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DrowningInDebt_2

Hi everyone, I've been on here over an hour now and the forum titles are abundant and I'm not really sure which section I should be in so I'm hoping someone will steer me in the right direction from here.
I currently owe Littlewoods £650, Marshall Ward £1300, Provident £1500 and Vanquis Visa £520. Littlewoods and Marshall Ward rang me several months ago to set up a repayment plan, which was £100 a month to Littlewoods (which incurs no interest) and £90 a month to Marshall Ward (which is charging me £50 a month in interest). I rang them last month to ask if i could set up new payments, lowering the Littlewoods payments as they aren't incurring any interest, and raising the Marshall Ward payments as they are incurring ridiculous interest, they said 'No' that i had to complete the original payment plans. I didn't pay last month as a) I couldn't afford it and had other bills to pay and b) I wanted to get their attention. They are now ringing me chasing payment, obviously, they talk over me all the time which i find really rude and it really winds me up to the point where i just don't want to co-operate with them anymore. What I really want is some advice on how to go about consolidating my debts (Marshall Ward, Littlewoods, Provident, Vanquis Visa) and how to get the interest stopped so I can eventually pay them off. I'm changing jobs at the end of this month and because of a course I did last yr I will owe my current employer practically all of my final salary, so I don't even have the money for my rent this month and I'm unable to ring anyone with payment plans till I know what my regular income is. I have 4 children returning to school in 3 weeks and i haven't even got their uniforms yet and I feel like i'm just drowning, can someone please give me some constructive advice on at least where to start. Thankyou for your time.

winner12

Hello
Firstly dont pay them anymore money if you look on National Debt Line website there is a template letter to send to all your creditors asking them to suspend chasing you for 30 days while you seek advice regarding your debt problem then you can contact one of the free advice CCCS or National Debt Line to discuss your options

Sunnylooloo

Hi there and welcome

As Winner has said please speak to one of the Debt Charities to get some good free impartial advice

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/getadvice.htm
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/
http://www.cccs.co.uk/

It may also help if you post up your statement of affairs so you can get some advice of how to save some money

http://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html

I know if feels like there is no light, but please try not to worry and ask as many questions as you need to.

Take care

DrowningInDebt_2

Thanks Winner and Sunny, I just completed that calculator thing and it gave me this:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned....................
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1050
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1170
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2220
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 400
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 66
Electricity............................. 129
Gas..................................... 69
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 50
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 80
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 52
Internet Services....................... 25
Groceries etc. ......................... 563
Clothing................................ 150
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 48
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 216
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 170
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2042

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Provident......................1500......130.......0
Littlewoods....................650.......90........0
Marshall Ward..................1300......100.......0
Vanquis Visa...................560.......50........0
Total unsecured debts..........4010......370.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,220
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,042
Available for debt repayments........... 178
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 370
Amount short for making debt repayments. -192
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,010
Net Assets.............................. -4,010
Created using the SOA calculator at (removed link)
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

I'll ring one of those helplines tonight and see where I stand, obviously with Christmas coming up I don't want this to get any worse and I don't want my children to be going without just because I can't manage my money.

winner12

I always think the SOA is a big reality check someone will no doubt look at what you have put here and will advise but a quick look at it and not all colums are filled in what about your emergency fund it is hard but you have already made the first steps so good luck and remember they cant have what you dont have and dont let them bully you on the phone as i always put everything in writing and I have not spoken to anyone on the phone in the last 6 months

Sunnylooloo

DID I am just off for the evening but didn't want to read and run - hopefully someone will be on later with some advice and I will be back to have a good look in the morning.

yes def give one of the debt charities a call or if you have time make an appointment with you local CAB as sometimes it helps going in and having a face to face chat.

With National Debtline you may have to wait on the ohone for a bit but they will get to you and they are so helpful.

Good luck

SJ1

Well first of all well done for putting something on the site, there are loads of great people on here who can help.

From looking at your budget my thoughts are

- electric and gas - this is very expensive. I have a three bed house 2 adults two children and our bill is £119 per month for both - could you look at switching this and saving some cash? Follow the utilities section and get your bills out - only takes half an hour - saved me £300 last time I switched.
- I would cut out the cable if you can - freeview has loads of good channels and you will save a whopping £52 per month
- Shopping bill of £562 - I think you could save money here although there are five of you I appreciate, have you tried the downshift challenge and there are loads of good cheap recipe ideas on the forums.

