i'm new to this, please be gentle with me!

pania

sorry i mean quidco.

pania

Me again.

I'm really quite upset. Have just spoken to orange and explained entire situation. They stated that there is nothing they can do. All the tariffs available at the moment are for "new customers only". all they can offer me is the standard tariffs the cheapest of which is £19 pound which i'd be paying for nothing. :mad:

I told her that now i'm not a new customer i'm no longer important to the company as they know i am trapped in. why oh why did i let him talk me into contract again!! I should have known!!

threatened to go to payg and just pay the cheapest but she would not budge from £19 per month. I KNOW they do cheaper than that. have these people never been customers? do they not know how it feels to try to help yourself but get nowhere? This is my biggest expenditure i need it lowered.
wanted to call her lots of rude naughty words but that would only make me feel bad:embarasse

short of binning the bloomin thing i'm not sure what else to do. :huh:

CLAPTON

you need to complete your SoA.
the budget spending is not meant to be just a snapshot of this month but the average of all months

so e.g. if you pay electric every quarter then divide the quarterly bill by 3 and put a line in saying electric = whatever

i know this will be scary but you must work out ALL your spending

so you need to add

electric (as i said divide quarterly by 3 or even better a years worth by 12)
gas (as for electic)
water (as above)
car tax (as above)
car MOT (as above)
AA/RAC (as above)
allowance for car servicing and repairs (as above)
TV license (as above)

also
some sort of allowance for clothes
something for going out
haircuts?
do you spend anything at xmas or on presents (again divide by 12 and add aline)

you must include absolutely everything you actually spend..do you have any optical/dental/medical costs ? do you buy lunches/coffees at work..think about everything you spend

Start a spending diary and keep a record of everything you actual spend each month and compare that to your budget

i know it will look awful but without the full picture it is not possible to give any advice.

you say your father took out a 10,000 loan...is that in his name or yours?
how many months are there left to pay it off?

who is you DMP with?

why is your rent 200 now but goes up to 350 in a few months
do you reaaly only spend 66 on food?

what is the situation with the car payments
do you really need the car...could you pay off the last payment and sell the car and either do without or buy a cheap runabout

sorry for all the questions but really need a full picture.

pania

The property i live in is owned by my father but i pay rent and full bills to live here.
he lowered the rent to £200 when he found out my debt situation as a temporary respite.
The !0k loan has only just been taken out. i've been paying for about 4 months on a 3 year term. I really didn't know how to stop this happening without telling my folks the truth at the time which i was terrified of doing.

£274 per month,
I went to tesco on wednesday when i got paid. this cost £66 and has GOT to last me a month, i have no choice in that as i won't have any money to buy more. My mother helps me out with food as and when she can which makes me feel even worse.

until recently gas has been £18 per month
electric £20 per month
Water £24 per month
TV licence £11 per month

I have stopped paying these as quite simply they were up to date with exception of the water and i couldn't afford to pay them. My new job is commission based so hopefully can start again in a couple of months when i've earnt a bit of commission.

My car as mentioned earlier i would LOVE to get rid of but due to it being one of those MG types no one wants it. It also has an engine problem which means getting rid of it will be quite tough.
Tax at the end of october will be £68
MOT end of november £40
Fuel (necessary for work) £100 per month

with regards to christmas and birthdays i don't feel able to count that as i can't allow myself to worry about it until it arrives. Naive i know but i can only cope with doing it that way.
At a guess i'd say christmas would be about £250
birthdays per year about £150

I go out once a week to my local pub with the boyf. usually manage to get by on £10
With regards to clothes and haircuts when i have £20 extra i will buy something but until then i go without. Not a happy scenario, i can't remember the last time i went shopping but all i do is live to pay the bills and debts.
will update anything i've forgotten later. i need to take a break for a minute. the heads spinning

Thanks for all the advice xx

Mrs_pbradley936

Can you get a lodger? Even if you have a one bed place could you give them your room and you have the sofa?

Honeybee_2

Pania...

Phone Orange back and inform them that if they refuse to reduce your tariff, you'll have no alternative but to report them to OFTEL.

I did this, got a grovelling apology and a £50 credit on my bill as a goodwill gesture.

And PAYG....I'm on O2, pay £15 per month, get 400 texts, 150 x net off peak minutes and am left with £3 for daytime calls, much better than the fortune I spent on contracts.

tyllwyd

So your current situation is something like this:

Income
Currently £1160, rising to £1210 next month


Outgoings

Rent £350 (although temporarily reduced)
Council tax £72
Telewest £40 (for phone, tv and internet)
Loan repayment £274
Debt Management£200
Loan repayment to ex boyfriend £60
Car insurance £26.06
mobile phone £60
petrol £100
Food £66
Gas/electric/water £?
tv licence OK until Jan O7
Total £1248

(Plus various other small debts - water, final payment on car)

It seems pretty clear that things aren't going to work as they stand - your budget isn't balancing even though you haven't put a figure for your utilities.

Can you do something drastic like move back in with your parents? Is there any chance they could reduce your rent on a longer term basis? Even if they could reduce it by £60 until you can get out of your mobile contract it would help. How much do you owe your ex-boyfriend - do you think you might be able to reduce the monthly payment to him?

To be honest, it looks as if the loan was a huge mistake - you can't afford it on your budget. Is there any chance at all of increasing the term to bring down the monthly payments?

vivaladiva

Do try and get an assessment of your car's engine problem - at least you will know where you stand. I ignored ours for pretty much the same reasons and it ended up costing me £1600. :eek: Followed by a new clutch at £440. :eek: :mad: I don't want to be alarmist - but if you need it for work....

CLAPTON

is the 10k loan in your name or your fathers?

jobbingmusician

pania wrote:

I have loads of books and cd's that i know i'm not going to read or listen to again but i'm not sure if it would be worth trying these due to packaging etc.

Save up brown paper and bubblewrap (and keep an eye open for both, and for padded envelopes, at work - they are often thrown out). List your books and cds on Amazon.co.uk - yes it is a pain posting them out, but Amazon give generous amounts for postage (they charge the buyer) so you will make money. Amazon is renowned for generally getting better rates for books and cds than Ebay - have a look at the threads about it on the Auctions board.

Good luck!

I still think it would be worth you doing a monthly SOA for yourself with EVERYTHING in it, so you know what you are aiming for. At the moment you are just shivering with fear and not wanting to face up to the awful realities of things like how much your car tax costs you each month - you'll feel a lot better once you know, honest!