Newbie and in trouble

Sinkingindebt_2

yes post the company please we can try to help, it might seem bad, but I have found light at the end of a tunnel after my debt is 25k.

BT best thing to do it go to the lowest tariff (about £10 a month) and then reg with a prefix number like 1899 where you dial that 1st to get free calls landline and where anytime.

Do you have kids?

in-trouble_3

the situation is so scary, and i cant believe i have got ourselves into this mess, its me thats done it, by saying oh just put it on the credit card, or get a loan to pay off the debt, and soon has that happens i get us back into trouble, i am shaking writing this email, last month i applied for a loan and got accepted for £15000 and that was just to cover a credit card, but i thought by doing this we are going to get into more debt, so decided not to go for it

Molanole

in-trouble wrote:

MY SOA.....its very bad.

income 1900.00
family allowance 68.00
tax credit 40.00
total a month £2008.00

Outgoings....monthly

life cover mine 27.00
husbands life cover 60.00 had since 16
halifax 80.00 What's this?
house insurance 11.17
account charge 10.00 Why are you paying charges on your account, try switching to one of the many accounts out there where you don't have to pay
account charge 11.00 Ditto
vodafone 20.00 (reduced it 4 months left) This would seem to be one of three mobiles that you've listed. Do you need three mobiles?
sky digital 43.50 I think should go until you're living within your means better
car 138.81 (4.5 years left) Is this a loan? If so, what's the APR on this?
gas 50.00 (175.29 owing)
electric 33.00 (148.85 owing)
bt telephone 27.00
bt telephone 7.00 (I pay dads)
mobile 15.00 (16 months remaining)
mobile 15.00 (16 months remaining)
internet 25.00 (got it july this year) Can you switch to something cheaper. AOL do broadband for 9.99 and there are other alternatives
barclay card 20.00 (owe 250.00)
capital one 25.00 (owe 840.00)
candis charity 3.00 Tricky I know but you need all the pennies you can get at the moment.
home care insurance 5.99
MBNA 150.49 (APR 15.9%)
Lloyds credit card 365.00 (APR 14.9%)
Lloyds loan 351.36 (5.9%)
Rspca 5.00 Ditto above
Petrol 160.00
my brother 100.00 What's this?
food for 3 300.00 Get yourself onto the Old Style board, this can definitely be reduced

total 2159.32

Always on overdraft, dont budget for car insurance, car tax, birthdays, christmas etc

we both smoke roughly cost £200.00 a month You KNOW this has to go - It's the difference between you living within or beyond your means each month.

DEBT OWING

Lloyds credit card 14622.69
Lloyds Loan 17402.81 (5 years left i think)
MBNA credit card 10828.48
Barclays loan 3141.60 (2 years left)

Total debt £45996.58

Sorry its turned out so long its bad isnt it? Not so bad, and you've taken the first step. It only gets better from here

Well that's my tuppence worth. Sorry if it sounded harsh, it wasn't intended to be. Best of luck.

Mola x

Imelda

Hello there,

Here are my thoughts at first glance:

income 1900.00 Is this exact? even if is £10 more or less it will make a difference when your budget is this tight
family allowance 68.00
tax credit 40.00
total a month £2008.00

Outgoings....monthly

life cover mine 27.00 are these the cheapest deals (I have no specific knowledge here
husbands life cover 60.00 had since 16 ditto above, it seems expensive
halifax 80.00what is this for?
house insurance 11.17
account charge 10.00is this the overdraft interest? or a monthly fee for a "superior" account
account charge 11.00as above
vodafone 20.00 (reduced it 4 months left)and there are 2 mobiles below?!?
sky digital 43.50I won't be the first or last to say, get rid and use freeview
car 138.81 (4.5 years left)
gas 50.00 (175.29 owing)
electric 33.00 (148.85 owing)
bt telephone 27.00
bt telephone 7.00 (I pay dads)why do you pay this? Could you explain your circumstances?
mobile 15.00 (16 months remaining)why so many mobiles?
mobile 15.00 (16 months remaining)PAYG, can you reduce these anymore?
internet 25.00 (got it july this year)I am sure there are cheaper deals out there
barclay card 20.00 (owe 250.00)Is this the minimum payment? What is the APR? I don't see it listed at the bottom
capital one 25.00 (owe 840.00)again, what is the APR? Is it included in the bottom?
candis charity 3.00Sorry to say but charity starts at home
home care insurance 5.99What is this for? Appliances?
MBNA 150.49 (APR 15.9%)IS this the minimum payment?
Lloyds credit card 365.00 (APR 14.9%)IS this the minimum payment?
Lloyds loan 351.36 (5.9%)
Rspca 5.00charity will have to be put on hold...
Petrol 160.00Is this an estimate? Do you need to drive for work?
my brother 100.00What is this for? If it's a loan, how much is it for?
food for 3 300.00This can probably be reduced by £100 at least, have you seen the OS board>

total 2159.32 I make this £2,059.32- see I've saved you £100 already!

Always on overdraft, dont budget for car insurance, car tax, birthdays, christmas etc How much is the overdraft and what is the APR?

we both smoke roughly cost £200.00 a month I don't need to say anything here, but if you can't/ don't want to quit have you switched to roll ups? I hear they're much cheaper.

DEBT OWING

Lloyds credit card 14622.69
Lloyds Loan 17402.81 (5 years left i think)
MBNA credit card 10828.48
Barclays loan 3141.60 (2 years left)

Total debt £45996.58

livinginhope

in-trouble wrote:

we have applied for a debt management program, which cannot start until january has hubby has needs to leave his bank he is with at present lloyds, its a pay feeing one though, £65.00 a month and creditor payments £585.00 which have said we will have paid our debts off in 69 months, hubby has spoke to this company and has agreed to go with them.

