Pure Terror/Panic

smithyjules

I don't even know where to start. I have had my head buried in the sand with the pathetic notion that "everything will be fine" for too long now and here i am terrified of what the future holds. I am married with a little girl of 19months. My husband has been out of work for a year now and the jobcentre are worse than useless. Thats not the prob tho. We now have soooo many debts that i don't know where to begin our income is JSA a little tax credits and CB and Housing benefit. I'm going to be honest and prepare for the backlash that no doubt will follow in the hope of some advice/support. My husband left his job because i couldn't cope on my own with PND and we have never had a lot of material things so thought we could make do for a couple of months while i sorted myself out and then he'd find another job. It seems thats not so easy. I haven't paid gas/electric/water for i don't know how long and don't know where to start with the arrears and monthly payments. We have other debts too and it's all just spiraling out of control. We are currently waiting to be re-housed by the council as our landlady needs our property back so there is that to deal with too. i am so worried about the letters that keep pouring through the door and just can't bear it any longer. So here i am bracing myself for your replies and hoping for some help too as i would be so grateful.

Cleosmum

Welcome!

You wont get any backlash from anyone here, we are here to help and support

I would start by preparing an accurate statement of affairs, using http://makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html and list all debts, with aprs. Try and gather up as many of the debts and list them, if you miss any out it can always be tweaked later. Everyone will happily look over your SOA and try and suggest ways in which you can cut and save.

Make sure you are getting all you are entitled to, at entitledto.com. Do you get council tax benefit at the mo?

How is the PND now? Its very important to take care of yourself, please do not try and balance too much, and make sure your OH is 100% behind you.

And shout if I can help in any way

Horace

Hi and welcome

I know that the jobcentre is worse than useless - the best way to get a job is to go temping or look in the newspapers.

I think that you need to look at what you owe with regards to gas, electricity and water and then write to them to explain your circumstances - that you are on benefits and therefore cannot afford to pay the full amount, offer a token payment of £1.

Keep a spending diary - note down everything that you buy from the odd coffee when you are out and about to a newspaper (it all mounts up). To help with mealplans etc. look on the Moneysaving Oldstyle board (again in this forum) as they have some fantastic tips over there on how to save money on food and batch cooking. If you have a Lidl nearby go and shop in there because food is cheap and good quality.

Someone is bound to come along with some more advice. Good luck

SouthernSoftie

Sweetheart, we don't do backlashing, we hug!:D

Seriously, do the SOA, get it all written down. Are you paying the important things like utilities and council tax. The council tax is the most important.

Have you spoken to the gas, electric & water people? I had problems with my water bill and now have a payment book to pay off the arrears, so much easier than getting a big bill twice a year.

Do your SOA because you will also need those figures to do the online assessment with CCCS, they can also suggest ways to help you.

smithyjules

Thank you all so very much. We do receive CT benefit. I will try and sit down tomorrow and list all the debts and figures-though to be honest this terrifies me too as then i will no doubt realise what i have got myself into. But will do it as it for the best.little steps i guess. I spoke to Npower once about the debt and current usage and they wanted £80 PM just for usage and that didn't even chip into the debt.I couldn't afford this at all and gave up (useless i know). Another company said they wouldn't consider a payment plan until i paid a lump sum off the debt. Is there anyway i can avoid being cut off? My cooker is electric and what if i can't cook for my daughter. This is such a mess.Sorry to feel sorry for myself must shake it off. Hubby is very supportive but is useless like me and hates calling people-also most bills are in my name. Think PND has passed, loving being a mum it is what keeps me going. Hubby was a wealth of support with lo when i was down and still shares all the household/child related tasks with me. He just hasn't got a clue where to begin and i usually just get on with the finances (or not as it seems!)

SouthernSoftie

You should also go to your local CAB for advise. You may be able to get a hardship payment or suchlike from the DSS to help. Don't know how they work nowadays.

Cleosmum

I know its seems like a huge mountain right now, but once you have it all down in black and white you can start to formulate a plan. Once you have some idea of the amount of debt you can then decide if you feel able to deal with people yourself, or if you would prefer to speak to CCCS/Payplan and ask them to help you. Once you have the SOA etc sorted then you can start to look at ways to work your way out. Maybe a car boot sale, or do some ebaying of stuff you no longer need? You could visit the old style board for lots of tips, and at some point you may want to join up to the grocery challenge.

Have you considered looking for a part time job yourself? 16 hours a week would see you able to apply for working tax credit to go along side your child tax credit. That could be temporary until your OH finds something suitable? Only you know if thats an option, I just dont want you to feel like there are no options open to you.

Just remember that no matter how bad it is, it IS sortable

GeorgeUK

I agree with all of the above.

Get a statement of affairs done so you can see where you are and what you need to do - we may also be able to see some areas where you can save money too.

For hubby - get him to sign up with lots of agencies. Sometimes he will only get temp work, then need to sign on again, but he may get longer term or even permanent work from it. Also post his CV in online job sites like monster.com

You need to prioritise your payments. The important things to pay are rent, council tax, electricity/gas/water, HP payments & food. Any other debt such as credit cards or loans (as long as they are not secured against anything) are not a priority. Send a letter informing them that you are unable to meet your payments and are sending £1 payment as a token gesture. It looks better to be paying something rather than nothing so they don't think you are just ignoring the debt.

mummytofour

AWWWW its ok hunni.

Right tomorrow you need to please do a list of all your incomings and who you owe what as bets as you can. Please can you also call the cccs and get them to help you.

I guess the rent and council tax are ok? These really are the priority anything else really can be sorted very very easily in the grand scheme of things.

Chin up and well done for asking for help.

savingholmes

I agree with GeorgeUk. Also I's suffered PND with both my kids and that added significantly to our debts too. It doesn't last forever, I'm fine again now. I do still top up a day light lamp and take other sensible precautions though.

I think agency and shop work may be the easiest route back into working. Shops and factories often take people on preparing for the Christmas rush - at least it would update your CVs with recent work. As a one time only offer - if you need CV help you could pm me and I would be happy to help it is one of my specialities. (You can leave off your name and contact details if you did want to do that).

ashleighp_2

Hi I know how you feel. I constantly worry day in and day out about money. I have bought a house but owe £25,000 in loans and credit cards. i hid from it for years and it just kept mounting up. Now I have faced it head on and its very scary but each repayment I make contributes to reducing it down. I have given myself aside from my outgoings a £10 per day allowance. Within this is car parking at work and any other stuff. My weekly food shop is £45 every other week (I flat share) so I save 4.5 days worth of allowance for it. Also if I have a social event and need to buy a dress (I always buy on ebay) but i have to save my daily allowance for it. That way you are not stopping your self from living but controlling your spending much more carefully.

If anyone else has anymore ideas on how to make money, reduce debts down quicker please give me a shout. x x:j :money: