Need some advice please.

shellabear

Not sure where to go from here. i'd contacted PayPlan and they advised that my incomings minus my important outgoings only left me with £35 and this is not enough for them to help. me and my partner have just applied for Tax Credits but we have not yet heard back from them. should have done this a few months ago but he is an ostrich and has no idea about money (he's not had much choice though-my fault) and i have not been keeping on top of the finances. plus i have suffered from depression for a few years and recently had a bad year. anyway we have 2 children aged 4 and 7. OH works part time and therefore we do not have usual childcare apart from the school holidays so there's a saving.

my income is about £1000pcm but this will be going up in April to about £17000 gross p.a. OH's income is £450-480 pcm depending on the month. i also get £113.60 every 4 weeks child benefit.

debts are a 0%apr loan from hitachi. £2367.02 left to go. end date 17.09.07. monthly cost £124.58

loan from Natwest. not sure of APR. owe £6902.00. end date 03.11.10. monthly cost £123.25

barclaycard visa gold. owe £3737.59. min payment £75.

barclaycard mastercard £3513.11. min payment £82

belmont loan 0%apr. owe £720. end date 22.10.06. pay £90pcm.

overdraft at least £4500 with natwest. :eek:

have just taken Payplans advice to change my bank account to one with nationwide. it is a cashcard account with no overdraft facility or chequebook/debit card. changed my salary to now be paid into it and my child benefit too. cancelled my direct debits and requested standing order form from barclaycard. changed my dd details with energy company to take from this account. cancelled mobile phone too and requested a free pay as u go card. thanks to u guys as your advice has been great. :money:

my plans are to contact all the other companies such as mortgage and water etc to change the dd details. what do i do next with regards the companies i owe money too. i want to eventually pay it all back but i also need money to live on and to not eat beans on toast so much. i'm turning into one.

Hope someone can help me.

Thank you

moozie_2

Hello there and welcome.

It would be helpful if you could post all your current monthly income, then a list of your current monthly outgoings and then all your debts including amount outstanding, APR, minimum payment and whether you are up to date with payments.

One thing I noticed is that you cancelled your DD with Barclaycard. Be careful not to fall behind with your payments as you may want to get low APR deals.

If Payplan said they can't help, did they offer any suggestions as to what you could do next?

shellabear

went a bit mad and cancelled every DD from my previous account. oops...probably will get fined now. thanks for your reply. will try and post the other details asap. not that fast at typing tho so please be patient.
one good thing is that i have never missed a payment (in last couple of years anyway)

shellabear

Mortgage - 476.97
Gas - 30
Electric - 16 (just changed from British Gas to London Energy and saved £28pm for both) :T
Council Tax - £84
Mortgage insurance - 5.73
Building/Contents - 36.08
Axa Sunlife Cashback - 14 (had for 7 years. 8 to go)
Car Insurance - 49.22
Car HP - 143.05 (just got car in July and took HP over 5 years) :eek:
TV Licence - 10.99
Gas service charge - 16
Stakeholder pension - 23.15
Telephone (BT rent) - 20
Talk Talk - 45 (this month only usually about 15)
Braodband (Virgin) - 17.99
Water - 12.93
Mobile - 37.99 (just cancelled so one payment to go)
Petrol - £40ish
Food - as and when needed (hence overdraft). trying to buy basics so can make own food. usually spend about £200 for 4 of us
school dinner money - 31
clothes - yeah right!
social life - see overdraft for reason not to have one.

don't know how much my new wage will be because everytime i get a payrise i get taxed more and my works pension goes up too so it doesn't look like i've had one :rolleyes:

sorry this is so long

tyllwyd

Hi Shella

Could you add up the figures on your outgoings and also show your income so that we can get a better picture?

Your telephone looks high, at £20 for BT line plus £15-£4% for Talk Talk. Are you on the basic package for BT, because that should be £11. Then maybe keep an eye on how long you spend on the phone to make sure you don't overspend? (Congrats on canelling the mobile phone though!) You could probably also save a tiny bit by changing your broadband from Virgin.

Car insurance is quite high, but I guess it has to be fully comprehensive for your new car? You haven't added in car tax to your budget.

I don't know your OH's situation, but obviously he is not bringing much money in at the moment. Is there any way at all he could earn a bit more to help out?

lynzpower

Hi Shella!
Tip from me is have you checked your buildings & contents is the cheapest. I pay 25 for both for mine with CIS.

Worth checking just in case

Whats a gas service charge?

shellabear

My outgoings before debts are £1310.10
My incomings are my wage £982 + OH wage £461 (as per last wage slip...has been more but nomore than £500) + £113.60 every 4 weeks.
this works out to be £1566.

Your telephone looks high, at £20 for BT line plus £15-£4% for Talk Talk. Are you on the basic package for BT, because that should be £11.
I'll have to look into this...last DD amount was for £20 but i only asked for the basic package. Thank u!!

My buildings and contents were purchased through an IFA but i could check it out again.

If I cancel my broadband with Virgin they will charge me £50 so i don't think it would be worth it. not 100% certain though and would love to be proved wrong.

Car insurance is fully comp and even though i have not had a crash..ever..in the last 10 years i sold my last car 5 years ago and when i bought another one last year i had lost my full no claims bonus..D'oh! saved a fortune in car expenses though. i had to buy a car last year due to my children being in two different places in the morning. they are both at school now thankfully and also before me and OH had split up. mainly due to him not getting a job because he was work shy. have been thankful that he eventually did get a PT job but it's only basic wage.
To his credit he takes and collects the children from school and gets them ready in the morning (i have to be out early). then he makes our dinners. he's a star in some ways but it took a few years to get him up to scratch.

Forgotton how much car tax is. i'll incude £10 to my outgoings instead.

Finally...not yet heard from the tax credit people yet so may get something extra. fingers crossed.

shellabear

I rang CCCS last night and eventually got through. the lady i spoke to was so helpful and non judgemental. payplan were good but couldnot help me because they didnt think i had enough money coming in but i think CCCS will be able to help. appointment with them in 2 weeks. starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. :j

Lovestoshop!

Any news Shella? What did cccs say?