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How do we get out of this mess????

tanmu
Posts: 208 Forumite
Hi everyone,
I've been reading the posts on this forum for about a month now and I'm am heartened by the sense of community and the way everyone is so willing to help....
that is why I have finally plucked up the courage to ask for help/advice.
First off, I'm 24 and married with 2 children (1 1/2 and 3) who I stay at home with. My husband has a full time job. I was working part-time, but as childcare costs were so high we had to send the kids to different places (sometimes not even together) just so I could work the 3 days. This really unsettled my son in particular and as a family we were all very stressed out. I therefore left my job in March, naively thinking the tax credits would make up the shortfall in wage. It hasn't as they are telling us we owe them money for overpayment. I am currently disputing this.
I have just had a consultation with CCCS and am more depressed than ever about our financial situation...the advisor was talking of token payments, CCJs, Bailiffs and the like....this scares me. I also know that my husband will never agree to going down that road....in fact he will be vehemently opposed. So I am going to post my SOA in the hope that someone, somewhere out there can point me in another direction. Here goes...
Monthly Incomings:
Husbands salary - £1,145
Child Benefit - £126
Tax credits - 140
Husband's mother gives him £100 (continued over from uni days, but can't afford to refuse)
Total - £1,511
Monthly Outgoings:
Mortgage/Rent - £302.89
Council Tax - £98
Gas - £30
Electric - £25
TV License - £10.99
Phone/broadband/cable - £40.
Food - £200
Car Insurance - £55
Petrol - £200 (my husband commutes to work)
Mobile Phone - £25
House Insurance - £9
Water Rates - 24.51
Total: £1,020.39
DEBTS
Virgin Loan - £6,046.00
Alliance & Leicester Loan @ 6.4% - £8,403.00
HSBC credit card @ 18.7% - £548
Morgan Stanley cc £1,828
Egg cc @ 15.9% - £2,155
Halifax One cc @ 0.00% - £1,275
A&L cc - £163
Car Loan @ 18.7% - £10,698
HSBC overdraft @ 0.00% - £1,376
Natwest Overdraft @ 0.00% - £1,432
A&L Overdrafts @ 0.00% - £513.16 (£150.00 + £363.16)
Total - £34,437.00:eek:
According to the advisor at cccs, our budget just about balances, meaning we have no money left over from 'priority outgoings' to service the creditors. She therefore advised us to offer token payments of £1 to our creditors and go through the whole default notice-court summons-CCJ-bad credit score for 6 years route. I am unhappy with this idea and as I mentioned before, I am 100% certain my husband will be against it. But what other options do we have??? Can anyone help???
I've been reading the posts on this forum for about a month now and I'm am heartened by the sense of community and the way everyone is so willing to help....
that is why I have finally plucked up the courage to ask for help/advice.
First off, I'm 24 and married with 2 children (1 1/2 and 3) who I stay at home with. My husband has a full time job. I was working part-time, but as childcare costs were so high we had to send the kids to different places (sometimes not even together) just so I could work the 3 days. This really unsettled my son in particular and as a family we were all very stressed out. I therefore left my job in March, naively thinking the tax credits would make up the shortfall in wage. It hasn't as they are telling us we owe them money for overpayment. I am currently disputing this.
I have just had a consultation with CCCS and am more depressed than ever about our financial situation...the advisor was talking of token payments, CCJs, Bailiffs and the like....this scares me. I also know that my husband will never agree to going down that road....in fact he will be vehemently opposed. So I am going to post my SOA in the hope that someone, somewhere out there can point me in another direction. Here goes...
Monthly Incomings:
Husbands salary - £1,145
Child Benefit - £126
Tax credits - 140
Husband's mother gives him £100 (continued over from uni days, but can't afford to refuse)
Total - £1,511
Monthly Outgoings:
Mortgage/Rent - £302.89
Council Tax - £98
Gas - £30
Electric - £25
TV License - £10.99
Phone/broadband/cable - £40.
