Getting OH to sort out our Credit Cards

EmmaLou_3

CLAPTON wrote:

just some suggestions. it would make it easier to read if you could edit the list as follows

add a total line after income and show total income-it saves everyone having to do the sums

for the outgoings remove the debts payments and add a total at the end of outgoing -again saves everyone having to add it up

for each debts show the debt , monthly payment and APR
and add a total showing total debt , and total month debt payment

Thanks CLAPTON! I have made some of the changes you suggested - I will do the rest when I have more details.

I will hound OH for CC details when he gets back from playing footy!

CLAPTON

just looking at your figures, they show that your outgoings without debts repayments are greater that your income...if this is correct then you must be living on credit cards. with the the debts repayments you seem to be spending about £300 more than income.

i would suggest you start a spending diary and force OH (easier said than done of course ) to do the same so you understand exactly where the money is going.

the three things that really stand out in you outgoings is the train fares of £245 ....are they work related?
and food etc at £346 is high....how many are there in the family?
and housing costs rent + c tax at 870 is over half your income

EmmaLou_3

I like to believe that I am quite sensible when it comes to looking after our money, although I lack the info to sort out our finances properly. I am also good at making excuses for any spending I do!

I try very hard, but find I get confused with all the figures.

Things I do to try and save:
Browsing this website - fantastic info!
Buy things with Tesco Clubcard (great for magazine subscription and blockbuster vouchers)
Buy my clothes in the sales (i refuse to pay full price for anything)
Most of my daughters clothes and toys are from charity shops
Bought my 5 nephews xmas/birthday presents from charity shops (all under £1.50!)
Didn't buy xmas pressies for adults (agreed between family and friends)
Bargained with NTL for cheaper package
Changed Natwest Advantage Gold acc to normal current acc (was paying stupid charges)
Try to cook most meals from scratch
I always compalin to shops if not happy with goods so always get refunds.

I tried to get the A&L 0% on overdraft current account, but they were useless and didn't set it up (second time they have done this to us). Have given up trying to sort it out with them.

Best bargain recently: Handbag from Monsoon reduced from £40 to £4.

EmmaLou_3

Spending diary sounds like a good idea! I will give it a go.
Train fares are work related - OH can't drive
Food bill - well this does include cleaning stuff, alcohol etc (tesco shopper!) - maybe I should work it out a bit more precisely.
We are 2 adults and a 3 year old.
Housing costs - we live in a very expensive area (we were born here) where it is difficult to find somewhere to live that is under £700. We took what was available when we were made homeless, and are reluctant to leave. If we took somewhere cheaper we would have to go without safety for daughter/parking/security/decent neighbours/garden etc - Sorry bad excuses! We do get housing benefit towards the rent, but don't qualify for Council Tax benefit. We were getting discretionary benefit, but this stopped.

roswell

food bill is very high i would ahve thought it should be more like £220 ish a month. I think your main problem though is that the house is costing you half your income ....... with the figures you show i would expect the reason OH hasnt shown you the CC bills is because they are growing each month.

moozie_2

Hi there and welcome.

IMHO, I think you should sort out your living expenses before you look at seriously making an impact on your debt. With your current income/expenses, it looks like you are living on credit.

Two things that stand out for me:

EmmaLou wrote:

Train fares are work related - OH can't drive

Where does the £63 petrol come from then? It doesn't make sense

EmmaLou wrote:

Food bill - well this does include cleaning stuff, alcohol etc (tesco shopper!) - maybe I should work it out a bit more precisely.
We are 2 adults and a 3 year old.

It seems very very high for 2 adults and a 3 yo. Have a look at this board for ideas/help in reducing your food/cleaning costs.

I would suggest you contacted either Payplan or CCCS (link at the top of the page) about the debts as they may be able to help you. As the cards are in your OH's name though, you'd have to get his support for going down that route.

Best of luck.

EmmaLou_3

I have taken on an allotment, so will be growing my own veg and fruit this year! Should save me a little cash. Hard work though all that digging!
I suspect that we probably spend £10 a week on beer (OH not me!) and this is included in the weekly shop.
Miscalculated petrol - should be around £48 - this is my everyday travelling as a mum!
Train fares - just spoke to OH - apparently work has been paying these for the past few months so I can discount it! yippee!
I will update my outgoings list.

chevalier

If work has been paying it for the past few months, perhaps he should be cheeky and ask them for a rebate for the other months they weren't paying for it. You never know until you ask.
I have a OH and 2 children, and we do not spend as much as you on food. But then I plan meals for at least two weeks in advance, and then only buy the ingredients I don't have in the house already. Because one of my children has a milk allergy, I have to cook almost everything from scratch. But the silver lining is that this is definitely cheaper than if I bought a ready meal. And it is healthier too for my children as what I cook doesn't have salt and loads of e number in.
I have to say that you will have to sit your other half down and explain to him how sad/upset/stressed/unhappy etc this is making you and that you need to start sorting it out now as you don't want to be in debt like this.

The very best of luck to you. Perhaps you can start by showing him this thread. The thought that you were desparate enough to come on here and talk about your problem, may shock him into seeing sense.

Alleycat

Start feeding him baked beans on toast and jam sandwiches every night until he realises that the only way his dinner will improve is when he sorts out the credit card details and gets on board.

Only thing that might backfire (apart from his trouser region after maybe a week of this treatment) is that he actually quite likes beans on toast and jam sandwiches like my OH did. It is good moneysaving though as I thought he would think I was being really tight including the beans on toast into our monthly food planner!

moozie_2

roswell wrote:

...with the figures you show i would expect the reason OH hasnt shown you the CC bills is because they are growing each month.

I think this is a really good point and you won't know the answer unless you sit down with your OH and have an open and frank discussion. This is too important for either of you to shoulder on your own.

I look forward to seeing your revised figures. It would be a lot easier to offer more advice then.