OH job loss - need to prepare

simpywimpy

My OH job has ended and as we all know, the prospect of a quick replacement is pretty slim so I now need to tighten my belt in the extreme.

My outgoings are extremely high but all things I can't really alter such as loans, mobile phone contracts, gas and electric,mortgage.

I can obviously make cuts on food and extras, but what if at the end of all that I don't have enough to make ends meet Without another job I guess we wouldn't be eligible for a DMP or IVA if things get that bad.

I know it looks like I'm getting ahead of myself but I know that without this wage, things will go downhill extremely quickly. If a job materialises I will have learned to curb my spending and if not, damage limitation is the key I hope

My earnings will drop incl benefits to £1174 plus the rent from our second house of £360 which gives us £1534

Outgoings are:

Water rates 27
Mortgage1 466
Mortgage 2 50
council tax 55
gas/elec 169
TV lic 11
Sky 54
Phone/BB 25
Car Insx2 90
Petrol 30
Life Insx2 39
Food 400
Mobiles 90 (me, oh & 2 teens)
House Ins 22


Loans:
First Direct 279
A&L 275
A&L 140 all approx 6.5%-7%

Credit cards
Halifax 3000 low rate for term of balance
A&L1 2524 25%
mbna 2500 29.9%
tesco 2400 16%
Lloyds 2000 24%

RAS

simpywimpy wrote: »

My earnings will drop incl benefits to £1174

plus the rent from our second house of £360 which gives us £1534 Can you consider selling this house?

Outgoings are:

Water rates 27
Mortgage1 466
Mortgage 2 50
council tax 55
gas/elec 169 - this is very, very high. Most people aim for £70. Are you in arrears, when will they be paid off?
TV lic 11
Sky 54 - you have to downgrade now and then get rid. Freeview for a while
Phone/BB 25
Car Insx2 90 - these are also high - d you need two cars and have you got points. If not, check out the conmparison sites and then swap via a cashback site like quidco.
Car tax?????
Maintenance???
Petrol 30 - if you are only using this much petrol, get rid of the cars.
Life Insx2 39 - this is also quite high. £15 should buy declining term insurance to cover the mortgage
Food 400 - this is massive. You can halve it pretty much immediately and longer term reduce it even more
Clothes?
Mobiles 90 (me, oh & 2 teens) - down grade all the packages ASAP and then go PAYG when you can. The teens need to work for theirs.
House Ins 22 - if this is building and contents OK


Loans:
First Direct 279 - APR? Secured or unsecured
A&L 275 - ditto
A&L 140 all approx 6.5%-7%

Credit cards
Halifax 3000 low rate for term of balance
A&L1 2524 25%
mbna 2500 29.9% - this is the one you need to hit
tesco 2400 16%
Lloyds 2000 24%

Hi

You REally need to do a full soa http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html as this will spot the things you have not added.

Do you ever go out, for the day, a holiday, visiting, give tyhe kids money etc.

simpywimpy

We have two cars based on OH working and if he gets another job, we will need the second car. The petrol is based on using one car in the meantime of unemployment.

I am not in arrears with anything and my combined gas/elec is very high and I have questioned it but nothing ever happens to lower it. I live in a 3/4 bed semi with gas heating/oven.

My life ins is 10pm but hubby is approx 29 as he is older than i am and hasnt had the ins as long

Cant sell the second house, nothing is moving and only had it 2yrs so would be difficult to do at the present time.

I agree with sky and the mobiles and could probably cut down on the food but have two teens at home too.

Also forgot bus passes for them which cost me £25pw, spends £20pw

MrsTinks

simpywimpy wrote: »

I am not in arrears with anything and my combined gas/elec is very high and I have questioned it but nothing ever happens to lower it. I live in a 3/4 bed semi with gas heating/oven. YOU need to do something to lower it - asking your provider nicely won't do anything...


