what do i do now

reallylost

Hi there
I have been reading mse for months but have only just got up the courage to post something
I am terrified i am having problems keeping up my repayments on everything as my husband lost his job and my wages are not covering.
my soa is

income
£230 per week wages
£116 per month child benefit
£73 per week family credit
£23 per week child tax credit


outgoings
£11.99 per month tv licence
£276.10 per month mortgage
£115.00 per month Black Horse loan 2 years left
£127.10 per month car hp Yes car credit 3 years left
£124.30 per month Halifax loan 4 years left
£78.84 per month hfc loan 2 years left
£24.84 per month car insurance
£35 per month dell computer 1 year left
£17.50 per month AOL
£10.00 per week electric on meter
£10 per month Gas on meter
£44.54 per month life insurance for mortgage
£21.00 per month Sky
£11.00 per week bus fair for kids school
£50.00 per week shopping
£10.00 per week petrol
£10.00 per month phone with scottish gas
£14.00 per 2 weeks coal (not needed in summer)
£12.00 per month Capital one (minimum payment on £340)
£45.00 per month catalogue
£96.00 per month council tax

I have cut shopping to a minimum but with 2 kids it is hard not to let them have a treat now and then
I have started cancelling direct debits when there is not enough money in the bank and then paying them over the phone when i have the money
I feel like hiding awaybut i know that wont help
Please help

lynzpower

Hi there and welcome Sam

A few things from me, hows your other half doing with looking for work? Has he got a helper at the job centre, in my experience they are very good at finding something, anything, to keep you guys going.

outgoings
£11.99 per month tv licence
£276.10 per month mortgage
£115.00 per month Black Horse loan 2 years left
£127.10 per month car hp Yes car credit 3 years left
£124.30 per month Halifax loan 4 years left
£78.84 per month hfc loan 2 years left
£24.84 per month car insurance
£35 per month dell computer 1 year left
£17.50 per month AOL ( you can ssave a few quid here, try tesco value broadband or madasafish, both under £14)
£10.00 per week electric on meter
£10 per month Gas on meter ( any overspend on these meteres?)
£44.54 per month life insurance for mortgage ( is this not paying out in case of unemployment, check it?)
£21.00 per month Sky ( sorry, the time has come to get rid of this)
£11.00 per week bus fair for kids school
£50.00 per week shopping ( this is quite high, you could bring this down a bit, maybe saving 15 a week if you are clever with what you buy, check out the Old Style board)
£10.00 per week petrol ( is this for you to get to work)
£10.00 per month phone with scottish gas ( whats this , a call package)
£14.00 per 2 weeks coal (not needed in summer) ( ok, so your not buying this now I take it)
£12.00 per month Capital one (minimum payment on £340)
£45.00 per month catalogue

Theres not a great deal to cut back Im afraid, and of course your not budgeting for anything like car repairs etc. I suggest you speak top payplan or CCCs links at the top of the page, see if they can get you into a DMP an agreement with your creditirs to take a quid a month, until your OH gets a new job.

Also of course, whatever you have you can, sell it- do a bootsale or ebay.

Well done for finding us, we'll get you there, dont worry

CosmoCat

Hi there

at the minute is see you have an income of 1420 and outgoings of 1155.21 (please forgive me if my math is rubbish). so you should have an extra £264.79.

If things are becoming a little tighter maybe you might have to cut back on some things. like sky @ £21/ month. or maybe you could consider a company that gives you phone, broadband and cable as a package, this may work out cheaper than the £48.50 you're paying on these items at the minute.

Just a few things. I'm sure the real money people will be on here with more suggestions soon.

all the best

Kevicho

Ive split the costs into 4 areas

Living costs (unnavoidable)
TV Licence - 11.99
electric - 40
Gas - 10
Bus fair - 44
Shopping - 200
petrol - 40
Phone - 10
Coal - 28
Council tax - 96

This adds up to 480 pm

Are you really cutting expenses to the bone, is there a way to cut back on food and petrol?
Can you downsize your car for something more efficient?
If we can cut back on this then we might have more money to use to pay off some debt.

As for the credit debts we have

£115.00 per month Black Horse loan 2 years left
£127.10 per month car hp Yes car credit 3 years left
£124.30 per month Halifax loan 4 years left
£78.84 per month hfc loan 2 years left
£24.84 per month car insurance
£35 per month dell computer 1 year left
£12.00 per month Capital one (minimum payment on £340)
£45.00 per month catalogue

These add up to 562 pounds, which at the moment you cannot afford.

I suggest calling CCCs and payplan to go through this to help you negotiate some minimum payments while you are in this situation

Your two "luxuries" are
£21.00 per month Sky
£17.50 per month AOL

Can you haggle for better deals?

Finally the mortgage
its is costing 320 a month (including that insurance!)

