Advice needed please

NorthernLas

There are other organisations who can help. Have a look at the following link https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2077631.

It does not matter that your debt may be comparatively small, you cannot meet your commitments. Because you have less than £100 spare, you may be eligible for something called a Debt Relief Order (DRO). There is a DRO thread on the 'Bankruptcy and livingg with it board'

My suggestion would be to look at the links

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/page.php?page=35_options_for_dealing_with_your_debts

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=37_debt_relief_orders

katsu

gosportgal wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 560 any chance of you increasing this? More hours, a temp second job?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0 does your partner not contribute to the household expenses? Are they working?
Benefits................................ 600
Other income............................ 250
Total monthly income.................... 1410

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 200
Rent.................................... 595
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 47 seems very low - CT benefit?
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 67:eek: Are you paying arrears? If not check they have accurate readings for you and consider using a comparison site to check you are on the best deal. Also, start planning how to reduce this for winter (lining curtains, blocking draughts, jumpers on before heating on etc).
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 45 On a meter?
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0 good
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 50 can you do charity shops only for now and shop from your wardrobe?
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 60 essential for work?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 17 check you are on the best deal at renewal time and use a cashback website
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 are you sure?
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 30 what is this for?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1408


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


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 3000.....(200)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 3000......-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
loan...........................3600......118.......0 find the APRs so you know what needs tackling in what order of priority.
credit card....................1000......100.......0
store card.....................800.......35........0
catalougues....................1000......50........0
overdraft......................3000......35........0
Total unsecured debts..........9400......338.......


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,410
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,408
Available for debt repayments........... 2
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 338
Amount short for making debt repayments. -336 are they minimum payments you entered above?

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -3,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,400
Net Assets.............................. -12,400

Looks like you need to clarify what the minimum payments are and then really look at how to increase the money coming in so that you can make dents in your debts.

ETA - ooh, you mention checking equifax every month. I assume that you must have a subscription - where is that in the above? Also, why do you need a monthly subscription? I think you could cut that out and do a statutory (£2) request for your report when you wanted one - say every few months rather than each month. It all adds up.

I hope some of the above is helpful and wish you well.

isy1011

I think you have two things here: one is paying off the debt but the other thing you said was saving for a wedding. I have found that in order to really tackle debt you have to come to the realisation that you cannot still have the fancy stuff and pay off the debt and what I have been doing for a number of years is getting 0% ccs to transfer debt then still doing the nice stuff and ending up in more debt.

It has actually been a real wake up for me not to be able to get any more 0% cc's because I think for the first time in my life I am paying off debt rather than transferring it.

I would hate for you to end up in more debt.

gosportgal

hi guys thanks.
My minimum payments are exact as written above with the exception of my credit card i pay £100 a month because its like 39.9%apr and it takes off very little of the balance outstanding. i did go through a stage of just paying the minumum balance which is £30 but that took off only a few pounds because of the interest. My partner got made redundant last year and because of that he had to go bankrupt in order to clear off all his debts..he is still looking for another job. I am planning on asking my boss for more hours at work to see if this helps but know im going to lose most of the extra to the tax man. I got my equifax report because after my partner went bankrupt i was worried it was going to affect my credit rating but as i no longer need this i will cancel the subscription. My gas bill is not in arrears i have just had a meter reading and thats what they said i had to pay. i have tried to ditch the company and switch to a cheaper one but my landlady wont let me.... The 30 quid for entertainment is so i can take the kids once a month or so.
We have decided to not think about the wedding till all my debts are sorted as i come to the realisation its impossible to do both and this is far more important. I have always tried to be really careful with money after watching my partner go bankrupt and losing our house and i dont want to have to do the same thing.

NorthernLas

OP: From my reading of the SOA you posted, you don't have anything spare to pay your debts, so are you using the overdraft to do this? Or does your partner live with you and contribute, so there are some things missed of the SOA. What is the HP for ... you have nothing listed?

I don't want to worry you, but I think it would be a very good idea to get a basic bank account with a bank that you don't have debts with (e.g. Co-op cashminder) and get your wage and benefits paid into it. This is because the bank could review your overdraft and decide to reduce it and by getting a new bank account you protect yourself from this happening, so that you can still pay bills and buy food.

As CAB don't seem to have been helpful, please speak to the other organisations like CCCS / NDL or CAP