Advice Please - Can't see the light at the end of the tunnel

skintchick

I think the first thing you need to do is keep a spending diary of everything you buy, no matter how small, so you can see where it all goes. Knowing what you're wasting it on will shock you into stopping! It did for me.

Ref your outgoings:

do you really need pet insurance? I have never bothered with this for my cats. you could just save the amount you pay into it - at least if you dont; need it then you have the cash, not them!

Your broadband is high - do you really need it? Could you switch to pay as you go dial up? (check MArtin's article for 0.5p a minute access)

Your buildings and contents looks high too - mine is £120 a year with CIS. Can you change to another supplier?

Water also looks high. Have you thought about going on a meter? It will be cheaper than this.

Leccy and gas seem high also - have you switched supplier? I pay £35 a month for both and have the heating on all the time!

Life insurance? do you need this? Likewaise the mortgage protection. Often it's not worth having so check the T&Cs and consider cancelling it.

Little_Miss_Winner

Hello,

If you both put £750 into a joint account, after the s/o you have listed you have £425 a month. Out of this you say you just buy food?
You really need to tighten your belts I am afraid.
Do what skintchick says above, and change all the above to cheaper providers, you are throwing money away. You can easily shave at least £100 a month, plus the £425 you have before food.

I know it can be all too much to begin with, but will get easier, you just need a bit of organisation.

Type everything out in front of you, and then take it from there.

I was reading a post the other day about a lady who had £2.05 left to pay her debts each month, she is determined to get through this. So I am sure you can too.

Love
pot
x

robertbruce

Hi
Gald to see you getting into the spirit of things and looking closely at your situation. Just remember to slow down after the first day and take a deep breath as you will receive lots of suggestions on this site and some of them need a little effort on your part.

My biggest concern for you from what you have said would be that you are acting as two individuals at the moment and NOT AS A TEAM, which in my opinion is essential.

Ask your partner to think about the bigger picture of "WE, THE TEAM" instead of "you or me" as single people. You stopped being single people some time ago, I think, and its time you addressed this issue before looking beyond that to solving long term finances. Psychologically, it is possible your partner is trying to protect you from the complications of the business and thinks he is doing the right thing, but I have always included my wife in everything to do with business and domestic decisions as they affect everything we do and, indeed, everything we are.

It may not be possible to sweep away past ways of working, but you both really need to take this step together. Use the advice of the site members here to compile a list of options, gather some more details from visits to websites which are mentioned (eg. phones, gas, banks, etc.) and finally decide what to do to improve your situation.

Hoping it all makes a difference. Cheers. Bob.

Janey51

We are waiting for our first appointment with CCCS and if you go to them, they will expect you to list all your creditors so they have all information to work with. If you really want to write to your creditors yourself you can download sample letters from the National Debtline website.