Help Dire Straits

CapricornLass · 4 March 2018 at 7:05PM

HI, Lovesmakeup,

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles.

RE the mobiles - maybe worth phoning up your mobile contractors and telling them that your circumstances have changed and you can no longer afford to pay this amount each month, and see if you can re-negotiate? Worth a try - don't ask, dont get sort of thing.

I'm sorry, but £420 a month on food is extortionate even for 3 of you and the dog (that's over £5000 on food a year!) I only spend £200-£250 for two adults, depending on the number of weeks in the month, and that would be regarded as a lot by many people here. However, I suffer from multiple food allergies, which really restricts my choices, and that figure also includes all my cleaning stuff, £5 of stuff for the local crisis centre and a couple of bottles of wine for OH. You can do a lot here to save, I think, but if you don't know where to start, then held over to the Old Style Moneysaving board, and have a look at the the March 2018 Grocery Challege. Although I'm not suggesting that you will want to take part in that now, there are lots of links to ideas on how to budget, plan and shop, that will help you to reduce this bill. Also, if you have time, look up a programme called Eat Well for Less. You can pick up episodes on Youtube if it's no longer on BBC IPlayer. That's a real-eye opener too, on how clever choices can really save you money.

Its infuriating how the points for speeding bump your insurance up, isn't it? However, I would suggest that you also check Compare the Market and Confused.com at renewal time to compare with your renewal notice see that you really are getting the best deal.

I would really echo Mallygirl's suggestion of keeping a spending diary. You need to record everything that you spend each day - and I mean EVERYTHING - car parking ticket, takeout coffee, your sandwiches that you bought from the canteen, etc, etc. Once you have kept that for a little while, you can see where the money is disappearing, and then you can take steps to avoid/reduce that outgoing (e.g., bring your sandwiches from home instead of buying them from the canteen.)

I'm afraid there is no magic wand to sort this out overnight. Long term, you and your OH are going to have to change the way you view and use money, if you want to hang on to your house and your car and continue to have other nice things in life. However, chin up. You have woken up to the fact that there is a problem, and you are willing to do something about it, which are often the hardest steps of all. Also, everyone here has been in your shoes. We do understand. If you need help/moral support, please ask - we'll be there to cheer you on!

cms-help · 4 March 2018 at 7:50PM

lovesmakeup wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2000 * any chance of overtime for either of you?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1340
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0 * include lodger income here
Total monthly income.................... 3340

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 767
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 530
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 143
Electricity............................. 182 *this is very high. Why is the thermostat outside, that makes no sense at all? Look at getting it moved.
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 160 * in all honesty, this is a ridiculous amount to be paying in this day and age. Speak to your contract provider and explain your situation.
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 35
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100 *use an accurate figure here for ALL the food shopping. Do you feed your lodger or do they buy their own food?
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0 *you never put fuel in the car?
Road tax................................ 31.93
Car Insurance........................... 158 *shop around. This is extortionate.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 66 *do you put this away every month? If so, why isn't it showing as an asset?
Car parking............................. 30 *park further away and walk
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 101.75 *you cannot afford this. My husband is on a daily contact lense scheme and it's £22 a month. Alternatively, switch to glasses. As for £50 a month on dental, is your dental bill really £300 a year. I know it doesn't take much but I haven't had any work done in over 30 years so it seems extraordinary to me! Get on a waitlist for an nhs dentist too.
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 160 *we didn't spend this on 3 large Boxer dogs.
Buildings insurance..................... 39.84 *not much to be saved but am sure there's a little
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 22.23
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 *never?
Haircuts................................ 0 *never?
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 *definitely need to start saving something
My expenses............................. 487.5 *what is this for?
OH expenses inc smoking, fuel etc....... 375 *does he realise how desperate the situation is? Would he give up?
RCN..................................... 30
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 3472.25 *without any debts you are seriously overspending every month and need to take action

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 290000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 28000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 318000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 191.25...(767)......1.34< (do you mean £191,250)
Car............................8000.....(330)......0<
Van............................12000....(200)......9
Total secured & HP debts...... 20191.25..-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Lloyds Credit Card 0%..........1121.95...25........0
Sainsburys Credit Car..........4900......160.......28.9
Tesco Credit Card..............1837.86...25........0
Lloyds Loan....................10426.....270.......10
Lloyds Overdraft...............3600......150.......20 *fees are crippling an already crippled budget
Total unsecured debts..........21885.81..630.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,340
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,472.25
Available for debt repayments........... -132.25
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 630
Amount short for making debt repayments. -762.25

