Some advice please...

shellsuit

Hi,

We are in a muddle at the moment and need some helpful advice please

My hours in work have been reduced (no fault of my own, just cutting back on hours) so I'm picking up £80 a week now :mad: (2 days work @ minimum wage)

My partner works full time and brings home just under £300 a week.

What we can afford and we are paying are :

Rent
CT
2 unsecured loans
Utility bills
Food Shopping
Internet access
Car/house Insurance
TV License

All the above apart from gas and elec are paid by DD.

What we are struggling with are :

CC payments (We have 1 each)
One store card payment.
2 catalogue payments.

The minimum payments for the above is £300 a month.

We are robbing Peter to pay Paul and juggling payments around.

What would we be best in doing with the CC/SC and Cat payments?

I've got £50 sat in front of me which 'was' to pay for the store card BUT we have received our electric bill which is £200.

Who do I pay?

Can I ring the CC/SC/Cat companies up and explain what has happened with the reduction in earnings and would they be interested? Would they freeze the accounts or keep on slapping charges on?

Help!!

shellsuit

Also forgot to mention we get £110 a month in CB and £40 a week tax credits BUT I had a letter from the tax credits to say we owe them £700ish and that has to be paid in 2 days!

I've sent a letter off to them to dispute it but if we DO have to pay this back we will be in big trouble

Kevicho

Firstly dont panic

if you can give us a specific list with costs of where the money goes each month, and totals of all debts hopefully we can give you advice

Good luck

Kevicho

also Id start looking for new work with more hours or taking a second job

Debt_Free_Chick

You pay for a roof over your head, for food and clothing first. After that, you pay debts. If there's not enough to go around, you need to negotiate affordable payments with your creditors (those you owe money to).

As suggested, post details of your bills here and we'll see if we can suggest some savings.

bank_of_slate

Firstly, you've taken a huge step in listing it all and asking for advice.
Just getting it out of your head and down on paper makes it all clearer doesn't it?

Welcome to MSE, I know there will be plenty of people on here that will offer all the help advice and support that we can.

Could you call up the electric company, set up a direct debit and spread the £200 so it doesn't all have to be paid at once?

Also, can you combine both credit cards and balance transfer onto a 0% card?
...Linda xx

shellsuit

Hi Kev, OK here goes.....

Rent : £420 a month
CT : £100 a month
Car Insurance : £130 a month
House Insurance : £20 a month
My loan : £210 a month
OH loan : £135 a month
TV License : £10(ish) a month

My CC : £50 a month (min payment)
OH CC : £100 a month (min payment)
Catalogues : £100ish a month
Store Card : £50 a month 9min payment)
Provident loan (£10 a week)

Shopping : £200 a month (we shop every fortnight and spend around £100)
Gas : £40 a month
Elec : £150 - £200 a quarter
Water : £10 a week by standing order
Phone : £20 a month
Internet Access : £25 a month


That comes to £1700 (ish, nearabouts)

Our incomings amount to £1710

But the above isn't including petrol (OH needs car for work), anything the kids may need (we have 2) our mobile phones (mine is £10 a month, his is £40) and my dirty smoking habit (I know I know, my OH stopped 11 days ago and is still going strong).

I'm sure there are a couple of things I have forgotten but if I remmeber them I will add them.

We were fine upto around November, but since My hours were reduced, I'm getting £100 less a week which is £400 a month (which is where and why it has all gone wrong )

shellsuit

Hi again,

Can't swap CCs around, believe me I have tried, nobody will entertain us

I can't take another job (I'd love to!) as my OH works shifts and nobody could give me hours around what my OH works.

The job I'm still in were really good with me and let me leave early when OH was on a specific shift and come in late if he was on another shift BUT cutting my days down to 2 is pretty gutting.

I can't even get a job between the hours of 9.30- 2.30 because I would be stuck when the kids are on school holidays.

severussnape

hi

your internet access seems a bit high as does your gas and electricity, do you have arrears you are paying off. if not i would look for a different provider.
we found ours on this website, but our internet is 17.99 a month through wanadoo thats for 2mb of downloading.

how much do you owe altogether if you don't mind me asking.

shellsuit

Internet has gone down from £30 to £25, we don't drink and don't go out so that is our only vice. (apart from my fags)

Gas is on a prepaid meter, that's why it might seem high. It is that amount through the cold weather but it can drop to about £10 a month in the summer so it isn't too bad.

We owe approx £20K

bank_of_slate

Have you shopped around for cheaper car insurance?
...Linda xx