Please Help -In Debt and struggling!

lisae03

Hello,

Not sure if this is the right board for this. I have to go to the county Court on Thursday due to not being able to meet the repayments on a loan for HFC Bank. We paid solidly for 2 and a half years at £75 per month then in Feb we missed a payment but because we were already subject to a court order HFC went straight for an attachment of earnings order. I felt this was harsh as we had only missed one payment at that point. We had more going out than we had going in when one of the creditors (they were actually part of Hfc ) suggested a pro -rota offer. They and a few other companies allowed for this which reduced the outgoings considerably, we made an offer to Hfc though the court and they said no its £75 or nothing. The court decided not to grant an attachment of earnings order but to up our payment UP TO £80 a month. I appealed hence the trip t court of Thursday. I just want the payments reduced by half until I find work and our income goes up. Here is the updated
financial statement we are going to provide. Is it acceptable and will everything be taken into consideration?

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet



Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1125
Partners monthly income after tax....... N/A
Benefits................................ 540 (420 Tax Credits 120 Child Benefit)
Total monthly income.................... 1665
Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... £430
HP loan repayments...................... £310
Council tax............................. 110
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 85
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 60 Includes Mobile
TV Licence.............................. 12
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 80
Other travel............................ 30
School Dinners ......................... 30
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 14
Contents insurance...................... 20
Haircuts................................ 20


Total Monthly Expenses.................. 1711


A breakdown of Loans – £310

HFC Bank £80
Beneficial Finance - £15
Aptiv Kapita – 15
Princes Trust Loan £58
Mutual Clothing and Supply £40
Provident Personal Credit £20
Additions Direct £40
Littlewoods £22
Simply Be £10
Next £10

determinedtodothis

Hey you!

Your in the right place the people on here are very good at giving advice


Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1125
Partners monthly income after tax....... N/A
Benefits................................ 540 (420 Tax Credits 120 Child Benefit)
Total monthly income.................... 1665
Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... £430
HP loan repayments...................... £310
Council tax............................. 110
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 85
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 60 Includes Mobile
TV Licence.............................. 12
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 80
Other travel............................ 30
School Dinners ......................... 30
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 14
Contents insurance...................... 20
Haircuts................................ 20


Total Monthly Expenses.................. 1711


A breakdown of Loans – £310

HFC Bank £80
Beneficial Finance - £15
Aptiv Kapita – 15
Princes Trust Loan £58
Mutual Clothing and Supply £40
Provident Personal Credit £20
Additions Direct £40
Littlewoods £22
Simply Be £10
Next £10


Ok i'm no expert, but I'd Suggest looking at the things you can control straight away:

• Cutting the school dinners as low as possible I know sometimes with kids its hard as they want the same as their friends but maybe cut it so they have school dinners on a friday or something?
• The food bill is working out £100 a week is their anything you can shave off it? use own brand cleaning products (also top tip Tesco self service counters accept any vouchers - even if you don't purchase the product the voucher is for!)
• Phone Bill - are you on a monthly for your mobile? I switched to Pre-pay and I can control the money I spend on it much better, also what scheme are you on with your landline? I get the free evening and weekends with BT - this month my bill was £12.50!
• I'd cut the clothing allowance for now, the kids will need school uniform and grow at an alarming rate but maybe the adults in the house can make do with what they currently have
• Your electricity is the same as my company are quoting me! i'm trying to get mine down as I live on my own but hats off to you if thats the right amount! (who you with BTW!) a little thing I learnt on here is a lightbulb a person - maybe teach that to the kids?

hope that helps!

RAS

Hi

You really do ned to contact one of the debt charities urgently. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help

Your SOA might be reasonable for e BR case but the stark fact is that you are living beyond you means, so you HAVE to cut back.

You have listed all your debts as secured,

The catalogue and Provident definitely are unsecured, you need to get all the dociments out and work out which debts are secured (HP agreements for example but you need to ensure they are HP agreements not Consumer Credit agreements masquerading as HP agreements.)

Some HP agreements allow you to return the goods after a certain time with no penalty, so check that out in the paperwork as well.

If reduce your food clothing and mobiles and you can afford it all.

Without knowing the full extent of your debts the amount you owe and the APRs it is hard to advise you further.

What do you have knocking round the hoise that you could put on a car boot sles, amazon or e-bay.

Join https://www.freecycie.org to replace household stuff and get clothing.

A full SOA here https://www.senseofcards.com would help you see the situation more clearly.

And you and OH both need to keep spending diaries. Do neither of you ever go out, buy presents or go away?

lisae03

Thanks for the responses.

At the moment we are making do but rarely go out. If I could just get some part time work things would pick up a treat.