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 318,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -20,191.25
Total Unsecured debt.................... -21,885.81
Net Assets.............................. 275,922.94

You have quite a lot of work to do to balance the books although it could just about be doable if you change your habits. Otherwise you're going to have to default and suffer the consequences. If the car loan register a default on your credit file then that might damage your mortgage at renewal.

lovesmakeup · 4 March 2018 at 8:00PM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Ok. You have explained it all but you are very obviously overspending I feel you not only pay £860 in non essential personal spending but also the £80 per week from your lodger.

It seems the urgent things are your car and the council tax. Reduce your personal spends down as you cannot afford the amount you have allocated given your other outgoings are high too. Good that you know things have to change. How much of that personal money is fuel for both you and OH to get to work? £160 for me, not sure on OH because he also will buy lunch and cigarettes at the same time but he thinks £120 would do him moving forward

You could probably get your food shop to £250 if you were more careful and shopped at discount supermarkets depending on whether you feed the lodger too or not. This would mean £270 of your shortfall would be covered if you put the lodger money straight in your bank so you are not tempted to fritter it. This means you need to find an additional £360 savings from your personal expenses and cutting down on the categories you are overspending like mobile phones, pet costs, medical expenses and electricity. Turn the thermostat down slightly and investigate cheaper tariffs. I will start putting the £80 from the lodge into the account and reduce our food budget. I will also look at the energy usage and have put a switch to EDF which says will save £700 a year (I know thats not always accurate). The mobiles, I don't know what to do about. I will cancel the 02 one when I can get through to them but with the £100 for EE, do I default and get us payg sims?

A DMP will affect you remortgaging although if you stick with your current lender they may not credit search you. You are on a good rate now so you don't want that to increase. You both need to be more disciplined with your money. Alternatively you can sell up and clear it and go back to renting. That would not be my choice and you would lose all your inheritance. It looks like you overstretched with the house purchase as the start of your problems and then carried on overspending which is easily done if you don't keep an eye on where your money is going. We would stick with our current lender and are going to use our main joint account with them instead of who our loan is with. Selling the house isn't an option and I think would be the end of many things for us.

If your OH is a smoker get him to quit or use cheaper alternative like roll ups or nicotine replacements. The usual culprits for overspending are alcohol, takeaways and coffee shops or pub outings. Allow yourself a small budget for this each month and keep to it to stop you feeling too deprived. Maybe once a month takeaway on pay day. Don't buy lunches out, take them from home.

Thank you for your feedback I will look at everything you've mentioned

theoretica wrote: »

I get the impression personal spending may include rather a lot on makeup. Use up what you have!

It runs into the thousands. My friend is trying to persuade me to sell some of it and I think she might be right

Haylescom wrote: »

I have daily contact lenses from specsavers, a specific type because of my astigmatism, but nowhere near £50pm. Can you take a holiday from them and wear glasses for a while?

I will look at this, I do sometimes wear glasses

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

£300 a month on overdraft fees is not sustainable on your budget. Is there any option of a 0% deal or can you talk to Lloyds. I think a DMP would have to be the way forward if you cannot get that sorted.

Good that you have sorted the council tax but to stop the robbing Peter to pay Paul mentality you will have to set a budget and keep to it and not at the level shown above in your soa. Otherwise the debt will continue to rise and you will default eventually.

I'm pretty sure Lloyds will be immovable but I'm going to write to them (Struggle with phone calls) and I think I don't have any 0% options available but am going to look into it now

lovesmakeup · 4 March 2018 at 8:08PM

CapricornLass wrote: »

HI, Lovesmakeup,

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles.

