

lynzpower · 7 June 2007 at 8:59AM

hi there elly and welcome to debt free wannabee

Am I right in thinking your rent is only 40 a month? Is that your housing benefit top up?

income monthly £1280

outgoings
rent £40
gas £40 ( have you checked on uswitch that you have the cheapest suppliers for these? If you switch via quidco you get 15 quid too)
elect £40 ( as above)
t.v licence £11
sky £15 9 sugar I really dont think you can afford this at the mo, so call and cancel it then put 15 quid a month extra towards your provi payment)
phone/b.b £25
pocket money £100 ( this can be stopped, I know its not ideal but this is more than you are paying to the gas, elect and tv license put together!)
loterry £8 ( stop this sugar and pay off your debt with this money)
dog food £11 ( does your dog have specialist food?)

loans (both mine)
hsbc £80.00
lloyds £110 (8 months to go) ( how much in total for these)

c/c s

vanquis £30 ( again whats the totals)
sky £30
littlewoods £30 (these are paid above minimum payment but not by much)

hsbc £55 (mimimun payment but trying to pay £100) £2000(maxed)
capital one £60 same situ as above

catologues
studio £10 (130 0wed)
littlewoods £5 (40 owed)

debt recovery agencys
£40 (for argos and abound) dont know if a balance is needed on these

cigs £150 (dont slate me this uses a huge amount of the budget and i really need to stop, we both smoke) ( try your dr. You will get free patches, smoking cessation clinics etc. I suggest in the meantime you switch to rollies and save yourself the 70 i reckon is the difference)

provident £ 80 (784 owed)

if it all adds up right that is a total of £1060

You need to really be aware of what the APRS are, so then you know which one to pay off first.

Is there no chance that either of you can get work? I just couldnt imagine trying to feed and clothe 5 kids on this money, so no wonder you have found yourselves in debt.

Are you getting child benefit, all your tax credits etc?

elly2 · 7 June 2007 at 9:02AM

I know i need to stop smoking dont know why i'm finding it sooooo hard atm tho i could say i'm going through a bad time with dd2 and need them to keep me calm...........but seing as i've given up each time i was preg i know they hype you up more than calm you down the 100 for pocket monet goes across 5 kids and the older ones tend to do jobs etc to earn it..........this is so scarey to sit and look back over it

webitha · 7 June 2007 at 10:13AM

as staed before the poket money will have to stop really soory but if you did for a few months you catalogues will be paid off

elly2 · 7 June 2007 at 10:37AM

The £40 per month is water rates they add that into the rent in this area it should only be £6.50 but again i owe them (£20) so i pay £10 per week. partner hopefully will start new job on monday but it is self employed and working on comission only.

elly2 · 7 June 2007 at 11:19AM

hpefully the aprs are added now if i've done it properly..... the dog food is for a sack of dry stuff she is a rotty and eats quite alot so dried does work out cheaper over the month

elly2 · 7 June 2007 at 11:56AM

sky is on a 12 month contract i dont know if i can cancel it tbh will look into it ,my partner is away until fri morning on a course so will check with him then about his cards am i right in thinking it would be best to try and clear the capital one cc first because of the apr rate, also have been in contact with surgery about an appointment for the smoking clinic got an appoint for thurs 14th

RAS · 7 June 2007 at 12:39PM

Elly

You are absolutely right. Of your two cards, it is the cap one that you would shove every penny into rather then the HSBC. keep that on miminum payments as long as the rate stays the same. However, wait til you know what OH's APRs are before you do anything.

Do you know what the APrs are on the Catalogues, or are they fixed payments?

I am sorry but the pocket money is going to have to stop. Priority debt, food and clothing have to be dealt with first. Horrid as it may seem, you will actually teaching your kids incredibly good lessons in financial management and life skills.

It does not mean you have to stop the treats though. There are some really good posts on here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=471818

I would also recommend that you sigh up to your local group in https://www.freecycle.com. This is a site where you can give things you do not want away free (?) and get other things, like clothes, white goods, toys, electrical goods and DIY materials that other people do not want for nothing. You do need to make an offer first, but if it is not wanted, you can still make requests for other people's offers.

Time to jump in (my soa)

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