Struggled for years...time to ask for help!

cobragirl

Right. Here it is.

Monthly Income:
Salary £1200

Outgoings:
Mortgage £897.17 (tied in for one more year)
Council Tax £102
Gas and electric approx £40
phone/cable/broadband approx £40
life insurance £5.99
contact lenses £21.95
travel to work £76
lunches £0 (packed lunch every day!)
mobile phone £25 (I think it's the cheapest I can get)

total £1168 (give or take, depending on fluctuating bills)

Food shopping, going out etc (rare) all paid for by my OH. I rarely buy clothes.

I pay as much as I can off of each credit card every month, but I'm sure you have all worked out that it does not balance. Some of the bills are being paid with my credit card. My OH helps me out with the bills when he can, but is not in a good way himself at the moment due to the fact that he is self employed and has not had a steady amount of work for a few months now.

I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks in advance

x

lynzpower

hiya again! God cant believe no one got in before me :rolleyes:

Right. Here it is.

Monthly Income:
Salary £1200

Outgoings:
Mortgage £897.17 (tied in for one more year) ( is this IO or repayment?) Council Tax £102
Gas and electric approx £40 ( i think it might be higher than this, do check)
phone/cable/broadband approx £40 ( OK, you need to break this down, whats for the tv? Line? Calls? BB?) l
fe insurance £5.99
contact lenses £21.95 ( you can definatley get these cheaper, adsa of all places are reported to be the cheapest at less than a tenner a month)
travel to work £76 ( any way of doing this cheaper?)
lunches £0 (packed lunch every day!)
mobile phone £25 (I think it's the cheapest I can get) ( phone them & check, ask to go PAYG, ort the lowest available tariff)
total £1168 (give or take, depending on fluctuating bills)

Wheres your debt? How much do you owe and where, include all including overdrafts, money to mates or family etc, & the APRs.

Food shopping, going out etc (rare) all paid for by my OH. I rarely buy clothes.

I pay as much as I can off of each credit card every month, but I'm sure you have all worked out that it does not balance. Some of the bills are being paid with my credit card. My OH helps me out with the bills when he can, but is not in a good way himself at the moment due to the fact that he is self employed and has not had a steady amount of work for a few months now.

OK, so your OH lives with you and you pay all the bills and he pays for the food. I hate to say this, and im not telling you how to run your life here, but this isnt sustainable. Could he get a part time job , or temp on the slow weeks, to bring some actual money in? Only as far as I can see it, you are probably somewhere in the region of 600pcm in paying for him - half mortgage, bills and so on. Its never easy, Ive had to financially support my OH at times, but its never been more than a couple of weeks, otherwise simply it would be impossible to manage.

How does the land lie about this at the mo?

You need to cut the credit cards up. The more you rely on them, the more in debt you will be. I know this is obvious, but breaking the reliance on debt to see you through, is the only way. Ive learned through bitter experience!!

good luck xx

Starry-eyed_surprise

Hi cobragirl. Don't worry about the snowball date. Lots of us are here for the long haul and with some pruning I am sure you should be able to bring the date forward. I agree with Lynzpower about the way bills seem to be split (or not) between you and your OH. Sorry if you think its none of my business but the present arrangement seems to be unfairly weighted against you. I am sure that is why you can't manage. There is a lot of help on budgeting on the OS boards too which will help you. Have you thought of seeking help from CCCS or payplan ? They could help you to come up with a debt management plan or something else which would help and they offer a free service. Don't forget to look in Martin's book - The Money Diet too for loads of good advice. Try a library (sorry Martin) then you won't have to buy it.

anniecave

sickofhavingnomoney wrote:

Dont forget to use quidco to swap to a and l and you will get £50 quid cashback. Also when its open go on to the referrers board on here and you will get another £50 cashback if you allow someone to refer you.

Just to let you know you if you do the refer via a friend, you don't get quico as well. A&L decline the Quidco if you have been referred by a friend.

Rgc_3

Hi

if you dont have time for e bay could you set a sunday aside for a car boot sale(at least that way its confined to maybe five or six hours one sunday rather than the way e bay needs a bit more ongoing maintenance)(I think e bay is best option but just trying to figure out a way for you to sell that suits you)...plus it can be a good day out:j but id recommend an indoor car park sale if poss at this time of year.

good luck

tee_pee_2

Hello there
Congrats on taking a big step and posting your SOA on here.

Firstly I agree with rgc a car boot one sunday afternoon and try and clear the lot.

However I use Loot to sell stuff, no pictures need to be taken and the buyer collects the stuff from you.

As far as you SOA goes does you OH live with you? If so (without sounding too pushy) he could do with paying more really, as you are def paying the lions share.

As regards mobile def go on a PAYG I put less than £10mth on top up and I always have it with me.

£40 mth BB sky TV, pos look at just having phone and BB, and get rid of TV until more wealthier times, or ring up supplier and tell them you are leavin unless they give you a better deal.

Would you lose a lot of money if you changed you mort supplier?

Don't worry, the only way from here is up.
Tee
x

cobragirl

Thanks to everyone for your comments so far. Lynzpower - I will look at the bills you queried next time they come in - I tend to pay and shred. I think the tv etc is a bundle but I will check. I had not looked into changing the mortgage but will.

I appreciate all your thoughts on bill sharing and I do understand (and agree) but it is not as easy as he paid the deposit for the house and bought practically everything inside so I kind of feel I need to make up for what he has spent. I know - I sound pathetic! I will talk to him though.

I have done a boot sale before, but we don't live in a great area and everyone kept offering me 10p for everything!! New shirts, almost unworn shoes, playstation games! I'll look for one where I might get a reasonable amount for my stuff and give it a go.

Thanks again.
x

cobragirl

Well, I haven't got far since my last post, but I have opened my A&L through Quidco (wow, what a site!!) and have also referred a friend, so £100 there eventually.
I have transferred some of my interest paying debt to my 0% Virgin, and I am considering another but don't want to push it with the new cards.
I will do another snowball in a month or so, because I see it as watching my weight - the more I look the more disheartened I get! It will be better to see a bigger chunk off I reckon!

I have had a bad month both financially and emotionally and I'm feeling very stressed. Sometimes I would just like to shut my brain down so that I don't have to think about ANYTHING for an hour or two. Does anyone else feel like this or am I as mad as I feel?

And Christmas..........

x

lynzpower

oh cobragirl

YES! everyone feels like this at the beginning when debt busting! Its just maic for a while. but it does settle down once you get into the swing of it

cobragirl

Hi all

I am slowly tackling my outgoings. Yesterday I called telewest to say that I am switching to BT and they gave me the package I am currently paying just over £40 a month for for £26.99 for 6 months! I know I could probably get it cheaper still but I'm a bit of an idiot when it comes to all these new packages (what the hell is total broadband??!!!) so I thought I'd stick with what i know.

Also, I have cancelled my contact lenses at £21.95/month and will be getting them with Boots at about £10/month I think it was.

That's £30 a month to go towards my cards! Woo-hoo! It all counts I suppose.
Still trying to do Ciao surveys, but by the time I get a chance to check my emails, they have usually closed!
Keep trying....

x