Help any suggestions greatly appreciatated

crisispoint914

Hi I'm another newbie!! Due to a combination of things, (break up of a relationship, son turning 18, losing a second job) I have been in a worsening debt situation for 18 months (I lost approx £650 in income, lower maintenance payments, lower tax credits). I have been robbing Peter to pay Paul as it were. I have been trying to reduce my outgoings, I sold my car and bought a cheaper one, moved to a smaller house, hopefully smaller bills! I have one son with me and another at university.
I have recently been in touch with debtline and worked out my budget I currently have nothing left over each month and have debts of £26k all cc/od.
My issue is I cannot declare myself bankrupt as I would then lose my job I have no spare income for a DMP or IVA any suggestions please????

MrC1977

crisispoint914 wrote: »

Hi I'm another newbie!! Due to a combination of things, (break up of a relationship, son turning 18, losing a second job) I have been in a worsening debt situation for 18 months (I lost approx £650 in income, lower maintenance payments, lower tax credits). I have been robbing Peter to pay Paul as it were. I have been trying to reduce my outgoings, I sold my car and bought a cheaper one, moved to a smaller house, hopefully smaller bills! I have one son with me and another at university.
I have recently been in touch with debtline and worked out my budget I currently have nothing left over each month and have debts of £26k all cc/od.
My issue is I cannot declare myself bankrupt as I would then lose my job I have no spare income for a DMP or IVA any suggestions please????

Hi - I was in similar situation a month or so ago and realising your are need to do something is by far the hardest and biggest step.

A lot of more experienced/better posters on here will give you proper advise but my three suggestions are

1. contact a debt managenment company, one of the free charity ones. I used Pay Plan but thats not to say they are the best.

2. do a proper SOA - and budget - be honest and include everything

3. keep a spending diary - it is scary where all the money goes to silly little things

most importanly good luck with it - i am sure there is something that can be done

Marisco

Hi CP welcome to the boards! So is it that you have no money left to pay any creditors after your priority bills? Or are you paying them at full wack and cannot afford to do that any more? If you go onto a DMP (either do it yourself, or use one of the free ones - don't pay for one!!!) then you will be able to pay what you can afford, not what they want!! It will affect your credit rating though, as they will probably default you and could go to court for a CCJ, but they won't make you pay more than you can afford. If you put up a SOA (statement of affairs, template at top of threads) then there are many here who can give you good advice on how to shave money off your budget.

crisispoint914

Thanks for your replies, I have no money left to pay creditors after priority bills, I have been in touch with National Debtline and taken advice from them. I have written to creditors and I am awaiting replies. Will try to complete SOA wish me luck.

crisispoint914

Help please, can't find template

Marisco

Try this:)

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

crisispoint914

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 984
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 292
Other income............................ 225
Total monthly income.................... 1501
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 495
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 72
Electricity............................. 44
Gas..................................... 44
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 34
Telephone (land line)................... 13
Mobile phone............................ 45
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 18
Internet Services....................... 18
Groceries etc. ......................... 320
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 11
Car Insurance........................... 28 this may rise next year as I have had a claim this year
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 18
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 69
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 19
Life assurance ......................... 6
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1461

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 4000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit cards...................16700.....0.........0
overdrafts.....................2500......0.........0
loan...........................7000......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........26200.....0.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,501
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,461
Available for debt repayments........... 40
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 40
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 4,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -26,200
Net Assets.............................. -22,200

alona1

Hi,
I'm no expert but here are some suggestions from me:
Satellite/internet/landline £49 - can this be cut down to a combined package?
Mobile - lower tariff or switch to P&G
Groceries - this is way too high for 2 of you
Clothing - cut this out for a few months

Good luck with it x

victoria270385

Hi

I agree the food shopping is very high for 2 people, i listed mine at about £40 per week for me and my o/h who eats like a horse. Also the mobile phone is very high, i am on o2 simplicity for 100 mins and unlimited texts which is £10 a month, my bills used to be over £50 so changing has been brilliant for me. Also do you or your son get your hair cut every month, maybe every other month would be better. im more like once a year, i hate getting my cut.

happycamel_2

Hi, well done for posting on here before things get out of hand. I've made some suggestions below. They may look a bit harsh but I'm just trying to be helpful.

Your groceries should be easily down to £200 per month and could go lower. Look at the old school boards. Also, if you're a smoker bear in mind it costs a fortune so if you can cut down or quit you'll save loads.

Combined tariff for sat/int/landline could be done but to be honest satellite is a luxury and should be stopped.

Put the mobile on payg as soon as possible, at least try to lower the tariff. Many phone companies offer cheap broadband (ours is £6.50 a month unlimited with O2, I know Orange do something similar).

Do you need the car? Any chance of getting rid of it entirely? Clothing needs to stop or go down to bare essentials.

Make sure you have gas and electric on a combined tariff and as cheap a one as possible. Then look to cut down usage.

Water rates seem high, I only pay £80 every 6 months for two us. Are you on a meter? If not see if you can get one installed for free.

Can you cut down the other child related expenses? Can your older child work and give you housekeeping when at home? Is your current job full time? Can you increase your hours or take on other additional work? Cleaners in my area get £10 an hour, check the Income boards for ideas. Can your younger kid get a paper round or something (depends on age) so you can give him less pocket money.

Can you sell anything? Kids games they don't use, old clothes, kitchen gadgets you don't use etc.

Good luck

crisispoint914

Hi Thanks for your suggestions, I currently work term time only and I am looking for a second job but because it is a second job I keep being told I am not flexible enough in the hours I can work (eves and weekends). I have just moved house and the phone/internet/tv was the cheapest way of doing it as I there was not a line in the property, believe me I searched. I am under contract for sky/mobiles and broadband, and they will be changed when the contracts are up for renewal. Gas and electric are combined and landlord has refused permission to install water meter although it is £300 (rateable value) cheaper than my last house. I am not a smoker or a drinker. My job involves travelling to different schools therefore I do need the car as I am an essential car user. The clothing/hair allowance is for my son as I haven't had my haircut since February. My eldest son has tried to get work but has had no joy and I do not give my youngest any pocketmoney at all, his expences are his football subs, bus fares for college and lunches however I am trying to convince him that he should take lunch as I do. Thank you all for your ideas I struggle to keep the groceries under that amount and look forward to reading other forum topics to help me reduce this expence. I am determined to get out of this mess, I just need to know how to.