please help me...i'm drowning!

bobmats_shel

3 children in the house, 2 adults, but 3 cars? I have to assume the children are not children as such. How old are they? Are any of them working, are they contributing to the bills?

£60 a month on a landline? If the children are making these calls then I'd firstly be barring outgoing calls, or charging them for any calls made. Also if neither adult is working, and I assume you both have a mobile, 2 contracts (£60- is high for mobiles), then do you both need a phone? Can you maybe do without one of these?

Never contributed to this thread before, but I'm a single parent, and used to living frugally.

RAS

I am assuming that one or more person's have lost their job recently?

nuthouseleader wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 3 - you can only afford one, and then only if you can use it to job-hunt or are somewhere where you cannot sue public transport
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 927.52
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 927.52
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 330.44
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 102 =- have you applied for Councilt Tax Benefit?
Electricity............................. 180 - this is huge. Go round the house, turn everything off except the fridge and TV. After that anyone caught leaving on anything they are not using pays a fine.
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 130 - if you are using this much oil then the electricity is even more desparate.
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 60 - should be £12. get the hubbie and elder kids on the MSe phone forum and learn about cheap phone calls.
Mobile phone............................ 60 - downgrade and then go PAYG.
TV Licence.............................. 14
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 18 - downgrade, cancel and use freeview.
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100 - insufficient
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 150 - if you are not worjking this is massive. One journey a fortnight to the supermarket is essential, and job interviews/signing on.
Road tax................................ 40
Car Insurance........................... 150 - massive. Are you paying for a teenager? You need to get rid of at least two of these and the teenager has to pay his/her own insurance.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 45 - what is this?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20 - check this and swap via www.quidco.com
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 25
Other insurance......................... 8.75
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 - you cannot afford any.
Haircuts................................ 50 - check out the local college for hair cuts and do the kids at home.
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1643.19

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 150000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 155000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 130000...(330.44)...4.84
Total secured debts........... 130000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Cahoot Loan....................4736.68...121.4.....23.2
Barclaycard....................3266.39...80........19.9
Capital One....................163.5.....10........19.3
Marks & Spencer................198.3.....5.........24 - you need to start by paying this off.
Tesco .........................1458.96...71........0
Halifax One....................510.26....10........12.9
Mint...........................1551.95...40........14.9
Total unsecured debts..........11886.04..337.4.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 927.52
Expenses (including secured debts)...... 1,643.19
Available for debt repayments........... -715.67
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 337.4
Amount short for making debt repayments. -1,053.07
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 155,000
Total Secured debt...................... -130,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -11,886.04
Net Assets.............................. 13,113.96
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

You simply cannot live like this. In the short-term you have to cut back everything and stop using the cards. I know you will eventually get the mortgage paid by the benefits, but this could be a few months yet. When did you start signing on?

There is a lot you can reduce or lose and you can do quite a bit to improve your situation by reading other boards. I not that you have already consolidated once? Do not fall into this trap again.

Immediate actions

1. Reduce your energy consumption.
2. Check all those loans and cards for PPI and either claim on it or reclaim the payments.
3. Ditto if there are any charges on any of the accounts/
4. Open a new basic bank account if any of your debt is with a company that is allied to one of your creditors.
5. Check www.entitledto.com.
6. Speak to one of the debt charities as soon as they re-open after the break
7. Join www.freecycle.org - like e-bay but you ge the goods free of charge. Clothes, electrical good, computer gear, TVS, bikes etc.