can you help me with this..

dancingfairy

Hi. From your SOA above you will need to cut 50 a month off you bills (plus a bit extra for contents) just to pay the bills before debt repayment. You need to sort this as even if you were to go bankrupt (which I am not suggesting) you would be short every month and getting back into a worse mess.
With a bit of careful planning you should be able to just about break even and maybe even have a small surplus to pay to creditors in a dmp.
Is there any opportunity for earning a bit extra? any overtime etc?
Anyway best of Luck - it's going to be a bit tight but you can do it.
df

Happytogetdebtfree

Hi didnt want to read and run, welcome to the boards and good luck with your journey to debt freedom :Dx

Katie-Kat-Kins

get_me_debt_free wrote: »

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 600 - any way you can up this? Consider something like Avon or Anne Summers as a supplimentary income. Even ironing or babysitting.
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 930 - Check you can't get more than this, and extra bit of benefits could get you back into the black.
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1530
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 650
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 94
Electricity............................. 50 - moniter your usage and try to cut it down. Turn everything off, only do full loads of washing, don't use the tumbler dryer etc etc
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 50 - same as the electric try to cut back.
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 30 - If you could drop to a £20 tarriff this would save £10
TV Licence.............................. 15
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 18 - ditch this entirely and use freeview/freesat and save £18
Internet Services....................... 8
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 - This isn't bad for 2 children but you could buy a brand lower on everything, try some batch cooking and meal planning and save about £50 - check out the O/S board for help with this.
Clothing................................ 60 - You should be able to cut this a long way, could you manage on £30? Only buy absolute essentials, use hand me downs and charity shops where possible. Don't buy branded clothes primark and asda are fine for most things.
Petrol/diesel........................... 100 - you might be able to get this down by being careful only to drive your car when necessary, to try and combine trips, to car share and to drive efficiently.
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 40 - I reckon you could get this down by about £100 a year if you shop around, that would save another £9, you may do better. As you car is low value consider going TPFT if it is cheaper.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 40 - Are you claiming tax credits/vouchers to help with this? Is there anyway you could cut back on this?
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20 - shop around for your insurances and get this down, that is high. I reckon you can save £10 here.
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 31 - I reckon there may well be a saving of £20 here if you shop around. Check whether you can buy this through salary sacrifice at work to save on tax too.
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20 - £240 a year, is that essential? Do a budget, tot up all the presents you need to buy, consider whether you could reduce some of them, consider whether you could use loyalty points and cash back to suppliment. While you are skint why not halve it and give everyone a well thought out but cheap present? Save £10
Haircuts................................ 25 - Go less often (even every 9 weeks instead of 8 would make a difference), get a less high maintenance cut, find a training college that can do it cheaply, consider having a cut but not a blow dry, and even washing your hair yourself beforehand. Do the kids yourself. Save another £10 maybe more.
Entertainment........................... 10 - leave this in
Holiday................................. 10 - ditch this holidays are a luxury you can't afford at the moment. Do free days out and things instead, the kids will just appreciate time with their mum. Save £10.
Emergency fund.......................... 10 - While you are unable to meet minimum repayments ditch this, once you have a small surplus go back to saving again. Save another £10
Total monthly expenses.................. 1583

The savings I've estimated take this down to £1396

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 800
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 800

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
cc.............................9000......190.......0 - Is this really 0% if so great, if not look into switching to the cheapest possible deal, and stop using it.
Sofa...........................1200......33.33.....0 - again is this really 0% and if so how long for?

So if you make all the savings I have outlined you only need to find an extra £89.33 per month to meet your repayments without incurring more debt. You may be entitled to more benefits, you could earn some extra cash with some home working too. You might be able to save more than I have suggested in some areas so I think it is very possible. It might mean a tough year of few treats but as the credit card debt comes down your minimum payment will reduce. Whilst I wouldn't advocate making minimum repayments only you will be able to pay a little less so it is more comfortable.

A DMP would enable you to pay less but it would cripple your credit rating and put your debt free date much later. It is well worth having a really frugal few months, axing the clothes and the food shopping to the bare minimum and working hard to gain an extra income to avoid a DMP.

Good Luck