In a pickle, dont know where to start!

*confuzzled*_2

Hi
I'm newish to the site, well have done a lot of lurking but have only just managed to pluck up the courage to post
Basically to give a bit of background, I'm 24 a single mum and in a financial mess!
I have just started a new job which I will be payed for at the end of July, I HAVE PREVIOUSLY BEEN ON benefits for 3 months after my partner left me (sorry bout caps) but now I'm working I want to sort my finances out as I'm sick of looking over my shouslder.

Here is my SOA

Incomings

Wages; £530
Tax credits; £884
Child benefit; £75
TOTAL; £1489

Outgoings

£476; nursery fees
£200; rent (rough guess using online benefit calculator) includes £13 towards arrears
£50; council tax (again rough estimate as I've not had my benefit recalculated yet)
£80; Gas (I have run up a big debt and this is now my monthly repayments)
£40; electric
£22; water
£12; water #2 (I have 2 water bill, one for good water and one for sewage )
£25; tv licence
£43; loan from my mum, (she took out a doorstep loan for me to fix my car but I have only £100 left to pay)
£60; phones/tv/internet (including mobile)
£65; car insurance
£150; shopping
£15; car tax (I save the stamps)
£180; petrol :eek:
Total; £1418

Which leaves me with £71 for the month.

Now I have another doorstep loan which currently has £700 outstanding but I have ashamedly been not paying, as I took the loan out when I was with my partner and he assured me we could afford to pay it back, he left me 4 days after I got the money and gave most of it to him
I've also got ALOT of other outstanding credit going back to when I was 18, I have moved so many times that I have no idea anymore who I owe to or how much, but I know i've obviously got to pay this back but have no clue where to start!

Please dont judge me, I knwo i've done wrong and I'm really trying to sort myself out, I was actually refered here from another forum but it's took me ages to pluck up the courage to post, I'm just fed up of it all, I'm trying to get myself back on track and really want to instill good money values to my son as he gets older, my dad was exactly the same with money as I am, at a guess he probably owes nearly £500k to various people and comapnys! :eek:
I dont want to end up like that.
Please help

poorandindenial

Hi Confuzzled and welcome to the boards

Don't worry about being judged, that isn't what this place is about, you have made a decision that you want to get this sorted and that is the main thing to focus on now.

You said that you have other debt, you need to know exactly what you have so that you can get the best advice. This means you have to open all those letters, check all those old statements you have lobbed in that box etc etc. If you don't want to post the full details of these other debts then don't worry too much, but people on here won't be able to give you as good advice. Or you can get a free trial with experian to see your credit reference file and see where all those debts are at at the moment (just remember to cancel before they charge you). If you sign up for the trial through a website called quidco you will even earn cashback for doing it for free.

That said you can contact any of these agencies (click here) and they will help you and not charge you a penny (don't touch with a long pointy stick any agency that wants you to pay for their services) but they will still need to know the full extent of the problem.

All the best and don't be shy on here, everyone is utterly lovely

Cleosmum

*confuzzled* wrote: »

Here is my SOA

Incomings

Wages; £530
Tax credits; £884
Child benefit; £75
TOTAL; £1489

Outgoings

£476; nursery fees This seems high, is your child in full time? Do you get any funding yet?
£200; rent (rough guess using online benefit calculator) includes £13 towards arrears
£50; council tax (again rough estimate as I've not had my benefit recalculated yet)
£80; Gas (I have run up a big debt and this is now my monthly repayments)
£40; electric
£22; water
£12; water #2 (I have 2 water bill, one for good water and one for sewage )
£25; tv licence This usually around £12 a month
£43; loan from my mum, (she took out a doorstep loan for me to fix my car but I have only £100 left to pay)
£60; phones/tv/internet (including mobile) This is high, do you have sky/cable? Who is your phone provider?
£65; car insurance This seems high, can you get cheaper elsewhere?
£150; shopping Can you reduce this? Pop over to the old style board for lots of tips.
£15; car tax (I save the stamps)
£180; petrol :eek: Can this be cut back?
Total; £1418

Which leaves me with £71 for the month.

Now I have another doorstep loan which currently has £700 outstanding but I have ashamedly been not paying, as I took the loan out when I was with my partner and he assured me we could afford to pay it back, he left me 4 days after I got the money and gave most of it to him
I've also got ALOT of other outstanding credit going back to when I was 18, I have moved so many times that I have no idea anymore who I owe to or how much, but I know i've obviously got to pay this back but have no clue where to start!

