Claim for Possession sorted - onto the next Chapter :)

MissConfused_2

TotallyBroke wrote: »

PPs you may well be liable for the costs but the landlord has decided to take you to court so let him pay. If the Judge says you have to then you will have to pay. But drop a subtle thing in about "Oh well I do have an extra £100 to pay now because of overtime but if I have to pay costs I will have to use that money so arrears will be longer to pay off". Do not let them know you have £500 sitting around.

Oops! I paid them the £350 last night I wish I hadn't after reading your post! Oh well, I do have an extra £200 now, and I like what you've said about the court costs, I might use that and see what happens. I would rather not have to pay especially as I've kept to my side of the agreement and learnt a very valuable lesson. I won't be getting myself into this much trouble again....

Oh, my arrears are now down to £163!!!

MissConfused_2

SouthCoast wrote: »

End result could be that OP is housed in a hostel and her child taken into care.

They want to try doing that and they will have one heck of a fight on their hands, they are NOT taking my little girl anyway, like to see them try it. As for the arrears, I know I did wrong, but I have tried to make amends by coming to an arrangement with them, they have accepted my offer of £85 a week, and I have been advised by the HA that they don't want to evict me, they want to get a Suspended Possession order. I have since paid an awful lot off my arrears and am now down to £163, so if they want to evict me for owing that much, there is something very seriously wrong with this world.

MissConfused_2

bumblebee87 wrote: »

err, sorry, but where is the need for a comment like that???
miss confused, no, if you do lose your case, and are put into a hostel, your daughter WILL NOT be taken from you!!!!!

Thank you bumblebee, I agree, there was no need for that comment by that user, considering how everyone else has been so nice and understand and very very helpful. I have to admit that thought had never crossed my mind until that post appeared. There is no way I will let her go anywhere without a very big fight, and if worst came to it, my parents would look after her, they wouldn't let her go either.

MissConfused_2

bumblebee87 wrote: »

oh, and dont worry about legal representation, we hadnt even taken any legal advice, we got ourselves into the problem, and had to face the consequences, luckily the judge was understanding about our reasons

I'm hoping he'll be reasonable about mine also. Basically its bad money management vs lack of money vs rubbish when it comes to prioritising things, we shall see. I don't know if you have seen my earlier post, but I have made a lump payment (thanks to the overtime!) and my arrears are now down to £163. I won't bother with a solicitor, however I may try and contact the CAB and see if somebody is available to come with me. I agree, it is totally my mess, and I'll get myself out of it.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

MissConfused wrote: »

Hi Mum2one - yeah I have seen that program, I've always wondered whether I should try something like that, I guess now is my chance!
I don't have any bills which need paying between now and the 9th (my next payday), so all I really need is money to live on between now and then, for food and petrol I guess

As for payday, I get paid every Friday (well I'm meant to, sometimes they come up with excuses and don't pay me, which helps!!), and Tax Credits, I get every 4 weekly, does this mean I have more money than I think? If so, that's even more worrying, because I've got no idea where it goes.

Do you think keeping some kind of money diary will help?
xx

The rest of it has been well covered so I won't repeat it.
You ask "Do you think keeping some kind of money diary will help?"
My answer. Yes. Just do it. I found it very illuminating. If I need (and I mean NEED) to spend on ANYTHING, I keep the receipt so that I remember the exact amount and when I get home, I insert the amount onto a spreadsheet that I've set up. I have it set up to keep a running total of each type of spending and a running total of all spending. Set it up with lots of columns so that you can see the details of what the money goes on. You will undoubtedly make mistakes as you change your spending priorities. The point is not to beat yourself up about those mistakes but to learn from them. I'm 51 years old and it took me until three months ago to actually see that the old saying about "look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves" really is true. I used to think that 50p here, a pound there (on whatever) really didn't matter too much. It was only when I started to tot up the monthly costs that the lightbulb came on. I'm such a tightar se that I even use the computer in a darkened room now LOL.

mum2one

SouthCoast wrote: »

Please feel free to flame me, but my thoughts.

OP has a Court hearing where her social landlord will be seeking eviction for the non payment of rent,
If the Judge agrees, bailiffs will be instucted and OP will be evicted.
The Local Council will not be interested as OP has made herself intentionally homeless by not paying her rent.
End result could be that OP is housed in a hostel and her child taken into care.

Professional advice needed.

I'm not haveing a go at you, but did you need to be so blunt, the poor woman has come on to this thread askinfg for our help and assistance and ur adding fuel to the fire.
The Op has paid extra, shes faceing up to her problem and needs help.

TotallyBroke

Hope it went ok at court. My sincere apologies for not posting last night.
Although it is swings and roundabouts really whether you pay now or work hard to save for February.
Do you have a savings account or another bank account (that is not in debt) or even an account of your daughter's that you can have access to for a short while.
The reason I ask is because;

The first thing I think you should do with the £225 (overtime) is put a tank of petrol in the car.
Then look in your fridge, freezer and cupboards and see what you can make for the rest of the week. Only buy the bare essentials this week (bread,milk etc). Look outside the box and don't think you have to have meat, potatoes and veg. Look at the top chef's they put things like prunes on roast beef.(exaggeration I know but hopefully you can see where I am coming from)
(Remember if you defrost something that can make two meals cook it and then portion it up and freeze it ~ you can do that so long as it is cooked through.)

Then put the rest of the money in another account (keep £20 in the house in case of emergency).
Next look through your statements and see what payments you have left to come out before your payday. (I have a spreadsheet that I use, if you would like to see it and adapt it for yourself then feel free to pm me).
Then do a soa just for the month of January, putting the present money and insurance etc into the other account so it can't be touched until it is needed.

