SOA cont from ' scared to lose the house' thread

chmmy

I know some people who gave their baby cows milk from 9 months, I did from 10 months as mine (twins) were eating other foods well. I didnt ever buy any special baby foods, i just gave them simple hand blended/ mashed veg,meat, cheese, eggs,etc, and yogurt and fruit, cereals, toast.

Also its harder work, but if you switched to washable nappies that would save money on disposables? The initial outlay would be expensive, but plain terry squares are only about £10 for a pack of 6 (you would also need plastic pants, pins, a bucket). You might be able to ask your health visitor if anyone in your area is giving any away, or post a WANTED on your local freecycle site, most people are very glad to have someone to pass them on to once they have finished with them.

poppy25

Thanks for all your advice

Mortgage- was £820 arrears put it up to £1000, we asked them for a payment break,stop intrest they said no. Stuck in mortgage til 2007

Car- car is needed for work reasons, the bus would work out a lot more expensive and is too unreliable for getting to work. we have paid for more than half of the car already so we dont want to surrender

Barclay loan- i will give them a ring and ask for a payment break
the other loan is with beneficial finance and there is about £1000 left on that

Benefits- im recieving all benefits im entitled to ctc and family allowance

Insurances- checked for cheaper home and car ins they are the best deals

Work- when i go back to work, my mum will have baby so no childcare fees

us,thecat&thedebt

i cant really give much advice but i just wanted to give you some,
((((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Conor_3

poppy25 wrote:

Car- car is needed for work reasons, the bus would work out a lot more expensive and is too unreliable for getting to work. we have paid for more than half of the car already so we dont want to surrender

When you say it's more expensive, do you mean it's cheaper in petrol than the bus fare?

Many people when making the comparison forget to include tax, insurance, MOT, servicing and finance payments. Going by your figures Your car costs you in excess of £60 A WEEK just to sit on the road without moving even before you start to include putting petrol in. I doubt that the bus fare is £15 a day more than the petrol costs.

poppy25

I live in a rural area where if you dont have a car you are stuck basically buses only come every 1hr and 15 mins.

but the main thing is my partner is a dj (i havent inc this in with our budget because this weekend for example he has no work) and he needs the car to get his equipment back and forth.

mountainofdebt

Have a look at Martin's article regarding home telephones....if you only follow the advice in this article I reckon you could save over £30 a month on telephone calls on its own.

In one month, you could pay off your Studio debt just by following this advice. As soon as it is close the account and if they do send you a new catalogue bin it (after shredding the personal stuff) so you aren't tempted to spend more with them.

Have you got any baby clothes that no longer fit your little one? What about selling them either on ebay or at a car boot sale or why not put an ad in the local freeads.

As for shopping, have you considered by own brands items? I remember one relative of mine who used to work for a 'premium' brand and she told me that one production line went into the premium brand wrapping and the other went into store wrapping and that there was no difference between the 2.

As for the baby clubs.....think devious. People have been known to register their pets so that they can get more freebies.

Take care ....we're always here for you

jcr16

i totally agree with chmmy. my son is nearly 7 months. and he has about one bottle of whole cows milk aday. and he loves it. it fills him up loads more than formula. my daugther was on cows milk from 9 months. as she never really liked formula from the start.

with both my children they have always eaten what we have eaten , i have only bought shop made food them if going away. and then i would use my boots points so i didn't have to pay.

my little boy loves bread with jam , he can't get enough, plus mashed up banana in youghurt or ready brek

HTH

Debt_Free_Chick

Poppy

Whilst you've had some great advice already, I think we need to "go back to basics" a little.

You have £1400 coming in, but ignoring all the finance, your normal monthly outgoings are £1747. Even if you didn't have any debt at all, you're spending more than you have coming in ... so you will rack up £347 in new debt :eek: every month, unless you can cut out some more expenses or increase your income.

Even allowing for your water to go down to £15 (saving £49), cancelling Sky (saving £18) and cancelling the mobile contract (saving £30) - your expenses are £1650.

Now this only takes into account what is on your SOA ... these expenses here

Mortgage- £1000
coucil tax- £109 (owe £400 which must be paid by march 1st)
Gas £43
Electricity £39
water £66 (only 1 more payment of this then down to £15)
Shopping £200 (was £240 cut it down a bit, but its the baby stuff that bumps it up)
phone £50 (yeah i know, i dont understand why im paying that either)
Broadband £24 (were stuck in contract 4 2 more mths then we can switch)
sky £18 (were cancelling)
Mobile £30 (im ending contract and switching to pay as u go)
tv license £10
Car insurance £66
Home ins buildings and contents £52
petrol £40

This means that you don't spend a single penny other than these amounts - and we all know that's unrealistic. In addition, you say you have an interview - with a nine month old are you then going to have to fork out for childcare too?

I can't see how you can go on - there simply isn't £250 to save from your expenses. You need to get your mortgage down to at least £750 a month - have you been to speak to them to see if you can extend the term or if you have any other options? Have you considered selling and renting - this will only work if you can rent in your area for no more than £750.

And none of this addresses any of the debts. I hate to say this, but I really think bankruptcy is your only option. You have no surplus for a debt management plan (or an IVA, which I'm not keen on). Hell, you don't have enough to live on at the moment.

So ..... you need much more income (and if you work, that needs to be even more if you need to pay for childcare) or bankruptcy.

Sorry to sound harsh, but the longer you go on like this, the worse it will be - as you are simply running up extra debt of a minimum of £350 a month, plus interest on the unpaid debts.

What do others think?

JAMIEDODGER

i must admit DFC that i agree. even if poppy gets a job (up to 70% of her childcare will be paid for her) this still doesnt address the issue that the mortgage is hugely expensive for the income that they have. to be honest a DMP doesnt sound like it would work either as they simply dont have the money coming in to cover living expenses let alone contribute to paying off debt. it looks like bankrupcy is their only option.

if as you say they could sell the house, they could either then, rent or buy somewhere smaller (but if bankrupt they are going to find this a problem i think).

AMILLIONDOLLARS

You state that your partner is a DJ. Is this a full-time job? or has he got money coming in from another source? Who is earning the £1,400, I wasn't sure if its you or your partner. Sounds like your partner will have to find some additional income, if the phone is cut off this could effect his business. I would print off this thread and show him what is being advised, it could give him his lightbulb moment!!