RE the mobiles - maybe worth phoning up your mobile contractors and telling them that your circumstances have changed and you can no longer afford to pay this amount each month, and see if you can re-negotiate? Worth a try - don't ask, dont get sort of thing.
I will try this

I'm sorry, but £420 a month on food is extortionate even for 3 of you and the dog (that's over £5000 on food a year!) I only spend £200-£250 for two adults, depending on the number of weeks in the month, and that would be regarded as a lot by many people here. However, I suffer from multiple food allergies, which really restricts my choices, and that figure also includes all my cleaning stuff, £5 of stuff for the local crisis centre and a couple of bottles of wine for OH. You can do a lot here to save, I think, but if you don't know where to start, then held over to the Old Style Moneysaving board, and have a look at the the March 2018 Grocery Challege. Although I'm not suggesting that you will want to take part in that now, there are lots of links to ideas on how to budget, plan and shop, that will help you to reduce this bill. Also, if you have time, look up a programme called Eat Well for Less. You can pick up episodes on Youtube if it's no longer on BBC IPlayer. That's a real-eye opener too, on how clever choices can really save you money.I think, when you think about it as £80 a week it doesn't sound like its loads (it might do to you) but yes, when you then think of it as a monthly figure..........wow)

Its infuriating how the points for speeding bump your insurance up, isn't it? However, I would suggest that you also check Compare the Market and Confused.com at renewal time to compare with your renewal notice see that you really are getting the best deal.renewal for his van is due now so I'll look

I would really echo Mallygirl's suggestion of keeping a spending diary. You need to record everything that you spend each day - and I mean EVERYTHING - car parking ticket, takeout coffee, your sandwiches that you bought from the canteen, etc, etc. Once you have kept that for a little while, you can see where the money is disappearing, and then you can take steps to avoid/reduce that outgoing (e.g., bring your sandwiches from home instead of buying them from the canteen.)

I'm afraid there is no magic wand to sort this out overnight. Long term, you and your OH are going to have to change the way you view and use money, if you want to hang on to your house and your car and continue to have other nice things in life. However, chin up. You have woken up to the fact that there is a problem, and you are willing to do something about it, which are often the hardest steps of all. Also, everyone here has been in your shoes. We do understand. If you need help/moral support, please ask - we'll be there to cheer you on!

cms-help wrote: »

You have quite a lot of work to do to balance the books although it could just about be doable if you change your habits. Otherwise you're going to have to default and suffer the consequences. If the car loan register a default on your credit file then that might damage your mortgage at renewal.

I've already had a default notice so I assume that means it's been done already?

cms-help · 4 March 2018 at 8:29PM

lovesmakeup wrote: »

I've already had a default notice so I assume that means it's been done already?

I'm not sure how companies operate in this regard but it's common sense that if they have seen fit to issue a default notice that it will be recorded on your credit file somewhere. Sign up to the free ones and see where this particular loan is recorded and then keep an eye on it for a couple of months to see if the default appears. At least you know what you're dealing with then. You may also find late payment markers, which will also limit your mortgage options.

enthusiasticsaver · 4 March 2018 at 8:45PM

Check on Noddle for free. You have sorted out the council tax so car is next.

lovesmakeup · 4 March 2018 at 9:03PM

Neither car loan are on my noodle account that's odd...

FlowerGirl27 · 4 March 2018 at 9:15PM

It sounds to me like getting out of debt is going to need a whole attitude change from you.

Sorry to lay it out so bluntly, but you’re in a shitload of debt, you are not earning mega bucks, and yet you and OH want to have £850 per month pin money, because you feel that if you have to stick to a budget you are “ likely to blow all of our money”

What money?

I think you need to get your head out of the clouds and come down to reality with the rest us. Grow up a bit. We all had to stick to a budget while we were climbing out of debt, why do you think you don’t have to?

cms-help · 4 March 2018 at 9:45PM

lovesmakeup wrote: »

Neither car loan are on my noodle account that's odd...

Different lending institutions report to different credit reference agencies. Check the others (unless the loans are so new they won't have been reported on yet.)

Lungboy · 5 March 2018 at 8:36AM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

You have sorted out the council tax so car is next.

Have they though? For something that important I personally wouldn't rely on the council accepting an email telling them something might happen in the future. I'd be on the phone to them to ensure they believe the money is coming and make sure they aren't going to start collection proceedings.

lovesmakeup wrote: »

Neither car loan are on my noodle account that's odd...

There are 3 agencies and different companies report to different ones so you need to check all 3.

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