If you were me - what would you do?

safeashouses

Bestthingsinlifearefree wrote:

You need to close the gap so you are paying at least the minimum payments
otherwise you will be falling further into debt.

Is it possible to shift the debt onto lower rates of interest, as some of the interest rates are extortionate.

If you can not close the gap and make the minimum payments then a debt payment plan seems like the way forward.

Thanks, I think you are right.

safeashouses

icklejulez wrote:

why dont you offer to join your friend and increase the workload, you can offer to do the marketing yourself in your own area and increasing the size of her business. Could be doing her a favour. Also dog sitting, dog walking, paper rounds. Taking local kids to school and picking them up(as someone has said before you may need to become a childminder but this is fairly cheap and easy to do). If you thik to our self that you can clear your debts in 6 months with 6 months hard work. Also why have you alot of clothes accounts if you budget for clothes. Clear the amounts and close the accounts then perhaphs your bank will offer you a 0% card.

Hiya, I did offer, but she has very little to do - this is a pretty low income village, people simply do not have ironing ladies, cleaners, pet walkers etc.
I am on the waiting list to redo the course for childminding (was one before) but the next course that has spaces is in the summer.
The budget is new,that is why there are clothes accounts on the debts - have been slowly decreasing them but overtime is lower now and cannot make the minimum payments.

chevalier

Hi there
Just a thought, but you seem to have an acute shortage of money now, but in 5 months time, you will have paid off the loan freeing up £170 a month, and the kays thing as you are paying £160 this month and I assume the balance next month?

Your mortgage is £625 a month. Would it be possible for you to ask you bank for a payment holiday for 3 months. This would free up £1875 in the next three months with this you could pay off virtually all of the small amounts you owe. This would have the benefit of lots of entries on you credit report, showing that you had settled debt.

I know that you would have to pay the money to the mortgage eventually, but with the money you would save on the small debts, plus paying off the car loan, you would be in a position to overpay the mortgage to catch up.

I am only suggesting this because the rest of your budget looks pretty tight as it is.

Best of luck
chev

safeashouses

chevalier wrote:

Hi there
Just a thought, but you seem to have an acute shortage of money now, but in 5 months time, you will have paid off the loan freeing up £170 a month, and the kays thing as you are paying £160 this month and I assume the balance next month?

Your mortgage is £625 a month. Would it be possible for you to ask you bank for a payment holiday for 3 months. This would free up £1875 in the next three months with this you could pay off virtually all of the small amounts you owe. This would have the benefit of lots of entries on you credit report, showing that you had settled debt.

I know that you would have to pay the money to the mortgage eventually, but with the money you would save on the small debts, plus paying off the car loan, you would be in a position to overpay the mortgage to catch up.

I am only suggesting this because the rest of your budget looks pretty tight as it is.

Best of luck
chev

Hiya - Kays is £160 but we won't manage it, meaning we will get late charges, we cannot make the minimum payments on everything sadly.
The mortgage is difficult - we were in arrears - our real payment should be £571, so we are paying off at an extra £50 a month, I know we won't get a holiday from it.
If we keep trying to get by, I worry that when the loan goes, interest will have made out debts bigger and we will not get much of a benefit from the extra £170?

deliciosa

Hi!

Let me tell you what I would do if I were you - maybe not a very good advice for you but check it out:

safeashouses wrote:

Trying to decide - based on the budget below - whether I need to enter into a DMP or if we can pay off debts ourselves:


Water : £18
TSB arrears : £45
Car Insurance : £55 (2 cars - need 2nd as hoping to get sessional work and have to have car, parents pay tax and mot for me) (would get rid of one car anyway. bus, tube...)
Buildings Insurance : £14
Car loan : £170 (5m left)
TV license and sky : £30 ( reduced deal on sky due to arrears,can cancel in 5m, includes license fee in these figures) (I would get rid of all these and throw out the tv . dont be outraged - in my friends and family circle hardly any people own tv and nobody watches regularly, i dont own it, dont watch it... and we are completely normal, office working people, not members of some sect its just pure trash that comes out of it, you could save £30 a month!)

Broadband :£17 (needed as husband still does some PC repair work)
life insurance :£25
Contents insurance :£14
Overdraft £80

Total : £1190

Leaves £685 living:

Food: £200 (will prob be less though, I am good at food management!)
gas and elec :£40
car expenses (tax, petrol etc) £90 (although hubby can get some back through work and my parents pay my car tax as car was a gift from them)
kids activities £50 (These may have to go? feel terrible though as they are very good at them and adore their activities, showing promise too) (go to free community centres or approach kids charities for free classes and activities.)
pets £10
phone £20
clothes £40 (would try not to spend this BUT have to have some budgeted for school shoes, uniform etc?)
mobile £10 (although hubby often gets his paid by work)

Total: £560

Leaves £225 for debts:

?

know you migth be outraged at the tv comment but worth considering

CLAPTON

just a few things

i dont no whether your parents could help out to get you over the next few months but :

a. in 5 months you stop paying car loan freeeing up 170
b. you are paying kays 160 per month but you only owe 224 so in 2 months you will have 160 freed up ..

these two alone free up £414 plus your hubbies overtime (80 or more) it all seems possible if you can survive the next 5 months.

chevalier

Okay not such a good idea about the mortgage!

The thing with a DMP is that you will be paying off these debts for a relatively long time, because the money you have left is divided equally between all of the claimants. It seems a shame to commit to this when in a relatively short time you will have some money freed up from the car loan.

So my next set of suggestions are
£40 for clothes. I know how fast children grow. My DS1 has grown 14cm this year, and gone through 3 sizes of trousers! Can you sell any of their outgrown clothes on ebay, to put towards buying new ones? And maybe buy the new ones on Ebay too? I have had several bundles of seven year age clothes, for about £20 and the only thing I will have to buy him when he gets to that age is socks and underwear! Or else cut out this spending all together for a few months and make do (ie letting down trouser hems etc?)

Could you borrow some money from family for the short term, ie the £350 difference for this month? That would pretty much sort out the Kays creditor. So there would be more money for next month.

You mentioned that your OH does some pc repair work still. Could he really go for this for the next 5 months to supplement your income more?

I am sure that some of the others will be a long later to offer their views too, but I hope I have given you some food for thought!
best of luck
chev

safeashouses

deliciosa wrote:

Hi!

Let me tell you what I would do if I were you - maybe not a very good advice for you but check it out:



know you migth be outraged at the tv comment but worth considering

Hi - no I am not outraged, the thing is though - if we cancel Sky we have to pay back arrears, we can cancel in 5m, but that price includes arrears you see? If I could cancel that though, and remove the kids activities, then we still don't have enough money
I suppose I could as k my parent to take back the car, but then I cannot get a job - live in a small village with little busues - my hubby HAS to have a car (he works sill hours and NO buses go where he works) and if I can get a job back at SS then I have to have a car too? That was my parents Xmas present to me - the car and it was mot'd and taxed for the year.
Agh its so hard isn't it? Our debts not inc mortgage are about 9000, nothing compared to some I suppose, I just can't make the repayments let alone pay them off!

deliciosa

Yeah it is hard.... I did not know about the charges, that sucks, one more reason not to do anything with tv if you can help it...

what are the limits on your cards? might be worht considering switching all your small debts on one card?

safeashouses

deliciosa wrote:

Yeah it is hard.... I did not know about the charges, that sucks, one more reason not to do anything with tv if you can help it...

what are the limits on your cards? might be worht considering switching all your small debts on one card?

No we can't - no space on any of them and no credit rating for new ones :embarasse