In order to pay all my bills etc I need an extra £30 a month...

Jowo_2

Tazinijif wrote: »

...loan repayments totalling £200.

What are these loans for and who are they with?

Go to the Debt Free Wannabe board to submit your details there and the experts there will tell you how to sort out a more affordable repayment schedule with your creditors.

You are not in the position to spend nearly 20% of your net income servicing loans. Your personal debts have absolutely no impact on level of benefits you may be entitled to.

Tazinijif

karenx: Judging me doesn't help. I thought this was a friendly community where people could ask for help?! There is no need to be nasty. The loans are repaying student overdrafts, one mine and one my partners. When we signed up for them we were not told that we would both be expected to pay back the ENTIRE sum the second our degrees finished, if we were perhaps we would not have signed up for them.

burkey365

2 mobile phone contracts, why do you need 2, if hes not working he should be at home, also get a landline with free call to other landlines, saves £30 of your £40 a month, plus there is jobs out there which a uni graduate probably looks down his nose at, i.e. delivering leaflets (cuts down leccy bill if out the house), asda, car wash, give me the area where you live and i will find many jobs online in the next few minutes, low paid but extra income....students get funded for 3 yearsto sit on the dole, disgusting

Jowo_2

Tazinijif wrote: »

...The loans are repaying student overdrafts, one mine and one my partners. ...

Just to verify - did you take out loans (i.e. a debt) to pay off a bank overdraft (i.e. a debt)? Did you read the Ts and Cs which explained the repayment schedule?!

Despite your contract, the Debt Free Wannabee bods will tell you how to come to an agreement with your creditor and set up a less aggressive repayment schedule, or give you other advice how to deal with this.

Tazinijif

Jowo: we have done that and got the same as you, although we weren't eligible for LHA because, as you said, we are only entitled to a 1 bed property. We were told that none of our outgoings would be counted in our JSA/benefit claims as it went purely on your household income.

themonkeybutler: it is my bus pass, so I can get to work :0P

Just to be extra clear, my wage covers all of my bills, debts, rent, everything. If it were just me paying my half everything would be fine. My partner's trouble with finding a job means that I need to cover his costs too, a total of about £350pcm, which is what we are having trouble with and attempting to claim benefits for.

Tazinijif

jowo: yes we were forced to by the banks.

burkey 365: We cannot get out of the mobile phone contract as it is a CONTRACT. "Contract" means that you are legally obliged to pay the amount agreed until the end of the agreed term. A landline with free calls to other landlines costs more money a month that his phone bill anyway. I understand if the whole thread was too much to read, there have been a lot of posts, but as I mentioned earlier he has applied for every single job that is available, from shop work to cleaning and even as a dinner lady. To re-phrase what I said to karenx, if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all.

We live in Huddersfield, please do find him a job he hasn't applied for, we would be grateful.

calleyw

I would get over to the debt free board.

And do a Statement of Affairs. I know you say that you have cut back but I am sure there is something that they can suggest to help cut back.

I assume that you have both spoken to Your mobile phone providers/sky(if you have it)etc and cut it back to the bone. I see you mentioned about a contract since I posted this. A lot of providers are happy to let you drop down even when in contract. I assume from the above you have already spoken to them and they have said no?

The same with food if you partner is at home most of time then they have time to plan and shop for meals. You might like to look here it is by weezl74 who is well know on mse. The plan is to feed a family of 4 for £100 a month including all the snacks etc.

As has been said any job for OH even if it is a paper round would help bring in some money.

Yours

Calley

McKneff

Walk/cycle to work, ditch the mobiles.

Look on freecycle for some bikes.

Jowo_2

Yes, couples are expected to support each other as far as means tested benefits go and your personal debt, which is a major factor in terms of expense, doesn't influence this - you identify the shortfall as his but it's really yours jointly. Therefore if it is the case that you are due next to no benefits, because you fall short of the threshold and the govt considers your wage sufficient to support each other, you must cut your outgoings, as there's no magic bullet until your partner gets a job.

As far as I can see your main issues are

1. the loan repayments eat into your basic living costs and isn't affordable. get your loan repayments reduced or suspended.
2. the rent alone takes up around half of your net income which is a terrible ratio. clearly a smaller property will have less rent and cost less to run. any chance of moving anywhere cheaper?

PasturesNew

It's not the lack of Govt help that's the problem, it's that you're paying £200/month on loans and £40 on mobile phones... which, if removed, would be more than JSA at any age would pay.

Electricity seems high too, at £60. Especially as it's summer.