Help required in debt dont know what too do

Bestthingsinlifearefree

Welcome to MSE:beer:

If you don't mind me asking is there any reason why neither you or your other half can get a job ?

(maybe there is a way to get into work, if we know the reason why both of you cannot work, ppl maybe able to offer POSITIVE suggestions to over come these issues)

Sky needs to go, paying your debts / putting food on the table is more important than sky.

wullieb1

magicmaria wrote:

That is nowt to do wi you i'm afraid.

Surely anyone who had an alternative to working 60 hrs a week and receiving roughly the same from the state would be interested???????????

But thats personal information. would you break down your incomings and outgoings on a forum and tells us exactly why you get x amount per month???

MrCorsa

SOA is a Statrement Of Affairs. Basically an incoming and outgoing of all your debts and essentials. this will include all the payments that you make to creditors and exactly what you spend your money on.

magicmaria

Ok sorry - having a bad day didn't mean to offend anyone

ZTD

magicmaria wrote:

That is nowt to do wi you i'm afraid.

Surely anyone who had an alternative to working 60 hrs a week and receiving roughly the same from the state would be interested???????????

If you want the state to keep you in the lap of luxury without having to do a hand's turn in work in return, then become an MP.

Mizz_Pink

I have to work full time to earn just below that amount.

mrcorsa

briona wrote:

Hi MrCorsa and welcome to MSE!

The first thing I can see is that the food bill of £300pm for two people [or are there kids included??] is pretty high. This is almost a third of your monthly income – why mot visit the Old Style board for tips on reducing this and making your money go further? [http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=33]

The APRs on your debts are pretty high, but with benefits as the sole income and so many debts already, you will probably not have much luck in reducing these. The catalogue debts are likely to be among those with the highest APRs [typically 29.9%] meaning that for every £100 you owe, it will cost you £129.90. By reducing your food bill, by say £100, you would be able to throw a bit more at the catalogues. Catalogues E and C with balances of £273 and £566 respectively would be the easiest to clear soonest and would make you feel better in that you would have two less debts.

After the catalogues you would need to prioritise clearing your partner's store card debts... Again the store card with the balance of £241 should be relatively quick to clear. The important thing is not to continue to run on further debts on these cards.

Hope that helps.

Briona

Thanks for your comments prioritise which debt we pay 1st is good idea will take that into consideration it would feel much easyer to pay the bigger debts when all the smallers one where gone.

as for the shopping maybe get it down to £200 a month but could never live on less that than have allways tried to make that lower.

Mizz_Pink

Make a spending diary. This means writing down everything you buy even a newspaper or cup of coffee. It will help show you where your cash goes. If you buy a paper a day thats £10.50 a month which is quite a lot.

Even though you are disabled can you not get a job working from home, maybe stuffing envelopes or proof reading ? Sorry if Ive made the wrong assumption.

I think getting taxis to and from Asda is costing too much, can you not get a lift once a week from a family member of neighbour ? How much is it to get there and back , £10 ?

sarah0404

I'm with Telewest, and get broadband, phone and cable TV for £50. It would be lower but my O/H put us on a silly Talk Unlimited package, which we don't even use. Once I get rid of that it will probably be more like £40 a month. So you could certainly cut your tv/internet/phone bills by quite a lot. But I don't think that would help you out very much in your situation.

Have you contacted CCCS or Payplan? They will help you sort out your creditors and arrange a repayment scheme for you. They are a charity, not like the companies you see advertised on TV.

Since we're coming up to bonfire night I'd take all your catalogues and build a nice bonfire with them! At least that way you won't be able to spend on them. I'd also cut up the store cards. The APRs are REALLY expensive. You don't want to put any more money on them. In fact cut up all your credit cards!

What have you bought with all the loans and credit cards? You don't have to answer that. It's just something to think about. You need to make sure you have a budget that you can live with and that you won't get into this situation again.

Sorry for the rushed reply!

xx-Tina-xx

mrcorsa wrote:

as for the shopping maybe get it down to £200 a month but could never live on less that than have allways tried to make that lower.

Welcome to the Boards!! :T

Go over to the OS boards... You'll find tons of tips there

I've managed to feed 3 of us (2 adults and a 12 year old) on 20 quid a week for the last 3 weeks, and thats included buying crisps/biscuits etc. If you sit and say it CANT be done for less than £200 a month, then i'm afraid you're going to fall at the first hurdle

Also, get rid of Sky and buy a freeview box. On your incomings Sky is a luxury you can't afford

Look at changing your Phone/Broadband package. You're paying £79 a month for phone/broadband and a mobile. Look around... Talk Talk are doing Phone (line rental and all calls included) plus broadband for £20 a month, and without meaning to sound incredibly rude... Do you REALLY need a mobile if you change to a phone package with calls included? Unfortunately, if you're really serious about getting yourself out of debt.. things have to give. Its a hard fact of life, but you, and me, and many other people on these boards really can't afford the 'luxuries' any more

Good Luck, and I hope you get some more good ideas!

Mizz_Pink

I'm utterly flabbergasted that these people on low income or benefits can get accepted for store cards/loans/credit cards.

Surly you would have to lie on the application form ?!!!!

It shouldnt be made legal, same as Bright House or Crazy Georges !!!