Today was my lowest point...facing up to it - SOA

MFWannabe

Good; i'm glad you have some support. You can get through this; there's a new post on here reference becoming debt free; which gives hope to people like yourself.

katsu

I have a semi-detatched house and we are both out at work all day. We spent around £20pcm on electric. Gas is harder to estimate but I paid British Gas £464 last year and have now switched to a dual fuel deal to save money so currently pay £45 DD to cover gas and elec. Your figures seem terribly high to me - perhaps someone on the utilities board can help you work out what is a relevant average for you?

Check you are not on estimated bills. Turn everything off - constantly. You don't need stuff on standby and lights on in rooms you aren't in. Take a hard look at how long you need to heat the water for each day. Start draught proofing now for winter (lining curtains, getting draught excluders etc).

Switching to pressies, I spent £180 on 23 people last year. Use cheap shops, charity shops, sales, make some gifts, you should be able to halve your current spending easily.

On the bank account fee - check out the motoring tab for Autoaid breakdown cover £37 pa for equivalent of top level UK AA/RAC, check your contents insurance for the price of adding on home emergency cover etc and read the small print to see if you really need it - you might be able to cut this out too.

Hope the above adds to the advice you've already been given. Good luck.

Hannah_10

Right, never mind the debt, by the looks of this you are living over your means, so the first thing is to get your living expenses within means. So, with the kindest will in the world, I'm gonna butcher your SOA and see where we can get you after that... (No cruelty intended)... Lets see if we can find you that missing £410 a month...

Monthly Income Details
Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,600.00
Income from Self Employment (before ta. . . .. . . . . . . . 0.00 << How about taking up Avon? Got any craft hobbies? Might you be one of those rare people that actually LIKE ironing? A second income could be worth £200-£600 a month without very much lifestyle disturbance. We have a board for upping income, check it out.
State Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Pension / Annuity Payout. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . 135.00 << As a precaution check this with the benefit checker tool at Turn2Us, the URL is www.entitledto.co.uk
Income From Savings & Investments . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Gifts From Family / Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Monthly Expense Details

In Your Home

Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.00 << this is one of those things one uses out of habit, rather than really needing. If you can't manage without it can you go to a PAYG tariff which does free texts/calls on set top ups (usually on a tenner a month) and then stick to that?
TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 << This is the law, so if you can recieve TV you have to pay it, otherwise be sure you can't recieve it (disconnect any aeriels permenantly)
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Home Phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00 << What the ladies and gents of the Old Style Money Saving board can't clean with 76p a litre white vinegar wasn't worth cleaning. We're looking for a hundred a week, so nothing can afford to be overlooked.
Garden Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00 << Freecycle for plants, mowers, tools. Swap things or lend things between friends. I love my garden too, but when you're over your means you have to get ruthless, there is a six year old in this family who needs keeping.
Household Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 << Unless we are talking dire stuff, this is going to have to be done on a no-spend basis wherever possible. View it as a challenge, paint, wood and that kind of thing can all be aquired free (again I refer you to the saints of the OS board) and skills can be learned. You might even enjoy it, I love my home made pink kitchen shelves!
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.00 << Leccy and gas can both come down, there's the comparisson engines for one and a wealth of sites devoted to this too. If you get stuck you know who I'm gonna refer you too... yup the OS'ers again!
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.00
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 << Is this none because you're ignoring the water bills? Not good, tell us your water company and I'll find out if they have a help scheme available for people in trouble. Some schemes pay all your arrears, some go halves.
Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 << Along with the TV licence this one is law. Unlike the TV licence this one can go very bad, very fast, it's got to be addressed, for your own safety (baliffs are a very unsettling experience- but if you get ANY aggro come back, there are people here who know the baliff rules backwards and will help you).
Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00 << Are we looking at a debt-management plan here? Because if we are then first things first, lets see if we can get that stopped.
Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.50 << And that
Home Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 << Slightly worrying, but right now everythings worrying, so lets move on...
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450.00 << Any hope whatsoever of asking for a temporary reduction in this because of your circumstances? If you are with a housing association, a letting agent or a private landlord try writing an honest and polite letter ASKING for help (neither demanding nor pleading). If it's a mortgage check it out here first.
Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 << Is this Payment Protection Insurance? If it is can it be reclaimed? Is it something you can have stopped? I know cancelling an insurance seems risky, but the situation you're in is dire Honey, you're not making ends meet, when that puts essentials like food, rent and water in jeopardy insurance pails in significance.
Mortgage Payment Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180.00 << There is a project at http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/index.html run by a lady called Weezl76 (or was it 74?) on here. It feeds 4 fully grown people on £100 a month healthily. I have run through the nutrition stats myself, it may seem impossible to be that cheap and still healthy but I'm pretty sure it's not (I did the sums backwards too). If that monthly meal plan is a bit extreme for you then back to the OS board for the middle way. Being fair though, £180 is ok going, don't be hard on yourself for that one.
Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 << So, so sorry to do this to your tenner a month of small pleasures, but... You're over your means Honey- that's serious.