Food - £200
Car Insurance - £55
Petrol - £200 (my husband commutes to work)
Mobile Phone - £25
House Insurance - £9
Water Rates - 24.51
Total: £1,020.39
DEBTS
Virgin Loan - £6,046.00
Alliance & Leicester Loan @ 6.4% - £8,403.00
HSBC credit card @ 18.7% - £548
Morgan Stanley cc £1,828
Egg cc @ 15.9% - £2,155
Halifax One cc @ 0.00% - £1,275
A&L cc - £163
Car Loan @ 18.7% - £10,698
HSBC overdraft @ 0.00% - £1,376
Natwest Overdraft @ 0.00% - £1,432
A&L Overdrafts @ 0.00% - £513.16 (£150.00 + £363.16)
Total - £34,437.00:eek:

According to the advisor at cccs, our budget just about balances, meaning we have no money left over from 'priority outgoings' to service the creditors. She therefore advised us to offer token payments of £1 to our creditors and go through the whole default notice-court summons-CCJ-bad credit score for 6 years route. I am unhappy with this idea and as I mentioned before, I am 100% certain my husband will be against it. But what other options do we have??? Can anyone help???

:heart2::heart2:On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur :heart2::heart2:
we're debt freeeeeeeeeeeee....FREEEEDOM!!! :j
:T0
Comments
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hi tanmu,
I'm not in a position to offer advice, but just wanted to say that the people on this board are amazing, and no-doubt someone more knowlegable (and helpful) will be along shortly.
We'll get you through this! Be strong.
Hugs,
djSelf-building fund :eek:: £4259
Savings target: 1 rainy year 10000/10000 :j
WINS 2011: Briggs & Reilly Suitcase, Nail Polish, Book, AEGON international tennis tickets x2, 4* trip to London including Michelin Star dinner :j0 -
Welcome Tanmu, I'm not great on the advice giving, others more experienced will certainly help but I was thinking, could you perhaps do some kind of work like mystery shopping where you can take the kids with you thus increasing your income? Just a thought...DFW Nerd no: 1490
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hi there
Im not convinced the person on the phone you spoke to was correct, there seems to be a few things here thats been missed out.
1. Lets have a look here
Monthly Outgoings:
Mortgage/Rent - £302.89
Council Tax - £98
Gas - £30
Electric - £25 ( slightly high for both of these, are you doing everything you can to https://www.saveenergy.co.uk)
TV License - £10.99
Phone/broadband/cable - £40. ( ok, can you get this cheaper? DO you need the TV part of it. You can get internet for 14.97 with tesco value - there may be cheaper out there too) land line from BT is about a tenner a month)
Food - £200 ( you can cut this down with some planning and effort, I suggest aiming for 150)
Car Insurance - £55 ( is this the very lowest you could find)
Petrol - £200 (my husband commutes to work) (can he get any mileage payments or petrol contribution from work- there are also websites on hoew to find the cheapest petrol, or get from tesco then at least you'll get clubcard points etc)
Mobile Phone - £25 ( can this go to PAYG)
House Insurance - £9
Water Rates - 24.51
Total: £1,020.39
DEBTS
Virgin Loan - £6,046.00 ( how much are these per month?? )
Alliance & Leicester Loan @ 6.4% - £8,403.00
HSBC credit card @ 18.7% - £548 ( this is fairly small)
Morgan Stanley cc £1,828 )(APR?)
Egg cc @ 15.9% - £2,155 can this be moved to 0%
Halifax One cc @ 0.00% - £1,275
A&L cc - £163 ( this can go fairly easily, get a load of stuff on ebay or wht have you and close this one down asap_
Car Loan @ 18.7% - £10,698 ( how long left?, plus the APR on this is very high)
HSBC overdraft @ 0.00% - £1,376
Natwest Overdraft @ 0.00% - £1,432
A&L Overdrafts @ 0.00% - £513.16 (£150.00 + £363.16)
DONT WORRY About these for now.
Ok you have some choices, without knowing what you are spending on the debt payments per month its hard to say, HOWEVER, you have no income. Is there ANYTHING you can do from home? Babysitting/ childminding? Ironing? Other peoples dog walking? Or can you work evenings or weekends? Your income could go direct to cards to get them cleared.
Good luck xx:beer: Well aint funny how its the little things in life that mean the most? Not where you live, the car you drive or the price tag on your clothes.
Theres no dollar sign on piece of mind
This Ive come to know...
