no idea where to start!

_evenstar_

Hi there,

So the title may be missleading cos im on here so obviously i have made a start! Ive read through the main site and through the forum and im actually more confused than before

First, heres my details -

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £560
Benefits - £440 (before the changes come in)

Total - £1,000

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £450
Council Tax - £73
Gas & Elec - £48
TV License - £12
phone/internet £31
Food - £100
Petrol - £80
Contents insurance £8
Tesco cc - £104
Barclaycard - £35
Store card - £10 (one payment from clearing)
Love film - £4
Bank fee - £12
Mobile phone - £10
Water bill - £9
Tax Credits payment - £15


Total: £1,001

Tesco cc - £4,000
Barclaycard cc - £1,640
Overdraft - £500

I pay above the minimum payment on my credit cards and i paid for my Car Insurance on my credit card. Im tied in with my landline/broadband till July and realise that the Love Film £4 would need to go but that is everything that spend in a month. As you can see im on a tight budget.

What i 'think' id like to do is contact my credit cards and see if they will freeze my account (is that what its called when you get no more monthly interest?). I dont really want to go to a company that will charge to do this for me and im capable of doing it myself but i dont know the correct way of going about it.

Is there a letter template on here that ive completely missed? Ive tried getting another credit card to do a balance trasfer but as you can see, on paper, i dont look good so ive been regected.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Mikazaru

_evenstar_ wrote: »

Hi there,

So the title may be missleading cos im on here so obviously i have made a start! Ive read through the main site and through the forum and im actually more confused than before

First, heres my details -

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £560 Is there anyway to increase? More hours, 2nd job?
Benefits - £440 (before the changes come in) Do you not what it will be changing to?

Total - £1,000

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £450
Council Tax - £73
Gas & Elec - £48
TV License - £12
phone/internet £31
Food - £100 Could maybe reduce a bit, have a look at the Oldstyle board.
Petrol - £80
Contents insurance £8
Tesco cc - £104
Barclaycard - £35
Store card - £10 (one payment from clearing)
Love film - £4
Bank fee - £12 Are the benefits worth £120 a year, change to a free account.
Mobile phone - £10
Water bill - £9
Tax Credits payment - £15


Total: £1,001

Tesco cc - £4,000
Barclaycard cc - £1,640
Overdraft - £500

I pay above the minimum payment on my credit cards and i paid for my Car Insurance on my credit card. Im tied in with my landline/broadband till July and realise that the Love Film £4 would need to go but that is everything that spend in a month. As you can see im on a tight budget.

What i 'think' id like to do is contact my credit cards and see if they will freeze my account (is that what its called when you get no more monthly interest?). I dont really want to go to a company that will charge to do this for me and im capable of doing it myself but i dont know the correct way of going about it.

Is there a letter template on here that ive completely missed? Ive tried getting another credit card to do a balance trasfer but as you can see, on paper, i dont look good so ive been regected.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Have you got anything you can ebay, or sell to try and the reduce the overdraft?

Tixy

Hi

Can you complete the full statement of affairs calculator? http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html
this will include other expenses that you haven't put in (things you don't pay for every month like road tax, car insurance, car servicing & MOT etc put in 1/12 of the annual cost and things like presents/clothes/haircuts etc) and will also seperate all your living costs from your debt repayments. If you do this then its likely to show that you don't have enough funds to meet your minimum payments each month (without re-using cards etc).

If this is the case then it increases the chances that your creditors would agree to freeze interest. If you do ask them to freeze your account then it will affect your credit file and will mean you cannot put next years car insurance and similar on your cards, which is why you'll need to save up for it monthly.

There is no need to pay anyone to help you sort your debts, you should be able to do it youself or use a charity service that won't charge.

I'll look out some template letters but do complete the full SoA so that you are giving your creditors a ful picture of your finances.

Edit
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=21654579&postcount=49 this is a useful template letter. Before you send it you need to open a new bank account with a bank not connected to anyone you owe money to, and arrange to have your income/benefits paid into that account. Otherwise your bank may cancel your overdraft and leave you nothing to live on.

dancingfairy

Hi - it looks like you're doing well on a tight budget. Can you ditch the bank account fee - that's 12 a month freed up. You say the store card will be finished this month -that's another 10 pounds to put towards the debts.
Tax credits - how long have you got to go in paying these back?
You are currently paying off about 150 a month which is a lot considering your income.
I'm wondering whether on the other things you are spending more than 150 a month - things like clothes, car tax , insurance, birthdays, christmas etc - you need to factor these in so you can see whether you are actually making headway or not.
I'd fill out a full SOA and see where to go from there.
Also you credit rating may not be too bad? so it may be worth trying to get a 0% credit card or card with a low life of balance transfer. If this isn't possible you could try a credit union as they may be able to offer you something at an affordable rate?
Obviously if you can't meet the minimum repayments and your debt is going up not down then you would need to look at making some kind of arranagement with them but do make sure you get a new bank account first like Tixy has said.
Best of luck
df

_evenstar_

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 560
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 440
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1000
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 450
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 73
Electricity............................. 20
Gas..................................... 28
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 9
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 21
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 8
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 22
Total monthly expenses.................. 963

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 3500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
tesco cc.......................3973......79........20
barclaycard....................1647.14...27.17.....15.9
overdraft......................500.......0.........0
tax credits....................960.......15........0
Total unsecured debts..........7080.14...121.17....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,000
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 963
Available for debt repayments........... 37
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 121.17
Amount short for making debt repayments. -84.17


Have been selling on ebay (not very successfully) and have got stuff ready to bootfair. As soon as i make progress with my overdraft i find that i need to use it. The bank charges ive had to include on a different part of the above form but atm its cheaper for me to have the bank charges for the current account rather that charges for an overdraft of £500.

