Debt Help SOA filled out

stephga23

Hi Guys,

Please help debt is spiralling out of control, I am struggling to get by. My partner refuses to help as they have their own debt. They pay the rent and i pay the rest of the household expenses (gas elec etc.) I dont qualify for a loan or a credit to reduce the apr and monthly payment. I work for a utility company so im on the ball with my gas and elec. My property is in the right council tax band. I cook from scratch and always buy asda smartprice or tesco value or shop at lidl. I really don't want to go bankrupt or get an iva as my partner said they wouldnt be happy with that does anyone have any suggestions on how i can start to manage my payments?



Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax................ 1005
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1005
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 160
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 19
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 29
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 120 (bus fares!!!! )
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 14
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 785

Assets[/b]
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 Debt
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
loan...........................12000.....235.......7.9
credit card....................540.......35........30.3
catalogue......................2600......90........0
store card.....................800.......45........35.9
Total unsecured debts..........15940.....405......

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,005
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 785
Available for debt repayments........... 220
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 405
Amount short for making debt repayments. -185
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -15,940
Net Assets.............................. -15,940

I am trying to get a second job as no overtime at work however prooiving to be very difficult and i am trying to study also so i dont want to overload myself if that makes sense.

pania

Hiya steph. Bear with me on this one. how much is the monthly rent that your partner pays?

stephga23

Just short of £600 - £595 (we rent from a family member all above board though so i suppose the only good thing is if the rents late they wont throw me out!!) but my partner wont budge on splitting the difference as they paid more when i had less money. I think its all about being a team but not in this house apprantly! thank you very much for your help though

pania

no worries hon I was just adding up what you are spending on this house. It seems to me that you are struggling and relationships are meant to be a partnership. I was where you are now this time last year and my partner was bleeding me dry while living the life of riley. I know how you feel.
You say he doesnt like the idea of an IVA, hmmm. you dont like the massive amount of debt around your neck.
Havee you spoken to any of the free debt charities? consumer credit counselling service, payplan etc would be able to help.
Groceries for 2 of you you would be able to cut back on with a bit of batch cooking, savy shopping and meal planning.
Knock the clothing budget on the head for now hun, also have a really good search for things in your house to ebay, enlist OH if he will help. and you would be able to get shot of atleast one of those horrible cards pretty quick!
To be fair you need OH to atleast support you, morally that is. Does he know the level of debt you have?

stephga23

Yeah he knows, I have spoken to Payplan and CCCs and they both said DMP and then I contacted a few others like clear debt and debt free direct who said IVA and keep emailing,texting and calling me for me to send the plan back in (grrrr!)

I recently (about last month to be honest!) started doing what you said cooking, shopping with a list if it isnt on the list it doesnt get bought kind of thing im really trying. Making own soup and taking it to work and eating it for tea got tons of receipes on line for easy cheap cooking.

He offered to get me a loan of £4000 and the for me to pay directly to him to pay off my 'small' debts but i cannot afford the loan payment on my big debt so i wouldnt even want to go down that road.

Ebayed old books and clothes made £120. Paid straight off my store card and im trying really hard i guess i just needed a little bit of advice pointed in the right direction. The clothes can be cut out I agree so i will resist the urge to look at shop windows especially primark that shop is lethal!

Tixy

Hi and well done for posting.

It must be really difficult trying to manage this on your own. How much does you OH earn (approx if you don't know exactly)? the reason i ask is I wonder if you would be entitled to any help re tax credits as your salary is fairly low?

You are paying quite a lot for media, landline, satellite, internet £58. Could you get a better deal as a package? Could you stop the satellite and switch to freeview then get a combined telephone internet for around £20?

Drop a tariff on your mobile?

Potentially could reduce groceries a bit further, aim for £80 per person, make sure you are not spending on lunches at work etc, either take packed lunches or left overs. Good to hear you are ready shopping in the cheaper places but think oldstyle board might help you reduce even further.

Are bus fares for work? Assume this is the cheapest way to get there? Would a season ticket save money? Any chance you could bike to work? (you sometimes get bikes on freecycle).

Good for you trying to get a second job, in the meantime could you earn money from mystery shopping or writing online surveys & reviews? Are you joined up to quidco or topcashback? That way if you need to switch providers for media, insurance etc you can check if you can earn any cashback.

Other than these it looks like maybe talking to one of the debt charities would be useful as Pania says. Maybe a debt management plan would be suitable, they may be able to get interest frozen on some of your debts and arrange for you to pay smaller amounts - this does affect your credit rating for years though so get proper advice on this. Do you have any joint financial products with OH?

Tixy

If Payplan and CCCS have said a DMP then that is the way to go. Ignore the commercial companies hassling your regarding an IVA, they will make thousands from signing you up to an IVA with no regard to whether its suitable for you - a lot of IVAs fail and enf up in bankruptcy anyway. A DMP should be manageable and give you some breathing space.