Here I go again...

CosmoCat

Two years ago, I think it was, I came on here over £16 000 in debt with a good job, a somewhat reluctant husband and silly spending behaviour. With your help and some worthwhile kicks up the bum, I became debt free.

Now I'm back, unemployed, divorced and £12 000 in debt for my troubles.

Being a avid DFW, I've done my SOA, have all the cheapest rates on everything I can think of, don't spend on clothes, don't go on holiday, send handmade cards for birthdays (no gift spending), and have a £5 a day spend on food, which I carry over most day. I am frantically looking for work and doing all the daily clicks and catching as many freebies as I can! I am having many NSDs (I have to, as I have no money to spend!:o)

So all in all, I'm buckling down for a cold, hard winter, desperately trying for them not to repossess my flat, and just coming on here to say hello once again. :hello:

Hope everyone's well.

ShellyS

Just wanted to say good luck to you - i'm sorry you've fallen on slightly hard times but remember - you got yourself out of it the first time and you are much better equipt to know how to do it again! :T

GeorgeUK

Hi melabarrie - sorry to hear about the divorce, jobloss and debt.

If you've not been around for a while, you may not know about the soa-calculator. It's a handy tool for seeing where your money is going and how much you should have left to tackle the debt.
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

anh1904

Mel - your first priority is rightly to remain housed .. are you on repayment or interest only, and is there a better rate available from your existing lender?

CosmoCat

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 0
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 415
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 50
Council tax............................. 86
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 60
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 13.75
Telephone (land line)................... 18.5
Mobile phone............................ 45 I know this is high, but I'm tied in until December. Will be changing it then
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 7.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 140 I do a £5 a day thing. Could possibly cut that down as most days I spend nothing.
Clothing................................ 0
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........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 885.75

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 160000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 160000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 136000...(415)......3
Total secured & HP debts...... 136000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Alliance and Leiceste..........2535.42...72.99.....24
Lloyds TSB.....................4625.46...79.87.....19
Virgin.........................3484.34...88.57.....26
Cahoot overdraft...............1100......0.........0
A&L overdraft..................900.......0.........0
M&S............................856.......45........3.5
Barclaycard....................1800......65........19
Total unsecured debts..........15301.22..351.43....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 0
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 885.75
Available for debt repayments........... -885.75
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 351.43
Amount short for making debt repayments. -1,237.18
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 160,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -136,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -15,301.22
Net Assets.............................. 8,698.78
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

I am currently on a repayment mortgage, on a very very good deal, I don't think I can find it any cheaper.

I did start doing a work from home thing, then on my birthday (on Wednesday) they informed me 'Due to an administrative error, we have to put you on unpaid leave, time unspecified.' :rotfl:Happy birthday to me then. And I was only making about £6/ hour for about four hours a day. But they put me on that leave on the day my hours were supposed to go up. So it's back to the unemployment drawing board for me.

I've just got a call back from an employment agency for a job I applied for online yesterday, so I'm getting on the blower now to call them :T

I'm trying to remain positive. Because to tell the truth, I'm in such a dire situation right now, I imagine the only way out is up! :j

Thanks for your replies.

oooh and debt signature updated!

mummum2

Justing wishing you all the best! sorry don't have anything solid to add with regards to debt busting, I just follow all the wonderful advice on here and you'll get lots of help I sure.

Good luck,
MM2

Frozenace

Do you have the 25% council tax discount for single occupants on your property yet? How about taking on a lodger or something...

Redbedhead

Start investigating what benefits you are entitled to asap.
Elec and gas looks a bit high. Are you turning everything off that you can?

stoocake

Getting a lodger in sounds like a good idea for the short term, just a bit of a cushion until you can obtain income elsewhere.

Sorry to hear you're back in debt again, but it happens to the best of us.

CosmoCat

Hi guys, thanks for your replies.

I do have single person's discount already on council tax. Not sure how I will pay next month's but will cross that bridge when I get there.
Leccy and gas are direct debits that get taken out monthly, I do everything I can to lower my bills, but have to wait for them to review the price plan I suppose.
I will look into getting a lodger, not sure about living with someone I don't know but hey, needs must.
Yeah, it's a bit of a pain to be back in debt, but alot of it was accrued during the marriage, that somehow, to prevent an acrimonious split, I now have full responsibility of paying off. I've no one to blame but myself. I take full responsibility.

Job search still going strong. The job offer call wasn't really one, it was just gauging my interest, but it's for January. Got to find something before then.

Should I be moving this thread to the diaries section? I don't want to get in trouble.

Cheers

oxster

Sorry to hear this, I know where you're coming from, been there. Its so hard to go from working and having an income to suddenly having nothing. The worst bit for me was like me you own your own home, the benefit office told me that if I rented they could pay rent straight away but as a home owner I could only claim interest only mortgage help after nine months!


"What am I supposed to do until then?" I asked them, they just sort of shrugged and suggest I spoke to my mortgage company or considered selling my home! In the end I was only unemployed for four months and luckily family helped me out but it was a struggle. I always got the feeling that the hard core benefit scroungers always seemed to be getting so much more than me.


Remember if you're going to job interviews you can claim travel expenses, but you have to claim it before not after like normal job expenses, this is a big help if you have to travel for interviews

Good luck with the job hunting!