How Much!

tangerine_2

Hello All

Have been watching the forums for a while now and finally decided to give it a go. Have totalled all debts up and ended up crying but thats was the first hard bit over. Am now waiting for a call from Pay Plan so am asking for a bit of advice please. Will they know whats right for me and will they contact all creditors on my behalf? Sorry to be pain but would like to have an idea on what to expect.

bank_of_slate

Hi tangerine!
Whatever happens, it can only improve from here on in,
you've taken the hardest step in facing your situation.

Keep posting on here as you'll get loads of advice and support from the MSE community.

It will help if you can post a full SOA so we can help to advise you of any other possible savings that you could be making.

I'm sure that whatever your situation that there are others on here in a similar or worse situation.
Take heart because you're taking control!!
...Linda xx

stretcherman

Hi Tangerine
I used Pay plan after a long time trying to deal with my debts myself, I then phoned Payplan and they were so nice. They take you through every stef and help you with what you need to live on and what you can afford to pay.

You will still get some phone calls from creditors etc. but these eventually stop. It's a good idea to look onto their website as they have samples of letters that get sent to you like default notices which seem scary when you get them.

Good luck

tangerine_2

Thank you for reply. Here goes:

We owe approximately £36k

We earn approximately £1700 joint income a month

Outgoings:

Rent £390
TV Licence £11
Telephone £19
Sky TV £43 (a lot I know but we do not really go out)
Car Ins £30
Home Ins £8
Gas £36
Electric £29
Brakdown Cover (Car) £8
Pension £43
Life Ins £12
TV Rental £33
Water £30
C.Tax £70
Travel Ins £42
Petrol £100
Mobiles £80 (total for both on contract)
Shopping £240
Unforseen ( Car Tax, MOT, etc) £150

This is the rough budget I have any help would be greatly appreciated! And, one thing I am proud of, I have given up smoking saving approx £20 a week to try to help.

bank_of_slate

For a start you could phone up whoever you have your phone contracts with. My friend did this as he was paying too much. He told them he was going to have to get rid of the phone because the cost was too high and they lowered the cost to keep him as a customer.
If that tactic doesn't work, get pay as you go phones, you can really keep track better
...Linda xx

PS..whats with the travel insurance? Do you mean car insurance?

rchddap1

Still would be helpful to have the details of your debt...how much, to whom and the interest rate.

People will pretty much immediately tell you to forget about sky and cancel it. Same goes for the mobiles. You should at least consider reducing the amount you spend on these two things.

How many people does the shopping budget cover? Is this purely for groceries, cleaning products etc...? We are a household of 2 people and spend £100 a month. And yes we do eat very well indeed (see old style board for help)

As for the 'Unforseen' category...they aren't unforseen. You have to pay for the Car Tax every year. People's birthday's don't hop around, Xmas doesn't move date every year. You need to start to plan and budget for these things. I have already started Xmas 2006 shopping. My OH has 2 daughters and they already have £50 worth of stuff each stashed in our pressie cupboard. Only cost me a fraction of that though.

Your budget needs to account for all expected expenses throughout the year. If you don't your budget could be messed up later on in the year and you'll end up in a panic.

Don't worry...just think things through logically.

tangerine_2

The travel insurance is for travel we were tied into it for a year but is due up in June and we won't be re-newing it!

Conor_3

Phone Sky and tell them you are going to cancel because you are skint. They will probably offer you half price for 3 months.

Secondly, GET RID OF THE TV. Who the hell still rents a TV in this day and age? £33 a month is horrendous. In 9 months of rental, you've forked out enough money to buy a brand new 28" Sony Widescreen with integrated digital tuner. Buy a second hand one out of the paper for now.

Get rid of travel insurance. You can't afford a holiday so there's no point in having it.

Reduce the mobile phone usage and change the tarrifs to a lower one or PAYG

Just in the above there's the over £100 a month in savings.

jcr16

i agree totally with the idea of the tv. that is alot of money each month. after xmas so many people sell there old but still in fab condition tv's. you could proberly pick a really nice one up for about £20 -£30. ( thats the rought price of ones in our local paper)
also we don't go out much and have skys movie package and we only pay £36 a mont. not much less than yours but it all helps. or just have basic package and could u borrow dvd/videos from friends. it doen't have to be long term , but even if you did this for just 6 months think how much u could save.

HTH

severussnape

hi

we contacted payplan last week spoke to them properly on saturday and are just waiting for the paperwork to come through.

from reading the threads on here payplan seem more in favour of debt management plans whereas CCCS are more for IVAs so really it is whatever YOU decide you want to do.

Our DMP is going to take about 9 years to pay off which seems like a long time, but everything will be paid off.

if your not happy with what payplan say try cccs or cab.

sashacat

I rang my phone company after reading what Martinsaid on the homepage here and told them i was going to cancel.....as a result of this they gave me...a new phone, 500included cross network minutes, 120 included texts, free insurance AND £90 credit on my account...for £25 per month...or it will be £25 after the £90 runs out....phone them up!...if they won't play ditch them and get pay as you go...you will be able to keep your phones.
Don't pay the travel insurance, your debts are more important.
have a look at what Martin says about switching gas and elec...I did it last week and switched back to british gas as it will save me over £100 per year because of their promotions.
I have just ditched sky and before I did they offered me price cutting deals
most importantly don't let it get you down- you are getting there