Oh no in-trouble,PLEASE stop this,never go with a fee charging company,call Payplan or CCCS TODAY before paying any money to this other firm.
Just had a very quick look at the SOA,there are many cutbacks to be made.
Stop the sky,charity and dad's phone,try switching life cover the amounts you are paying are silly,your DH is paying £500/year just on life cover :eek:
Do you cook from scratch? £300 for food is a bit over the top,we have 4 in our house and on a bad month we spend £220 (incl.dog food,toiletries etc) and on a good month we spend £120.
Your internet is very high,is there a reason for that?
I know it's hard,but could you try to quit the smoking? it's eating up quite a bit each month.
There's just a few thoughts from me,will think again and come back with more.
LIH

Sinkingindebt_2

Also, I would cancel your life cover, change accounts to free ones downgrade sky (give them a call say you want to cancel and they will offer you a good deal to stay) cancel the charity, waht is the home care payment for? Petrol, can this be reduced? What is the money from your brother for?

Shopping can be reduced go to Old style board, I hve never looked back since getting fab ideas from there.

I est with those changes you will save £76.99 plus reduction is food shopping, money to bro and petrol on top of that. This can go towards clearing it quicker hun xxx

Molanole

in-trouble wrote:

the situation is so scary, and i cant believe i have got ourselves into this mess, its me thats done it, by saying oh just put it on the credit card, or get a loan to pay off the debt, and soon has that happens i get us back into trouble, i am shaking writing this email, last month i applied for a loan and got accepted for £15000 and that was just to cover a credit card, but i thought by doing this we are going to get into more debt, so decided not to go for it

Aw hun, try to stay calm. My own personal debt was £40K (that's me on my own, no one helped to rack it up) and I'm slowly getting there. There is ALWAYS a way forward and you'll find what works for you before too long.

One thing that really worked for me was looking at this http://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx. It helped me work out that consolidating was not always the best option and gave me a structure to a mess of different payments to different debts. You'll get there, don't you worry.

immoral_angeluk

Sorry if I seem blunt but here's what I can see that you could do.

income 1900.00 can you do any overtime etc?
family allowance 68.00
tax credit 40.00
total a month £2008.00

Outgoings....monthly

life cover mine 27.00
husbands life cover 60.00 had since 16 would it be worth cancelling these for the time being until you're sorted? If not I'm positive you could get a cheaper deal elsewhere as £87 p/m for the both of your is very expensive!
halifax 80.00 what is this for?
house insurance 11.17 Have a look round for any cheaper deals and switch if you can save money, make sure you're not overinsured.
account charge 10.00 change banks to someone who doesn't charge you!
account charge 11.00 again change banks!
vodafone 20.00 (reduced it 4 months left) well done for reducing this, will you be cancelling it when the term is up?
sky digital 43.50 Go freeview and sell your sky box on ebay. We did and saved a fortune every month and got £50 for our box!
car 138.81 (4.5 years left)
gas 50.00 (175.29 owing) presuming you're in arrears?
electric 33.00 (148.85 owing)
bt telephone 27.00 Can you cut this down?
bt telephone 7.00 (I pay dads) Why do you pay your dads? Could he pay his own for a bit til you get back on your feet?
mobile 15.00 (16 months remaining)
mobile 15.00 (16 months remaining) Why are you paying 3 mobile bills?
internet 25.00 (got it july this year) Can you reduce the package down?
barclay card 20.00 (owe 250.00)
capital one 25.00 (owe 840.00)
candis charity 3.00 Cancel this, it's lovely that you want to give to charity but you can't afford it right now. You can always start it again after you're sorted.
home care insurance 5.99 Is this your house insurance?
MBNA 150.49 (APR 15.9%)
Lloyds credit card 365.00 (APR 14.9%)
Lloyds loan 351.36 (5.9%)
Rspca 5.00 Again, cancel this for the time being as you can't afford it.
Petrol 160.00 This seems high, would it be cheaper getting the bus and getting a weekly/monthly ticket?
my brother 100.00 What is this for?
food for 3 300.00 you can cut this down, check out the money saving old style board for ideas on how. Don't be afraid of value food! We pay max £150 for 2 adults and a toddler in nappies!

total 2159.32

Always on overdraft, dont budget for car insurance I take it you pay this yearly?, car tax, birthdays, christmas etc

we both smoke roughly cost £200.00 a month Solution - Give up. Not only is it killing you it's also bleeding your wallet dry!!!

DEBT OWING

Lloyds credit card 14622.69
Lloyds Loan 17402.81 (5 years left i think)
MBNA credit card 10828.48
Barclays loan 3141.60 (2 years left)

Total debt £45996.58

in-trouble_3

the halifax 80.00 hubby helps his mum to pay mortgage.

account charges, lloyds are pretty bad with them, gets them every month.

has for the 3 mobiles we need 2, will be cancelling the vodafone one when the contract is finished, thats no excuse about the mobiles, hubby is always away and its only his contact with us.

sky digital we will lower that, will be done next month when hubby comes home, i cant deal with it has its in his name.

my brother i pay him 100 a month we lent 1200 for a car, which lasted 2 months has it broke, hense the reason we got a new car, but still have to pay my brother we owe him now 900

I am planning to quit smoking so that will save money, which i am sure hubby will has well, he defintly knows what trouble we are in.

the car payment is for car finance, its a low finance, i will find out what it is, but its lower than 10%

has for the shopping budget, way too much and i seem to be binning alot of food each month has well, so i can reduce that.

you werent harsh

in-trouble_3

thank you for all your replies, i am heading for the shower and will get back to you in a bit, wow, cant believe the replies and some very good advice