I have taken onboard everything that has been said and its pretty much what I have been saying to the other half. He gets so down cos he works so hard and yet there is nothing left for enjoyment. I however would be happy to just be able to cover the bills each month.

I will consider changing the school meals to packed lunches.

I would love to be able to get my weekly shop down to £70 / £80 but its just so hard, I shop online once a week and still end up running out of stuff by the 5th day!

The £60 for phone includes my mobile, the landline and internet connection. I get a loyality discount from 02 for mobile so its £15 a month for 600 mins which saves alot of calls from the landline.

As for clothing I tend to buy and sell kids clothes on ebay and do try to get to the carboot as often as possible. These are great for my 3 year old but not so for my 8 year old.

We are with N power for the Gas and lecky. I had a bit of scare with the gas bill a couple of months back so have been extra careful so hoping that wil go down with time. I had a habit of using the heating just to dry the washing even in summer!

All our debts are unsercured and apart from the catalouge are from a long time ago, have really learnt a lesson with obtaining credit for new tvs, pcs etc!

Is it likely the court will rule that we need to pay the full £80 a month and is there anything they will dismiss from my statement? I just want a reduction till I am in work and our circumstances improve.

RAS

Hi

You need to talk to the debt charities - NDL particularly about the court case; difficult to do here.

Are you selling on stuff as well as buying it?

Go over to the old style Money Saving forum and they will help you sort out your grocery bill and budget. If you feel brave post your order up with costs.

You can get much better combined packages so head over to the telecomms forum as well.

Then start to look at your local council web-site, the library, and travel company. Most of them do special deals, some do free events. You may well get a couple of very cheap days out as a family from that.

Then allocate a small amount from one housekeeping budget each month this summer and have a bit of a barbie for friends. You provide chicken wings, burgers and baps and they bring booze. get OH to think about who he wants. Have a six pack and some squash in the fridge and go from there.

If you can make the cuts suggested, you can make small allowance to both adults - enough for OH to go out once a month and have a couple of pints with friends.

TellTheTruth_2

lisae03 wrote: »

Hello,

Not sure if this is the right board for this. I have to go to the county Court on Thursday due to not being able to meet the repayments on a loan for HFC Bank. We paid solidly for 2 and a half years at £75 per month then in Feb we missed a payment but because we were already subject to a court order HFC went straight for an attachment of earnings order. I felt this was harsh as we had only missed one payment at that point. We had more going out than we had going in when one of the creditors (they were actually part of Hfc ) suggested a pro -rota offer. They and a few other companies allowed for this which reduced the outgoings considerably, we made an offer to Hfc though the court and they said no its £75 or nothing. The court decided not to grant an attachment of earnings order but to up our payment UP TO £80 a month. I appealed hence the trip t court of Thursday. I just want the payments reduced by half until I find work and our income goes up. Here is the updated
financial statement we are going to provide. Is it acceptable and will everything be taken into consideration?

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet



Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1125
Partners monthly income after tax....... N/A
Benefits................................ 540 (420 Tax Credits 120 Child Benefit)
Total monthly income.................... 1665

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... £430
HP loan repayments...................... £305
Council tax............................. 110
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 65
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 30 Includes Mobile (on PAYG allowance is £10 every 3 months)
TV Licence.............................. 12
Groceries (food)/Hygene products/Home cleaning products and the such.. .......... 390
Shoes and Clothing................................ 70
Car insurance (Car needed for travel to work and back)......... £30
MOT on car and maintance: £10
Travel costs for husband to work and back (petrol)............................ 40
School Dinners ......................... 30
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 14
Contents insurance...................... 20
Haircuts................................ 20
Allowance for Christmas and Birthday presents for children £5 per child = £10


Total Monthly Expenses.................. 1666. Deficit of about £1 a month.


A breakdown of Loans – £305

HFC Bank £70
Beneficial Finance - £15
Aptiv Kapita – 15
Princes Trust Loan £58
Mutual Clothing and Supply £40
Provident Personal Credit £20
Additions Direct £40
Littlewoods £22
Simply Be £10
Next £10

Right, looking at the list. First of all I am not going to preach on your lifestyle.

1: You need a space between income and outgoings so that it catches the eyes.

2: HFC Bank show it as £75 and not £80. You are appealing and it will show that even at £75 it is hard trying to make ends meet. You can also point this out to the Judge.

3: Travel £30 a month is a bit low. I would show at least £40. Your husband DOES have to go to work. That makes it about £10 a week. I would also change the title to Travel for husband to work and back and not Other travel.

