Dire Situation

jared01_2

Single dad, 1 dd. SOA below as advised by my sister, she is on here but not sure , who she is....

Basically exOH pays nothing to DD, and we are now in dispute with council re change in circumstances, wtc and ctc as she gets the cb but dd is with me 5 nights a week.

Car is a luxury but was bought before exOH wandered away, so now is very expensive but not really worth any different from finance, I owe less than 2/3 so apparently they can't take it away yet.....

I need my car for work, self employed cafe own (leased property) cash n carry etc.

exOH doesn't drive hence private fuel costs for DD to visit.

rent is covered by hb, but it may appear that this has been reduced recently (parents are landlord so have advised, council not told me yet)
ct covered by benefit at the moment but have a meeting this week as they dont believe exOH has meoved out and my income is less than 500 squid per month.

i think that DMP is the only option but would like advice on where to start....and what to do next.

The other thing is that on advice from the sister I have included all expenses that i don't normally budget for.......like birthdays etc etc

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 360
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 560
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 920
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 264
Rent.................................... 700
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 97
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 90
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 26
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 32
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 30
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 1741

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 15000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 15000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 12000....(264)......22
Total secured & HP debts...... 12000.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Council Tax....................197.22....10........0
Halifax .......................829.05....10........0
Water (x2).....................336.01....10........0
Total unsecured debts..........1362.28...30........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 920
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,741
Available for debt repayments........... -821
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 30
Amount short for making debt repayments. -851
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 15,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -12,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,362.28
Net Assets.............................. 1,637.72
Created using the SOA calculator at Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Happy to receive all comments, many thanks

J


i only partially own the car and selling it could well result in negative equity as the resale value of the car will not cover the outstanding debt, also my food and clothing estimates are based on recent spending for school uniform etc and with a growing child many clothes are needed, but recently jumble sales are becoming more essential for bargins,k my food budget includesw packed lunches for school etc and are relatively high but are coming down with more frugal purchasing.

i am tied into a deal with calor gas as they own the tank for my house so am unable to switch suppliers, but it heats my house and the hot water which is why our usage is quite high.

amorge

Hello,
I'm new to all this myself too but looking at your SOA a few things stand out
CT - Is this also listed in the unsecured debt? I think I'm correct in saying if so it doesn't need to be in here as well as will be counted twice
Gas - That's a huge amount to be paying, does it include any debt payments with them? If no, shop around
Food - also high for 2 people, I have managed to cut mine to £200 a month and that's for me & two teenagers

I'm sure there will be more experienced people that can advise you.

Anna

bobothebear

You've gotta get rid of that car. Your earning £360 a month and spending £264 on the car loan, Plus £140 car maintenance etc = £400!

There are plenty of decent cars around for less than £1000 which would suit fine for your needs. And not cost £400 a month to run

whitewing

mobile is quite a lot. Call your phone supplier and see if they can give you a cheaper deal.

merlot123

you say your rent is covered by HB, i this included in the £560 benefit figure?

You need to increase your income, how come you only earn £360 per month? what hours do you work for that?

You need to get rid of that car, its a daft amount of money considering your low income.

Welcome to MSE, you are in the right place for help and support.

Niv

Good move by coming here. You look like you need some advice for sure.

Ok, from what you have posted the following can/should be addressed:

gas £90: this is way too high, I can quite understand how 2 ppl can use this on gas a month
Mobile phone £32: Too high, get a pay as you go if you really need a mobile
groceries £200: way too high for two adults you can do it for £120
Clothing £50: Really do I need to say this STOP buying clothes my god £50pm??
Scrap the emergancy fund, your in the emergancy now!

As others have said. that car is costing you way too much. You have to concider getting rid.

Have you missed of the housing benefit?

Sorry if I sound bit blunt but everything I have said is to try and help.

Good luck.

Niv

bonsibabe

didn't want to read and run but my advice would be to get a claim in for child benefit in your name now ... they will check who has DD most and you should get CB paid to you ... you have your daughter the most so you should be getting the benefits for her. You should also try and get some maintenance for her sorted out. I know it's hard but you have to think about you and your daughter first and foremost. Good luck

Trollfever

Sell the car.
The net sale proceeds of £3000 will enable you clear your debts, leaving say £1500 to buy a car for cash.

RAS

Please go over to the Child Support forum and possible benefits (althoguh expect a pasting there).

It is essential that if your daughter sleep with you 5 nights a week, you get the Child benefit. If you fail to do thsi, then you cannot claim the other benefits for her (WTC, ctc) and the benefit requirements are stricter.

You are not responsible got getting your daughter to visit with her mum; it is mum's responsiblity fto make arrangments.

Is mum working? if so, she needs to contribute as much as the CSA requirement.

findingmyownway

Agree with the others regarding getting CSA from your daugher's mum and Child Tax Credits etc sorted.

However, the biggest issue for me is your low income. £360 for a salf employed cafe owner? Is this because you are deliberatley paying yourself a low wage (for tax reasons, ie there is more money in dividends available to you). OR is it because the business is making that little money?

If it is the former then you need to include your true income in a SOA.

If it is the latter then I think you need to take a long look at the viability of your business. Can anything be done to increase profits? If not, perhaps a change of career is in order? Even a minimum wage job would bring in circa 3 times as much per month as you have listed (without the hassles and expenses of running your own business).

Good luck

TotallyBroke

Not a lot I can add from what the others have said.. except..
You say hb covers your rent yet clearly it does not.
You have put hb and ct benefit as £560 per month yet pay £797 for the two bills. Does your council tax bill include the single person discount