Here goes! Please attack it!

forever_hopeful_2

posted my first thread yesterday still not sure if i have got the hang of it yet! here is my promised soa. my appointment with cccs is just under two weeks away. filled in form for the Nat West Step account so that's first step unless they dont accept us.

income
hubby (alters a little with overtime) 1,600.00
me 1,180.00
child tax credit/family allowance 109.00


regular outgoings
rent 250.00
council tax 121.00
pension 30.00
pension 24.00
electric 48.50
bt - option 2 + net 30.00
life insurance 12.00
life insurance 8.00
diesel 85.00
top up tv (instead of pocket money for kids) 7.99
tv 10.49
house insurance 8.00
food 400.00
coal 25.00
car tax 14.16
car insurance 32.00
water rates 16.00
car maint 10.00
AA 7.00
pets -food,jabs,wormer etc 16.20


cards/loans balance credit limit
cc1 299.00 12,970.00 13,050.00
cc2 38.00 1,200.00 1,300.00
cc3 160.00 5,320.00 5,400.00
cc4 223.00 9,920.00 10,000.00
cc5 85.00 2,600.00 2,400.00
cc6 118.00 3,999.00 4,100.00
cc7 90.00 2,918.00 3,200.00
cc8 93.00 3,210.00 3,400.00
cc9 213.00 5,124.00 7,000.00
cc10 151.00 2,907.00 3,000.00
cc11 250.00 8,642.00 8,700.00
cataloge 200.00 2,300.00 5,000.00

loan - 14 payments to go 299.00 balance 4,186.00
Loan - 4 payments to go 310.00 balance 1,240.00

well how have i managed? paid catalogue and shopping costs etc by credit cards so stuck in a vicious circle but thought i would get by till one of the loan finishes in May. hubby trying to get a second job to help but no regular work as yet. amazingly credit card no.9 increased my limit by £2K in today's post!

I know it's bad. still really scared about what will happen, baliffs etc how it will affect the kids. still feel sick too! maybe I should carry on for a little longer and see what happens in May.

what do you all think?

dinkylou

The first thing I noticed was £400 for food!!

Thats alot of money. How many are in your family?

Think you definitely want to visit the OS board to reduce that.

BobProperty

Quick one - £85 of diesel per month? Do you live somewhere rural and have to travel a lot?

in*the*red_6

Hello Spikey

Please don't get cold feet about contacting CCCS it must have been exhausting juggling that many creditors on your own. I'm sure from what many others have said on here that you will feel great relief once you've talked to them. Holding on until May would just mean prolonging the inevitable and more worry for you. Things will be ok now you have come to terms with your situation!

Best wishes and good luck,

ITR

jellycat40

Hi there Spikey

I think £400 for food is not bad. I am trying to reduce to £500 per month!!! When you work hard you deserve a certain standard of food. I like to make sure we have good food on the table. We don't eat ready made meals, I make most from scratch but I do like to have the best. I would rather have filet steak than minute steak, I would rather have organic chicken than frozen supermarkets own brand. What is more Payplan gave me a budget of £520 for grocery on their expenses plan so they don't think it is unreasonable. We have 6 adults and one child, 2 dogs and 2 and half cats.

Ihave pm you

Louise

black-saturn

Blimey, how many kids have you got 10? £400 a month for food is a hell of a lot. Start thinking about what you buy and cooking things from scratch which will reduce your food bill a bit.

I've given you a thanks to start you off

nic82

When I was at uni, there were 6 of us that used to share food and we didn't spend anywhere near £400 a month on food AND we did eat healthily and cooked (most of the time!) from scratch.

I know it doesn't sound like moneysaving, but try to buy in bulk. e.g. look out for BOGOFs and instead of just buying one and getting one free, buy two so you get two free. This will then save money in the long run. BUT only buy things on BOGOFs if you usually buy them, otherwise they'll end up at the back of the cupboard and will never see the light of day again!

Massive bags of pasta are really cheap and we used to eat quite a lot of that at uni.

forever_hopeful_2

Well there are 5 of us me, hubby and 3 teenagers! and it includes washing powders etc and yes we live very rural 8 miles to nearest village even further to supermarket. I do cook from scratch no ready meals, no biscuits or crisps, will confess to the odd bottle of wine though! so i thought 400 for food & cleaning stuff per month not bad.

am i done for then?

nic82

spikey wrote:

am i done for then?

Not quite

If I were you, I'd pay a visit to the OS board (if you haven't done so already) and post a message. They have sooooooo many hints and tips that I'm sure you'll be able to cut your bills.

I can't speak from personal experience as I haven't done this, but I know quite a few people on the OS board don't use shop bought cleaning products and instead use vinegar, bicarb, etc. Perhaps you could save some money this way too?

forever_hopeful_2

whats the OS board or am i being dumb?? please forgive me if so not myself at mo!

emilykat

I think they mean the money saving old style board, I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!