Appreciate your help please...

dancingfairy

Do your parents actually use Sky/Satelite? perhaps if they really want it you could perhaps ask they contribute towards it - obviously this may be a difficult conversation to have and depends on your relationship? or maybe it could be a birthday/christmas present to them?
I hate to be mean but 1) sky is a bit of a luxury really and 2) you have debts that need dealing with.
df

dors1

foxgloves wrote: »

Hi,
I don't think this is going to be helpful re the debt in itself, but I wanted to agree with you how hard it is to sort debt payments out when current account is always in overdraft. Both my partner & I (married but have separate current accounts, tho' joint finances) found it much easier to deal with the debts we'd had for years as soon as we managed to get our overdrafts cleared. That was the key thing for us, because so much of our monthly salary was just disappearing down a black hole that it was so much harder to budget. Recognising this was instrumental in getting the rest of it sorted.

Yes I think I need to take Horace's advice and set up another account - I know this makes sense but at the mo, as ridiculous as it sounds it's like a huge fear barrier - I can't articulate it - it's ridiculous. I'm crying as I type this. Since the end of 2007 I've been trying to sort//constantly worrying - but not really doing other than not spending - ok I'm not behind on any payments, I read all the good things other people are achieving in terms of tackling their debt and there is no good reason why I can't do the same - its just me holding myself back. I can't really articulate it.

I'm sorry to ramble on but this feels like a huge release - OH, friends & family probably know things are wrong but I just can't bring myself to tell them.

dancingfairy

Perhaps they can help in a moral support kind of way if you told them? or maybe they could make suggestions as to how to tackle things in a way you would find best? Also they may be worrying that you're ill/cheating on your OH etc - etc - if they know something is wrong they may relieved to have you tell them - or they might already know but be unsure how to broach things?
Maybe a chat with a debt counsellor from a charity would help - you know to get things off your chest - try National Debtline or CCCS or maybe your local CAB?
df

dancingfairy

What's your debt is it 2,800 or 28,000? It kind of makes a difference to the approach to take - not that it's the worst on here by a long way - some people have over 100,000 pounds worth of debt.
df

dors1

dancingfairy wrote: »

Well the good news is that your SOA is showing a surplus there also doesn't appear to be a lot to cut down on based on what you've given us.
However it does appear you may be able to save on the tv license according to the OP, petrol -can you claim any expenses from work for the petrol? claim tax relief on this?
Life assurance maybe could be re-looked at?
I did get a bit confused with your debts list to be honest as I guess there are some digits missing -I'm guessing you've done it in thousands?
Anyway - have you got anything to sell at all car boot? ebay?
Can you do overtime or get a second job at all?
Good Luck
df

Thanks df- my income includes the expenses from work - yes I did digits in thousands. Overtime isn't an option. I have been looking at second job options - I provide alot of care/support to parents so working full time (plus expected to put in extra hours as job demands) and care is pretty difficult. I'm sure I could find stuff to sell on ebay - just need to organise myself. Parents do watch sky - analogue signal has been turned off completly in this area - talked to them about freeview . I think I need to try and talk to them about costs.

dors1

dancingfairy wrote: »

What's your debt is it 2,800 or 28,000? It kind of makes a difference to the approach to take - not that it's the worst on here by a long way - some people have over 100,000 pounds worth of debt.
df[/QUOTE

It's 28,000 - I need to redo the SOA - it's not clear plus find out interest rates etc.]

dors1

Some answers to your questions Tixy
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1750
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1750
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 312
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 360
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 19
Internet Services....................... 24.99 are you in a contract for this? can you look for a cheaper deal? - actually cancelled this last week - just need to see that payment isn't taken out later this month so have left it in for now.
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 how many adults for? just you? Try to get this to £80 per adult. - Two adults though I sometimes buy things for parents
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 160 do you have a car? no other car costs?
Road tax................................ 0 if you have a car budget for this
Car Insurance........................... 0 and this
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 and this - Company car
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 11
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 13
Contents insurance...................... 13 which property B&C? yours? have you shopped round for a cheaper deal? - shopped around and this was best deal I was given at the time -went to price comparison sites etc
Life assurance ......................... 66 looks very high? - just for you? shop around - noted
Other insurance......................... 9 whats this cover?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 16
Entertainment........................... 0 never anything?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1295.99

Assets
Cash.................................... 155000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 155000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 70000....(312)......0
Secured Debt.................. 43000....(360)......0 secured on your property? what was the debt from? doing up house? previous consolidation? - doing up house/consolidation actual loan was £35,000 but PPI front loaded - secured on my house
Total secured & HP debts...... 113000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Barclays O/D...................1750......0.........0 find all the APRs out
Mort account o/d...............12.87.....0.........0
RBS Credit Card................791.......20........0
Barclays Loan..................7.5.......135.......0
Student Loan...................187.5.....75........0
Next ..........................51........10........0
Barclaycard....................6.5.......152...... .0
Total unsecured debts..........2806.37...392.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,750
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,295.99
Available for debt repayments........... 454.01
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 392
Amount left after debt repayments....... 62.01
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 155,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -113,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,806.37
Net Assets.............................. 39,193.63
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

foxgloves

Well, the fear barrier is because it's all looking big & scary, but even making some small first steps will help you to conquer this. You have already made 3 key steps. One is that you have realised that you have a problem which can't go on. Two, you say you have stopped spending. That's massively important. Three. You have come on here to get some help & support. In fact, there's another thing in your favour too, as you say you are not behind with any of your payments. I wanted to add that when we first decided to tackle our debts, our first move was to drastically cut our spending on non-essentials but our debts didn't really start to go down. It all needs to be very targetted. Any savings we made, any money we made through selling stuff on ebay, etc, had to be targetted into a debt. Suddenly we saw the point of budgetting which I'm ashamed to say we'd never tried before. Once current accounts were in credit (well, solvent), we set budgets, stuck to them, made sure that any emergencies we had to pay for were talked about jointly rather than slapped onto a credit card or loan), then every month, just before we got paid, we looked at whatever sum was left in our accounts (now knowing there'd only be an excess if we'd stuck to our budgets) and paid it straight into whatever debt we were focussing on. We are still using the same method now, but to save up for something ( a new experience for both of us). It can't be done overnight but every small step will help. Hope this makes sense....never thought I'd ever be advising someone about debt....there are many people on here who are proof it can be done. Don't cry, go & make one tiny positive move today even if it's just setting up an ebay account x

theoretica

I would suggest that you also look at your parent's finances, and that they are getting all the help they can- cold weather payments and maybe mobility/disability allowances (does the entitledto website do pensioners and disability). As they are not paying rent or mortgage if they can't afford their own TV then their finances may need considering too.

McKneff

If you parents are pensioners and they get full pensions they will be getting at least just under £200 a week between them, they will also probably be getting sp2
which comes automatically with a state pension. At the least they will be getting £800to£900 a month. With no rent to pay, no TV licence to pay and no Sky, they are pretty well off, wouldnt you say. Much better off than most pensioners.
Ask them if you can cancel Sky and get them a free sat box.