Don't really know where to start!

tyllwyd

catjohn0909 wrote: »

We do have two cars. Mine is the family work horse and is not worth selling, his is the saloon which he really takes pride in and I can't see him considering selling it in a million years, plus as we live in a rural area he does need transport for work.

It's not so much the actual value of the car, it's all the other costs involved - insurance, maintenance, road tax - that are the issue. Could you manage with just his car?

catjohn0909 wrote: »

The gas/electric are high but we live in a four storey, five bedroom, delapidated pile that I cannot afford to renovate.

Are your gas bills for heating? Why are the electric bills also high? And water? Can you not economise at all?

d3mon4ngel

Have you also shown this SOA to your husband? I think that you need him on board too, and he cannot continue to deny the situation. You cannot be expected to shoulder all the worry and stress that comes with debts. This affects him too.

Good luck (( hugs ))

Krisp_3

I don't think I have anything to add other than 'welcome' and that I reckon the key is to work on your OH to help him understand that you both need to work together on this. If only one of you is doing so, it'll be twice as hard to deal with.

Well done for posting your SOA - it takes great guts to do so. I didn't do it when we really were in a huge, huge mess because I was embarrassed and didn't quite want to write everything down as ti would have felt too real. We still dealt with it and are nearly at the end of paying everything off, but this place will really, really help you.

Good luck!

Jesthar

Hiya Cat, and welcome to MSE! Well done on posting your SoA.

Now, others have already shown where you can make savings on that, so I'll offer a few different thoughts:

catjohn0909 wrote: »

Hi guys and thanks for your lovely comments.

The situation is that two years ago I was earning £40k and had been for some time so money was never really an issue for us, despite the fact that we have 6 kids between us! I was made redundant and took a job paying £15k working for the NHS and the reality of how much things cost has really just hit us!

I know it sounds bourgeois (or however you spell it) but it's hard to change when you're used to taking £200 out of the bank and just frittering it. I look back with a sense of regret that I did not appreciate how much normal life costs.

On the positive side, you've learned that lesson before things got *really* out of hand, which is more than many do! :T

I think the best thing you can do is start a spending diary - go through all your bills/statements and write down literally *everything* you have spent on what over the last few months. Then keep it up to help you see where all the pennies are slipping away. I run a spreadsheet of my own design for this purpose, even though I'm a mortgage free wannabe not a debt free wannabee - it helps me overpay on my mortgage!

catjohn0909 wrote: »

As for the costs, the kids have grown up and pretty much moved out (one still lives with us but is going to Uni in September) but two of the children are recent nest flyers and still regularly require topping up with shopping, phone top ups and that kind of thing. I'd say on average about £20 a week each and that is sort of what the emergency stuff was for.

It may be time to have a gentle word with them that due to your health and lower income, you can't keep that up forever. I'm not saying you need to cut them off completely, but it will also be good for them, too, as it gives them added incentive to live within their means.

catjohn0909 wrote: »

The gas/electric are high but we live in a four storey, five bedroom, delapidated pile that I cannot afford to renovate. I can do a bit of decorating here and there but it doesn't make much difference. Hubby doesn't want to sell (hates the stress of moving). As for the shopping, he hates frozen and tinned food so it just ends up being wasted.

If you don't need a house that big, and the only consideration is the stress off moving, then there's no harm in having a look round to see what is available, you may find something even hubby will love enough to want to move! On a practical note, rather than decorate, suggest you insulate wherever possible as best you can afford to if you haven't already. Also do things like turn off all radiators in rooms you don't use, don't run the water heating constantly if you have a cylinder, use heat based appliances (like tumble driers) as little as possible. You shouldn't need heating at all in the summer months, hopefully. And do check to see if you are on the cheapest tarriff you can get, if you haven't switched for a while you probably aren't.

As to food, I don't like tinned or frozen food much, either, but I rarely throw anything away and get annoyed if I spend more than £80 in the supermarket in a month on both me and my cat. I just buy fresh meat and bread to freeze, whatever fruit and veg and dairy I need as I need it, and stock up on items which keep a long time (cereals, dry goods, cat food, coffee, cleaning stuff etc.) and indulge in more expensive treats when they are on special offer. Most of my evening meals cost me under £2 - and over the last week most have involved smoked salmon as a treat as it was on special, lasted me several nights that did! And I shop at Morrisons, which isn't the cheapest place around...

Taking your own lunches to work is another way to save a small fortune, as is buying cheaper cuts of meat and slow roasting/cooking them. I do beef brisket and half shoulders of lamb in my slow cooker, the meat lasts be for five or six meals, and the water you cook it in turns into fantastic stock for gravy and slow cooked stews (which I freeze in portions for my own home made ready meals) - mmm! I actually prefer these to expensive cuts now, more flavour!

