Relisted post for more advice please help with advise on my debts!!

CLAPTON

can you say what your average overtime is

also do you spend anything on
holidays,
presents,
kids school lunches,
xmas costs
car tax
MOTs
car servicing
and anything else you can think of
we are talking about everything you will spend over the next 12 months ..everything


its really important to get all these costs identified as its not really clear whether there is a short fall and is so how much

blu1974

Hi there no holidays i cant really afford one at the moment.
At the moment my average wage with overtime is between £1350 to £1600 depending on how much i do but if i do say 2 staurdays that would be about £an extra £160 on my £1200 so £1360 ish.We make my little lad sandwiches for his school lunch which comes out of our shopping car tax has been included in my secure homes payment which i have listed above my mots has just been done on my one car luckly it only cost me £50 in all thats it i have never ever missed a single payment on anythink that i owe the problem is that were never left with alot of money for a holiday or just to go out have a drink plus our wages are paid in on different dates my partners is on the 26th of every month and mine at the last working day of the month all the other money we get like the kids family tax credits and child benefit is the middle of the month so its never one lum which dont help sorry if i have confused things but if you need anymore answers ill reply asap and take evry bit of advice in thanks again for replying

CLAPTON

this is how i see your figures although i think your spending figures aren't complete but


house value 130000

mortgage 75000
first plus 60300
total 135300

so no equity in the house so a remortgage is unlikely


income
1200
1050
43
126
overtime 150 on average
total income 2569


spending including mortgage and secured debts but excluding unsecured debts

mortgage 453
firstplus 654
childcare 260
h&c 49
mobile 25
tv/bb/phone 25
groceries 230
odds 25
bills 314
car insurance 24 actually paid yearly
car insurance 20
petrol 65
kids 15
kids SO 10
kids pocket money24
clothes 50
hair 10
takeways 25
MOT 10


total spend 2193

surplus for debts 376

Debts (unsecured)

LTSB loan 5240 118 15.40% APR
LTSB cc 1800 40 19.4% APR
virgin 402 25 24.3% APR
mbna 2592 30 0
capital one 1113 30 33.1% APR
total debt 11147
total monhtly repayment 243

so overall surplus after debts is £133

conclusions

it seems you should have a little left over each month of 133 but i doubt you really have this.


a. start keeping a spending diary so you both can see where your money goes

b. for annual or oneoff things work out everything you will spend over the next 12 months , divide by 12 and SAVE that amount each month in a savings account so you have it available when you need it and DONOT spend on the CC. I'm not convinced you spend nothing on presents, xmas, household goods, car servicing etc but it's for you to really think about these costs

c. stop using CCs... if you dont have it dont spend it. think save first, spend second

d. have a 'eat from the cupboard month'.. i.e try to use up everything you have in the fridge /freezer etc and save a small money float so you wont need to use CC again.


e. try to increase income..work some more overtimte if available and try to build up a bit more savings.

f. cut out all luxory spending..takeaways etc until you have that little money float.


best of luck

blu1974

Thanks for your advice can i ask you though i was going to see the bank about my loan and credit card if i could get the intrest froze etc and my partner was going to ask her credit card companys etc i was also going to get rid of secure homes the £314 i pay them to pay my council tax and e,ectric water gas tv licence car tax etc.I was thinking of paying my council tax my self and asking to go on a gas and electric meter also then budget my self and put moeny aside for my water and tv licence.The first pplus loan is £71,000 £11,000 of this is PPI insurance first plus tell me that if i pay fthe remainder of the policy which is 3years and 11 months they will give me back £15,000 this i would then use to pay back on my loan and in the mean time why im paying it im also paying of more on my mortgage then i would see if i could sell my house and clean my slat thanks agin for your reply ure very helpfull.

CLAPTON

to get your loans/CC interest frozen you will need to show them you can't afford to pay your minimum payments i.e. they will ask for your SOA (or an I&E income and expenditure).

now at the moment your SOA shows you can pay the minimum payments so they are unlikely to agree.

also if they freeze interest for any prolonged period they will deem that you have defaulted on your agreement and will terminate your credit agreements etc.

they will probably default your a/cs and your credit record will be trashed for 6 years... this may of course be a good thing as you couldn't get any more credit

I would suggest you try my suggests for a month before deciding what to do.

luckylady45

Have you thought about going to citizen advice I think you could really do with their help.
There are online sites that you can print letter templates from when writing to CC companies asking about reducing or stopping interest.
HTH

hypno06

CLAPTON wrote:

to get your loans/CC interest frozen you will need to show them you can't afford to pay your minimum payments i.e. they will ask for your SOA (or an I&E income and expenditure).

now at the moment your SOA shows you can pay the minimum payments so they are unlikely to agree.

also if they freeze interest for any prolonged period they will deem that you have defaulted on your agreement and will terminate your credit agreements etc.

they will probably default your a/cs and your credit record will be trashed for 6 years... this may of course be a good thing as you couldn't get any more credit

I would suggest you try my suggests for a month before deciding what to do.

I agree with the above, while it seems possible to get through this on paper, I would give it a damn good try, focussing really well on your spending diary etc. This may well, with a little help from the OS board, and subtle changes yourself such as the secure homes bit, be enough to get you on track and in control.

If you are able to do this, then great, work with the snowball calculator to find your debt free date, and you will keep your credit record intact. As house prices increase hopefully over the next few years you will gain equity in your property again and be where you want to be.

However, if having tried all the above it really is not working for you, then you know that you are going down a different route for the best reasons, not because you have jumped in too early.

I hope that makes sense, my words don't seem to be flowing so well this morning!

blu1974

Hi thanks again for your advice i have took some posative action on my situation i have got my self in i really feel i can beat this and have set out some targets for me and my family.Firstly i have opted not to take out a loan for the credit cards instead we have shifted it all to marks and spencers with far lower intrest rates all of the credit cards have been chopped and that in its self is pleaseing.We have contacted our gas and electricty council tax tv and water etc and worked out a budget instead of the secure homes payment and its come out we have saved our selfs about £100 i have also requested in writing of first plus that after 3 years and 11 months if theres no claim on the insurance that they will refund me £15,000 either to me or deducted from my seattlement figure with first plus.I have decide to bin our second car and have been given a pedel bike to get me to work which in the long run will help me get fit so theres a bonus we are also considerin down grading our family car and with some cash thats left pay off the credit cards i have took the advice of another post on here where we are gonig to eat our cupboard and our freezer for the month instaed of blowing money on a big shop the procides will go in our jars,we are also going to check out cheaper supermarkets aldi lydle etc in and im going to do as much over time when i can but still spend time with the family in all i feel i can do this and aim to get through the next 4 years and stick to it if all goes to plan i will get my house back as in the equity so wish me luck and a big thanks to everyone who has helped me as in advice your all super stars thanks again and ill keep you informed 3years and 11 months to go

Uniscots97

You mentioned you have an Orange mobile on contract. Why not take up their free broadband offer then? As long as you have a contract phone the broadband is free! Then get a freeview box (try freecycle) and cancel your cable that would free up 25 quid a month.

blu1974

My partner works for telewest broad band we have now down graded so we get free digital t.v and free broadband and our phone line is going down to £9 month with staff discount thats with free evening calls so in all saved £16 we dont really use the phone in the day as were both working.On the orange deal you have to be on a contract £35 a month to get the free broadband also but hey thanks for pointing this out to me but as i said luckly my partner gets us the discount with cable thanks again and if you have any other advise to help me im all ears