How much am I allowed?

foreverskint

New to this bit of the site so be gentle on me please:D

Am just about to start a budget plan this week to deal with some debts my OH has. The question I have is regarding what creditors think is a reasonable amount to spend on food, household stuff, and other general bits you buy when shopping for food and household.

Realistically I probably spend around £400.00 per month on everything from food to toiiletries, cleaning stuff etc. We are a family of 6 which includes 2 very hungry teens 2 adults and 2 younguns.

Is there a maximum amount allowable or is it a casse of 'of you spend it we can't have it'?
Hope that makes sense :rolleyes:

southernscouser

I'm not sure if they have a limit on their criteria or whatever it is but all I would say is don't let them bully you into paying more than you can afford or reducing your budget so you can't make ends meet.

Make them work around you not vice versa!

Toto

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/pdf/self_help_pack/workingout_pbs.pdf

There is a section in here which deals with this and gives you amounts per person. This is a great website full of useful fact sheets. Have a good read, it helps take the stress away. You can download their budget sheet and it does all the maths for you. Hope this helps

aimme13

I think they do have guidlines, i know there food allowance is quite a lot, they made me put mine down a lot more than i spend???......couldnt work that one out! and it is based on how many people, adults/kids/pets......

Anniek1969

I just had a look at that link and I can't believe how much they say you should allow for household expenses. I should be allowed between £521 and £781 for us and 3 kids. When I done my budget plan with CAB I only had down aroun £400 and we only had 2 kids at that time.

So I was thinking that I was really bad at budgeting but maybe I'm not as bad as I thought as I am trying (unsucessfully) to spend around £300 for housekeeping.

Problem is though that if I re-do my budget it would probably mean that using their guidelines I would have less left to pay my creditors and I don't think that they'd be happy with me asking to reduce my payments even more. Really struggle some months but I suppose it means they'll be paid off sooner.

milliejon

Toto wrote:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/pdf/self_help_pack/workingout_pbs.pdf

There is a section in here which deals with this and gives you amounts per person. This is a great website full of useful fact sheets. Have a good read, it helps take the stress away. You can download their budget sheet and it does all the maths for you. Hope this helps

I would have given you this link too. The National Debtline website is fantastic. When you have those panics at 1am, you can always get their advice.

You will know what is fair for you. I agree with SouthernScouser too. You could always put what you think it is, but if in a couple of months you are managing on less, you could always increase the payments to the debts. Just make sure that you're comfortable with it.

It is worrying when you're putting this together, but if they don't agree to the payment (and you're happy with your figures), don't be tempted to reduce your living expenses to increase a payment to the creditors.

Broken_hearted

I find the allowences are more than we have, even though our debts are all on agreements. If I followed the guidlines I'd be paying a £1 a month to each debtor for the rest of my life.

Wonder_Girl

Hiya,

I don’t want to put a bee in anybody’s bonnet! BUT, at CCCS they would allow a MAX of £501 for a 3 child family (this is based on £54-£75 per child and £207-£276 per couple) these are the guidelines that we work from which are based on the British Bankers Association guidelines, I know from experience that creditors’ will reject budgets if some areas are too high.

*runs away before she gets told off*

Toto

I agree I cut mine down too, but it did make me realise that I didn' have to go to the creditor with my dfw style weekly food budget. I could use the guideline then pay extra when I had it. That way I had a little bit of headroom for emergency repairs or unexpected bills.

Toto

If it helps any for 3 kids 2 adults and 2 cats I put in £450 per month (I don't spend this much but see post above, gives me headroom to pay extra)

lazy&indebt

It was the same with my budget - the site says a lot more than what I actually spend...also, they budget for new clothes and hair cuts and I don't allow for those. I haven't had to write any letters like that so I have kept my budget as simple as possible! I allow one lump some every month to pay for food, petrol and nights out!