Anyway, for a wealth of advice on moneysaving on food and household, try the Money Saving Old Style forum here - I kid you not, some of the ladies there can run a household of four or fine on a couple of hundred pounds a month - or less!

catjohn0909 wrote: »

We do have two cars. Mine is the family work horse and is not worth selling, his is the saloon which he really takes pride in and I can't see him considering selling it in a million years, plus as we live in a rural area he does need transport for work. I think part of it is that he has not really appreciated that we are heavily in debt with a massively reduced income. Until I can open his eyes to that, I think I'm doomed costs-wise.

Show him the SoA, and also your spending diary when you have started it. Hopefully that will move him into action.

catjohn0909 wrote: »

Sorry for rambling but I wanted to explain some of the costs (probably have not covered all) and to say that by joining MSE, I honestly believe I have taken the first step towards becoming debt free. Contacting CCCS was (hopefully) the second step.

Thanks again so much for your support. I'll keep working on him!

The Cat

Looking at your SoA, you stand a very good chance of handling this without even needing a Debt Management Plan, let alone bankrupcy. You have plenty of areas you can make good savings, and you are under £40 short of meeting your ourgoings at the moment. If you can throw a good amount of spare cash at your credit card and get that cleared as soon as possible, things will get easier, and you can also look at your loan to see if you can overpay on that.

Now, it's not going to be easy, especially coming from a more affluentbackground, but there are many, many people on these boards who are living proof that it can be done, and from far bigger holes - so keep smiling, you can do this! :T

*looks up* Wow, that turned out long...

~Jes

lilly81

Hiya,

Could you just live in cebtrain rooms of your house and not heat the ones you dont use?
Also try printing off your SOA and showing it to hubby, I'm sure hes just as worried as you and atleast this means you could sit down and sort things out together.
LillyX

Sarsie

catjohn0909 wrote: »

his is the saloon which he really takes pride in and I can't see him considering selling it in a million years, plus as we live in a rural area he does need transport for work. I think part of it is that he has not really appreciated that we are heavily in debt with a massively reduced income. Until I can open his eyes to that, I think I'm doomed costs-wise.

If you go bankrupt you will both lose your vehicles. I was wondering if perhaps that information would be a reality check for him.

Swampmonster

Sarsie wrote: »

If you go bankrupt you will both lose your vehicles. I was wondering if perhaps that information would be a reality check for him.

Not necessarily true as it depends on your circumstances and what you need the car for but you need to put up a fight to keep it as there are guidelines which the receivers follow.

catjohn0909

Hi guys and thanks for all the lovely welcomes and advice :beer:

Our utility costs are so high because the house is so large but what I've decided to do is when the last stepson leaves for Uni, I'm going to close off the top floor and just leave the radiators on frost-free setting.

I think at the moment the hardest things is getting the dear OH to actually take stock of what's going on so that we can make better economies; I know from reading some of the other SOAs and stories that we are far from being the worst off but just knowing that I'm not alone has made a big difference.

The income point is a sore one at the moment because I'm currently on sick leave from work due to herniated discs and am now on half pay

I can but do my best with what I have and I agree that just for now at least a DMP is probably not the way forward - we're due to remortgage this December and I don't want to jeopardise that or end up on a higher interest rate due to being a bigger risk.

Oh how I wish I had taken sick cover with my loans lol

Sorry for the ramble but like I said, I just wanted to give a big thanks amd I will keep checking in with updates :T

catjohn0909

Mortgage................................ [STRIKE]555[/STRIKE] lowered to 300 with mortgage lender for at least the next 2 months, available up to 6 months
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 170
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 72
Electricity............................. 111
Gas..................................... 161
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 75
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 65
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... [STRIKE]48.5[/STRIKE]reduced to 23 by switching provder and fewer channels
Internet Services....................... [STRIKE]30[/STRIKE]15 as part of the TV, broadband and phone package
Groceries etc. ......................... 350
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... [STRIKE]260[/STRIKE]down to about 200 - we're selling the car that isn't on finance and we will share the other car!
Road tax................................ [STRIKE]30[/STRIKE]15 - see above
Car Insurance........................... [STRIKE]142[/STRIKE]46 with an online comparison site!

I said I was going to do my best to get this sorted and I'm really working hard. I may lose my job tomorrow but it will only open a new door for me if that happens because I'll make it work! We are doing a car boot sale this weekend and hopefully we should make a fair whack but so far on the deals we have sorted - our outgoings have reduced by a whopping £466 a month!!!:T Even without the help of the mortgage lender we'd still be £211 a month better off. I could almost faint with excitement hehe and if I can do it, I hope this will encourage you to do it, yes, you, you know who you are:D

As it's hubby's birthday am gonna celebrate with a bottle of vino and he'll be on the beers. I think it's well earned :beer:

Foundational

Hey Catjohn - wow, so impressed with your resolve and progress I logged on just to say well done! What a difference you have made in such a short time. Follow this through over time and make further savings (eg fuel, which you have in hand) and you will make real inroads.

I am sure this will inspire others!

Best wishes

Foundational