Ok, heres mine, a complete post this time.

nillhouse

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £0 Have been unemployed since February, still looking for work.
Partners salary - £336
Benefits - Child Benefit -£110
Child Tax Credit -£276
JSA -£0

Total - £722

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £320
Council Tax - £101
Gas - £0
Electric - £100
TV License - £10.49
Sky £0
Phone - £44 inc Broadband
Food - £310
Car Insurance - £27.30
Petrol - £100
Life Insurance £0

Total: £1012.79

Natwest Personal Loan – Balance £12'000
Barclaycard Visa – Balance £1800
Capitol One Visa - Balance £1500
LXdirect Catalogue - Balance £600
HFC Bank/PCworld - Balance £1000
Overdraft - Balance £600 (limit £500)

I know this seems a lot for someone who is unemployed, but I was in a reletivley well payed job until feb and was able to just about manage these debts. My JSA has been in dispute since I lost my job at the, (soon to be closed...hmm), factory I was working at, so not recieving any.:eek:

I have written to all my creditors explaining my situation, asking for charges to be frozen, e.t.c. BUT, have not recieved a reply yet,(letters posted 21st April).

I called Payplan for help, very helpfull, have advised me to send these letters,(allready done), and to open BASIC bank account, and to call back if I have any more problems.:D

Just a couple of questions,

1. Have I done all I can for the moment?

2. How long should I wait for replys from my creditors before sending them my idea of a token offer?

3. Is it better just only correspond by mail, as its a hard copy of any communication I have with a creditor. (I should mention, my hearing is not great, and I can get easily flustered when talking on the phone).



Thanks for reading

jobbingmusician

I'm replying mostly to be supportive, as no real expertise.

BUT I am with you in preferring to communicate by post, and it sounds a particularly good idea (and one creditors will understand) if you have hearing problems. Tell them!

THe question about sending creditors your idea of a token offer - why don't you contact CCCS or PayPlan, who are free to use and seem to get rave reviews on here?

black-saturn

Would you be entitled to some Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit? Might be worth a try.

Other than that your electric bill seems high. Could you cut down on that a bit by switching things off when they are not being used, only boiling just enough water for drinks, sitting in candlight in the evenings (very relaxing), only having TV on if theres something you want to see (not all the while in the background).

The food bill also seems high. You could cut that down a bit by cooking lots of things from scratch, looking for bargains at the supermarket like BOGOF's and buying value ranges. My food bill is £42 per month for 3 people so I'm sure you can do it.

Also would it be possible to give up your car? I gave up my car when I was in debt and it helped me pay it all off. Take to using a bike or walking. In fact, when I got out of debt didnt buy another car and I've been car free now for 4 years. This is no mean feat for me as I have to travel to London every other weekend and the bus services are rubbish around here. But it's good if you plan every journey well ahead.

nillhouse

Thanks for your quick replys, just a couple of points,

1. The electic bill is high, because thats all we have, no gas or oil. Bleieve me, everything we dont use is switched off when not in use.

2. We must keep the car, as my partner uses it for work, she works a lot of evenings, and by the time she finishes the busses have finished as well. Plus, I have to travel to the same town, (7miles away), to sign on / job search.

3. Sorry, but I included all other shopping as well in the food score, i.e. clothes, birthdays, christmas e.t.c, (the one-offs, and tried rounding them down to monthlys).

4. Housing benefit/council tax benefit and JSA have all been behind, (office wise, updating systems or something), since February, we just wait and wait for them to get back to us.

Thanks again for your replys, I am gratefull.

JAMIEDODGER

it would be easier if you kept the food totally seperate from everything else, set a definate amount for food and keep it in a different purse or something, write down everything you spend and visit the old style board for advice for reducing your grocery budget

Wizwoo

Hi nillhouse,

Welcome and well done.

I'm afraid I agree with black-saturn re: the electricity bill it still seems too high - have you tried the comparison sites to see if switching would save you some money? Our combined gas and electricity comes to just under £50 pm (and we get £60 back every year for paying by DD). There are only 2 of us in a 3 bed semi.

Plus I would definately look at the benefits area. Maybe have a chat with Citizen's Advice.

The phone looks pretty high for a month. Check through the advice that Martin has about cutting your bill - it's not always straightforward but should help to bring it down. Check out how long you're tied in to your broadband contract too.

Just keep at it and it'll start to come together.
Good luck on the job front by the way.

nillhouse

Electricity - on key meter, when it gos dark, I have to go to the shop and recharge, but can not change yet, as we have NO money.
Our bank is swallowing up ALL our money in charges, I have mentioned that I have been advised to open a basic account, which I have made an appointment to do next Tuesday, earliest time possible, and until then, I can not change electricity suppliers, as I dont have a useable bank account for Direct Debits.

Thanks for your reply though, I am gratefull.

Wizwoo

The key meter that explains it.

Let us know how you get on on Tuesday.

alecpr

If you are paying rent look at Housing benefit, if you are paying a mortgage look at a "mortgage intrest run", hopefully on it's own you can save £320 by claiming these benefits.

There is also a council tax benefit in order to help you pay your council tax and a warm front allowance to help pay for heating.

I don't know the full details of these schemes, just looking for ways to decrease your outgoings.
Have a look here for more info:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/Bfsl1/BenefitsAndFinancialSupport/fs/en

Contact your creditors now and advise them of the situation you are in, maybe they can be helpful if informed at an early stage.

I'd also consider losing broadband if that is at all possible.

jobbingmusician

nillhouse wrote:

Our bank is swallowing up ALL our money in charges.....

You have looked at the threads about reclaiming your bank charges, haven't you?

adjoce

Hi there I'm not very experienced in these areas but your income seems really low, have you inquired about claiming working tax credits? We get it and my husbands income is higher than yours. Even if you just claim until your JSA is sorted. Also look into council tax benefit we are just above the minimum income so won't get any help but I'm sure you should get something.