New SOA now that I am working part time

Toomuchdebt

I thought it would make it a bit easier but it hasn't really helped much

Income
Wages £400
Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit(for 4 children) £804
Housing Benefit £520
Maintenance £45 (yes per month for 4 children!)
Child Benefit £210
Total £1979

Outgoings
Rent £750
Council Tax £70 at present but will be around £100 next April
Water £39 last payment this year as spread last 3 months payments into 4 instalments-next April will be £63 ish
Electric-switched in Sept -bill due end of the month so around £30 maybe(bill about £90 as quarterly bill)
Gas as above so around £30(quarterly bill so will be 90 ish this month)
Car-petrol £80 (school and shopping only)
-road tax £16
insurance £25
School meals for eldest daughter £28
Packed lunches for other 3 taken from food budget
home insurance £12.43
phone and internet £30
O2 mobile £30
3 mobile(paying off ex bf's bill that he left me with ) £88 this month but will have £155 credited back next month
food budget-whatever is left over(includes birthdays pets etc etc etc)

Total outgoings this month inc min payments on debts(with quarterly gas and elec bill) but not including road tax and insurance payments as I just paid for 6 month road tax and insurance is due next June= £1901.43 plus food which is working out around £45 a week so will be over budget this month
Next and following months with me putting money aside for the gas and electric and for road tax and insurance in June £1695.43 plus food(more doable)


Debts
Monument £20 min payment 0%(arranged with them) balance 985.27
Barclaycard £73(payment plan) 0% balance 7034.88
Halifax £25 min payment 3.9% balance 1185.43
Morgan Stanley £20 min payment 3.9% balance 915.19
MBNA mastercard £173 min payment 27.9%!!! balance 8116.49
MBNA visa £168 min payment 22.43% balance 8909.99
vet bill £20 min payment £340 outstanding
budgeting loan £20 min payment 0% balance 950.69
lloyds tsb visa £35 min payment 0% balance 1605.49
barclayloan £40 min payment but this reduces each month as balance reduces 11.43% balance 1497.91

plus overdraft at barclays £132(limit 200)
overdraft at abbeys £1776(limit 1800)

I am considering taking in a lodger as I understand I won't lose all the rent that I get from him/her from my Housing Benefit-does anyone know more about this?I desperately need some extra money as I would like to try and pay as much as possible onto the 2 MBNA cards as the interest on those is crippling me

This month is a tough month what with Christmas and my youngest daughter's birthday and I am struggling this month.The timing of the bills is bad too-they all seem to come in one go and are due right before some of my benefits are due.My rent is an awkward one too-due on the 14th and I get paid on the 18th.

So any thoughts? Obviously I don't know exactly how much my bill for gas and electric will be until I get it but I am guessing at around £90 each and obviously that will go down next year in the warmer months.

I don't know what else to cut back on-I'm really not finding myself that much better off working-less than £100 a month.
I use the car literally for school and shopping and nothing else(school is an hour's walk away).When I work I leave the car at school and walk to work from there.It seems to be using an awful lot of petrol at the moment-not sure if there's something wrong with it-a mechanic friend of mine is going to have a look at it for me for free.
The phone is as low as it can be-the phone and internet are a telewest deal for £30(includes tv).My mobile is 500 mins and 500 texts a month and I do use lots of them plus insurance as I lost my phone recently and couldn't get a replacement but luckily was due an upgrade so am OK and got a nice new handset.(Am also £20 in credit with them this month so will be a nice low bill)

The ex bf's phone is a contract in my name(yes I know that was stupid) and once the £88 is paid this month I will have £155 credited back so the next few months wil be free(not using it as he won't let me have the actual phone back and it's a 3G sim card(they sent me a replacement sim) and won't work in my handset which is really frustrating as I know someone who would use it if only I had a handset it would work in(and I trust them to pay me for the bills).

I need to get the Abbey overdraft down to under £500 as I am being charged around £22 interest a month on this,and I need to pay as much off on the 2 MBNA cards as possible as the interest is crippling me on this.
I might qualify for a staff loan with Abbey after Xmas so was thinking about using it just for those 2 cards because anything has to be better than paying that much all the time and even an interest rate of 15% would be better wouldn't it?

So any thoughts?My balances have reduced but it seems to be so little This month is a difficult one too because of Christmas. Feeling a bit downhearted -my debt free day is some time in 2014 I'll be 43 by then-really wanted to be debt free sooner than that

inspiremetosave

Hello,
I'm not very good with the advice, but I just wanted to wish you luck x

Diamondgirl

My initial thoughts are try calling the companies you need to pay just before you get money coming in and explain you are having some problems and ask if it would be possible to pay a week later/change your payment date permanently. As long as they know you're going to pay them they should be OK.

Toomuchdebt

Diamondgirl wrote:

My initial thoughts are try calling the companies you need to pay just before you get money coming in and explain you are having some problems and ask if it would be possible to pay a week later/change your payment date permanently. As long as they know you're going to pay them they should be OK.

Yep have tried that-MBNA said they wouldn't change the payment date and if I paid late I would have charges on my account and Barclaycard said that because it's on a payment arrangement there is no changing of dates allowed.

krisskross

I know very little really but it is the debts that are crippling you isn't it? Have you tried speaking to Payplan and trying to get agreements sorted?

good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Toomuchdebt

I thought about Payplan but decided to try and organise my own DMP-I like the feeling of being in control of my own payments etc and I prefer the freedom of being able to overpay the nasty cards(MBNA) more than the nice cards who have frozen the interest.I don't want my credit rating to be shot to pieces totally,and if I get defaults on my accounts that's what would happen.After all this is paid off I would hope to buy a house rather than rent and don't want to have to pay over the odds for that.I don't have time on my side to rebuild a credit rating as I'm 35 already.Most of the cards were great-it's just the 2 MBNA ones who have been awkward.

Toomuchdebt

Bumping up for the weekend crowd

Horasio

What is SOA?

I wish you luck in solving your cashflow problems.

The maintenance sounds extremely low. Does he work?
Are there no more benefits you can get for the children?
Is the Council Tax at the reduced single person's rate?
Are you eligible for free school meals?

You don't have to pay your ex's debts on his phone - if it is in his name, it is his problem.

Is it possible to get all the loans into one payment? I'm not familiar or know whether they are a good deal - there will be more experts on here who will know about that.

Toomuchdebt

CCStar wrote:

What is SOA?SOAS stands for statement of affairs-basically a list of all incomings and outgoings

I wish you luck in solving your cashflow problems.

The maintenance sounds extremely low. Does he work?Yes he does-he is a self employed taxi driver so the CSA can do nothing
Are there no more benefits you can get for the children? No I'm getting all the benefits I can
Is the Council Tax at the reduced single person's rate? Yes it is
Are you eligible for free school meals?No I lost my eligibility as I now get working tax credit

You don't have to pay your ex's debts on his phone - if it is in his name, it is his problem.It's in my name not his

Is it possible to get all the loans into one payment?Nope and it's only really the 2 MBNA cards that are causing all the trouble-everything else is at 0% or a very low rate. I'm not familiar or know whether they are a good deal - there will be more experts on here who will know about that.

Consolidation loans aren't a good idea as a rule and nobody would offer me one anyway as I have too many cards and not enough income