Hi I'm new,hope this is the right place to put this!?serious catalogue debt.

crazyhazy

scaredandhavingnightmares wrote: »

ok , Income weekly:
Income suppport: 40.16
Tax credit: 91.37
Child benefit: 31.35
Maintenance: 11.54

Total income: 174.42

Outgoings weekly.

Rent: 22.75
water rates 20.34 this seems high for just water?
gas 20.00
Electric 15.00 again gas and electric seem quite high, we only have elec and pay £66pm
Housekeeping 80.00 what does this cover?
Tv licence 3.00
Landline phone3.23
B/days and xmas: 5.00
Club: 10.00 (this is my simplybe club i have no debt with them
just high interest) sorry don't understand what this is for?

Total outgoings 179.32

Have added a couple of points, it would be easier if you completed the soa on here http://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html as it includes everything and cos it's monthly based gives a better idea.

scaredandhavingnightmares

thanks for all your replys
ok to explain the water is high because I had a book to pay the water each week and I got behind so I had a debt with them and so they now take it off my Income support each week I get less Income support but I know my water is being paid.
The electric and gas sorry it is so high i am on a pre payment meter and I am lucky if they last I put the money on the meters on a thersday and hope it will last the week till next thursday sometimes it doesn't I have had to put emergency on.We don't use excessive amounts everything turned off when not using it we got free low energy light bulbs that we use,the heating is only on for a short time in the morning and evening turned off in the day it is only me and i just put an extra layer on.
The club is the one club I havn't wrote to yet hoping in my silly way that I might be able to bring it down by having 10 pounds each week in the bank that I don't touch till end of month to pay the club but the minimum payment doesn't seem to be doing anything as there is usually a credit charge added on whatever that is, is that because I am only paying the minimum if it is then I will have to let them know I am finding it difficult to keep up payments.
The housekeeping does seem high I know but food is about 40/50pounds then the 30 pounds is for medicines if I need to buy any for the kids,personal things like sanitory towels,fruit as that doesn't always last all week yes i do buy food as cheeply as I can but I have a milk allergy so some foods have to be special stuff.Hope that makes sense.

scaredandhavingnightmares

How do I fill out the Soa ,how do I get the figures monthly do I times it by 4?

Jesthar

scaredandhavingnightmares wrote: »

How do I fill out the Soa ,how do I get the figures monthly do I times it by 4?

It will do for a start, yes - you might want to multiply it by, say, 4.35, to take account of the fact there are 52 weeks in the year, not 48. Or you could go through your finances for the last couple of months and work it out from there.

About your gas and elec, prepayment is a nastily expensive way of paying for them - is there ANY way you can change to a metered supply and/or change suppliers? There's a fair chance that could cut your bills quite a bit...

hypno06

hi and welcome

I think you could probably make a big difference to your SOA if you attack that housekeeping budget. £80 a week is a huge amount. Medicines for the kids can be got on prescription that is free, and if you are spending more than the odd bottle of calpol, then you need to look at what they are having and whether this is really necessary. "Personal" things should be coming out of the grocery budget, not as an extra.

We have 5 in our household, 2 adults, 3 teenagers, and a cat, and have a grocery budget of £50 a week, which includes everything - cleaning products, personal stuff, food, fruit, the lot. We have special diet stuff to buy too but with a bit of effort it can be done.

The old style board will help you with getting that budget down quite considerably - if you could get by on £50 a week, that would free up over £120 a month which would surely make a huge difference to you!

Start keeping a spending diary - log every single penny for the next month or two to see exactly what you are spending money on. Then sit down at the end of each week and look to see what is creeping into your basket or trolley that is not really necessary. For example, if you are buying biscuits for the children because they like them, you may have to sit them down and tell them no biscuits for a while, or get them to make some instead! Or if you are buying branded foods, move down a rung and buy own brand or value. Or buy cheap cuts of meat and make old style casseroles etc which are filling, healthy, and can be frozen for another day if you make double quantities etc.

It may feel now that there is no hope, but with a little focus and determination you can make a good difference.