Please help me sort out my short term situation

happysinglemum

Hi everyone,

I've been a member here for sometime, but my situation has now spiralled out of control and I need some help please.

A few years ago, I went back to uni as a mature student and the only way I could pay my bills / mortgage was with credit cards (alongside my student loan). I qualified as a teacher 2 years ago and have been looking for a teaching job ever since. (I have had other work in the meantime, working in a bank, my local shop, etc). I have been a supply teacher for 18 months, but still with no luck finding a job.

I haven't used any credit cards for almost 2 years now and I've been to the CAB, who helped me to negotiate with my creditors. I have a basic bank account and live quite frugally. The trouble is, I now only work 6 hours a week in my local newsagents, so have had to inform the tax credits office that I am no longer working. I am currently waiting for my application for JSA to be processed.

My SOA is as follows:

Monthly Income:

Pay £72.00
JSA £270.00 (approx)
Child tax Credits £240.00 (approx)
Child Benefit £ 81.20

Total £660.64

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage / Loan £179.63 (interest only until November 2011)
Council Tax £ 96.00 (due to reduce to 0.00 upon receipt of
JSA)
Gas £ 55.00
Electricity £ 60.00
TV Licence £ 12.00
Virgin Media £ 50.00
Food £240.00
Car Insurance £ 15.00
Home Insurance £ 20.00
Petrol £ 60.00
Water £ 15.00
Mobile Phone £ 5.00
Creditors £ 5.00 (5 x £1.00 token payments)

Total £812.63

Creditors:

All interest and charges have been frozen on all debts.

MBNA credit card £2174.63
Tesco credit card £2256.75
Co-operative credit card £3731.07
Nationwide credit card £3223.85 (with a CCJ and a
Charging order)
Nationwide overdraft £938.21

All of the above are currently being repaid at £1.00 per month.

I also owe my parents around £7000, as they have been helping with my mortgage repayments (my mortgage is a joint mortgage with my Dad). Unfortunately, my parents are both retired and now have no more money with which to help me.

Total Debts = £19324.51

I am putting my house on the market next week, as I am lucky enough to have sufficient equity to be able to clear all of my debts (including my debt to my parents). However, in the meantime, I don't have enough income to cover my outgoings. And once my house is sold, I will have nowhere to live. I am in the process of applying for a council house, but I've been told that it takes around 12 weeks simply to process the application. I have a 12 year old son, a dog and a cat and I don't know quite what to do next.

Sorry it's such a long ramble. Hopefully someone will be able to help.

Thank you

Nicki

happysinglemum

Please, if anyone can help me, I would be so grateful!

I'm at my wits' end now. I just don't know what to do next.

happycamel_2

You've got two ways to tackle this - increased income by finding more work or reduced outgoings. Can you cancel or reduce Virgin, eat frugally (you should be able to save on groceries). Do you need the car? If you are really open minded there should be work this time of year, see I'd you can do fruit picking. Good luck.

Jariya

I can't offer a lot of help but one thing I did when I was struggling was to call Virgin and I had my landline stopped and they took my tv package down to lower than their basic package - so I don;t actually pay for tv with them (need to still use them as I had no other form of getting tv as I had no ariel that worked and freeview wasn't available and is still very limited here.
I pay about £24 a month - which is just internet and a silly token charge for not actually having a phoneline but I still get a lot of channels.

You could get rid of the tv and just use internet for watching tv as this would streamline that cost quite a lot.

happysinglemum

Thank you so much! I am applying for any job that I'm able to do at the moment - just getting very little back so far. I'm in the process of registering with temp agencies too (not just teaching).

I need my car, in case I get supply teaching work, as I'm expected to travel up to 30 miles from home (not always served by buses from my village).

I will speak to Virgin tomorrow to see what I can do there. My food costs also include toiletries and cleaning products and food for my cat and dog (both of which I got when working full time...).

I am also going through CSA to 'try' and make ex husband pay at least a token amount of maintenance for our son...

I know my situation isn't as bad as some, as I at least have light at the end of the tunnel. But after next week's food shop, I have to choose between food or mortgage payments

Thank you again happycamel and jariya!

xxx

Hopeful1

Hi HSM! Have you spoken to the mortgage company to see if there's any flexibility there re a possible payment break?

Sorry I can't offer any more help

happysinglemum

Thanks Hopeful! I've spoken to them but as I've already taken a payment break (while I was at uni), I don't qualify. They have agreed interest only for 3 months for me, which is due to be reviewed at the end of November. I'm hoping against hope that I have a full time job by then!

Thanks for replying, it's hugely appreciated!

xx

MrsTUS

Could you find websites where you can freelance? Basically register and offer your services as a home tutor in whatever your particular subject area is? You could even just offer your services as a home tutor to help in basics such as reading, arithmetic and writing to children who may need all round support in their acedemia?

EDIT: And also, I know this doesn't help much at the present moment in time, but maybe you could consider using your current free time to volunteer - to stop boredom setting in and also so that it makes your CV more attractive to prospective employers and also as a sourc e of glowing references, it could give you an edge, since you lack in years of experience, which many other candidates may have.

When I was a manager of a clothes store, it was those sorts of little things that I looked out for, they speak volumes about a persons character and willingness.. Just a suggestion, albeit, not entirely relevant :]

linz

£240 a month for food could be reduced. People always say head over to the Old Style board for tips on how to reduce your food spends and great ideas for cheap recipes.

Batch cook and freeze extra portions, use up leftovers rather than chucking food away. Bulk out dishes using lentils.

Do you have an Aldi or Lidl nearby? Often cheaper than the main supermarkets. Or head down to the supermarkets in the evenings when they reduce stuff.

I often have a night of the week where I just have an omelette with some salad or beans on toast. Normally before I go swimming. Works out a cheap tea. This was a tip I got from this site. I have also been known to use 1 teabag for 2 cups

Drive sensibly. If you do motorway driving stick at 60 instead of 70. I've noticed the difference this makes to petrol. Make sure your tyres are at the correct pressure as well.

Virgin are in this weeks weekly email as one of the best companies for haggling with. You could try calling them and threatening to leave. People I know have rang saying it's working out too expensive and have had a few months free internet and their monthly bill reduced for threatening to leave.

Poss shop around for cheaper home insurance and switch via a cashback site if you find somewhere cheaper.

Some of what I have written may sound obvious or like it won't make much of a difference but its what I initially thought of.

Good luck.

Jariya

Just spotted your groceries costs - I'm sure that could be cut down by a fair bit.

I've started being a 'value' shopper for some things and when you compare body wash for say £2 to value baby foam bath and use that instead for just 9p you can't go wrong.
I have very sensitive skin too and it is fine for me.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/405198
Take a look in here for some suggestions of the good and the bad.

Do you already keep a spending diary? It stops me from buying allsorts of un-essentials! :0)

Loobeyloop

Happysinglemum, sorry haven't got any suggestions, just wanted to say hi, and hope everything works out, and good luck with the job hunting...Hope something turns up soon.....you sound like a very strong positive person, keep it up....looking forward to see how you get on xx