Where to go, what to do?

sofababe

DavePot wrote: »

She also gets the bulk of the child benefit, tax credits so nothing I can do there. But because she gets that she has to buy his clothes which is why I budgeted 0 there. I honesty don't buy any clothes for myself.

So does the child live with you or your ex? If you have joint custody and spend an equal amount of time caring for him then you should be entitled to more of the benefits. If he lives with you as you say in your SOA why does his mum get the benefits?

happytails

DavePot wrote: »

Hi Folks I'm here after a recommendation from a good friend of mine.

Any advice would be most welcome. I've produced my SOA below, where do you think I can save, need to start paying more off the unsecured debts? I currently live on £30 a week for me and my 5 year old which is a struggle. My mobile phone will be cancelled in October (the earliest I can cancel) but can't see anywhere I can save. I currently make token payments on the huge unsecured debts and have got them to freeze interest and charges. One things the c/card companies keep doing is passing the debt on. I come to an arrangement and then a month or 2 later a different company is chasingg the debt and I have to go through it all again. Some companies and not very accepting of my offers but I can't do anything about it.Any advice?Thanks in advance
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................ 1690
Partners monthly income after tax.......0
Benefits................................ 40
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1730
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 930
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 95 - are you claiming single persons allowance? also ask for this to be 12m instead of 10 months
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 95 - very high but in arrears i see
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30 - do you have a meter?
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 12 - cancel this if you can - you are allowed to watch pre-recorded stuff online (not live stuff) without paying for TVL
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 25 - needs to go
Internet Services....................... 14 - could get this cheaper
Groceries etc. .........................120
Clothing................................0
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0 - no parking costs?
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0 - nothing here? No treats?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 10
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 - nothing?
Haircuts................................ 0 - nothing?
Entertainment........................... 0 -nothing?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0

Total monthly expenses.................. 1562
Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 128000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4400
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 132400
Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 158000...(930)......5.8
Total secured & HP debts...... 158000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................15000.....25........0
Loan...........................8000......20........0
Loan...........................6000......16........0
Prev bank a/c o/d..............3410......20........0
C/Card.........................3960......24........0
C/Card.........................2410......15........0
C/Card.........................2640......20........0
C/Card.........................2950......20........0
Total unsecured debts..........44370.....160.......-
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,730
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,562
Available for debt repayments........... 168
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 160
Amount left after debt repayments....... 8
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 132,400
Total HP & Secured debt................. -158,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -44,370Net Assets.............................. -69,970

Added my 2 penneth hope it helps some. Goodluck! x

DavePot

sofababe wrote: »

So does the child live with you or your ex? If you have joint custody and spend an equal amount of time caring for him then you should be entitled to more of the benefits. If he lives with you as you say in your SOA why does his mum get the benefits?

Sorry my fault, he lives 4 days with me and 3 with his mom. I let her have the majority of the benefits so I don't have to worry about clothing my kid, at least this way he always looks smart.

DavePot

Thanks happy tails, a few things to look at there. No parking costs at all and generally other child expenses/treats come out of my grocery budget.

DavePot

There is one thing I completely forgot...
I pay £120 per month into my work (local government) pension. I could drop out that, it wouldn't save me £120 as I don't pay NI on that but it'll still be £100 a month. But if I drop out I then fear for 'old' Dave. Surely I need to make provisions for when I'm an old man? Don't want to be scraping by like I am now when I'm 70. Dropping out my pension scars the hell out of me.

HappyMJ

DavePot wrote: »

Happy MJ, is there any way of going bankrupt without losing my house? I didn't think there was which is why I ruled it out?

As you can see by my SOA I got no chance of this, its difficult enough on £30 a week.You've given plenty to go on for now so thank you all very much. There is hope...

Yes, but highly unlikely. You really need to speak to an expert and not just us on the internet. The interest on your mortgage is £763 per month then there is all the additonal costs of insurance and maintenance which is usually at least £100 per month. And...they will not allow you to go interest only when you are in such high negative equity. You should be able to rent a property in your area for much less than that. I know owning a house is everybody's dream but it's got to be affordable. After the BR has finished and it's dropped off your credit record you can try and buy an affordable one at that time. I think that the negative equity will take longer than 6 years to get back so you'll still be in the same situation.

I don't see why somone such as yourself should be forcing themselves to try and live on £30 per week when someone on benefits gets all the rent and council tax paid and gets £65 per week on top and has no requirement to pay anything towards any debt whatsoever. Going BR will allow you to live properly.

You really should be claiming the benefits for the child but if you believe the arrangement is fair then that's fine.

Pension contributions won't be allowed in BR. But, BR restrictions only last for a year then they can restart if your budget allows.

Is this income drop temporary? If so then just make token payments of £1 per creditor and tell them to wait until your income has returned to it's previous level. If it isn't temporary then I'm afraid that BR is the only option. Stop paying any debts including the mortgage and save the money to pay the BR fees. You will have a huge load taken off your back.

Cazz

Good luck - hope you find the right solution for you and your child

DavePot

Thanks MJ, a lot to think about there. And appreciate the luck Cazz.
Got a couple of days off work now, the majority of which will be spent reading the contents of this site. Also going to speak to the CCCS about my debts as although I make significantly reduced payments I still gat hassled on a daily basis. I'm also finding that a month or two after I've agreed an amount with a debt collection agency the debt is passed on to someone else and I have to go through it all again. I have 8 unsecured debts yet have dealt with 22 debt collectors. And they get nastier everytime.

Herbie_Hancock_I_wish

Hi there Dave. Had a scan through the posts and tbh I do wonder if going bankrupt might be an idea? That`s an awful lot of mortgage to find and as a previous poster said, you would find something much cheaper to rent. Would a fresh start seem like something you could do?

Herbie_Hancock_I_wish

Dave I have bumped up your thread buddy. I honestly think that you can`t be going on like this. To me going bankrupt is not a serious thing these days. I know it`s a hard thought but I have known people to do it and after a while, certainly at your age, you can recover. Just because there was silly house price inflation and all the rest of it, a lot of folks will find that a route out of paying off far to much cash. Dave I mean it as a well wisher, buddy.