What To Do

ckemp

Hi i am new to this so please bear with me.

Between me and my wife we owe £33000 on loans and cards,up until now have been managing ok.

My wife is a childminder and recently a couple of children have left therfore reducing income by about £400 per month which is quite a big loss.

It seems that an IVA or Payplan is the only option to reduce monthly outgoings and try and get back on track and reduce stress levels.

Is an IVA a bad option,i do not know alot about these,my brother is on one and says he pays £210 a month for 60 months,his debt was about £35000 and then is debt free,surely it cant be that simple,can it?

I know it is self inflicted but i guess we have just been making our house a home over the last 5 years.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

skylight

You right, its not that simple! The majority of your creditors have to agree to an IVA, its not automatic.

IVA's are also chargeable (added to bill "i think"), but there are lots of links at the top of this board , the CCCS and National Debtline are great places to go and get information.

You need to start there - spend some (long!) time reading and checking and then call either CCCS or Payplan (google them) for actual advice on whats best for you and your circumstances, but its a good idea to read the info first to have some idea about whats going to be discussed!

You may reduce stress and monthly payments, but your credit rating is going to take a battering, regardless of which course of action is best for you.

skylight

Saying all that, if this is only a recent thing, could you not make extra efforts to find more children to replace the ones you have lost (very forgetful of you!!!)

At least by replacing them you will replace the money and not go down any of these routes at all? (Perhaps?)

Ali-OK

Hi and welcome!

Can you post your SOA up (full list of incomings/outgoings) - we should be able to help in reducing some things there.

Have you got ads out for the vacancies you have in local shops, etc?

Sure they'll be someone else along with suggestions before you decide on the IVA route

ckemp

Wow You guys are fast,and thankyou.

We have adverts in local shops and papers so it is just a case of sit and wait on that front at the moment and hope it will generate some good news.

My wife is on some kind of DMP at the moment so i guess our credit rating has already taken a battering.

I will post a SOA a bit later,should i do this in a new thred or in this one,just about to go food shopping which should be intreasting,i think steak and red wine is off the list this week.

Thankyou

tesuhoha

Certainly the steak but the red wine...? Well i may get shouted down for this, but you have to have a little treat sometimes, otherwise its all so depressing. I buy a bottle of red wine (never more than £4) each week and it lasts 3-4 days but it makes a lot of difference to a very sparse existence.

Ali-OK

Yes, post your SOA on this thread and break down all your spending. Include everything you can think of!

I'd suggest starting a spending diary - this way you can see where every penny is going.

You should look at whether you're paying the cheapest for car ins, house ins, gas, electric, broadband, phone line rental and calls. Changing any contract mobiles to PAYG. Getting rid of Sky (if you have it) or moving to Freeview at a one off cost.

For food shopping - drop the branded goods, get in home-baking habits, bulk cooking to freeze. Meal plan for the week and only buy what you need.

Cleaning/toiletries - shop around, supermarkets aren't usually the cheapest. Savers, Bodycare, Wilkos are the places to look. Cut your cleaning costs by lots and move to using Stardrops for everything! (58p for 600ml that last ages) and microfibre cloths (3 for 99p in Tescos).

Hope the shopping trip wasn't too painful!

lynzpower

ckemp wrote:

Wow You guys are fast,and thankyou.

We have adverts in local shops and papers so it is just a case of sit and wait on that front at the moment and hope it will generate some good news.

My wife is on some kind of DMP at the moment so i guess our credit rating has already taken a battering.

I will post a SOA a bit later,should i do this in a new thred or in this one,just about to go food shopping which should be intreasting,i think steak and red wine is off the list this week.

Thankyou

Have you spoken to your local childrens information service based at your local council. they have a duty to ensure that childminders are available, eg if I wanted a childminder that would be the first place I would call, they lok on thier computer as to who has vacancies.

ckemp

Thanks for that info lynpower,i will look in to that.]

Shopping is done,minus the steak,still got the wine though.

Will post SOA shortly.

Thanks

ckemp

ok here goes,based on me,wife 2 children aged 5 and 3.
we are both 28.

My monthly wage £1500 basic take home

wife £150

child benefit£115

total£1765



outgoings

rent£399

council tax£107

phone inc broadband£77

skytv £21

gas £40

electric£65

life insurance £11

house insurance £11

water £27

food £320

petrol £60

wife mobile £15

total £1153



My monthly repayments

Tesco Loan £310 balance 4030 12 months left
virgin card£120 balance £4057
barclaycard £30 balance £1144
sky card£30 balance£1600
next£30 balance £310
mint card balance £0
capital 1 balance £0

total £510

Wife monthly payments

dmp £100 balance22000

provident cash loan £130 balance £1100

total£230


I have a company car which so i dont pay insurance,tax mot ect only petrol and this stays at home for wife,i also have a company van which i dirve from home so no monthly car costs.I also have a company mobile

I am an audio visual technician working on conferences so my hours vary from week to week and sometimes abroad so wife cant really get a regular job,used to work at a nursery but once child care costs came out of her wage she was working for nothing hence the childminding.

I also get an extra months salary at christmas which really helps and overtime when overseas.

phew glad thats over,bit of a mess.

over to you guys.

lynzpower

Ok, here goes *drum roll*

INCOME
total£1765

outgoings

rent£399
council tax£107
phone inc broadband£77 ( this is a lot, you can go onto line rental only,
and have calls from someone like Primus or talktalk -way cheapedr) and have a lok for cheaper broadband. I pay 17.99 with tescos a month, but there are some cheaper ones too, 13.99 often quoted ) SAVING 30.00minimum before free or discounted calls
skytv £21 ( dump this & get a digibox) SAVING 21.00
gas £40
electric£65 this is high. Is everything lagged? Energy saving lightbulbs, only putting a full wash on, oven & hobs off and heating off when not needed? Also check your suplier is the cheapest) SAVING £30 I reckon
life insurance £11
house insurance £11
water £27
food £320 (:eek: this is high. My & my OH do 100 a month between us with toiletries, lunches cleaning products the lot. I suspect you have a lot of gear in, i did when i started, loads of cupbard food, and stax of cleaning stuff, use up whatever you can before buying more too. Old style boards great for ideas of cooking from scratch and making food last. Meal planning a must!) saving 220 a month

petrol £60 ( is this just for your wife? Where does she go to to use this petrol if shees homebased? See if the journeys can be cut back on, easily) SAVING 20 a month

wife mobile £15 ( is this PAYG?)

total £1153 ( or with my savings 862

Saving 291 per month x 12 = 3492 a year.



Tesco Loan £310 balance 4030 12 months left
virgin card£120 balance £4057
barclaycard £30 balance £1144 what are the aprs on these?
sky card£30 balance£1600
next£30 balance £310 (the aprs on next will be massive)
mint card balance £0 (close this card)
capital 1 balance £0 ( close this)

total £510

Wife monthly payments

dmp £100 balance22000

provident cash loan £130 balance £1100 ( this HAS to be the priority. Provi loans are the devils work, the APRS are horrendous PLease if you have to eat bread & jam for a month, please pay this one off.)

Hope this helps & all the best
Lynz
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