4: Electricity and Gas are a bit too high. Not many people use £280 for electric and £340 for gas a month!!!!! Do not forget the Judge will look at it that your husband is at work, you kids are at school. You must be leaving the whole property with central heating on 24/7 and all lights on 24/7. An average family of 4 would use something like £140 electric and £200 gas a month. IF you want to keep the amounts you have declared then take a bill with you for electric and for gas and attach them to the statement.

5: Food £400 also looks too high. £400 divide by 4 (roughly 4 weeks in a month) = £100 a week, divide by £7 = £14 a day when your kids only get one meal a day (you are declaring school meals during midday) and your husband is at work where he may just go to a shop and get a sandwich (say £2.50??). Keep the £400 and change the title to Groceries/Hygene products/Home cleaning products and the such.

6: Add a car so you can claim Car Insurance which will suppliment gas and electric a bit. Pending on how old your hubby/partner is you can put in the region of about £30 a month to £40 a month for car insurance.

7: Add presents for children. Christmas/Birthdays. Kids do have to have at least a small Christmas and birthday present.

8: If income is £1665 and outgoing is £1706 to a Judge it will mean either you are living beyond your means (and if he asks you a question and you give the wrong reply then your statement is untrue and will be ignored) or your statement is ficticious.

9: The Judge will look at it that you can cut less use of the phone so I have brought it down to £30 which is roughly what an average phone bill should be for a household.

10: Have brought down clothing to £70.

11: Now you are overspending by about £1 a month (check my calculations though).

Claim to the Judge is that your income is properly accounted for and as can be seen, the living is basic and high expenditure is avoided. But, you have no more resources to allow for any increases and indeed, if there was to be an emergency you will have to basically as they say "Rob Peter to pay Paul".

What you have to consider is the Judge will look at:

1: How honest is your statement looking. i.e. any exaggerations? Or is it an average outgoing.

2: How you can budget better. Hence you try to add as many things as you can but keep the amounts low.

3: If there is any chance of funds being found from any source.

My 2p worth I guess but have a look and see if you think it is a bit better. Ohhhhhhh and whatever you do, do not go in front of a Judge wearing dead posh clothes (very expensive) and wearing loads of jewellery (especially gold and silver) and if you can get your hands on an old Nokia mobile take that with you and not some £200 mobile.

Nick Smith

TellTheTruth_2

And like said, you DO have to cut on your electicity and gas usage. Also on your groceries. Go on google and type in Maltese receipies. There is one which has "bhenwood" in the link and she is very good. (I cannot post links on here so sorry). Mediterranean food is very good for you and also one of the cheapest you can cook. e.g. Do not just order Dolmio sauce if you are making spaghetti. Make your own. Better, healthier and cheaper. You will find out that making your own, it works roughly about £2.50 to £3 to feed 4 people. Also the likes of lasagna and the such make your own........at least you know what you are eating and what you are feeding your children.

And check supermarkets for meals like £5 to feed 4 deals. That money saved can be used to better your lifes and even for that "going out once in a while".

Nick Smith

BeautyandtheBeast_3

Hi there,

these guys on here are great people and will help you loads.
I am just commenting on the Food Shop aspect you mentioned - i alsohop on line and have cut my food bills down a lot. What kind of things are you buyin and have you thought of really chea simple meals: i regulary do things such as Chilli, Cottage Pie, Omlettes, Baked potatoes etc.

Chilli is SO cheap and easily feeds 4 - mince £0.97 asda smart price, Kidney beans 14p chilli powder ?? Onion approx 30p chopped tomatoes 15p

you could make a huge batch and freeze it.

Cottage pie - Mine - 0.97p mix - 76p potatoes -50p!

Potatoes with cheese and beans - 70p for 4 big baking potaoes, beans 23p (ish) cheese ??

TellTheTruth_2

Here is another trick to eat cheap.........

I get mine from Asda. They have the fresh herbs on sale. (My two favourites are Mint and Parsley). Make SURE you check the date so they are not close to expiry. The longer the date, the better. Now when you get home, take a flower pot, put some compost in the bottom and transfer the herbs into the pot. (The pot you get from Asda you keep it but it is too small really). Now water the plant and put it on your kitchen windowsill. A: It makes the kitchen smell nice (especially if it is like Mint). B: You cut what you need for your cooking. C: It keeps on growing (You just water it once a day). So 1: You do not have to buy seeds. 2: You do not have to be a gardener as it has been all done for you 3: You have an endless supply of herbs. I bought a Mint plant. It has been on my windowsill for about 4 months now and still growing.

The pot that the herbs came in from Asda you reuse them next February/March to start seedlings off for your summer veggie planting. So you have no waste.

