Help Needed - SOA is negative

MrsWaz

Yeah just Child Benefit,

Have call regarding Tax Credits and as my pay has increased in the last few month we have been overpaid this year, so they have stopped payments, we were getting about £15 per week I think we have been overpaid by £200, and as of September they will start again at about £9 per week it think.

Gettingtherequickly

I may be missing something here, but OP, your original post says expenditure exceeds income. Hannah_10 has done a great job on suggesting cost savings on virtually every line, but I am confused, if your income is just shy of £3k per month and expenditure just shy of £2k before debt you must be spending more elsewhere. Suggest a favourite on this site, keep a spending diary.

You have done the most difficult part now, got the numbers in black & white, but you will get there without compromising greatly on your lifestyle!

dancingfairy

I think it's the debt repayments that are making it negative - they do at least have a fair chunk each month to put towards debts which is a good start but it's like Hannah says it just might implode if left unchecked.
An IVA is worth a look at however it is a form of insolvency like bankruptcy and it doesnt' sound from your situation like your position is stable enough to be able to commit to 4 years worth of set payments and bankruptcy would see it all over and done with quicker especially as you are not in equity so you may be able to retain the house (it's complicated though) and you would only have 3 years of payments in bankruptcy.
A dmp is also a possibility or shaving everything in order to snowball payments (as detailed by Hannah) - ie paying it off the hard way.
You might want to run your SOA past a debt charity such as National Debtline ,CCCS or your local CAB to see what they suggest - you can even try putting the figures into the CCCS online thingy for suggestions.
Best of Luck
df

MrsWaz

Thanks for all the advice, I'm just a bit confused about the friends provident is Hannah right that I don't need to pay this?

dancingfairy

What's the insurance for? sorry to be a bit thick here? is it to pay off the mortgage in the event of a death? if so then you probably do have to have it as a condition of the mortgage. You might well be able to get it cheaper though by shopping around.
I guess Hannah's point was that its all very well having insurance but if you lost the house you wouldn't have anything to insure and to a certain extent this is a crisis right now- she's not here right now so hopefully she'll explain later.
Personally I think you ought to keep it but make sure it covers what you need it to cover and you get it for a reasonable price.
df

MrsWaz

Thanks DF,

Not really sure what its for, got sold it when I got the mortgage. Think it pays the morgage if something happens to one of us. Will look at the paperwork tonight and see if there is anyway I can get this down.

iamana1ias

Bit daft having insurance in case you die but nothing for if the place burns down.

KiKi

MrsWaz wrote: »

Thanks DF,

Not really sure what its for, got sold it when I got the mortgage. Think it pays the morgage if something happens to one of us. Will look at the paperwork tonight and see if there is anyway I can get this down.

Lots of mortgage providers used to insist on you taking out life assurance or contents or suchlike with your mortgage. But Hannah's right - it's not a requirement - cancel it.

But you really, really do need buildings / contents. Contents at the least. I paid £47 for basic contents with Swiftcover last year, with £30 cashback, so that's £17 for the year. Get a quote from https://www.moneysupermarket.com, then go to Quidco / Topcashback and look up the cheapest 10-15 companies that quoted you to see if they are offering cashback. Then see what the cheapest option is overall. Make sure they're reputable, though.

KiKi

theoretica

On the topic of waxing - sugaring can be much cheaper- you can make your own from sugar and lemon juice and all the mess dissolves away in water.

Hannah_10

I may have made an oversight on the mortgage and life assurance thing as I thought that they couldn't force you to take it out/ keep it on. I'm prepared to accept I could be wrong on this because my knowledge of mortgage technicalities is pretty patchy so definately check it. I would imagine this is the sort of thing Martin has probably written about on the main site or blog, could be worth searching (box at top right of page, on green background). Failing that National Debline/CCCS or someone will know.

Thank you everyone for the lovely feedback!