So if you agree have a drink with me, raise your glasses for a toast :beer:0 -
Hello! Just a thought but could you work part time around your husbands job, so you would either not need childcare, or would not need as much? I do this (I work a couple of days during school hours and make up my hours with evening/weekend work). It obviously cuts down on family time together, but remember, it wouldn't be forever, just until your children are school age (then you could work whilst they are at school).
Call centres/supermarkets/bars/restaurants/hotels all tend to have these kind of hours available, I'm sure there are other places too. Or what about something like childminding? Sorry if none of these suggestions are appropriate - just trying to think of ways you can keep things ticking over until your children are a bit older.
Love Snaggles xx
Edit - sorry, cross-posted with Lynz!"I wasn't wrong, I just wasn't right enough.":smileyhea97800072589250 -
Hi
Well done on taking the first steps and posting!
Keep on at the tax credits, phone every day and find out what is happening, you should be entitiled to way more than £140. Keep a copy of everything you send to them and vice versa.
I reckon with the help of the lovely people on this board you could maybe shave about £100 from your SOA. Lynz has already suggested quite a few things to cut down on BUT that still wont give you enough to maintain payments with your creditors I don't think. Can you list the monthly payments?
CCCS will have based your budget on what they think you can really afford taking into account ALL your expenses, for example you have nothing in your budget for car tax, servicing, christmas, birthdays, clothes etc. Thats how they came to the token payments solution.
Keep posting, the people here understand your situation and will be great help.
HTH
SWOfficial DFW Nerd Club - Member No. 133
Debt Free Date August 2014 :j
The £2.00 Coin Savers Club = £22.000 -
Hi tanmu and welcome to MSE!! You'll find lots of help and support here. I'm not able to advise on your SOA, and Lynz has already given you loads of good advice!
But have a look on the Moneysaving Old Style board as that has loads of great ideas for cutting down on you food bill, using leftovers and also creative recipes with sometimes not-so creative ingredients!!
Good Luck, we are all here for you with help, advice and support!!Official DFW Nerd Club #20 :cool: Proud To Be Dealing With My DebtsDFW Long Hauler #109
Slowly, Slowly = Oct '09: £30693, Aug '15: £14820. Could Be Debt Free April 2020, but hoping for sooner!0 -
thanks for all these quick responses!
I did try a bar job in the evenings, but after paying out for the taxi fare home (they laughed when i asked if they would pay/contribute towards it) I was only £30 better off for a weekend's work - not great considering all the missed family time (only really spend time with Husband at weekends) and the hassle getting to and from work etc... I am currently racking my brains for work I can do from home. Don't fancy looking after any more kids - 2 toddlers is more than enough!!! But maybe after school care for older kids is a possibility....
as for our monthly payments, they are as follows:
Virgin loan - £116.00
A&L loan - £175
Car Payments - £195
Egg card - £43
A&L card - £5 (minimum)
HSBC - £10
Morgan Stanley card - £36.5
Halifax One - £26
As for our broadband/phone/tv - we only pay £5.50 for an old set top cable box with limited extra channels and we are currently negotiating down our call costs/broadband
Any more suggestions for work from home??? - I am rubbish at ironing (have a mountain of my own):o:heart2::heart2:On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur :heart2::heart2:we're debt freeeeeeeeeeeee....FREEEEDOM!!! :j:T0 -
get freeview inplace of cable/sky it has Cebeeies and CBBC for the kids and a few decent channels for grown ups too...
use the comparison sites linked by Martin for utilities and phone and insurance to switch to better deals!
Hang in there!
I think that a clean sweep of your finances is needed and then address your working situation. I know it can be tough but there are jobs you can do with the kiddies in tow!
Deepest Debt - £13,000+
Debt Now - £00 -
tanmu wrote:
Any more suggestions for work from home??? - I am rubbish at ironing (have a mountain of my own):o
On the mortgage free wanabe there's a long sticky thread called a bit on the side. You could pick up some ideas on there.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=98
Some posters do online surveys and market research and mystery shopping.0 -
Although not working from home but does fit around you, try mystery shopping. Have a search on the internet for:
cybershoppers - do Boots, Halifax, Barclaycard, among others
gapbuster - post offices, petrol stations
frontline focus - kfc and pizza hut
ukims - various
tns - tesco, comet, they have just had a new contract for pubs so free drink and lunch on this one
Hope this helps.DFW Nerd no: 1490
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