Any reassurance for MASSIVE debt?

Sea78

Jezebel49 wrote:

OK - here goes with my SOA:

Income

Jez Salary £1017
R salary £2122
Child Benefit £69-80
Child Tax credit £30-80

Total: £3239

Outgoings

Mortgage + House Insurance £1007Do you have to have the house ins with the mortgage? Can these be separated so you can get a better deal?
Child Maintenance £360
Council Tax £130
Childcare £340
Food £360 ish oooh this can be cut massively - I feed me OH, dd (3) and ds on budget of £200 inc. toiletries, cleaning, nappies & baby milk and I am still considered reasonabley excessive!
Gas NPower £45
Elec NPower £35
Water Rates £40MIght be worth considering a water meter?
Life Assurance £37This is quite high - how much is it for?
Car Insurance Jez £23
Rob £37
Phone BT £37Again quite high - £11 for rental and then use the free thing -what's it called people - primus2
Petrol £200ish (both commute to work)
Union Subs £39Have you claimed tax back on these?Someone pointed out that I could so am in process of doing so
TV Licence £11
Broadband AOL £30Can get this for cheaper - tesco, others
Clothes for daughter £50Wow. this is a lot - do you have a primark near you? I've spent £20 this month on the kids and have got afab beige jacket (ebay), pink striped top, 3 skirts, a dress, 2 pairs trousers, knickers, pjs (x2)
Mobile Phones £10 (pay per talk)
Min credit card payment for Jess £35 What APR is this on? How much?

Approx monthly outgoings before paying for R's debt : £2800

Surplus : £439

Total debt for R as of today £87,271

Ok - any ideas moneysavers??

Thanks again,
Jez

Can you give details re debt or is it still all over the place?

Sea xxx

Hope this helps!

all_hours

first thing - put the details of the debt - balance, minimum, apr and credit limit - then total the minimum repayments so you can see if there is a deficit and how big it is.

£50 per month for clothes for a 3yr old is a lot - take a look on ebay at the clothing bundles for £50-£70. then all you'd need are shoes and underwear. I bought a bundle for £60 including postage and this had about 30 items and were mainly next & gap.

nadnad

oh you poor thing. i just wanted to give my support and let you know you'll get great advice and support from everyone here.

immediate things i can see are: food is quite high - take a look at the old style board to see how you can do things cheaply.
broadband is expensive - you can cut this by half - tiscali, tesco etc,
do you really spend £50 a MONTH for clothes for your daughter? this seems a lot every month - you could cut this way down - tescos clothes are lovely, matalan has nice kids clothes im sure there are loads of other places.

anyhow post what your debts are individually and we can take a look at those.

is there any way you can work full time?

beanielou

This must be such a lot for you to take in.
Im sure you will get lots of ideas on what to do.
Clothes are v high, you could cut that down
Hugs

fannyadams

Jez - here's a hug and a cuppa, you sound like you need it.

Your child tax credit look a bit low £30 per month! Have they overpaid you at some point in the preceding 2 years?

Call them and get them to check it again...

The important thing is to remember you are not alone. We've all been there and got the t-shirt.
baby steps - even the longest journey must start with a single step.

fatbelly

If Payplan agree with your figures they'll be offering your creditors approximately £5 per month (maybe a little less) on each £1000 that you owe (that's a pro-rata distribution).

OK, you won't be paying off your debts very quickly but it should allow you to live, and it means that if your creditors were thinking about court action - well, the courts should view your situation in the same way and make a similar £ per month order. So there's no need for court action.

I'm assuming the loans aren't secured.

Best wishes

fb

Jezebel49

Thanks, all again!
Yeah , knew some of you would wince at the £50 for daughters clothes - in my defence, I did include in that items for two teenage step-daughters too......but they too will be cutting back (and it's about time they got Saturday jobs anyway!).
The other tips are useful. Agree totally with all the suggestions - knew that we were paying slightly over the odds for things like broadband, this will be the kickstart to get that kind of thing sorted.
Thanks to fatbelly for the estimated figures payplan might give for repayments.
No, haven't got around to detailing all the debts in terms of aprs and minimum payments yet - that's tomorrow's job.

All I can say is I feel a whole lot better having 'chatted' to you guys today. Thanks from the bottom of my heart. Might even get a couple of hours sleep tonight.

Jez

Sea78

Oh I hope you do - and follow the suggestion of a long bath with a big glass of wine!!

Sea xx

all_hours

another thing I thought about is the childcare costs, is your provider eligible for the nursery education grant? it works out about £100 per month if they attend at least 5 sessions a week.

thinking about longer term when she starts school your childcare costs would probably come down then.

good luck.

homersimpson_3

there are lots of people on the forum with similar levels of debts and substantially less income. however in your case i really do feel for you and hope payplan and people on forum can help sort the mess out.
1. how much is the house worth- can you downsize?
2. do you care for child on day off? if childminder does reduce childcare costs by minding child yourself
3. food bill can be cut substantially- where do you shop?
4. shop around for cheaper gas & electricity
5. water meter would probaly work out cheaper
6. life insurance is too high- shop around
7. why are 2 cars essential? why can't you use public transport? sell them and reduce this debt
8 phone bill could be cut dramatically
9 which union are you with?
10 broadband can be cut
11 why are you paying £50 per month on clothes for a child!?
12 you need to list debts
(name of co)- amount- apr- min payments
if some on 0% interest when does that end? etc