Please help!!!

livvie84

Hi everyone,

I am not in a huge amount of debt but I am struggling to pay the minimum off each month and would love some advice.

Here is a breakdown of my debts. Please note that I am currently on maternity leave, which gives me £538 per month. I do receive child benefit, but I shall ignore that as that obviously all goes towards nappies etc. After paying £250.00 a month towards my joint mortgage & bills (my partner pays the majority at the moment) and around £150 for sundries/birthdays etc etc, I am left with around £138 to pay debts! Which as you can see below, is nowhere near enough!

Outstaning Contractual Payment

1 Alliance Overdraft £417 £21
2 Halifax Overdraft £1,026 £52
3 La Redoute Catalogue £350 £18
4 Next Catalogue £324 £17
5 Santander Personal Loan £1,567 £149
6 Santander Cards Credit Card £2,793 £84

TOTAL £6,477 £341


My loan is by direct debit and is taken from my account at the beginning of every month. My Next and and La Redoute payments for this month are actually around £35.00 each as I was unable to pay them last month. I am even less likely to be able to pay them this month. I definately will not be able to pay towards my credit card either.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Olivia

ghostmadlittlemiss

Pop us a Statement of Affairs up and we'll see what we can do.
Kayleigh

livvie84

I am unsure of some of the annual rates.

ghostmadlittlemiss

Check the company's website and look up the product you took out. That should tell you the rate.
Kayleigh

livvie84

Sorry to be a pain asking all these questions, but do I HAVE to put my partners' income in?

gonzo127

it all depends on how you do your finances currently, such as how you split the bills and normal living expenses. you do not HAVE to put in anything,

the more information we have the more likely we will be able to advise on all possible and workable solutions, just try to remember no one on these forums can identify you and we will not judge.

livvie84

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 538
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 82
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 620
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 250
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.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 50
Clothing................................ 19
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 82
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 6
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 45
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 482

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 245000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 245000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
A&L Overdraft..................417.......21........0
Halifax Overdraft..............1026......52........0
La Redoute Catalogue...........350.......18........26.8
Credit Card....................2793......84........0
Santander Loan.................1567......148.5.....8.9
Next Catalogue.................324.......17........26.49
Total unsecured debts..........6477......340.5.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 620
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 482
Available for debt repayments........... 138
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 340.5
Amount short for making debt repayments. -202.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 245,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,477
Net Assets.............................. 238,523
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.


Please note that I live with my boyfriend and we have a joint mortgage. I have not added my boyfriend's details and have left out our mortgage payments. This is because I am currently giving him £250.00 towards the mortgage etc whilst I am on maternity leave - this is listed as 'rent'. He pays for the rest of the bills/food etc. I will be going back to work in October, when my position will change. However, I need help now with my current situation.

Thanks!

gonzo127

livvie84 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 538
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 82
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 620
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 250
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.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 50 - if OH pays for food whats this?
Clothing................................ 19 - i know babies get through a lot but do you actually need that many new clothes for the next few months?
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 82 - whats this for if you are a on maternity?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 6 - i am not sure but shouldnt you be getting free perscriptions at the moment whilst on maternity? or is that only when pregnant
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 45 - simply can not afford this some small hand made presents/cards with pictures of baby
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 20 - once again untill you are back at work this will need to be stopped
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 482

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 245000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 245000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
A&L Overdraft..................417.......21........0
Halifax Overdraft..............1026......52........0
La Redoute Catalogue...........350.......18........26.8
Credit Card....................2793......84........0
Santander Loan.................1567......148.5.....8.9
Next Catalogue.................324.......17........26.49
Total unsecured debts..........6477......340.5.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 620
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 482
Available for debt repayments........... 138
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 340.5
Amount short for making debt repayments. -202.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 245,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,477
Net Assets.............................. 238,523
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.


Please note that I live with my boyfriend and we have a joint mortgage. I have not added my boyfriend's details and have left out our mortgage payments. This is because I am currently giving him £250.00 towards the mortgage etc whilst I am on maternity leave - this is listed as 'rent'. He pays for the rest of the bills/food etc. I will be going back to work in October, when my position will change. However, I need help now with my current situation.

Thanks!

ok this is not going to be nice since your income is so low, but the basics is you will have to look at going to work sooner rather than later unless you can get a few payment breaks a sit stands you get £620 income with £250 rent and £340 debt repayments it only leave you with £30 spending month a month for everything else.

anyways as i see it you best bet will be to phone your creditors and see if you can have a payment break due to maternity leave,

purpleheather2810

Re medical expenses - You should have a maternity exemption certificate that takes you up to baby's 1st birthday (I think?).
Re clothes and presents - these need to be cut down.
Is there any way you and OH can cut down the household bills? Even just a little? If you let us know how much the household bills are we might be able to show you how to reduce them, so that you can reduce the amount you have to contribute.

livvie84

Thank you for your advice gonzo. Answers to your questions:

* The £50 is for extra food for my lunches etc - oh does pay for food but he buys staples like meatm bread and store cupboard items etc. I have to help buy fruit & veg and extra milk etc. Some of this, however does go on a few treats, which I am aiming to cut out altogether.

* £19 a month clothes is for myself and my baby - this is an average - actually purchase every few months. And yes he does go through quite a few clothes! He's gone from newborn to 0-3 to 3-6 and he's now almost in 6-9 and he's not even 4 months old! He's a big lad! ;o) - to solve this problem, I have now stopped buying clothes for myself and am going to borrow some baby clothes from my sister.

* The £82 child related expenses is my full child benefit money which goes on milk, nappies, wipes etc which I try to find the cheapest of.

* The £6.00 a month is for my dentist - this does not fall under free medical. There are very few NHS dentists near me.

gonzo127

just a quick one re clothes, check out the local freecycle or local free ads a lot people will have lots of very light used clothes for the baby especially when you think about how quickly they grow out of them, when mine was that small i know how quickly they grow out of them, but still didnt stop me from being in a position where i have found clothes still with the tags on because we never got round to using them which i have given away or sold for a few £ per bag full, so long as you wash them all properly before you use them they are more than good enough.

fruit and veg - do you go to a green grocers or farm shop or do you buy from a supermarket, if you shop at a supermarket try and get them from the farm or grocers as not only will they be cheaper you will usually ifnd they last longer due to them being fresher (most 'fresh' fruit and veg at a supermarket can be upto 1-2 weeks only when you actually buy it)