Debt free on benefits

tsstss7

hi Glynis

I can sympathise as I have been where you are now and managing a weekly budget is hard. I did this by spacing bill payments out over the month so that for example week 1 was electricity week 2 water and so on starting with the most expensive (as I had some monthly income too when child benefit is paid). Then food etc was bought with what was left each week so some weeks weate better than others.

Charity shops helped alot back then but I find them slightly expensive now and prefer car boot sales - if you go most weeks you can get almost all houshold goods you need and clothes too - allowing you to stop buying smaller goods from catalogues at least.

Also even growing a small amount of your own veg really pays off if you can manage it - some veg are easier to grow than others of course!

When it comes to the banks that is one we have all suffered I guess...hope you sort yours out. My solution to this was to open a "phone saver"account connected to my main bank account that I could have a small amount of cash saved just in case - this could then be transfered over on the day needed with no delay to cover accidental withdrawals (they are so easy to do when balancing on zero.)

Morglin

Glynis wrote: »

So Ok, I don't earn thousands of pounds a year, have a mortgage or credit cards but I fell in to the dangerous 'Catalogue' trap.
When you can't afford to buy things because you are on Incapacity Benefit, this is your only source of credit.

So now I am in about £1600 worth of debt - this is catalogues and general day to day expenses. Call me stupid but for the life of me I have major problems trying to work out monthly costs as I get my benefit every week, no-one seems to understand that dealing with weekly finances are way different than monthly.

My finances are delicately balanced and usually they work OK, but then you get the bank (see reclaiming thread) that decide that as I went over my overdraft limit by £7 (for less than 24 hours) they are going to fine me £28, I say fine because that's what it is, not a charge.

So this week I won't be able to pay all my debts, in fact its lucky I did a cook - up last week and have some food in the freezer as I have only £6 for food till I get my next benefit. This will have a knock on effect as I try to catch up on payments in the coming weeks.

I have already spoken to all I owe money to and reduced my weekly and monthly payments, I have no savings left as I've been on IB for seven years, no chance of going back to work as I am frankly not fit enough.

My main problem is that I need to get my money organised so that I can save a little for emergencies, this worries me a lot, if my fridge / freezer / washing machine died I could not afford to replace them and I can't survive without them.

I asked about the Credit Union but they want a regular £4 a week or £16 a month which I just can't do till I have caught up with payments.

Anybody been it this situation and learned any tricks / tips / helpful ideas?

This charitable organisation has an excellent reputation, and may be able to help with a grant:

http://www.elizabethfinntrust.org.uk/get_support/

Lin

Glynis

That looks interesting Morglin, I will fill in the form when I can.

notenoughcash

I was in similar situation too, after relationship breakdown I lost my job & home and found myself in a much smaller rented place on IS and thought my world had just ended. I struggled to adjust to living on less money coming in weekly and bills going out monthly but coped eventually. I found openeing a second bank account helped. I worked out how much I needed to live on weekly and transferred that into my second account, leaving enough in my main account to accumulate each week to cover the direct debits that went out monthly. I had to tighten my belt a lot but found that after a couple of months this adjusted and worked really well, even leaving a bit extra in my main account each month to save towards a treat, and I still do it now to try and keep myself disciplined.

Glynis

I did that too, I have a second account that my student grant is paid into, mainly to keep it separate to my income account. Trouble is that this year I have had £40 stolen from my account and now the £28 charge and I just haven't been able to get back on an even keel.
I've decided to ask my son to loan me £100 to catch up with everything, I have the same amount coming as compensation from college as they are not continuing my course, (I have to transfer to another college which is even further away!!) in September.
At least then I won't have to worry about people continually phoning me and harassing me.