Motoring & Public Transport

Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130.00 << Can you cut this? The RAC, The AA and the IAM (institute of advanced motorists) have all got lots of free advice on upping fuel economy. Failling that can you walk/cycle more? Can you get lifts? Make fewer trips? If cycling would save £10 a month, then a £50 bike from the classifieds saves you £70 in it's first year.
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.33
Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.83 << Read this carefully http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/compare-cheap-car-insurance?dd
Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.67 << Can this come down? If it includes any kind of car washing do that by hand with daughter. Keep oil, water and bettery checked regularly to avoid problems starting. Use the cheapest tyres you can find in the area and either go 5mph slower or brake earlier (see fuel economy advice)! Nothing can afford to be overlooked.
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Breakdown Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Debt Repayments

Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600.00 << Right there, that is your problem, that! You can do everything above and pare your real "living expenses" right down to to the wire OR we can attack these repayments, take you out of the loop and get you into a debt management plan. I'd say hang your credit rating, it's an abstract concept, feeding your precious wee Angel is anything but abstract, but it's your call.
Hire Purchase Repayments. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233.00 << And this. We were looking for £409, well Honey there's £833 right there, killing you inside. It's not worth living under this pressure for the sake of a few sribbles on a sheet of paper no one sees unless you authorise them to is it? It's still your call though.
Car Loan Repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Savings & Investments

Pension Payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Buying Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mini Cash ISAs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Lump Sum Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Saving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Family

Pet Food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00 << Well done, if this is a cat or a dog this is low. I have one of each and they cost me £13 a month just on the cheapest of foods (the cat is more expensive than the collie).
School Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 << Have they got a hardship fund. Yes I know it's cringe-worthy, but ask (sometime when no one is around still counts).
School Meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 << She could take packed lunches but if you wanna keep the hot lunches thing then I totally see where you're coing from. Nothing is sacred when you're over means though (I know, I'm a hardfaced cow, I'm sorry).
Pocket Money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 << Even I can't bring myself to suggest axing this. So I wont.
Nappies/Baby Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Laundry/Dry Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Children's Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Baby Sitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Childcare/Play Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 << Not gonna say that either, unless she wasn't enjoying Brownies anyway of course, now that would be different.
Pet Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 << Consider the impact of vet bills here, if that entitledto benefit checker suggests council tax benefit, housing benefit, or local housing allowance might be possible then let me know, I will put the link up for what the PDSA do, which is effectively free pet insurance for those who qualify.
Travel Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Entertainment

Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 << glad to hear it
Family Days Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big Days Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Shopping for Fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
DVD Rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Drinking Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Eating Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 << You've got a tenner on home drinking, a tenner on pocket money, twenty on school dinners, twenty more on kids clubs- that's sixty. If none of them are gonna give then this better. Sorry.

Clothes, Health & Beauty

Complimentary Therapies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Optical Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 << If you're not using an NHS dentist try to get on ones books, good luck.
Beauty Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Healthcare Cashplans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Dental Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Medical Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Work Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 << Have you got to? Can this come down? Been to primark or matalan lately? If they're uniform can you get the boss to cover it? Even if you plead poverty? EBay an option?
New Children's Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 << I know she's growing, in my family it's not unusual for a child to hit six foot before thier teens start (yes really, and yes that included me), but even with the Leylandii kids we produce this can be done well and in style on a tenner. Gods bless eBay, the car boot, selling the old clothes and my friends. Also Gods bless Dylon machine dye, for all the ones that look rubbish until you dye them violet/navy (which covers everything and isn't black and morbid). Also- Matalan, Primark, Adsa, Tesco and never buying anything outside a Sale.
New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 << As above.

Education & Courses

University Tuition Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Your Courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Big One Offs

Funeral Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Wedding Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.67 << See Christmas
Winter Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Summer Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.67 << Hang on, birthdays and Christmas put together comes to £58.34, you know that this is £700 in a year yeah? Everything's got to be pared back, again this is a job for the girls and boys of the OS board.

