debt relief order advise-or general advise

autumnleaf_uk

hi,
im looking for advise to sort out my debt.
i have recently split with my husband and moved house with my 2 kids. we had joint debts 1 loan which was in his name so he has taken that and making the repayments where i had a credit card for £3000 which had about £2600 on it, i then took out another credit card to transfer some of the balance to be paying out less.

since we split and i moved i have had to use the cards a couple of times as i had no choice in the begining.

one card is at £3000, the other is at £1500 or there abouts, i also have an overdraft of £800 which i am constantly in and getting charged for (i changed my account to one thats free overdraft up to £300)

i also have 3 catalouge bills, but quite small and manageable.

in total with my cards and the overdraft charges i pay about £130 a month, im just managing to pay this and no more, it will take years to get rid of it though :-(

last year i earned £18710 but i think it will be slightly less this year. i earn £1200 clear a month & £80 a month housing benefit and £82 wk child tax credits.

i know compared to some people this isn't a lot of debts but considering im struggling so much i feel like it is!!

i thought i could take out 1 loan in consolidation over 5 years and only be paying out 1 payment but my credit rating isn't good so couldn't get one.

ive been looking online and come across debt repayment orders...is this a good idea? im really not sure if i should do this or just struggle on! does anyone have experince of these repayment orders or have any other advise?

RAS

Please speak to one of the debt charities http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=clicks&utm_campaign=resourcebar#help

The ruels round DRos are very very tight so you need caREFUL ADVICE..

Tixy

Hi and welcome

Sounds like you might have too much disposable income for a DRO (as you can just about manage £130 to debts, well for a DRO you can't have more than £50 disposable income).

It would probably be a good idea to complete and post up a statement of affairs so that you and the people on here can see your situation clearer and be able to offer some advice - we use this calculator - http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

autumnleaf_uk

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1220
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 542
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1762
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 347
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 137
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 40
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 36
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 60
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 34
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 54
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 100
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 18
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1253

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 400
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 400

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
mbna...........................3000......78........0
barclycard.....................1500......40........0
littlewoods....................800.......20........0
overdraft......................800.......0.........0
very...........................40........5.........0
next...........................60........5.........0
Total unsecured debts..........6200......148.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,762
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,253
Available for debt repayments........... 509
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 148
Amount left after debt repayments....... 361
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 400
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,200
Net Assets.............................. -5,800

autumnleaf_uk

£80 of the benefits i included as housing benefit, im already on the reduced rate single person council tax too. i deffinatly do not have the amount spare that it says i should-otherwise it wouldn't be a problem!! my car tax is phenomenal as it's an old car, im trying to sell it and get a cheaper to run one. people keep telling me to get a new one on hire purchase then the running cost & tax is cheaper but i doubt i'd get it with bad credit. don't really want to add to my debts either!!

autumnleaf_uk

i think it doesn't feel like i have that left over is because the tax credits and childbenefit payments are staggered and each week im checking the bank everyday to check there is enough in it to cover whatever D/D is due off that week. nearly all the bills come off DD but im not paying anything towards the overdraft as im constantly living in it.
i have thought about opening a new account with no overdraft so im always in the black and can see exactly what i have, 1 main thing stopping me is i have no idea which 1 to go with and as iv'esaid i have a bad credit rating and might not be accepted? and secondly, ive just moved and had the upheaval of changing address with everywhere, im worried that if i change banks DD will take ages to set up and il end up with missed payments and charges because of it!!

Tixy

Well if you don't have that money spare then first thing is to try to work out what else you are spending money on.

I notice you have nothing for water rates - how much do you pay for these?
You need to budget something for clothes for the children and yourself (try to work out an annual cost and put 1/12 into the monthly budget).
What are the child expenses of £100? does this include any hobbies/activites/after school clubs/ pocket money etc?
Do you have contents insurance? life insurance?
Try to work out a monthly estimate for haircuts and for entertainment (which might be anything from days out with the kids to nights out yourself or anything like takeaways etc)
Then the typical spends people often miss out are things like lottery tickets, meals at work, grabbing a coffee or similar, newspapers & magazines etc - it usually helps to do a spending diary fora a month or 2 and record everything, even the tiny spends.

Your present budget looks very high, you probably need to work on reducing this based on your current situation.

How much does the overdraft cost you? do you pay interest or monthly charges? are you paying things like unpaid dd fees? is the account one that had a monthly fee?

Just a few ideas as to where you might find the 'missing' money.

Are you receiving any maintenance towards the children from their father?

Tixy

You should be able to get a basic bank account with any new bank, as these don't have a full credit check (just an id check). These don't come with an overdraft. It shouldn't take long to set up your new DDs and until they are set up then just keep paying them out of the old account to make sure none are missed.

autumnleaf_uk

hi,

my water rates ect are included in the council tax bill which is a total of £137 a mnth, i suppose i spend £50 a month on clothes for the kids but it's prob less. the £100 i put for them is school meals £10 a week each then £20 on extra bits they need but i think i probably spend more than that cos the always need things!! we dont really have meals out, maybe once a month at £10-15, i only live across the road from work so nip home for something to eat. i don't buy lottery tickets or newspapers (!)hate them..but i buy one magazine a month which is £3.
as i've just moved in i haven't got around to any contents insurance ect.

he doesn't pay anything towards them and hasn't for the last year. he's taken our daughter to see a couple of concerts and bought them a t-shirt each i think and paid my sons school meals for 2 weeks!!he has bought my daughter top up for her phone a couple of times too. my son goes to him roughly 2 nights a week sometimes 3 depending on my shifts as i work late or sleep-in, the eldest goes maybe once a month tho as she stays here (as i said im only across the road so she's safe). he seems to think that as i get child tax credit for them and housing benefit he shouldn't be paying anything and as he has my son 2-3 nights a week so im not sure if thats right or not?

autumnleaf_uk

the account is the bank of scotland one thats £12.50 for insurance and stuff and u earn £5 for paying in a certain amount. the only reason i changed it from a standard one to that is because the overdraft is free up to £300 but as im always down to -£800 then i end up paying another £26 on a fee for that,other than that i don't pay any fee's as everything comes of DD, i manage not to go over the overdraft too thankfully.
im also paying my boss back £50 a month just now because he mucked up my time sheet so £400 was taken off of me last month with no warning, he felt bad and lent me £200. so last month was a tough one!!

[Deleted User]

firstly get a notebook and write down everything you spend on anything for a month,it will amaze you
secondly im confused,are they both your children or is he the dad to just one of them?either way he should be paying maintenance if he wont then speak to the csa