Good luck!

SJ

pennypusher

Check you are getting your 25% off Council Tax if you are the only adult in your house, also see if you can pay it off over 12 months instead of 10 months. Your mobile phone is high - go payg instead. Get rid of satelite and save £52 per month. Check out cheaper internet providers, I think you should be able to get it for less than £10 per month. Your Gas and electric together are horrendous. Think about everything you use them for and cut right back, ie hang the washing out, don't use the tumble drier, turn off everything and don't leave it in standby. Perhaps turn the hot water down a notch, boil less water in the kettle, turn lights off when not in the room - check everything!!! Hope this helps.

DrowningInDebt_2

Hi peeps, thanks for all your suggestions, my utilities are expensive I know, but I'm on a budget plan which has recently gone up from £14 gas and £80 electric, to the figures in my SOA cos there was a shortfall. I'm in a 4 bed mid terrace with 4 children, I have a combi boiler which is set to economy and I only use the dryer during the winter so i can get the kids school uniforms done. I'm all electric except for the combi boiler. If i switch providers, I will have final bills of £250+ for electric and £75+ for gas. My internet provider also covers my landline which costs me around £30-£38 a month with unlimited internet access (my boys have xboxes and play online), all my uk landline calls are free. The mobile costs include 3 o2 simplicity cards @ £20 a month which gives my 3 teenage kids unlimited texts and 600 minutes per month to contact me or anyone else, they're very good with this month long contract and never go over their limits. I probably seriously underquoted on mobile expenses because my partner lives in Europe and my payg costs are quite high with texts, i would never get as good a deal with international calls and texts with a contract phone. There is no emergency money, as a full time working parent with 4 kids every day is an emergency, I don't have a car, I can't afford holidays so that exmplains all the empty boxes. I get the single persons allowance for council tax which should be £88 a month. My shopping bill is horrendous but thats based on a weekly cost of £120 which is about normal, my local supermarket is Asda which is ripping us off more and more every week, there are other stores 'out of town' like netto and lidl but with no transport and working full time they're not exactly accessible. I don't go out every weekend I don't go shopping for new outfits every Saturday, I'm not what i would call an 'excessive spender', I'm just overworked and underpaid, like a lot of us. I know I would be helping myself to switch utility bills but i switched from NPower to Atlantic 2 yrs ago and saved a bundle then, but now they're creeping up again and it seems no matter who I choose they all end up charging ridiculous amounts.

Sunnylooloo

Hi DID

sorry I had to rush off last night.

with regards to the electric - it is a nightmare with kids and leaving things on - just make sure you all get in the habbit of turning things off from the acutal plug when not in use - games consoles/computers/toaster/kettle/microwave... it does help hugely.

Shopping/food - have a good look round the board esp the old stye bit and you will get some great tips for saving money on all sorts.

As you have internet services can you speak to your partner over skype or MSN? for free? cut down on some of those texts?

just a few little things not sure if they help or not

dancingfairy

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned....................
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1050
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1170
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2220
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 400
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 66
Electricity............................. 129
Gas..................................... 69
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 50
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 80
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 52 can you reduce this?
Internet Services....................... 25
Groceries etc. ......................... 563 this seems a bit high -have you tried batch cooking, meal planning etc?
Clothing................................ 150 a month - that seems really high -do they cost that much.
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 48 do you get the cheapest tickets - ie weekly/monthly if necessary?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 216 what's this please?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 you need something here
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 you need this
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 170 can this be cut down
Haircuts................................ 0 something here?
Entertainment........................... 0 you need something here.
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 something here.
Total monthly expenses.................. 2042

O.K what I would suggest is to have a redo of your SOA and get in touch with a debt charity (see posts above) - you may be eligible for a dro ,alternatively a dmp (debt management plan)- speak to the debt charities about whether you can change gas/electric to a new much cheaper provider and then treat the debt to the old provider with the other debts - either by putting them in a dro or by making a plan to repay them at a sensible rate as this would really help you.
Good Luck
df