bet you cant beat this. feel better just getting it off my chest

alex2005

positively: i did start growing my own veg last year and swapped plants with people at work. i ended up with. potaoes. aubergines which are great roasted. carrots. butternut squash. peppers. chillies. cucumbers. strawberries. fennel. beans. loads of different tomartos. sweetcorn. onions. peas. melons. still have some seeds this year so will do the same again and swap lots more. its also very relaxing and takes mind off the bad things.

CLAPTON

to my mind you can't continue as you are,

firstly you are spending more that your income, you must be spending a little on food, you must sometimes need some clothes, a little for socialising, you say you have a car, so presumably you must have to tax it and there are other things i'm sure you are actually spending


i would suggest

try to get a lodger and give it say 3 months
during this time start a spending diary and really write down everything you spend. also think about all the other things you spend in a year.be brutally honest..surely there must be a few presents, some xmas expenses, car etc, the odd haircut, cloths...and life has to be worth living.
after that work out a new SOA and if it doesn't add up think about selling and renting.

angelavdavis

Hi Alex,

OK, first things first...

Welcome to the board and you are not stupid, just took your eye off the ball for a while - reality is Martin's site wouldn't be as popular as it is if it wasn't so easy to get into debt!!:money:

In addition to my suggestions, I do suggest you speak to CCCS or payplan as suggested.

I have had a look at the situation and these are my suggestions:

council tax 77.00
british gas 42.00 - this could definitely be reduced. Turn down all the radiators in the bedrooms, get out 12 months worth of bills and go online to Uswitch to see if you can get a better deal. Potential £10 reduction
electric 30.77 - as with gas - might get a better deal going to one supplier for both. Potential £5 reduction
water 30.44 - are you on a meter? I pay £19 for three adults per month. Potential £10 reduction
vodaphone 15.00
petcare 15.81 - have you shopped online to see if you can get a better deal?
life insurance on morgage 17.21 - is this coupled with the mortgage or separate? You might get a deal if you shop around.
dad 30.00
tv lic 10.95
roxburghe debt collector 10.00 - how much is this for? What is APR? How long is this going to go on for?
fredrickson " " 10.00 - how much is outstanding? What is APR?
morgan stanley c/c token pay 5.00 - what do you owe them?
homebase c/c " " 5.00 - how much is outstanding? What is APR?

TOTAL 1286.27

INCOME 1228.65
minus 57.62 - this would alter this figure to minus 32.62.

Next step - can you increase income? You mention lodgers - I think this is definitely worth pursuing. What is the likelihood of changing jobs to something better paid?

Good luck

angelavdavis

Sorry to hear you are so down R. I will post my suggestions, but also think you should start your own thread so others can help re CCCS and payplan.

Rockefeller wrote:

You think YOU'RE stupid! I'm ashamed to say I CAN beat that...

Mortgage £450
N Rock loan 245
Abbey CC £110
Halifax CC £100
Amex CC £10
Lloyds TSB CC £10
Amazon CC £90
Council Tax £100
Gas/ Elec £60
Phone £15
Water £32
TV Licence £13
Life Insurance £60 (daren't cancel it, it's the only chance of being debt free) Don't cancel, but its really high! Can you shop around for a better deal?
Internet £14
Bank Charges £45 Is there any chance of you claiming these back? You must have an overdraft to attract these charges?

Not including food travel clothes birthdays christmas...the list goes on

Total £1354
Income £1100 Is this from working, or benefits? Do you get money from your ex? It might be worth looking at entitledto.co.uk to see if you are entitled to any other benefits such as Tax Credits, etc.

Plus I have two kids who don't deserve to suffer for my mistakes

I'm 45 years old and i cry myself to sleep at night

Look up Payplan/CCCS and see if they can help out. Good luck!

mjh1977

7% is an expensive mortgage, can you reduce this in June, or even remortgage for more so you can pay off GE? A mortgage is 'good debt' at least, and 5.5% cheaper than GE

alex2005

Rockefella

You think YOU'RE stupid! I'm ashamed to say I CAN beat that...

Mortgage £450
N Rock loan 245
Abbey CC £110
Halifax CC £100
Amex CC £10
Lloyds TSB CC £10
Amazon CC £90
Council Tax £100
Gas/ Elec £60
Phone £15
Water £32
TV Licence £13
Life Insurance £60 (daren't cancel it, it's the only chance of being debt free)
Internet £14
Bank Charges £45

Not including food travel clothes birthdays christmas...the list goes on

Total £1354
Income £1100

Plus I have two kids who don't deserve to suffer for my mistakes

I'm 45 years old and i cry myself to sleep at night


well after reading lots of useful advice i think we both ought to be contacting cccs and getting some help. i did have a good cry yesterday but i am not not gonna let this kill my spirit for life. Luckily due to my age i do not feel i'm missing out on anything by not going out at nights. I do work so mix with adults on my shift work and do have grandchild which id dote on. i did not buy any christmas presents for my family this year although did make token edible gifts which my friend bought the ingrediants for. i would obviously love to buy the odd thing for my grandson but i know again due to age that the best thing i can give him is my time and my love. my mother picks up nice wool from charity shops which I do make him jumpers with. i love charity shops and its amazing what you can pick up in jumble sales.

lets do this together i'm going to hold out for 2 weeks if no lodger by then i will contact cccs and get the ball rolling. please let me know how you do.

Verbatim

Hi Alex (and Rockefella),

Hope you're both feeling positive today and I hope lots of keen would be lodgers come your way.

If you're offering the smallest room you might find it more difficult to rent it out. Good luck with it though.

NastyMatt

Alex2005 - do you need the mobile phone? £15 per month. How about you cancel it.. put that £15 a month away until you have enough to buy a pay as you go.

Don't put any credit on it just have it for incoming calls.

You might find after a few months of saving for it you don't actually need it.

climbgirl

CLAPTON wrote:

to my mind you can't continue as you are,

firstly you are spending more that your income, you must be spending a little on food, you must sometimes need some clothes, a little for socialising, you say you have a car, so presumably you must have to tax it and there are other things i'm sure you are actually spending


i would suggest

try to get a lodger and give it say 3 months
during this time start a spending diary and really write down everything you spend. also think about all the other things you spend in a year.be brutally honest..surely there must be a few presents, some xmas expenses, car etc, the odd haircut, cloths...and life has to be worth living.
after that work out a new SOA and if it doesn't add up think about selling and renting.

I would agree, this absolutely can't continue, you simply can't spend more than what goes out for any sustainable period of time.

I'm not sure though that the lodger is going to make all the difference. That will bring you £300 a month if you get what you're asking - but some of that surely has to go on food and living as you say, so there isn't going to be much left over to really make a dent in these debts.

I think selling up and starting over is a good suggestion. But I'd also suggest the OP calls CCCS or Payplan as soon as possible to talk over the options.

joolee_2

angelavdavis wrote:

water 30.44 - are you on a meter? I pay £19 for three adults per month.

wow im impressed and interested how you get such a small bill for water? we are a family of 5 - 2 adults 2 teenage girls and a 1 yr old so its busy in the bathroom but i reckon our bills is over £200 for 6 months - not sure without checking but its loads more than £19/month - how do you do it?