Chilies: When you open them keep the seeds. Put the seeds on a plate. Let them dry at room temp. Now replant them. After about a week you will get shoots. Later on you have chilies growing. Once they flower take a cotton bud and tickle the inside of the flower to pollinate them. Bingo chilies. As they are on the kitchen window sill you also have the right temp for them to grow nicely.

Grow your own tomatoes if you have a garden or a back yard. Even cucumbers to make salads with. Not rocket science to grow them. I have one cucumber plant and have about 20 cucumbers growing!!!!

It all cuts down on costs/expenditure.

And one more trick............ go into the likes of Wilkonsons or B&Q and go to the gardening section. At my local Wilkinsons you can buy a ready flowering (even with some tommies growing) for about £5. I bought a green chilli plant from Wilkonsons for £5. Tried to count all the chillies on it and lost count as there are so many. Now considering that 3 chillies are about £1 I more then got my monies worth.

Re Kidney beans........

Take a can of beans (preferably if they are broad beans but any beans will do except baked beans lol). Mash the beans up into a pulp. Add a finely clove of garlic. Some chopped parsley, and then add olive virgin oil to make it into a pate. Now sit down, put a movie on the telly and you have a nice pate for your crackers. Can also be eaten on cold toast if you want. Personally, I like to add a dash of chili sauce but that is optional.

A cheap meal that fully fills you up? Boil some spaghetti. Two eggs per person. Beat the eggs. Add some chopped parsley and the spaghetti and if you have it some grated cheddar cheese and if you want some finely chopped ham. Give it a good swirl so the spaghetti gets all covered with the egg. Now make it into an omlette. Easiest way to make an omlette is put some oil in a pan. Bring to the heat and then bring flame down to low (as you have to cook the egg which is in between the spaghetti). Throw the spaghetti mix in. Keep lifting one side to make sure it is not getting burnt. Once it look all nice and brown, take a plate and put it on top of the spaghetti. Now flip the frying pan over and the spaghetti will be on the plate. Put pan back on the heat and slide the omlette off the plate onto the pan. Perfect way so that an omlette does not break in half. Once cooked, serve with a little bit of grated cheese (preferably parmasan) on top.

Nick Smith.

TellTheTruth_2

BeautyandtheBeast wrote: »

you could make a huge batch and freeze it.

That is another very good piece of advise....

When you cook, let us say you are using the oven, you have to heat the oven before you really start cooking. So do mass cooking. That way the oven has been heated only once. Same thing. For example, when I make spaghetti, I usually boil about two packets in one go. Then I split it into freezer bags and freeze. Same thing for the likes of mince. I will do something like 3 lbs at one go. Then part is bolognese, part I will later on add curry......... same thing with rice. Boil the lot and then freeze.....

Then all I need to do is take a bag out (say rice). One container with curry. Microwave. Done......... Or bag of spaghetti, container with bolognese. Microwave. Done. You can buy freezer containers cheap from Asda and they are reuseable.

Saves on a: Gas b: Having to wash pans every day (I am a lazy sod really LOL), c: Time spent cooking (cooking 3lbs of mince will take nearly same time as cooking 1lb of mince). d: Indirectly save on water and also washing up liquid. Only thing you cannot really freeze is like minestrone and things that have boiled potatoes in them.

And another method of saving money is go to your Morrisons or Asda before the grill section closes. They are not allowed to recook meat so you can pick up a cooked chicken for say £2.50p. It is already cooked (so you save money on gas cooking it). You can freeze it into say chicken curries.........

Also look for your local Greggs shop. Some town and cities have a Greggs shop where they do not have ovens and the pasties etc are sold at a discounted price. Something like 60p for 3 cheese and onion pasties which is pretty cheap. Then reheat them in an oven. Same as you would if you buy ready cooked pasties/pies/sausage rolls from say Morrisons.

Nick Smith
p.s. and Yes I am male and I know how to cook. ROFL. I am single and my cooking costs every month are about £40 a month and I eat good wholesum foods (not like that tripe you get in packets supposed to be called Lasagna or what is supposed to be Chicken Korma and you find 2 small pieces of chicken and hardly enough food to feed a 3 year old but you do get loads of curry sauce!!!!!!)

lisae03

Wow it just gets better. Some fab advice, going to re-do my statement now.

As reguards to cooking I find it costs a fortune to make a decent meal for my brood as it costs a fortune.

For example my homemade (well half homemade) Lasagne costs

1.40 Mince
90 for pasta sauce
90 white sauce
90 for mushrooms
50 pepper
50 onion
80 Lasagne sheets
50 cheese

By the time I add the garlic bread and salad or peas it costs quite a bit!
I don't mind budget brands but don't like to go to far as some of it lacks quality!