Detailed Info on my debt, incomings and outgoings

chantilly_bex

Hi all
As requested by a few people, here are my facts and figures.

DEBT

BARCLAYCARD £733.77
CAHOOT £1050.91
CAHOOT £5122.38
CAHOOT £1097.95
CAPITAL ONE £222.75
CITI BANK £201.31
HFC BANK £10,756.59
LITTLEWOODS £474.94
OPEN AND DIRECT £702.54
RELIABLE COLLECTIONS (WAS A CATALOGUE, SIMPLY BE) £1034.66

GRAND TOTAL £21,357.80


INCOME

HUSBAND £950 PER MONTH AFTER TAX

ME £270 PER MONTH (MADE UP OF SSP AND CHILDMINDING MONEY)

TOTAL £1220

OUTGOINGS

MORTAGE £388
HUSBANDS TRAVEL £125
INSURANCES £80
BROADBAND (HUBBY NEEDS FOR HIS JOB) £17
SKY BASIC PACKAGE £14
HEALTH COSTS PRESCRIPTIONS ETC £30
HOUSEKEEPING, SHOPPING ETC £250
HOME PHONE £25
MY MOBILE £10
HUBBY MOBILE £25
RATES (COUNCIL TAX HERE IN NORTHERN IRELAND) £27
ELECTRIC (WE'RE IN ARREARS) £50
OIL £35


GRAND TOTAL £1076


LEAVES US WITH £144

But that list doesn't include things like birthdays, social occasions, haircuts, clothes, other necessities.

So what does everyone think??????
Thanks for taking the time to help me out, for the first time in years I feel like i'm not alone.

chantilly_bex

just thought i should explain my hubby's traveling costs
we don't drive he gets the bus and works 30 miles away from home, plus the buses in northern ireland cost a bloody fortune

deemy2004

If you shopped at NETTO then your food bill may be halved saving maybe £120 per month

Magentasue

First of all , I'm not preaching because I have more debt than I want and have things like Sky but I am reducing my debt and can afford a few luxuries. I don't think you can. If I had your debt and income, Sky would go. So would the mobiles. I don't spend less than £250 a month on food but that's for two adults, two teenagers, two children, one dog and three cats. And £30 a month seems a lot for chemist bills. If you have some health problem that necessitates regulat prescriptions, can you get a 'season ticket' to help cut that?

Pollen

You need to seek advice from CAB as to freezing interest on some of these and seeking a logical repayment plan. You could do it yourself and negotiate a repayment plan only giving to each as you can afford. Look at pre-payment for prescriptions. What are the insurance payments for.? Can husband use bus pass? Financial clearance can be done but don't pay for debt advice, initally use your CAB, and help on this site. Thinking of you.

chantilly_bex

Hi all

Ok here goes
Hubby does use a bus pass, thats discounted, should be £147.
As for Sky its positively the only luxury we have, we never go out or buy alcohol etc, and we are thinkin of getting shot.
We do our shoppin at Iceland gettin all the buy one get one frees, and get basics at tesco however i'm allergic to nuts and all things that go near nuts and you'd be surprised how much that rules out for me, eg most breads, spreads, biscuits, even certain types of burgers and sausages, i know that sounds crazy.
our shopping bill also includes food for 2 cats and 2 dogs, as is part of our insurances, but getting rid of them isnt an option as anyone with pets will know and having been stung twice when my cat had a leg injury i thought insurance for them all was the wisest course of action.
the advice i've had so far goes along the lines of a Low Start Payment Plan with CCCS, or selling our home to release the little equity we have and renting for a while. We could rent for about £30 a month less than our mortgage.
any more questions or advice please let me know

chantilly_bex

sorry, the prescriptions is the combined cost of me and hubbys.

Magentasue

Only my opinion, but I reckon you'd be better off paying your pet insurance premiums into a savings account or using it to help pay off a credit card and then use it to pay any vet bills. That way, if you don't need it, the money hasn't just gone.

Pets are an expensive hobby if you're in debt, especially four of them - I know you can't get rid of them. But Sky is different, even if it's only temporary you could keep the dish and box and get freeview channels.

I don't even know how much a prescription costs because I haven't had one for years but £30 a months seems such a lot - I don't think I've paid that in my whole lifetime!

As for food, are you saying that you only shop for two adults and pets? Take a look at the Moneysaving Old Style board - people there seem to shop for a family on £30 a week (or less!). There's a wealth of information on there on how to make cutbacks.

Edinburghlass_2

I am sure on the Telephone Boards we could get the £25 a month for telephone down considerably

Can you let me know who you are with and what the £25 covers?

Malestrom

If you are a couple with pets but no children, then you are spending way too much on food. Changing your phone costs and cancelling Sky will also increase what you have to spend on your debts. I can see your point about the pet insurance and both your own point of view and MagentaSue's are valid, how much is the total of your pet insurance monthly? (I gather the £80 quoted includes buildings & contents)

What is your total debt payment on the Low Start Plan and when does it increase?

krazyk

I have a pet dog, sadly I cannot keep him with me here so my parents are looking after him (he's a family dog anyway) but we've hatched this idea on paying into a savings account (say, £10 each a month) instead of paying for pet insurance. We found that most pet insurance seemed to cover you from a certain point and above, which seemed pointless as our pets would be under this figure. From having a pet dog previously, we never had insurance, we did have pet costs but the insurance would still have been dearer over the whole lenth.

So putting money into a savings account sounds a great idea and if we don't need it then we can use the money for something else instead of wasting it away and paying to an insurance company. Wish I could do this with my contents insurance. :-)

One downside is that if have, unfortunately, need the pet money at a very early stage then you wouldn't have built up enough funds yet.

K