Newbie Advice wanted

whautot

Hello All,

I come to you guys head in hands really, I would never claim to be good with money but I have just turned 30 and would like to try and sort myself out. I have any previous occasions attempted to go down routes to clear my debt but for one reason or another it just hasn't happened. I have in the last month been speaking to the Money group and I have even paid them my first month but I am unsure how competent they are due to a lack of feedback I get from them. I have looked at CCCS and payplan and these seem the better options but was told that an IVA would wipe 4K off my debt. any advice would be great. Please ask anything I have forgotten and PS I know pay day loans are the worst thing in the world!! SOA as required:

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 768
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1868
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 450
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 110
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 350
Clothing................................ 80
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 160
Childcare/nursery....................... 64
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1676

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Council Tax....................3700......150.......0
Various payday loans...........2000......0.........0
Water..........................2500......0.........0
JD Williams....................200.......0.........0
EDF............................300.......0.........0
Citi Finance...................2600......0.........0
Welcome Finance................2500......0.........0
Barclays.......................300.......0.........0
Lloyds.........................200.......0.........0
3G.............................300.......0.........0
Orange.........................450.......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........15050.....150.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,868
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,676
Available for debt repayments........... 192
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 150
Amount left after debt repayments....... 42
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -15,050
Net Assets.............................. -15,050
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.[/font]

Tjrw1985

Stop paying the money group. They are a fee charging company and they will take goodness knows how much in fees.

You have put Council Tax under unsecured debt, this needs to come out of there as it is a priority debt and cannot be used for IVA purposes, so you would not qualify for an IVA as this would bring your debt to below £15k.

I would use CCCS or payplan as they are free services to you.

Just ask if you need anything else.

findingmyownway

I don't know anything about the 'money group' but I do know that you can get FREE and FABULOUS adebt advice from CCS/payplan and so if you are paying any kind of service charge at all then don't use them.

Comments on SOA:


Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1100 any scope for overtime?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0 can he/she work? perhaps evenings in a supermarket when you are home, assuming she has the kids during the day
Benefits................................ 768 have you checked 'entitledto' website to check you're being paid correctly?
Other income............................ 0 this could be improved by selling on ebay? old kids clothes and toys usually go well. is there anything to show for the debt which could be sold?
Total monthly income.................... 1868
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 450
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 110 you absolutely cannot afford this. cancel.
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 350 this is quite high for a family of 5. if you head over to the 'old style' boards you will be able to get help on reducing it by at least £100/month. You will need your OH's backing for this as it requires cooking for scratch, meal planning etc.
Clothing................................ 80 £80/month? On what? Cut out clothes for yourself, anything the kids really NEED can probably be bought from the supermarkets for les than £20/month.
Petrol/diesel........................... 120 can this be reduced? only you know how much is neccessary journeys to work etc
Road tax................................ 0 if you run a car you need to budget for this. or is it a company car?
Car Insurance........................... 0 and this ^
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 and this ^
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 160 what is this for?
Childcare/nursery....................... 64 what is this for? if your partner is not working do you need it?
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1676

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0 does the petrol go on a company car?
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Council Tax....................3700......150.......0 this is a priority debt. are these repayments agreed with council?
Various payday loans...........2000......0.........0
Water..........................2500......0.........0
JD Williams....................200.......0.........0
EDF............................300.......0.........0
Citi Finance...................2600......0.........0
Welcome Finance................2500......0.........0
Barclays.......................300.......0.........0
Lloyds.........................200.......0.........0
3G.............................300.......0.........0
Orange.........................450.......0.........0
You need to find out the APRs of the debts... are you really paying nothing to most of them? CCS/payplan will help you work out what to do best.
Total unsecured debts..........15050.....150.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,868
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,676
Available for debt repayments........... 192
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 150
Amount left after debt repayments....... 42 If you take account of the advice on your SOA I think this could be upped by at least £300, plus anything you can increase your income by.

whautot

Can you please advise if PP or CCCS will check m credit files to ensure all my debts are included? Or is it all dependant on what I advise. Just worried I may miss something.

Tjrw1985

No they won't check your credit file. You will need to get this yourself.

The onus is on you to be as honest with them as you can. As the poster says above there are things that can be cut back on, however I don't agree with the questioning of housekeeping. £350 seems fine for a family of 5 as I budget for just 2 of us, cooking from scratch and we still apend £240 a month.

It is a long hard road but you will get there.

whautot

I actually lease the car through my work, the money comes out before I am taxed and the only cost to me after I am paid is fuel. The virgin package I have is I admit excessive but I work a lot from home and need a good connection as I do a support role, and it's the only good thing I have. The council tax repayment is through a bailiff and yes I do sometimes get overtime but not clear when how much I will get