Odds & Sods

Newspapers & Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Charity Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 << Can you not take a lunchbox? It would be a lot cheaper. A lot of the time a lunchbox with fruit, a yoghurt and a sandwich in and a pint flask of coffee costs 50p-75p (have a go at working it out yourself).
Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,735.00


Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 2,144.67


So there it is, the options are you radically hack your real living expenses to the wire and you might just about squeeze it into living AT your means... Or we go "argh, f*** it, I can't do this anymore, just make it stop" and that means a debt management plan.

For all that I have just set upon your expenses with a thundering great axe, lets be honest, meeting the card repayments at the expense of the whole of the rest of your life is just not worth it.

£2,144.67 "living expenses" less the £833 which isn't living expenses at all it's debt repayments, leaves you with £1,113.67 REAL living expenses.

A £1,735 income a month, take away what you really need to live on, which is £1,113.67, leaves £423.33 for debt repayments.

£423 a month to split evenly between your creditors would look like this...

(Saving, will update again with more maths in a sec)

Hannah_10

Right, so where was I, ah yes, working out how to split £423.33 pro-rata...

£15450 MBNA (47.80% of the debt) £202.35
£8400 Halifax (25.99% of the debt) £110.02
£3300 RBS card (10.21% of the debt) £43.22
£1800 Egg (5.57% of the debt) £23.58
£1800 ASDA (5.57% of the debt) £23.58
£470 Sanander (1.45% of the debt) £6.14
£400 Next (1.24% of the debt) £5.25
£2500 Overdraft (7.74% of the debt) £32.77

Total debt, £32,320

If all creditors accepted the repayments you can truly afford and stopped all interest and charges then you would be debt clear in six years and five months.

With a few little changes to your income and expenditure (lets say we could find another hundred a month) that's be five years and two months.

Make a few noticable changes to income and expenditure (find another £200 a month) it comes down to four years four months.

So, actually, apart from the fact doing a debt management plan would sting your credit rating for six years, it's not looking impossible at all really is it. I'd say, my figures indicate this one is well solvable, and nothing need rock your precious little girls world in the so doing.

My figures are gonna be flawed though. Firstly because you supplied all round numbers for the debts and that's rarely totally accurate and secondly because someones first SOA is rarely spot on and yours is well-out anyway because you left out your whole husband (a sizable item I have no doubt!). Gives you a good idea though doesn't it.

If anything I bet the situation looks better not worse when we factor in hubby and all the things he pays for. If you've not got the potential to become debt-free in under six years I will be very very surprised... I'm saying that without seeing the figures though, so I could be talking nonsense, we shall see.

There firmly IS a light at the end of this tunnel Honey. You CAN fix it.

Triker

Just wanted to say hi and don't worry, there's nothing that can't be sorted one way or another. x

byrnedolly

Hi, can I just ask, everyone seems to think that £80 is too much for monthly electricity bill, mine is also £80, I never questioned it before, but now I am beginning to wonder. I live with my two children in a small cottage, we leave nothing on standby, I do the average washing and dishwasher, I don't have a tumble dryer,I never fill the kettle up more than necessary, I do however have a couple of small portable electric heaters, that I use a few hours a day, as my house is always really cold. Am I paying too much?

Marisco

Hi Byrn, I'm sure if you get rid of the heaters and do the washing up yourself, and put those light bulbs everywhere, you'll soon see the difference;) We noticed a hell of a difference when we changed bulbs and left nothing on standby:eek: So much so, that e.on put our DD down, but I told them we wanted it left, as it gets pretty cold up here in the Winter and I wanted to build up a bit of credit:)

curlytop12

Hannah_10 wrote: »

Right, never mind the debt, by the looks of this you are living over your means, so the first thing is to get your living expenses within means. So, with the kindest will in the world, I'm gonna butcher your SOA and see where we can get you after that... (No cruelty intended)... Lets see if we can find you that missing £410 a month...

