Too late?

shinyhead

Hi again,

Your elect and gas seem a little low and your Sat/cable-is it really £120? I know it's all-in -one, but! Hope it's a typo!

Is that mortgage figure for the mortgage part alone or does it include the loan?

Also you have 2190 coming in then 2049 going out. This does leave a surplus.

GeorgeUK

Council tax............................. 119
If paying over 10 months, can you ask to pay over 12?

Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 28
Check the comparison sites to see if you are getting a good deal (uswitch, moneysupermarket)

Water rates............................. 35.68
Is this metered? Do you use hippos in the cisterns to cut amount of usage?

Mobile phone............................ 30
PAYG?

Telephone (land line)................... 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 120
Internet Services....................... 0
HOLY C!!P - di you subscribe to every channel? Have a look at what they are offerring new subscribers. Glad to see that this is going to be reduced.

Groceries etc. ......................... 450
Have a look at the old style board for meal plans etc. Have you moved down a brand (shops own)?

For the various insurancies i would also look at the comparison sites to see if you are still getting a good deal. If you have a look at quidco (never used it myself) you can sometimes get money back when ordering things through this so will add a little to any savings.

At the bottom right of your post you can use edit to make any changes so you can update the APR's from there.

Edit: Just noticed that the SOA was cut short there. I thought you had more money available to deal with the unsecured debts. A DMP definately seems like the best way forward as you can't afford the minimum payments. 0% cards are no longer any use. Definately contact one of the free debt charities shinyhead has mentioned - you can also do a DMP yourself. There are quite a few members on the board that do that and all the letters required are here somewhere.

pepe2008

Its best to get an appointment to speak with CCCS or similar. Make sure that you do not get tempted by a FEE CHARGING outfit, if you ring anyone advertising info on 'recent legislation blah blah blah' it WILL be fee charging.

An IVA will involve hefty fees whoever you do it with and it doesnt guarantee anything. I fact it can put your property at risk in the future.

Even from the short SOA you have posted, I'm sure that you can budget a little each month for a dmp. The most important thing is your Mortgage, talk to them and get something sorted.

I hit the wall in Sept 07 with £60,000 of debt, none with any arrears, that I had kept secret. CCCS helped me as they help 000's of others.

Get your full SOA up on here and see where it goes.:beer:

pepe2008

There are quite a few areas that can be tweaked on your SOA.
Groceries are high, Cable/sattelite (!!) and Buildings Insurance are the most obvious.

liquidcoolingsystem

Cable services vary from month to month - and yes they are stupidly high!
The norm is around £90 per month.
It will be cut back to basic package during the week.

Food - remember I am feeding the wife and 5 kids! But yes, as i said, will be popping into Aldi to see how much I can save.

Will contact CCCS tomorrow - it is my day off!

Thanks again everyone.

monkeyintrouble

The very first thing I would do is cancel the Sky package, completely. Get yourself a Freeview box for £20!

casiquerbrado

Hi lcs,

I too was in a similar position , but owed far more than you.

Don't keep it to yourself , although I know how hard it is to tell your wife , believe me.

First , speak to the CCCS , get a plan to repay , then sit down with your wife and tell her what you are going to do to solve the situation.

You will feel MUCH better for it.

Yes , my wife was devestated , but we're 7 months into an IVA , and , yes , it's hard ( and not for everyone , some prefer a DMP ) , but we are stronger for it.

Let us know how you are coping.

Good luck , and remember your family love and need you.

savingholmes

liquidcoolingsystem wrote: »

Cable services vary from month to month - and yes they are stupidly high!
The norm is around £90 per month.
It will be cut back to basic package during the week.

Food - remember I am feeding the wife and 5 kids! But yes, as i said, will be popping into Aldi to see how much I can save.

Will contact CCCS tomorrow - it is my day off!

Thanks again everyone.

If you genuinely would struggle to get in Aldi etc in normal opening hours - why not use mysupermarket.com through a cashbacksite and see what your shop would cost at Tesco, Asda, Ocado and Sainsburys. Mine was £20 less with Asda than Tesco and £60 less than it would be at Ocado on a £70 (weekly) bill.. that gives you a clue. It also recommends cheaper versions of what you were looking at too....Give it a go. You could shop on line and still after the delivery fee be cheaper than Tesco will probably be... I still use Asda myself, going down brand levels slowly - I only joined myself in July. I've saved so much money already tho. I'd saved £8K or so in my first year of reading Martin's book - that was mostly interest and utility switches and things...:money:

When you've got your head around a dmp or whatever you end up with visit the £10 a day challenge and start to create a little extra for paying off debt more quickly and life's little luxuries... hope that helps.

Your insurance is high - I rang my provider saying I had a cheaper quote and after talking we went from £54 to £24 per month - others on here still says it is too high. My broadband and phone was £28 and £19 - now £17 all in. I've changed the way I do my childcare - saving me another £110 per month. There are things you can do. I've stopped school lunches saving me another £80 or so a month...(on 2kids not 5 like yours).

We are on freeview - I find it cheaper to buy the occasional DVD than having satellite. After a month or so you stop missing it... You really can't afford to keep it in my view. Normally you can ring them up and explain your financial difficulties and lower the package even if you can't break the contract altogether. Afterall if you can't afford to pay them - they don't want ot give you the service either!

anyway, bye for now - all the best. No debt of any size is worth jumping off a short pier for - look at pandapaws diary for some inspiration or hypno. there are lots of people with large debts who have managed to make inroads. Don't give up, tomorrow is another day, and the light will start to shine through - even on a rainy day

tallyhoh

I can't believe your building insurance, is that with contents?, even so its huge:eek:. Likewise your life insurance, mine is £8.25 a month, was it sold to you with the mortgage by any chance?

Your TV subscription is far too much, I pay £65 a month to sky for 2 room full package, broadband & phone. If you are struggling though, get rid of it, freeview is just as good. That would pay your overdraft off in one month.

Good Luck.

liquidcoolingsystem

Ooops! Forgot to add that my overdraft is £1800 !! And I am over that!

The insurance is including contents and accidental damage. Oh and extra for the bikes too.