Can't go on much longer :-(

letmeoutofhere

Hello all

I have finally admitted defeat and i am begging for advice.

It all started many years ago when i got mis-sold a car loan and i've been forever chasing my tail (take out a loan to cover cc and loan to consolidate, then couple of years later take out an even bigger one to cover the last loan and the latest credit card - schoolboy error i know but i was one of those who 'thought i'd be ok'), i have 15k of debts (10.5k on a loan, and 3 cc's totalling 5k) and i am struggling to survive. 1 of the credit cards was a fresh one 'for emergencies' in february and now it has 1800 on it. this hasn't been spent on luxuries trust me but essentials - car tax, groceries, mot, unexpected bills that sneaked up, covering of some bank charges. i am finding it increasingly difficult to pay all three cc's as well as the direct debits i have going out to pay for bills and my loan. i find myself living in my (already agreed) overdraft and cannot see a day when i will not need to go into it to survive the month.

my wife knows i'm struggling and is very good about it, she has been in debt herself a few years ago and knows how it can be.

on top of this, when we get back in for our next mortgage next august i think we will struggle to get one due to the credit crunch and the banks not lending unless you have a massive deposit. we took a bit extra last august to cover our wedding and now the house prices have gone down i'm terrified of our house not covering the debt owed on it.

any advice would be gratefully received. Below is a SOA that may help

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................ 1100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1000
Benefits................................ 200
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2300

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 638
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 88
Electricity............................. 23
Gas..................................... 25
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 44
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 23
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 13
Buildings insurance..................... 7
Contents insurance...................... 7
Life assurance ......................... 11
Other insurance......................... 12
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1382


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 97000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 250
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 97250


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 102000...(638)......6.4
Total secured & HP debts...... 102000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Lloyds Loan....................10500.....206.......4.5
halifax CC.....................1900......30........0
Egg CC.........................1800......30........0
Barclaycard CC.................900.......30........0
Total unsecured debts..........15100.....296.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,300
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,382
Available for debt repayments........... 918
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 296
Amount left after debt repayments....... 622

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 97,250
Total HP & Secured debt................. -102,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -15,100
Net Assets.............................. -19,850

PARIS_5000

Stay strong there should someone on here to help you soon.

BeautyandtheBeast_3

hI, Just looking very quickly but getting rid of the satellite TV for a while would save you a lot, Groceries is also very high for 3 of you, that could be trimmed i guess. Do you have the APRS For the CC? xxx

letmeoutofhere

Hi batb

the apr's for two of them are i think at 0% - i switched them relatively recently. i'm pushing the limit on all so i can't transfer one to the other, for example.

with regard to the sky tv, i know what you mean trust me. i've thought about it but i'm only paying half of what yuo see there as my wife obviously covers half. i can't expect her to pay my half as she would then be effectively paying for my debt and, as she has been through this, i'd find it a bit unfair to ask if you know what i mean.

the groceries works out at about 60-70 a week (which we share, paying alternate weeks) so it can depend on those darn 5 week months between paydays. :-(

seeing it all laid out in front of me like this for the first time, it is easy to see what could be done but when it comes to things that would effect all of us in the house (sky tv), i'd find it terribly difficult to effectively punish my wife and step-daughter for the mess i'm in - does that make sense?

i have just this afternoon requested a repayment holiday on my loan so this month i will not be making a payment. i think this might help me possibly get a little back in order and out of my overdraft. the payment will not be going on a luxury or anything obviously but more just to make paying the credit cards a little more comfortable.

thank you very much for looking at my post

*louby_lou*

hello,

I have had a quick look before the experts but i agree with the above re satellite tv.
Also its showing a surplus, a spending diary would help monitor this (its been my life saver).
Also nothing is down for mobile phone, entertainment, presents.

chirpchirp

I also thought the groceries were very high. I am a single adult with two children and I manage most weeks on about £40.00 for groceries (including cleaning materials). I do this by planning what meals I am going to make during the week and only buying this food. No desserts! Meals are planned so that if I am making a cheese sauce one night, the meal the next night can also use cheese sauce. The freezer is used to split meat bought in packets from the supermarket into portions etc However, I do cheat as I work in a school and we all have school dinners so I suppose my real amount is about £60 a week. The small changes really do add up.

I also thought you might be able to get rid of sky too. You didn't say the percentages you were paying on the credit card, obviously pay off the highest percentage rates first.

Hope this helps a little.

~Beanie~

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60 - This is very high, you should be able to cut it down
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 - could shave a bit off this

According to the SOA, you have over £600 left over each month. Either your SOA is missing some stuff or you are wasting a heck of a lot every month! Maybe try keeping a spending diary for a few weeks to see where it actually goes.

misspoppy

Hi

You are showing a family surpless of over £600 but I think reading between the lines that you actually have seperate finances. So what is the position for your personal spending? Why do you need a payment holiday what are you going to do with that money? It would be easy to spend it and be no better off.

letmeoutofhere

thank you all very much for your replies.

thinking about it the sky is actually nearer 50 but it is still rather high like you all say
with regard to the groceries, chirpchirp i like your idea very much regarding actually planning what we'll be eating. we get normally all the same things in so it might be a case of just finding cheaper alternatives.

beanie, the vast majority of the £600 leftover is the wife's, we have a joint account where the dd's go out of each month but then stil have our separate accounts. so, when all said and done, after the bills are taken care of, she has much much more left over than me

gargrave50

Hi let me out:hello:,

I'll comment on your SOA in my next post. I just wanted to pick up on what you said about the Sky. I realise you think its punishing others to reduce a Sky package, but you need to cut back somewhere. Do you really watch the movies? Or the Sports? If you do, or decide you could live without one of them for a few months give them a call to reduce your package. Tell them you are trying to reduce your outgoings, its likely they will try to encourage you to keep your package but will probably offer a reduced price for 6 months or something.

Make sure the credit cards are 0%, if not it will affect the order you need to prioritise these in.:). Apologies in advance if you find the comments I make on your SOA harsh, its just a fresh eye on things. Advice is free - you can of course take it or leave it.

You have done a really brave thing facing up to your debt, but also something really sensible. The majority of us on here are fighting debt, so you are in good company. Posting your SOA is a nightmare:eek:, but depending on how much of the advice you actually use, it can change your entire view of debt.

Bear in mind, that if you can't face sacrificing some "luxuries" e.g. Sky, then perhaps the lightbulb hasn't quite come on yet?:idea:

dancingfairy

Perhaps you could just trim the packages a little on the SKY and make sure you are getting the best value for money? there must be some bits you don't make full use of or could sacrifice?

df