I'm new - be gentle!

Platypus13

I don't mean to be flippant about it but I obviously want the best deal I can for myself. Would you recommend abandoning my savings account plan and biting the bullet by just making payments I'm comfortable with, rather than letting someone else make that decision for me at a later date?

I've not confronted this stuff before and I don't know how serious a situation I find myself in, as I only have the debt collectors' word for it. I assume they're not going to tell me to "chill out" about it!!!

I need schooling, that's why I'm here.

Horace

I can't help with your creditors as I have never been in that position but hopefully someone will be able to advise you on that score.

£150 a month on entertainment is steep, there's lots of free entertainment if you look for it e.g. Orange Wednesdays for free entry into the cinema (although I think you may need an Orange phone for that), walking in the park is free, having mates round and getting them to bring a bottle whilst you cook dinner (bung on some jacket spuds and whizz up a chilli), take £10 out with you and once its gone its gone, don't buy rounds either just buy your own.

£40 is a lot to spend on clothes - shop from your wardrobe and if you need something new like undercrackers then go to Primarni (Primark) where its cheap, cheerful and of reasonable quality.

Your float for work expenses sounds strange - do you claim these expenses back? Has your company given you a credit card (they pay the bill) to allow you to pay for hotel rooms and necessary work-related expenses? It might be a better way of doing it. Get into the habit of claiming weekly.

Look on the moneysaving oldstyle board for tips on meal planning - you can easily cut your grocery bill back to £50 and still be able to eat well if you cook for yourself and take packed lunches to work. Also look on the Discount Codes and Vouchers board for money off vouchers which may be used for food and/or entrance into visitor attractions (this is where your free entertainment can also come from).

Ditch the catalogue too - their interest rates will be extortionate.

I would also suggest that you keep a spending diary so you know where your money is going.

Numpty_Monkey

Platypus13 wrote: »

Well, here's my first stab!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1 How many Share the House?
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1100

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 300
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 20 How many Share the House?
Electricity............................. 20 expensive if that is half or a third of the bill
Checkout the comparison sites, and cashback sites
Gas..................................... 20 as above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 10
Telephone (land line)................... 20 Expensive for a shared house, I pay that on my own for broadband aswell
Mobile phone............................ 40 need to cut this down, check you are on the best tarrif/contract
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 40 need to cut this back
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
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................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 150 Need to cut this back
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Float for work expenses................. 200 I still don't understand this, if its work realted it should be in transport costs, if work repay this it shouldn't be in and frees up £200
Total monthly expenses.................. 970


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
1st Credit (lump sum)..........3500......0.........0 Min repayment ? APR?
Co-op (lump sum)...............2600......0.........0Min repayment ? APR?
Catalogue (lump sum)...........400.......0.........0Min repayment ? APR?
Total unsecured debts..........6500......0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,100
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 970
Available for debt repayments........... 130
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 130 How much of this do you have left?

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,500
Net Assets.............................. -6,500

Hack away!!

I live in a shared house but I'm single, so I've indicated myself as a household of one.

I've left a few comments:o
I've read your thread a lot of questions left:o
I agree with what Fire Fox says about getting your credit report use this link
Credit Ratings

:A:A:A

eyeopener2

Just a quickie.

You say you want to save up a lump some to pay off your creditors.The debt is £6500, how much were you planning to save each month to amass this amount?

Its just that it could take a while and if 1st Credit are on your case, and your ignoring them, you could end up in a ccj situation before you know it.

sunshinejoclaire

sureley if you need to keep back £200 each month for expenses, that also means you are getting £200 back in expense each month?

I.E. - your monthly pay (including the reclaimed expenses) would be £200ish more?

porkpie11

Yes don’t ignore them until you can just pay them off, it’s much better to enter a dialogue with your creditors.

Katie-Kat-Kins

If your work float is indeed a float then it isn't costing you £200 a month. It is £200 sitting in your bank doing nothing until you incur expenses when you use it and then get it paid back via company expenses.

While you need to put this in (it should be under assets) it isn't costing you anything.

Do make sure that you are reclaiming your expenses immediately though and that anything that can be paid for by work rather than you having to reclaim is done like that. For example if I book a hotel room in advance then work pay for it up front and I never have to submit a claim, same with train tickets whereas with meals and petrol I pay and reclaim.

If your work don't do this sort of thing have a word with your HR department, often they don't realise the difficulties people face until they are flagged. You are on quite a low salary to be expected to pay up front for lots of expenses, they should understand that there isn't a lot of slack in your budget. My last job my boss had a difficult situation where she was expected to pay a large hotel bill at checkout and as she only had a debit card at the time and was abroad she couldn't pay it. She complained vocally about the embarrasment and inconvenience when she got back (she'd had over a week in NY) and they changed the system.

Raquela

Platypus13 wrote: »

Well, here's my first stab!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1100

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 300
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 20
Electricity............................. 20 (£40 quid a month for electric and gas is way too much when your sharing. I budget £35 a month and I live alone!!)
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 10
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 40 (way too much. Get a better contract or go PAYG)
TV Licence.............................. 0 (no TV?)
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 150 (way too much for one person. You need to cut this to around £100 at least. (I spend £80 a month, so you could aim for lower eventually, but try to get it down to £100 for now. Meal planning is key.)
Clothing................................ 40 (unnecessary. How often do you need to buy clothes. Need not want? Debts are more important if you don't want them hanging over your head)
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 (why no contents insurance? Don't you own anything? What if you get burgled?!)
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 (you should budget a little here at least.
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 150 (you need something here so as not to go crazy, but not 150. Cut this down to £50 max when you are paying debts. Mine is actually nearer £15 a month)
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Float for work expenses................. 200 (this is not an expense. If you must include it here, for psychological reasons, you need to include an extra £200 as income. If you are getting confused, keep your 'float' in a separate bank account.
Total monthly expenses.................. 970


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
1st Credit (lump sum)..........3500......0.........0
Co-op (lump sum)...............2600......0.........0
Catalogue (lump sum)...........400.......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........6500......0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,100
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 970
Available for debt repayments........... 130
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 130

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,500
Net Assets.............................. -6,500

Hack away!!

I live in a shared house but I'm single, so I've indicated myself as a household of one.

You clearly have enough to pay something to these debts, and if you are stringent with yourself, you can get this sorted pretty quickly. I doubt your creditors will be happy with you paying them one lump sum when you have enough, they will want a set payment each month. Negotiate with them now before they get a CCJ. Sooner you do that, sooner you can start to repair your credit rating.