Help for single mum!

Conor_3

I think you do. They may be able to negociate a freeze on the interest or lower payments.

black-saturn

Mortgage/Rent - £870 - This is very high for one month?
Gas & Electric - £45 - This is high too. I'm indoors most of the day and my electric and gas only comes to £25 per month.
TV License - £11
Phone - £35
Mobile - £60 - This is high. Can you find a cheaper one?
Food - £300 - This is very high. Go on the Old Style Board and get some tips about making home made food. You should be able to slim the food bill down to £100 per month.
Car Insurance - £60 (have a Rav 4 I'm trying to sell!)
Petrol - £60 - I presume this will go when the car goes?

P.S. Where abouts in South East England are you?

bigst

3 are doing some good deals at the moment for instance for 325 a month you get 150 mins,750 texts,25 picture messages,25 video minutes.That would save you £400 a year if you stick within the allowances.

southernscouser

Sorry to bring this up but you haven't included council tax! Are you claiming single persons rate?

Is it a possiblity to move to somewhere smaller/cheaper?

Also, and I'm no expert on this, but £2,000 a month for maintenance seems extremely high! I know he is not paying anything now but could you re-negotiate a smaller amount? You also said coz he is living in California you can't do anything. Have you seeked any advice on this? CAB for example!

barbie_babe

CSSS will help with c cards /loans they can help you contact companys to freeze intrest and make smaller monthly payments.
also 02 are doing free sims on freebies board .you only have to pay ten pounds a month to get 300 texts plus you get you ten pound to use in calls .
food bills seems high can you look out for reduced food that you could cook from scatch with or reduced meat to freeze .iceland have a good sale at the moment .
also you havnt stated how much your water bill is .do you pay this monthly to.
hope this helps good luck

the_weatherman

strugglingsinglemum wrote:

Food - £300

That sure is some expensive pasta!!

Sunnydoo

Hi SSM,

I can't really add anything extra except to say have you tried ebay and/or Avon(i noticed you do Kleeneezee and one of my fellow reps just drops off her Kleeneezee and Avon brouchures at the same time)

I'm a single mum & student & i do both to supplement my income

Do you have a talent you can use to make money ?I recently discovered card making & sell them to friends and family

Would love to chat so PM me if you have the time

Good Luck

No1Alicat

Hi again
I agree with some of the previous posters that a few of your outgoings seem quite high. It's probably well worth your while to scour the boards here for tips on how to reduce bills for food, utilities, petrol etc - not just by switching to cheaper providers, but by finding ways to use less. Even if it's just a little it helps IYKWIM. It adds up! For example just by following tips on how to drive more economically, I've reduced my fuel consumption in the car from around 9.2p per mile to around 7.5p per mile (I have to log it all for work as it's a company car - I don't usually make a hobby of working out petrol per mile!)
You're obviously trying really hard and have put things in motion, like trying to sell the car. I def think it's worth seeking legal advice about how to chase the ex for support because even tho he's skipped the country I'm sure you will find he can be still made to cough up. As that might take a while, maybe don't make rash decisions like moving house (because if it all gets sorted, you'll hopefully be back to a situation where it's more affordable). Could you take a payment holiday of a month on your mortgage to cut you some slack - use the money from one month to slam down one of your highest debts a bit? This at least will slightly ease the income/outgoings situation, even though it will add a little interest over the lifetime of your mortgage.
I know the CCCS are very well recommended and if they can help get interest frozen that will help - they might even be able to help you set the record straight re your Next account/missed payments.
When things have been really bad for me (my ex left when I was pg with #2 and facing mat leave on SMP, with a £950 pcm mortgage he suddenly expected me to pay!!!) I've sold stuff from under our feet to make ends meet - had car boots, stuck notices on local boards, sold on eBay/parenting sites. Have you got books/cds you could flog via Amazon? Even if I've only managed an extra tenner some months, that money has always helped me feel better and more confident that I could make ends meet. Looking at your SOA, I do think you can do this - albeit with a lot of careful thought - so don't lose heart.
There's also a Parents on a Budget forum on https://www.ukparents.co.uk - a great place for support and tips from parents in similar situations.
And if you can find a spare £7.50 the single parent travel club is worth joining to help you meet other local people in the same boat - https://www.sptc.org.uk We have lots of day trips/get togethers that are free - picnics, getting together at local parks etc - and I think it's so important to feel you have the opportunity to meet others and get some support and understanding.
HTH a bit. Let us know how things are going.
Hugs,
Alison
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