Paulgonnabedebtfree suggested the diary where you write down everything you have bought. I'd do something slightly different for impulse purchases. I'd write it down before. You'll soon learn that it's a complete hassle writing in a notebook in a petrol station that you are about to spend 65p on a bottle of drink. You'll soon realise you don't need that drink and will go home and have some water.

Please let us know how you got on soon. x

MissConfused_2

TotallyBroke wrote: »

Hope it went ok at court. My sincere apologies for not posting last night.

Hello I think I may have confused everyone, my court appearance is next Tuesday, the 6th. I'm really sorry for the confusion guys.

TotallyBroke wrote: »

The first thing I think you should do with the £225 (overtime) is put a tank of petrol in the car.

Definately, else I'll be pushing it soon, lol. Very good idea with the food, I'll have a look through when I get home and see what I can magic up. To be honest, I'll live on beans on toast and scrambled eggs for the next week if I have to.

I do have another account yes, it's a savings account, although it is currently empty. Your spreadsheet sounds like a plan, so if you wouldn't mind me seeing it, that'd be really helpful. I don't think I have any payments left to come out before the court hearing, but I will definately put the remainder of the £225 in the other account, and then work on the SOA for January. When I've created the spreadsheet, would you mind having a look over it to make sure I haven't missed anything?

I like your idea of the Impulse Notebook also, I don't tend to struggle with myself for things like that, its my little girl, when we are out, and the cinema/activity world/bowling - all adds up, and when we walk past a shop and she wants sweets/crisps/drinks etc...

Thanks for you help again. x

mum2one

MissConfused wrote: »

Hi Mum2one - yeah I have seen that program, I've always wondered whether I should try something like that, I guess now is my chance!
I don't have any bills which need paying between now and the 9th (my next payday), so all I really need is money to live on between now and then, for food and petrol I guess

As for payday, I get paid every Friday (well I'm meant to, sometimes they come up with excuses and don't pay me, which helps!!), and Tax Credits, I get every 4 weekly, does this mean I have more money than I think? If so, that's even more worrying, because I've got no idea where it goes.

Do you think keeping some kind of money diary will help?
xx

Def keep a money diary, as with some coming in weekly, others 4 weekly, and bit here, bit there its easy once you get the hang of it.

best bet is work a month at a time,
Jan
Tax credits - what date
Wages - get pd fri - how many fridays in month
cb- weekly what day how many in month or 4 weekly what day in month

I'll send a pm 2ngt xx

You keep ur chin up. xx

hypno06

Hi there and welcome. You have had lots of practical advice on the arrears/housing/court thing from other people - I have no experience of these areas so won't comment at all, but it seems like other people have given some really good advice.

I hope you don't mind, but I am going to do the "tough love" bit - just so you know that I am not trying to be horrible, or difficult, or whatever, what I say comes from the experience of someone who 3 years ago owed over £100,000 on credit cards and loans in addition to a big mortgage and sometimes tough love is needed.......feel free to ignore me if you want.....

I know you are saying that you now have your head out of the sand - but you really truly have to mean it. It can be a bit like going on a diet, where for the first three or four days, or couple of weeks, you are all enthusiastic, determined to shed those lbs for ever, but then when it comes down to it, you get back into those bad habits really quickly and before you know it you are putting on weight again and ending up bigger than you were when you started (the analogy works well for me, anyway!).

So, this HAS to absolutely definitely 100% be the wake up call you need, and you HAVE to stick to it. You have already made attempts to sort things out in the past, and for whatever reason defaulted on that, now you have a suspended possession order looming and if you break that, then you know the consequences.

This means that YOU have to take control. No one else can do it for you. No one else can stop me eating the big bag of Minstrels on my desk right now, I have to do it myself.

That means you have to make choices - and right now those choices are going to mean whether you keep a roof over your head, so are pretty big ones.

You are on PAYG but using £30 a month on texting. You can easily cut this down IF YOU WANT TO to £10 a month, and find other ways of speaking to people - log onto MSN and chat online, or get Skype and talk through your computer, for example. You say it is cheaper than ringing, but if each text is costing you, in real terms say 10p, that is an awful lot of money just to say "lol" or "yeah thanks, see you later" or whatever.

Saying "No" to your daughter has to be a biggie - if you don't she will grow up to expect treats on demand and be spoilt. It is hard saying NO but when you face losing your house.............The same with the activities - cinema, bowling, etc - go for a walk in the park or have a day making fairy cakes or lasagne. Keep trips to the bowling for "real" treats......my teenagers have probably been bowling once this year and to the cinema no more than 2 or 3 times, and only ever when there are offers or free tickets available.

If you try and pay too much off things in one go, you will end up short for other stuff so you have to be realistic in all of this - if you have no way of paying for your car tax etc, you end up with either being in more debt because you have borrowed the money to pay for it, breaking the law because you are driving without tax and insurance, or paying the tax and insurance but not then being able to keep up the rent payments.........Be realistic - starting from now.

Use these boards to your advantage - you have already seen how useful they can be......go onto the "up your income" board to find ways of increasing your income - mystery shopping, car boot sales etc - can all be fitted into a busy life with children.

Look on the freebies board - you will find sample of cosmetics, bath stuff, allsorts that you can use for yourself to make your shopping budget go further, or to use as presents for other people. You will also find out how to get free cinema tickets etc.......

Go onto the Old Style board for classic simple advice on making that shopping budget go further and also giving ideas on cheap activities for you and DD.

etc etc

As I said above, I know this may come across as "yeah, right, thanks, very helpful......not" but you and only you have the ability to sort this out, and whilst I can see that your intention is to do that, I can also see that there are areas of weakness which are in danger of taking over (eg the sweets for DD and trips to the cinema etc, plus the phone stuff).

Good luck.