Monthly Income Details
Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,600.00
Income from Self Employment (before ta. . . .. . . . . . . . 0.00 << How about taking up Avon? Got any craft hobbies? Might you be one of those rare people that actually LIKE ironing? A second income could be worth £200-£600 a month without very much lifestyle disturbance. We have a board for upping income, check it out.
State Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Pension / Annuity Payout. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . 135.00 << As a precaution check this with the benefit checker tool at Turn2Us, the URL is www.entitledto.co.uk
Income From Savings & Investments . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Gifts From Family / Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Monthly Expense Details

In Your Home

Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.00 << this is one of those things one uses out of habit, rather than really needing. If you can't manage without it can you go to a PAYG tariff which does free texts/calls on set top ups (usually on a tenner a month) and then stick to that?
TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 << This is the law, so if you can recieve TV you have to pay it, otherwise be sure you can't recieve it (disconnect any aeriels permenantly)
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Home Phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00 << What the ladies and gents of the Old Style Money Saving board can't clean with 76p a litre white vinegar wasn't worth cleaning. We're looking for a hundred a week, so nothing can afford to be overlooked.
Garden Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00 << Freecycle for plants, mowers, tools. Swap things or lend things between friends. I love my garden too, but when you're over your means you have to get ruthless, there is a six year old in this family who needs keeping.
Household Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 << Unless we are talking dire stuff, this is going to have to be done on a no-spend basis wherever possible. View it as a challenge, paint, wood and that kind of thing can all be aquired free (again I refer you to the saints of the OS board) and skills can be learned. You might even enjoy it, I love my home made pink kitchen shelves!
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.00 << Leccy and gas can both come down, there's the comparisson engines for one and a wealth of sites devoted to this too. If you get stuck you know who I'm gonna refer you too... yup the OS'ers again!
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.00
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 << Is this none because you're ignoring the water bills? Not good, tell us your water company and I'll find out if they have a help scheme available for people in trouble. Some schemes pay all your arrears, some go halves.
Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 << Along with the TV licence this one is law. Unlike the TV licence this one can go very bad, very fast, it's got to be addressed, for your own safety (baliffs are a very unsettling experience- but if you get ANY aggro come back, there are people here who know the baliff rules backwards and will help you).
Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00 << Are we looking at a debt-management plan here? Because if we are then first things first, lets see if we can get that stopped.
Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.50 << And that
Home Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 << Slightly worrying, but right now everythings worrying, so lets move on...
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450.00 << Any hope whatsoever of asking for a temporary reduction in this because of your circumstances? If you are with a housing association, a letting agent or a private landlord try writing an honest and polite letter ASKING for help (neither demanding nor pleading). If it's a mortgage check it out here first.
Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 << Is this Payment Protection Insurance? If it is can it be reclaimed? Is it something you can have stopped? I know cancelling an insurance seems risky, but the situation you're in is dire Honey, you're not making ends meet, when that puts essentials like food, rent and water in jeopardy insurance pails in significance.
Mortgage Payment Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180.00 << There is a project at http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/index.html run by a lady called Weezl76 (or was it 74?) on here. It feeds 4 fully grown people on £100 a month healthily. I have run through the nutrition stats myself, it may seem impossible to be that cheap and still healthy but I'm pretty sure it's not (I did the sums backwards too). If that monthly meal plan is a bit extreme for you then back to the OS board for the middle way. Being fair though, £180 is ok going, don't be hard on yourself for that one.
Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 << So, so sorry to do this to your tenner a month of small pleasures, but... You're over your means Honey- that's serious.

Motoring & Public Transport

Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130.00 << Can you cut this? The RAC, The AA and the IAM (institute of advanced motorists) have all got lots of free advice on upping fuel economy. Failling that can you walk/cycle more? Can you get lifts? Make fewer trips? If cycling would save £10 a month, then a £50 bike from the classifieds saves you £70 in it's first year.
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.33
Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.83 << Read this carefully http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/compare-cheap-car-insurance?dd
Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.67 << Can this come down? If it includes any kind of car washing do that by hand with daughter. Keep oil, water and bettery checked regularly to avoid problems starting. Use the cheapest tyres you can find in the area and either go 5mph slower or brake earlier (see fuel economy advice)! Nothing can afford to be overlooked.
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Breakdown Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Debt Repayments

Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600.00 << Right there, that is your problem, that! You can do everything above and pare your real "living expenses" right down to to the wire OR we can attack these repayments, take you out of the loop and get you into a debt management plan. I'd say hang your credit rating, it's an abstract concept, feeding your precious wee Angel is anything but abstract, but it's your call.
Hire Purchase Repayments. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233.00 << And this. We were looking for £409, well Honey there's £833 right there, killing you inside. It's not worth living under this pressure for the sake of a few sribbles on a sheet of paper no one sees unless you authorise them to is it? It's still your call though.
Car Loan Repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Savings & Investments

Pension Payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Buying Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mini Cash ISAs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Lump Sum Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Saving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Family

