Another tale of woe

insertname1981

Hi everyone.

Although i am not exactly new to the forum, this is my first big post / request for advice.

My wife and i have been struggling for a while now, and this month things have hit rock bottom for us. We were paid 3 days ago, and already the available balance for us at our bank is 0.00.

I have included a SoA at the bottom of this post, but the biggest problem is that we are in deficit every month to approx £350. This had lead us to blindly live on whatever credit we can get, and now this has dried up.

We are now struggling for ideas about how to sort this out. My wife suggests a consolidation loan with someone like Norton Finance. But i dont like this as it will last for 10 years, not free up that much money over a month and this route is sort of how we got into this mess (constantly taking out new loans to cover old debts).

As promised, here is my SoA:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1455
Partners monthly income after tax....... 739
Benefits................................ 117
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2311

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 826
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 88
Electricity............................. 88
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 28.79
Telephone (land line)................... 25
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 26
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 120
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 10.5
Contents insurance...................... 10.5
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1709.79

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 118000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 122500

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 124943...(826)......6.09
Total secured debts........... 124943....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Natwest Personal Loan..........16220.....230.......0
Cahoot Personal Loan...........12200.....260.......14.9
MBNA Credit Card...............260.......15........0
Overdraft......................4000......0.........0
Central Heating Loan...........140.......70........0
Honda Finance..................4600......183.......0
Argos..........................1000......30........0
Mothercare Card................700.......35........0
Next...........................450.......45........0
Freemans Account...............650.......65........0
B&Q Card.......................100.......5.........0
Total unsecured debts..........40320.....938.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,311
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,709.79
Available for debt repayments........... 601.21
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 938
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -336.79

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 122,500
Total Secured debt...................... -124,943
Total Unsecured debt.................... -40,320
Net Assets.............................. -42,763

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

I have put groceries down as £200 (£50 a week) as there is my wife and i, and our 18 month old daughter.

Fuel is £200 as we both need a car (although mine is a company car).

We are already paying our council tax over 12 months.

The £88 electricity includes arrears payments so i hope this should come down to about £50 / £60 soon.

For the next month (possibly 2) there is a chance that my parents can lend us enough money for us to get by on for food and diesel, but we really need longer term advice.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Keeping_Positive

I wouldnt consolidate that will lead to more problems. It does seem tight with not much room to maneover. I would try the up the income board to see see if cash can be raised to help (Im doing bodyshop at home for extra income whilst working fulltime), then the oldstyle monesaving board to shave a bit off the groceries. With just the three I think the £200 can be cut by at least £50 and even more with inventivness.

Lastly and probably most important have a look at the CCCS website. A dmp may be wise. £340 is a lot to shave off and they will be able to help.

Good luck

otb666

is there anyway your wife could work full time now as your child is quite old-i have to consider this now as we too overspend by 300 every month-other tan that get jobs closer to home-although now may not be the right time to go job swopping

milkybars

The only place I can see for more cutbacks is satellite/Cable TV £20, although I imagine you are tied into a contract of some sort with that at the moment. Also it doesn't shave much off the target.

Best of luck, hope things work out for you.

insertname1981

thanks for the advice.

I was thinking of writing / ringing Cahoot to see if they will suspend interest on the loan and allow me to make reduced monthly payments to try and save up to half of the £260.

WOuld this be worth it?

oldone_2

Is there any chance that your parents can look after your child.This would release £120 a month.

insertname1981

it is one of the parents that is looking after the child, but they gave up their job to do so. we pay the £120 to them.

MYLITTLESISTERLOLA

insertname1981 wrote: »

Hi everyone.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1455
Partners monthly income after tax....... 739
Benefits................................ 117 try entitled to website to see if you can get anything extra
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2311

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 826
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 88
Electricity............................. 88
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 28.79
Telephone (land line)................... 25
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20 this could go
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 try o/s board
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 26 quidco
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 120 childcare voucher scheme through work ?
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 10.5 quidco
Contents insurance...................... 10.5 quidco
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1709.79

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 118000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4500 could this be sold & get a cheap run a round ( my husbands was £380 & he's it had 2 yrs so far
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 122500

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 124943...(826)......6.09
Total secured debts........... 124943....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Natwest Personal Loan..........16220.....230.......0
Cahoot Personal Loan...........12200.....260.......14.9
MBNA Credit Card...............260.......15........0 cut up
Overdraft......................4000......0.........0
Central Heating Loan...........140.......70........0
Honda Finance..................4600......183.......0 sell car
Argos..........................1000......30........0 cut up
Mothercare Card................700.......35........0 cut up
Next...........................450.......45........0 cut up
Freemans Account...............650.......65........0 cut up
B&Q Card.......................100.......5.........0 cut up
Total unsecured debts..........40320.....938.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,311
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,709.79
Available for debt repayments........... 601.21
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 938
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -336.79

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 122,500
Total Secured debt...................... -124,943
Total Unsecured debt.................... -40,320
Net Assets.............................. -42,763

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

quote]
we have 3 in our household & have been able to reduce food bills through the o/s board we average about £120 / mth this includes treats

try the childcare voucher scheme through you/your wifes work might reduce childcare
Can your wife take on extra work and could family possibly help out with childcare
sell everything not nailed down at car boot sale/ ebay ( ebay is really busy this time of year, I sell kids clothes, shoes, old toys, cd's dvd's and unwanted cosmetics an can average £200 per week although it takes a bit of work )
llok at other ways to increase income - could your wife mind children at home to keep he income but reduce your own childcare costs
The aprs on the cards would be helpful - I would start paying the highest interest rate off first
I would also recommend possibly looking into interest only on your mortgage, not ideal but might free up some money to pay off some of the hideous store cards with I'm guessing an average interest rate of 30ish %
Martin's money diet book is very helpful, I re-read it every 6 mths to see what else I can save on
Use cashback websites like Quidco for all essential internet spending, car ins, home ins etc we've brought in an extra £500 this year with very little work
I would also contact the CAB or free debt advise in your area to see if they have any other ideas
Any ppp you could reclaim, endownment misselling, bank charges etc

I'm sorry if any of this sounds sharp but I men to help not offend
Kind Regards
MLSL

rachnbri

Have you claimed child/working tax credit? You might be entitled to some help towards childcare.

benbenandme

What does the other benefits consist of? Do you get any tax credits, I think you should get some to help with the childcare costs, and also child benefit?

I agree, the satellite tv could go unless you are tied in; Is there any way of either of you increasing your hours at work, or one of you maybe getting a second job, perhaps bar work in the evenings or a christmas temp job for a few weeks? I know it won't solve everything but it may help?

There is nothing in your soa for presents, have a look on the special occasions board for cheap ideas for christmas presents, and make sure you all write out a christmas list and include lots of essentials on there like a food hamper between you and oh (a home-made one rather than a posh wicker basket type ), clothes for dd, smellies etc. ... maybe not exciting presents but would save you having to buy them in the new year?

insertname1981

MLSL

no offence taken. there are a couple of good points in your reply that i will look into.

the problem with selling the car is that the money form the sale will have to pay off the honda finance.