What is that insurance for? Does it cover loss of earnings? If so get it activated

Do you have PPI on loans and cards, if so get them activated as well, if they play funny (and you have PPI) tell them you are going to seek legal advice regarding it being missold

Hopefully the OH will find work

Good luck

****edited due to misread of op****

lightatendoftunnel?

sampainter wrote:

Hi there
I have been reading mse for months but have only just got up the courage to post something
I am terrified i am having problems keeping up my repayments on everything as my husband lost his job and my wages are not covering.
I have cut shopping to a minimum but with 2 kids it is hard not to let them have a treat now and then
I have started cancelling direct debits when there is not enough money in the bank and then paying them over the phone when i have the money
I feel like hiding awaybut i know that wont help
Please help

I felt exactly the same last night. Posted for the first time and i am glad i did. People are so helptul and give good ideas. I will say be very careful thats how i got so sucked in cancelling direct debits paying them later. Thats how everything got out of control. I went to CAB and they were very good, i feel little better now i have taken the first step. I know its going be tough but i am not frightened to answer the phone anymore.

Good luck and dont hideaway thats what i did and its still there when you come out!!!

Kevicho

grr i got caught out by the shifting of per week and per month

Eager_Elephant

Sorry if I anyone has posted in the meantime I've been bathing the kids and working this out!!

So if we look at this monthly ( I have taken the weekly figures x 52 and divided by 12)

Income - monthly

Wages - £996.66
CB – 125.66 (amount given was 4 weekly not monthly)
WTC – 316.33
CTC – 99.66

Total income - £1538.31

Outgoings

Mortgage - £276.10
Ctax – 96.00
Electric – 43.33
Gas – 10.00
Coal – 23.33
TV Licence – 11.99
Car Ins – 24.84
Life Ins – 44.54
AOL – 17.50
Sky – 21.00
Bus Fare – 47.66 (not taking account of school holidays)
Groceries - 216.66
Petrol – 43.33
Phone – 10.00

Total - £886.28

Debts

Black Horse Loan – 115.00
Car Hp - 127.10
Halifax – 124.30
HFC – 78.84
Computer Hp – 35.00
Catalogue – 45.00
Capita One – 12.00

Total – 537.24

1538.31 – 886.28 – 537.24 = 114.79 per month

Although of course as someone else has pointed out there are no allowances for xmas/birthdays, haircuts, clothing, car maintenance or tax, emergency fund.

I think the problem is that you probably have enough income it’s just that most of your income is weekly and the bills are monthly so each week you spend what you have so come the time of month for DD’s there’s nothing there – does this sound right?

I don’t think you can enter into a DMP with Payplan because you are not struggling to meet commitments although it feels like it.

I don’t think you should be offering £1.00 per month to people, try doing that on the car finance and they’ll take it away same with the other Hp’s you have.


Maybe what you could do is use the Tax Credits for your weekly things such as shopping, electric, bus fares etc and have your wages paid into a separate account so that once a month you can move it into the account for DD’s and these are covered. If your DD’s are all on different days move them to the same day. – does that sound any good?

HTH

EE

In_Search_Of_Me

Just wanted to send a hug as you wade your way through things. Can you sell stuff on ebay/amazon? This has made a huge difference to my income over the last couple of months and its amazing the stuff you find thats just been sitting there!! Car boots will hopefully be on the up as the weather hopefully improves? I guess the most obvious one is OH getting another job; does he have a skill or would he be able to register with any agencies? The old style board is also great for saving pennies and people will give you lots of support. Looking at it it would seem that the situation is not hopeless...have a look at whether you can get cheaper insurance etc and save some dosh - ie I just changed to NTL and saved money (Couldnt get rid of my cable!) by having everything all in plus having a £2 eve & weekends call package...hope that is of help? Main thing was to send a hug!

reallylost

thanks for the suggestions so far (and the hugs...much appreciated)
i cant downsize the car as it is on hp
I have been looking at some other things on mse and found the stuff about the shopping budget challenge....I went through my cupboards and found that i probably have enough food to last a month if i use it all properly. I have been letting everyone have what they fancy for meals instead of planning anything so there is loads of stuff there that i havent used cos we either fancy something else or cant be bothered to make an effort. So I will get rid of that lot first then start planning meals and shopping with a list.
the idea about shifting to 2 bank accounts sounds great that would be worth a think.
The OH has tried for jobs but there isnt a lot locally so he is getting into the rut of not bothering...hopefully that wont last!
the insurances for the loans and hp are in my name so i cant claim for him being out of work!!! that will teach me eh.?
will have a look round the house for stuff to sell on ebay
thanks again and i will do my best

reallylost

sorry just wondered is there a good basic bank account i can open for the DDs
thanks

QueenB.

Well done for having the courage to come on and ask for real help.

Although there is not great room for reductions even just a few pounds saved here and there can really add up.

Some great suggestions above and i really think you should start planning that weekly or monthly menu. We are a family of five plus 3 cats and i have a budget of £50 a week for all shopping and i am even trying to see if i can cut back on that. Looking in the store cupboard is a good way to reduce that shop, there are many weeks where i have not had to shop for anything because i had enough in and witha bit of creative thinking was able to pull some meal together.

Good luck