A pensioner between a rock and a hard place

nutsohazelnuts

Good evening Jan, I hope you are still reading. I can easily see how your outgoings could total over £520 per month even without paying rent and council tax. When my wife was caring for her elderly aunt the bus fares alone came to two hundreds pounds a month, and car running costs could easily be a similar amount.

It wouldn't surprise me to hear that you pay £150 per month at this time of year for gas and electricity. Once you factor in food, contents insurance, telephone and internet etc there wouldn't be much change left from £500.

The people on this board are a knowledgeable bunch however and although they may not have experience exactly like yours they may have little nuggets of advice and information which can be applied to your situation.

To this end it is worth braving the people who won't necessarily understand your particular set of circumstances and posting your SOA (Statement Of Affairs)

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

From widely reading this board I believe the advice you receive will be worth the effort.

captainhaggis

nutsohazelnuts wrote: »

Good evening Jan.....

Hi Nut

I was saddened to read your post and see that, as I interpreted it atleast, you felt myself and perhaps the subsequent poster were being a little hard on Jan. Forgive me - that was never my intention and I'm quite certain it wasn't the intention of anyone else on here, either.

I live between my own flat and my parents' house to help care for my mother who is unwell. Both mum and dad are retired. I speak from experience. I can very much relate to Jan's situation.

MarsdenCuckoo

Don't know anything about the benefits system but one poster seems to suggest you may be able to earn a small amount without affecting your current benefits, in which case what about Avon? No set up cost (they deduct £7.50 from the commission you earn on your first two orders) and they will help you out with giving you a territory (already established customers) if you ask or you can just sell to family and friends. There's a long thread on here giving great tips to Avon reps. It's cash based and even if you don't manage to earn a great deal from it, you'll have access to cheaper Avon products. There are always some basics on sale from 99p to the general public (cheaper to agents).

Definitely worth considering.....

Good luck!

nutsohazelnuts

captainhaggis wrote: »

Hi Nut

I was saddened to read your post and see that, as I interpreted it atleast, you felt myself and perhaps the subsequent poster were being a little hard on Jan. Forgive me - that was never my intention and I'm quite certain it wasn't the intention of anyone else on here, either.

I live between my own flat and my parents' house to help care for my mother who is unwell. Both mum and dad are retired. I speak from experience. I can very much relate to Jan's situation.

I did indeed feel that the tone of your post might be discouraging, both to Jan and others reading the board and girding their loins ready to post their own details.

captainhaggis wrote: »

Hi Jan,

Forgive me but I have to ask how you spend £520.00 a month when you have no rent or council tax to pay?

We all might be better equipped to help if you post an SOA for us to take a look at. I'm just thinking that without rent and council tax, £520.00 seems like a hefty 'disposable income' to have.

Whether you intended to or not, when I read the above I understood from your words that you consider the state pension to be a huge and luxurious amount of money to live on if you don't have to pay rent and council tax and you are incredulous that somebody may have fallen into difficulties on such a fixed income. Indeed, how does one spend £520 when one has no rent or council tax to pay? to paraphrase your post.

Perhaps you are lucky enough to have smaller expenses, or perhaps you have never added up your bills to see how much they come to, but perhaps a quick glance at your own SOA to see how much you yourself spend each month exclusive of Rent/ mortgage and Council tax may be instructive?

JanMGreen

Hi all, don't worry, I didn't take offence at all, and am very grateful for any advice that is forthcoming. In fact I should have budgeted better from the beginning, when my income fell to such a small amount, and if I had more financial common sense and know-how I would have somehow managed to live within it. However, I fell into the debt trap and I haven't been living within my income for some time - I've been living on my overdraft and, to some extent, top-ups from my credit card. Now that Halifax has moved the goal posts and started charging us all £1 a day for overdrafts, the situation has become critical and I've certainly had my 'light bulb moment'!

JanMGreen

Oh, and thanks for the suggestion - I shall definitely prepare an SOA.

yellowduck_2

Hi Jan just wanted to say welcome and good luck

JanMGreen

Hi folks, as promised, below is my SOA and Personal Balance. Hope it contains all the information you need to help me with advice! Thanks Jan.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household 1
Number of children in household 0
Number of cars owned 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax 513.82
Partners monthly income after tax 0
Benefits 375.68
Other income 0
Total monthly income 889.50

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage 0
Secured/HP loan repayments 0
Ren 316.76
Management charge 0
Council tax 58.92
Electricity 30.38
Gas 27.96
Oil 0
Water rates 30.00
Telephone (land line) 38.00
Mobile phon 3.00
TV Licence 1.95
Satellite/Cable T 0
Internet Services 15.99
Groceries etc 125.00
Clothing 5.00
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 12.95
Life assurance 5.00
Other insurance 0
Presents (birthday, Christmas etc) 200.00
Haircuts 45.30
Entertainment 20.00
Holiday 8.50
Emergency fund 50.00
Total monthly expenses 1014.71

Assets
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 Debts
Description Debt Monthly APR
Halifax Credit card 342.91 9.65 9.9
Halifax Overdraft 1000.00 0 19.5
Total unsecured debts 342.91 9.65 -

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income 889.5
Expenses (including HP & secured debts) 1,014.71
Available for debt repayments -125.21
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments 9.65
Amount short for making debt repayments -134.86

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own) 0
Total HP & Secured debt -0
Total Unsecured debt -1,342.91
Net Assets -1,342.91

RAS

Jan

Can you go back and edit you SOA, as I think you may have entered some annual spends as monthly (do you spend £2400 a year on presents?)

RAS

Some thoughts here but have to go soon.

JanMGreen wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household 1
Number of children in household 0
Number of cars owned 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax 513.82
Partners monthly income after tax 0
Benefits 375.68
Other income 0
Total monthly income 889.50

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage 0
Secured/HP loan repayments 0
Rent 316.76
Management charge 0
Council tax 58.92
Electricity 30.38
Gas 27.96
Oil 0
Water rates 30.00
Telephone (land line) 38.00 - this is very high - are you sure it is not the quarterly rental?
Mobile phone 3.00
TV Licence 1.95
Satellite/Cable T 0
Internet Services 15.99
Groceries etc 125.00 0 if necessary you could cut £25 off this
Clothing 5.00
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 12.95
Life assurance 5.00 - do you need this if you are a single person?
Other insurance 0
Presents (birthday, Christmas etc) 200.00 - is this the annual bill? £20 would be OK ish
Haircuts 45.30 - can you really afford this? can you go every 6-8 weeks?
Entertainment 20.00 - you cannot really afford this either - halve it
Holiday 8.50
Emergency fund 50.00 - how much is currently saved up - if nothing then take this out for the time being.
Total monthly expenses 1014.71

Assets
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 Debts
Description Debt Monthly APR
Halifax Credit card 342.91 9.65 9.9 - what is the limit on this card
Halifax Overdraft 1000.00 0 19.5 - this is the priority as the APR is highest
Total unsecured debts 342.91 9.65 -

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income 889.5
Expenses (including HP & secured debts) 1,014.71
Available for debt repayments -125.21
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments 9.65
Amount short for making debt repayments -134.86

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own) 0
Total HP & Secured debt -0
Total Unsecured debt -1,342.91
Net Assets -1,342.91