Debt advice... please!! about £20,000 in debt, phone calls all the time, terrified...

Thefunkygibbons

What is the status of the council tax debt

That is usually one to sort out first as the penalties for ignoring it are pretty steep

freda

SOA
income of £75 a week IS/child ben +
every four weeks also £178 child tax credit +
every two weeks £200 housing benefit
expenditure
£900 pcm rent
£38 phone pcm
£24 pcm water
£35 electricity pcm
gas - is paid on a card meter approx £40 a month
gettign council tax benefit so that is not being paid
Currently paying £10 each on cc's and £65 on a loan each month

Aside from this being an incomplete SOA, why is your rent so high? Your income is only £878, which doesn't even cover your rent?

Why is this?

postingalwaysposting

hiya applecrumble welcome to mse and dfw and congratulations :T on making the biggest most hardest step of your life but its a good one and with a little help and encouragemnet you will get there :T i would echo everyone else, your soa is not 'everything' you spend on... copy and paste the soa sticky at the top and then adjust it for you the more info we have to more we will be able to help

kathfisch

As everyone says, well done for taking the hardest step and posting :T

You need to put as much detail as possible into your SOA... think of everything you spend and include it! Don't forget yearly expenses (like christmas and birthdays, running a car if you have one) and divide them by 12 to get a monthly figure. There might be spending that you know is not essential... you might come out as overspending... but that is the point! Don't feel ashamed, everyone here has been in the same situation. You need to see a realistic picture of your finances and know its only onwards and upwards from there!! :T

Good luck!

all_hours

With food added £45 for a week works out at £195 a month. This gives you a balance of £57.5 - but this doesn't include any repayment to the council tax debt. You should contact them an offer what you think you can afford.

Your gas and electricity combined are high. As other posters have said there are things missing such as christmas/birthdays etc. Think about what you spent last year add it all up and divide the total by 12 to get a monthly amount. There's a link at the top of this forum to a budget planner - have a look at this it will prompt you to remember any other outgoings you could have forgotten.

IS/child ben 325
child tax credit 192.83
housing benefit 866.67
income 1384.5
============
expenditure
rent 900
phone 38
water 24
electricity 35
gas -on a card meter 40
food 195
outgoings 1232
===============
cc1 10
cc2 10
cc3 10
loan 65

debt repayments 95

total outgoings 1327

balance 57.5

freda

IS/child ben 325
child tax credit 192.83
housing benefit 866.67
income 1384.5

But the OP said they got £200 every two weeks for housing benefit?

Mirtos

freda wrote:

But the OP said they got £200 every two weeks for housing benefit?

Then later on, they corrected and said they got £200/week - actual rent is £208/week.

AppleCrumble_2

freda wrote:

Aside from this being an incomplete SOA, why is your rent so high? Your income is only £878, which doesn't even cover your rent?

Why is this?

I live in north london, that's the going rate for a 2 bed flat (private renting) round here - it's impossible to get social housing unless you are homeless with lots of priority points.
(Actually that is quite cheap my last place was £1040 a month, I moved to a cheaper place)

Dolly_Smith

that is a huge amount though - that's as much as I pay on a £140k mortgage! You are living in one of the most expensive areas in the country - is there no way you can relocate? If you're not working at the moment I assume you're not tied particularly to an area?

Mirtos

Dolly_Smith wrote:

that is a huge amount though - that's as much as I pay on a £140k mortgage! You are living in one of the most expensive areas in the country - is there no way you can relocate? If you're not working at the moment I assume you're not tied particularly to an area?

It is cheap for a 2 bed in London though.