Is it easy to find out if a bank is connected to someone i owe money to?

The tax credits repayment will take me 5 years to pay.

Ive only tried to get one credit card with a 0% balance transfer and wasnt sure if it was a good idea to try again. Also i had some trouble with missing payments at the begining of the year. This is unusual for me but i was very ill n things got away from me.

I try very hard not to spend anymore than what i put in my first post, and realistically from this month i wont be able to. Infact ive had use gift vouchers ive been given as presents for others. Im also stopping lunch out once a week with my friends, havent bought clothes in months and wont be getting my hair cut for a while. Things were already tight but now its even worse.

Anyway, so SOA is what i would be spending if i had the funds, but like i said above, things like presents and clothes are having to stop.

Thanx for your input so far.

_evenstar_

Going to have a look through other threads to see if there are any 'good' banks to go with.

GeorgieFTB

_evenstar_ wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 560 - anyway to up this, might be worth looking at the up your income board
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 440
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1000
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 450
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 73
Electricity............................. 20
Gas..................................... 28
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 9
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 21 - is this the cheapest? Check comparision sites and use cashback sites where you can
Groceries etc. ......................... 100 - not too much spare here but the old style board might be able to give you some ideas
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 40 - as you have such a tight budget are these your best guesses? might be worth checking is you are correct
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 8
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 22 - do you actually save this? You should, it can be useful
Total monthly expenses.................. 963

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 3500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
tesco cc.......................3973......79........20
barclaycard....................1647.14...27.17.....15.9
overdraft......................500.......0.........0
tax credits....................960.......15........0
Total unsecured debts..........7080.14...121.17....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,000
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 963
Available for debt repayments........... 37
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 121.17
Amount short for making debt repayments. -84.17


Have been selling on ebay (not very successfully) and have got stuff ready to bootfair. As soon as i make progress with my overdraft i find that i need to use it. The bank charges ive had to include on a different part of the above form but atm its cheaper for me to have the bank charges for the current account rather that charges for an overdraft of £500.

Is it easy to find out if a bank is connected to someone i owe money to?

The tax credits repayment will take me 5 years to pay.

Ive only tried to get one credit card with a 0% balance transfer and wasnt sure if it was a good idea to try again. Also i had some trouble with missing payments at the begining of the year. This is unusual for me but i was very ill n things got away from me.

I try very hard not to spend anymore than what i put in my first post, and realistically from this month i wont be able to. Infact ive had use gift vouchers ive been given as presents for others. Im also stopping lunch out once a week with my friends, havent bought clothes in months and wont be getting my hair cut for a while. Things were already tight but now its even worse.

Anyway, so SOA is what i would be spending if i had the funds, but like i said above, things like presents and clothes are having to stop.

Thanx for your input so far.

I think a spending diary would be a good idea, you need to know where every penny is going. Its tight but you might be able to up your income a little using the internet.

Gx

orangesmartie

Just a quick question about your council tax - do you live alone? If so, are you getting your 25% discount? And is it spread over 12 months or 10?

Also, is your internet tied into a contract or other package deal? you're paying £21 a month, but there are cheaper providers if you are able to switch.

_evenstar_

Hi

Council tax - i live alone and get the 25% discount. Its over 10 months as well(just as well as gave me some 'spare' money these las 2 months)

Internet - tied in till July. I also live in an area where EVERY internet provider has issues providing so cant get alot of the cheaper deals.

Earnings - have a disability (get lower rate care dla) and cant work any more hours. Really wish i could.

Car Ins - paid it on my credit card. £40 is what it would be monthly if i could afford to pay it off.

Emergancy fund - £12 of that is my bank fee as i couldnt see where else to put it. £10 i do save every month for my emergancy fund and seems to go towards the car


Until this last month i was just scrapping by, with going further into my overdraft (which i had taken years slowly getting out of) but now things have to change. No pennies for hair cuts or clothes or presents etc. This is why i think i have no choice to tackle my debt and can only think contacting my credit card companies is the best way of doing this.

Ive gone to the link and got the excample letter. Oh, no idea if its relevant but until last may i was living with my long term partner. We split and i moved out (couldnt have afforded the mortage and i wasnt named on it). He did give me a 'settlement' but thats all gone on the rent deposite, cheap furnature and bills. The rest is tied up in the car that ive been trying to sell but cant.

CH27

Have you applied for Housing/Council Tax Benefits?

_evenstar_

I get housing benefit, which i included in my SOA but cant get council tax help. Also get working tax credits but as with everyone else im worrying about what the reduction will be xx