Please dont judge me, I knwo i've done wrong and I'm really trying to sort myself out, I was actually refered here from another forum but it's took me ages to pluck up the courage to post, I'm just fed up of it all, I'm trying to get myself back on track and really want to instill good money values to my son as he gets older, my dad was exactly the same with money as I am, at a guess he probably owes nearly £500k to various people and comapnys! :eek:
I dont want to end up like that.
Please help

Well done on taking the plunge! My comments are above in red. No-one will judge you, please dont worry about that. Have you sent off for your credit reports yet? That will give you a good idea of who you owe to and how much.

And welcome to the forum!

*confuzzled*_2

Thank you.
I think I will have to get a copy of my credit report as alot of my debts are from previous addresses
My son attends nursery for 5 days a week, 8-3 he does get funding but this ends this months as it's the school holidays.
He is starting school in September so that will save me something.
I was told it would be £25 a month for the tv licence to start with.
TBH i only spend £35pw on my shopping, i dont really think I can reduce this anymore, I do lists and try to meal plan.
My car insurance is the cheapest I could find, using all the comparison websites I've had 2 fault claims in the last year so have lost my no claims bonuses :rolleyes:
And have you seen the price of petrol? lol I cant get it down anymore, I have to drive to and from work and the nursery.

Deep_In_Debt

Hi.
Welcome to the forum.
Although your water is not that high - have you thought about getting a meter installed? My water authority installed mine for free and my water bills reduced from £32pm to £12pm. Have now had a bill from them and they are reducing it further to £10pm from July. It's worth giving it a go. Makes you more aware of the water you use as well.

Keep posting. Good luck.

*confuzzled*_2

Deep_In_Debt wrote: »

Hi.
Welcome to the forum.
Although your water is not that high - have you thought about getting a meter installed? My water authority installed mine for free and my water bills reduced from £32pm to £12pm. Have now had a bill from them and they are reducing it further to £10pm from July. It's worth giving it a go. Makes you more aware of the water you use as well.

Keep posting. Good luck.

Thanks, how would I go abot doing that? sound like a good idea, but I live in a housing association house, would that make a difference?

Cleosmum

*confuzzled* wrote: »

Thank you.
I think I will have to get a copy of my credit report as alot of my debts are from previous addresses
My son attends nursery for 5 days a week, 8-3 he does get funding but this ends this months as it's the school holidays.
He is starting school in September so that will save me something.
I was told it would be £25 a month for the tv licence to start with.
TBH i only spend £35pw on my shopping, i dont really think I can reduce this anymore, I do lists and try to meal plan.
My car insurance is the cheapest I could find, using all the comparison websites I've had 2 fault claims in the last year so have lost my no claims bonuses :rolleyes:
And have you seen the price of petrol? lol I cant get it down anymore, I have to drive to and from work and the nursery.

Ah yes, if you are just starting out then £25 pm for tv lic, will reduce to around £12 after 6 months.

Food: Do you take in packed lunch to work?

Petrol: Are there any journeys that you could walk rather than drive? I suppose when I say can you cut it back, I mean, can you cut out all non essential car travel, could you walk to nursery and work etc. Do you own a bike

Roll on september, you will be £476 a month better off :T

Cleosmum

Make sure you do your research on water meters, you may get a shock! I suggested my mum get one, as she is on her own in a bungalow and having a meter installed would have increased her bill by £200 a year, we nearly fell over!

*confuzzled*_2

Cleosmum wrote: »

Ah yes, if you are just starting out then £25 pm for tv lic, will reduce to around £12 after 6 months.

Food: Do you take in packed lunch to work?

Petrol: Are there any journeys that you could walk rather than drive? I suppose when I say can you cut it back, I mean, can you cut out all non essential car travel, could you walk to nursery and work etc. Do you own a bike

Roll on september, you will be £476 a month better off :T

HMM, not really, my work and my sons nursery are in a completely different neighbourhood to what we live in and it would cost me a fair bit on bus fairs, plus I do my nans shopping and go there most days to do a bit of housework or cooking for her so thst probably why my petrol costs are so high.

*confuzzled*_2

I just tried to sign up for my credit report but for some reason it wont let me sign in

Cleosmum

Where did you try? You can join up to quidco.com and sign up to the free experian trial, and they pay you money to do it. The other 2 credit ref agencies you can send off for your statutory report which costs £2 each.