Help, in deep debt!

Mr_Debt

At the moment Mrs Bobs income is going on shopping, petrol and electric, so that we can build ourselves a buffer for when we stop receiving the SMP.

I'm really interested in peoples experience of high overdrafts such as my own and moving bank, and the conditions underwhich they can be withdrawn.

I believe Mrs Bob has a lot of bank charges, which we are aiming to reclaim. Although as I said i am only going to try and reclaim the barclays fees from my account if the amount is greater than the overdraft, or if my account being closed is likely to be painfree (i.e. not being threatened with bailiffs if i fail repay the overdraft within a short timescale).

CLAPTON

my comments

income

its already been suggested but you may have missed the reference but you can see your entitlement to state benefits by looking at

https://www.entitledto.co.uk

can you increase your income ..overtime or a part time job?

you say your wife's maternity benefit is being used for spending, petrol and electric, surely it would be better to save this so you have a real cash buffer and also so you get used to living on your income alone.


your spending budget doesn't seem to be a budget for the long term and seems to have things missing, e.g. car tax, MOT, RAC/AA, servicing , allowance for repairs/replacements, nothing in for clothes, socialising, nothing for presents, xmas costs, any haircuts/optical/medical/dental, any work related lunches/coffees etc, presumanly holidays are out for a few years. any takeaways?

do you really only spend 120 on food ..i know some people here can eat like the beckhams for half this but do you?


have you checked your credit files to see whats on them.. i would suggest you do this before looking for a new bank a/c if you want to transfer the OD.


I would suggest that you keep a spending diary where you both write down absolutely everything you spend and really see where everything goes.

Mr_Debt

R.e. my food budget, I thought that was a normal amount to spend, we are going to look at planning meals so that we only buy what we need and avoid wastage, and shop at the cheapest not the most convenient place.

R.e. extra work, I can't do over time as it is only availible 1 month of the year which i take full advantage of. I also have a part-time job where I work 1-2 weekends a month and two additional weeks (in one job lot) a year.

I agree I haven't created a very comprehensive budget, it is something I will look into much closer (look at my mot/tax costs and split them over the year), my optical/dental are covered by my workplace.

As for holidays we are huge fans of camping (have all teh gear been doing it together for years) and it costs us next to nothing. Infact we had a paid honeymoon to Rome and didn't really enjoy it as much!

CLAPTON

the reason i am asking about the spending is that i can't see from your figures whether

a, you are just about earning enough to cover your spending and debt repayments
or
b. you are in fact spending more than your income.

this is vital to know which way it is

so
is your parttime income included in your income line?

you say camping is cheap but surely you have to pay site fees? and maybe you treat yourselve to a pub dinner/takeaway?

be absolutely honest in your SOA ..every penny of income (no rubbish about keeping something back for a treat, you will only be confusing yourselves) and similarly about your spending.

and you didn't answer by point about saving your wife's maternity pay..think about it, you know it makes sense.

best of luck

Mr_Debt

Income

My salary 1100
Other income 130
Partners salary (SMP until end March) 408
Benefits (Child Benefit) 68
1706


Monthly Outgoings:
Account Fee 5
Mortgage/Rent 260
Council Tax 65
Gas 25
Electric 20
TV License 11
Phone 15
Food 120
Car Insurance 28
Petrol 85
Mobile Bill 45
Tax/MOT 21
Going out 20
Home insurance 15
735

Thanks for the kick up the !!!! guys, as you can see I have revised my budget (I am still doing some additional work on it), and have included my other job income, however some months I don't work and some months I do lots of work. There is no opportunity for any additional work with this job, so cannot increase this anymore.

This has made me think very clearly, I am going to stick a load of stuff I don't use on ebay at the end of the month, even though my overdraft is the "cheapest debt" I think I will work on paying that off first so that I can have some normality back.

iwillgetthere_2

Hiya,

Did you have a look at https://www.entitledto.co.uk? i would do this right away i'm sure you would be entitled to Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credits.

BlueSkyDay

Hi Mr Debt and welcome to the board!

Have you thought about opening another bank account - someone suggested it earlier in the thread? If you join quidco (https://www.quidco.com) you can get cashback for opening a new bank account. If your current bank takes your overdraft facility away you can then switch your salary to your new account.

Have you used Martin's budget planner - I can't remember where it is or I'd post the link. That is very good and showed me that there were all sorts of things I wasn't taking into account.

the absolute best thing about what you are doing is the feeling of freedom, security and control you will get when you are on top of your spending. Those sleepless nights worrying about the overdraft, or how you'd cope if you suddenly needed a new boiler will just not happen.

Well done for taking the first steps and keep going.

Blue

chivers1977

Had another thought on this one. Your mobile bill is 45. That is loads even inc broadband. I believe that you can get broadband for £9.99 and then you could go PAYG or reduce your tariff on your mobile to £20.

Could your partner get a eve/weekend job to bring in a bit of money from March while you look after the baby free of charge? What is your baby's name by the way!

mophead

How old is your baby??

The reason i ask is if you are entitled to Child Tax Credit (which i think you will be) over a certain amount you will be able to claim for the sure start grant (£500) but you have to claim this within a certain time ask the Tax Credit people.

Mr_Debt

My baby is under a month old, I will be registering her for the family tax credits once the birth certificate and my wife's P60 arrives (she mislaid hers). As for the phone contract I have shopped around a lot for this and am locked into an additional 12 months of an 18 month contract, but it is saving me more than when I had broadband and a pre-pay phone.

I am definately going to open another bank account, can anyone advise who is the best for matching overdrafts as that is the main decider at the moment (i.e. move bank account, then reclaim bank charges with no worry of being dropped and then clear overdraft and select a new bank account based on new circumstances)

Cheers all