I agree with sky and the mobiles and could probably cut down on the food but have two teens at home too. More veg and pasta and spuds - less meat etc - you can definitely cut this down. whilst extreem then there IS a poster on these boards who has through careful (VERY careful) shopping and cooking got her gorceries down to £50 for 2 people per month... not saying you can do that for 4 but that you'd be amazed at what CAN be acchieved... Start with a "can do" attitude and you should be able to halve this...

Also forgot bus passes for them which cost me £25pw For school? Is it not cheaper to drive them to school? Bear in mind for now that you are already paying the cost of the cars so the only extra cost would be the petrol - would this be more than the buspas costs whilst your hubby is out of work?

How old are the teenagers? Can they get part time jobs to pay for their own buspasses and mobiles? at 16 I had a saturday job which paid pants but made me appreciate money (obviously not enough - I still got in debt later LOL) and although I'm not THAT old I didn't have a mobile... I had change in my pocket in case I couldn't borrow a friends home phone and had to use... a PAYphone :eek: Mobiles are a convenience - if they think they are vital let them earn them

simpywimpy

Im with scottish power who say my payments are in line with usage though goodness knows how I use that much. My central heating has only been in use for the past month and is limited to a set time of 4hrs in the evening only and one gas fire

teens are 15 and 16

Poosmate

Hi Simpy, congratulations on posting. Hope your OH gets another job soon.

The only thing I can add really is regarding your Sky/Telephone/BB, can you roll these into one bundle? I get all from Virgin including the XL tv package, phone and BB for £34.99 per month.

Could you downgrade your cars if not get rid of one?

Do you have anything which you could sell on Ebay?

Just a few thoughts.

Good luck

Poo

katsu

simpywimpy wrote: »

Im with scottish power who say my payments are in line with usage though goodness knows how I use that much. My central heating has only been in use for the past month and is limited to a set time of 4hrs in the evening only and one gas fire

Are you getting actual or estimated bills? What do the charges for your actual usage look like? If you have not had heating on then to be at that rate without it seems insane.

Have you ever switched or are you on your local default provider?
Can you consider getting one of those meters you can buy that show what you are using (I think they cost £30)?

Can you go look at your meter, then look at it again after a normal day of use (or a week/few days) then take actions to reduce your usage and recheck. If it makes no difference to do the following then you have a problem:

*check the immersion heater is not permanently on
*close doors, line curtains, block draughts around window frames, bottom of door, back of letterbox etc (then see if you need the fire on or so much heating)
* check thermostat temperature and see if you can turn it down
*turn things off - nothing on standby, no charging mobiles all night, no lights on in empty rooms etc
*install energy saving lightbulbs - they are now very cheap.

Hope this helps

simpywimpy

What is the meter I need and where would I get one from? I agree this is astronomically high. Im with scottish power and was on their online fixed tarrif which was the best at the time so I could look at that again.

The kids do leave lights on a lot but I doubt that would bump the costs up so much on it's own.

We have cavity wall and loft insulation and all the windows and main doors are new and double glazed but some rooms do get rather cold hence the heating now on until 9pm but not until 5pm.

Just realised that I havent had a bill with being online tarriff.....will phone them and check their readings tomorrow I think. Might be good news you never know

simpywimpy

Can we ask for a DMP straight away if I think I can't meet the repayments at the end of January or do we need to be in serious arrears?

Nothing is in arrears just yet thankfully, we have been very lucky up to this point with a regular income

SouthCoast

Did you manage to buy a property abroad?

MrsTinks

You can go on a DMP before you have arrears - by going on a DMP though you would automatically default as you can't make the contractual payments. But no you don't need to wait until you're "in trouble"

The meters we're on about can be bought in Maplin etc and clip onto your meter and you then have a screen indoors where you can enter your unit cost and it will show you the cost for the last day, 7 days and "now".
Check your unit usage and do a price comparison online - either something is draining power/heating OR you are on a seriously wrong tariff... if you were on a fixed rate for 12 months etc then it might have shot up now so could explain the high cost...