Pet Food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00 << Well done, if this is a cat or a dog this is low. I have one of each and they cost me £13 a month just on the cheapest of foods (the cat is more expensive than the collie).
School Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 << Have they got a hardship fund. Yes I know it's cringe-worthy, but ask (sometime when no one is around still counts).
School Meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 << She could take packed lunches but if you wanna keep the hot lunches thing then I totally see where you're coing from. Nothing is sacred when you're over means though (I know, I'm a hardfaced cow, I'm sorry).
Pocket Money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 << Even I can't bring myself to suggest axing this. So I wont.
Nappies/Baby Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Laundry/Dry Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Children's Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Baby Sitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Childcare/Play Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 << Not gonna say that either, unless she wasn't enjoying Brownies anyway of course, now that would be different.
Pet Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 << Consider the impact of vet bills here, if that entitledto benefit checker suggests council tax benefit, housing benefit, or local housing allowance might be possible then let me know, I will put the link up for what the PDSA do, which is effectively free pet insurance for those who qualify.
Travel Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Entertainment

Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 << glad to hear it
Family Days Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big Days Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Shopping for Fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
DVD Rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Drinking Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Eating Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 << You've got a tenner on home drinking, a tenner on pocket money, twenty on school dinners, twenty more on kids clubs- that's sixty. If none of them are gonna give then this better. Sorry.

Clothes, Health & Beauty

Complimentary Therapies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Optical Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 << If you're not using an NHS dentist try to get on ones books, good luck.
Beauty Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Healthcare Cashplans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Dental Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Medical Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Work Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 << Have you got to? Can this come down? Been to primark or matalan lately? If they're uniform can you get the boss to cover it? Even if you plead poverty? EBay an option?
New Children's Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 << I know she's growing, in my family it's not unusual for a child to hit six foot before thier teens start (yes really, and yes that included me), but even with the Leylandii kids we produce this can be done well and in style on a tenner. Gods bless eBay, the car boot, selling the old clothes and my friends. Also Gods bless Dylon machine dye, for all the ones that look rubbish until you dye them violet/navy (which covers everything and isn't black and morbid). Also- Matalan, Primark, Adsa, Tesco and never buying anything outside a Sale.
New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 << As above.

Education & Courses

University Tuition Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Your Courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Big One Offs

Funeral Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Wedding Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.67 << See Christmas
Winter Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Summer Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.67 << Hang on, birthdays and Christmas put together comes to £58.34, you know that this is £700 in a year yeah? Everything's got to be pared back, again this is a job for the girls and boys of the OS board.

Odds & Sods

Newspapers & Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Charity Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 << Can you not take a lunchbox? It would be a lot cheaper. A lot of the time a lunchbox with fruit, a yoghurt and a sandwich in and a pint flask of coffee costs 50p-75p (have a go at working it out yourself).
Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,735.00


Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 2,144.67


So there it is, the options are you radically hack your real living expenses to the wire and you might just about squeeze it into living AT your means... Or we go "argh, f*** it, I can't do this anymore, just make it stop" and that means a debt management plan.

For all that I have just set upon your expenses with a thundering great axe, lets be honest, meeting the card repayments at the expense of the whole of the rest of your life is just not worth it.

£2,144.67 "living expenses" less the £833 which isn't living expenses at all it's debt repayments, leaves you with £1,113.67 REAL living expenses.

A £1,735 income a month, take away what you really need to live on, which is £1,113.67, leaves £423.33 for debt repayments.

£423 a month to split evenly between your creditors would look like this...

(Saving, will update again with more maths in a sec)

Hannah, i just had to say i think you are flipping amazing!
OP- there does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel,good luck.

Keeping_Positive

Ditto Gems comments

Hannah you advice is good and I loved the Bert conversation on the other thread about a DCA. Peeps take a look at Hannahs posts to find it it is very funny.

Hope you ok today Debtfreein5

Pantera_Fan

debtfreein5 wrote: »

All the debts are in my name and because of husbands job (works for bank) I want to keep our finances separate.

Cant switch cards anymore (i think due to amount of my debt)

Hi, as your husband works for a bank can he get a loan or credit card at a preferential rate and transfer some of your debt into his name?

You can still keep your finances seperate on the credit reference agencies by not making a joint applicatin so he won't be affected. The bank does an annual credit check but it is mainly for CCJ's and bankrupcy.

Its not illegal to work for a bank and have debt so by transferring some balances to your husband at a lower rate this will reduce the interest you pay so more money can go on actually clearing your debts rather than paying the interest.

As long as your husbands debt to income ratio remains below approx 50% and you make sure all these debts as paid on time he should not have any problems. If in doubt though he should have a specialist staff banking team he could talk to.