In a right mess

LydiaJ

keir81 wrote: »

the £100 is maintenance i pay to my ex for my daughter, i have her 3 nights & days a week my ex gets all benfits for my daughter.

i have checked and i might be able to get some benifits i shall go to the job centre to speak to someone about it.
gas electric and water is up to date

Even though your ex gets the child benefit (and presumably child tax credit) you might be able to get working tax credit if you and your partner are each working more than 16 hours a week.

If you do apply for tax credits, do it by phone, and chase them by phone if it doesn't arrive within a few weeks. They're often much slower if you do it by post.

The gas and electric are much too high if they're up to date. What are you using? The biggest energy-eaters are usually electric heaters, tumble dryers, halogen spotlights and having the thermostat set too high. Also check out whether you are leaving things on stand-by, and whether the heating is on when you're out. And read the meters often, so you can make sure they're not charging you for more than you're using.

Deep_In_Debt

Another thought I've had about the electricity is that a few years ago I was paying a similar amount and when I questioned them, it turned out that I had estimated readings so when they sent someone round to read my meter, they found that I had not been paying enough to cover my actual useage so adjusted my monthly repayments for a few months to cover what I owed.

I now read my meters and send them a reading every month so that I know that I won't get "stumped" again. So it may be worth reading your meter and checking against your last bill. These companies will try and get away with anything if you are not careful.

cira9teen7tee

Just a little thought, when I was sorting out my out-goings I called the water company because I was paying £40 a month and found out I was paying over 8 months, I had the option to pay over 8, 10 or 12 months and although the bills the same it does reduce the monthly out-goings.

I also cancelled satelite TV, went pay as you go mobile & compared all my insurances which helps alot & tried earning extra money which isn't lots but helps.

I will have 57p left at the end of the month but I feel 100 times better.

Hang in there you've done the scariest bit!

tallyhoh

What about housing benefit (something towards your rent). Check out "entitledto" about these things. Dont mean to knock job centres but they are there to sign people on & know very little about benefits, even tax credits.

Edit: I have just run your details very briefly through "entitledto", without knowing your full circumstances I cant be certain but you should be entitled to a fair bit of help.

sugarpants_2

Definatley switch your phones to PAY AS YOU GO. We downgraded our sky and now we have just basic package +kids package (only £1 extra per month).
WE also levae heating off alot and make sure electrics are all switched off and not on standby.
All helps. Good luck hun its hard esp with kids.

Marguerita

The average household can save up to £850 a year with the Utility Warehouse. If you get their cashback card you can also earn 5% on your food and fuel bills which is deducted from your bill every month. If you recommend them to your friends and they sign up you can get 0.5% commission on your friends bills also deducted from your bill. its a great way to save money. Ask your friend to refer you to whoever signed them up, or get them to recommend you themselves. You can even turn it into a business and earn yourself a residual income.

epsilondraconis

Marguerita wrote: »

The average household can save up to £850 a year with the Utility Warehouse. If you get their cashback card you can also earn 5% on your food and fuel bills which is deducted from your bill every month. If you recommend them to your friends and they sign up you can get 0.5% commission on your friends bills also deducted from your bill. its a great way to save money. Ask your friend to refer you to whoever signed them up, or get them to recommend you themselves. You can even turn it into a business and earn yourself a residual income.

To the OP - you need to be careful of the Utility Warehouse as there are additional charges for being a member of their club, which aren't included when they indicate how much they will save you.

I'm not saying you shouldn't move to the utility warehouse - I'm saying that you really need to look into it in a lot more detail before jumping ship.

I personally just switch deals and claim the cashback via topcashback or quidco. I switched to ScottishPower last year and got £75 cashback.

If you look on the Utilities thread on this forum you will see there is a huge amount written about utility warehouse. There are a number of people that post on these forums that are distributors and they try to get people to sign up to it. As I say, I'm neither for nor against. When I looked into it, the utility warehouse would turn out to be more expensive; however you should do your own sums. If you don't have the time to look at their small print, I would recommend you switch to one of the big 6 utility companies.

Good luck...

tallyhoh

Marguerita wrote: »

The average household can save up to £850 a year with the Utility Warehouse. If you get their cashback card you can also earn 5% on your food and fuel bills which is deducted from your bill every month. If you recommend them to your friends and they sign up you can get 0.5% commission on your friends bills also deducted from your bill. its a great way to save money. Ask your friend to refer you to whoever signed them up, or get them to recommend you themselves. You can even turn it into a business and earn yourself a residual income.

You wouldnt actually work for them, would you?

joeblack066

keir81 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 800
Partners monthly income after tax....... 180 Why is this so low?
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 980
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 495 495
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 112112
Electricity............................. 100 62I have prepay and my house is horrid to heat but I don't use this much!
Gas..................................... 100 90Ditto
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 80 30Way too high
Telephone (land line)................... 30 15Way too high
Mobile phone............................ 60 20Orange Dolphin, £10 pcm unlimited txts.
TV Licence.............................. 11 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20 Needs to go
Internet Services....................... 25 12Way too high, are you locked in to a contract still?
Groceries etc. ......................... 100100
Clothing................................ 30 This needs to go for now
Petrol/diesel........................... 100100
Road tax................................ 1818
Car Insurance........................... 3535
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 20How do you propose to pay for MOT?
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 20 What is this?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 100100
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 13 Home cuts/ colours eyc for now
Entertainment........................... 20 Needs to go
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1469

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
loan...........................1000......90........0
credit card....................1100......30........22
provident......................800.......60........180
credit card....................2500......100.......39.9
provident......................1000......60........180
Total unsecured debts..........6400......340.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 980
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,469
Available for debt repayments........... -489
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 340
Amount short for making debt repayments. -829
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0 You own your car?
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,400
Net Assets.............................. -6,400
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

I have indicated in Red what I feel needs to go etc, and put figues based on what I pay for stuff in green. This reduces your outgoings to £1220 before debt payments. Therefore you need to up the household income by £240 per month plus your debt payments. Can I ask why your partners income is so low btw? Is there any way your partner could earn another £60 per week net, or even better another £145 per week, or somewhere in between so that you can make offers on your debts?

Miss_Marple_2

Hi & welcome to MSE

I can only echo what others have said.

Paying £200 for gas & electric is very, very high.

2 adults in our house & we pay £50 per month for both and this just matches what we use. ( we are out at work most of the day so this is probably quite low).

Water is also very high - I used to pay £60 for 8 months before we went on to a meter, where I now pay £22 per month (although that is over 12 months). I think I live in a high cost water area as friends at work with 2 adults & 2 kids manage to pay even less than that.

Always remember Quidco when you start to shop around & switch

Also, maybe you could try contacting NDL, CCCS or Payplan for advice - the number of times I wished I had gotten help sooner. I used payplan for a DMP and have got my life back. It's scary asking for help, but it will be worth it in the end

Good Luck and let us know how you get on