Help help help - we don;t know where to turn!

BlushingRose

Thanks folks, I'll try and answer questions here -
We've managed to get our food bill down to about £60 a week from more like £90. We buy using a list each week, and rarely have anything left in the fridge or freezer at the end of the week.
*I* am the other adult - and no. Well, I've been trying but without luck so far. Interviews, even, are few and far between atm.
The costs for house insurance was from a comparison website last year, perhaps we should have another look at that then.


Re-posted SOA -

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1993.84
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 22.5
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2016.34

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 662
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 87
Electricity............................. 27
Gas..................................... 23
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 22
Mobile phone............................ 5
TV Licence.............................. 14
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 21.94
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 5
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 19.92
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 15
Life assurance ......................... 80.19
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1127.05


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 120000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 120500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 90000....(662)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 90000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
personal bank loan.............29699.....354.......22.23
Capital One CC.................8933......270.......25.85
MBNA CC........................6500......170.......0
Barclaycard CC.................1293......10........14.9
Total unsecured debts..........46425.....804.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,016.34
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,127.05
Available for debt repayments........... 889.29
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 804
Amount left after debt repayments....... 85.29

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 120,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -90,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -46,425
Net Assets.............................. -15,925

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

buffster_2

You said you couldn't change phone/internet provider as you're in Hull. Virgin offer a broadband and phone package within the Hull area for £13.90 per month, which is less than you're paying. Are you with them at the moment? if so, you could phone them and try to negotiate a reduced deal, possibly by saying you want to switch to Sky. If you're not with them just now, you could maybe switch and save yourself some cash there.

Nargleblast

Hello Blushing Rose and well done for recognising that you have reached the point of no return on your finances. I would echo the advice of another poster who said you should get your bank account changed asap. Do it tomorrow - or at least before you default on any payments to any creditors. Get wages and benefits swapped over and all standing orders and Direct debits, and inform your new bank you do not want overdraft facilities but you do want a debit card. Hopefully you will be able to do this. If it is too late, and your credit status has gone right down, then you can still change bank accounts but might not qualify for a debit card account, just a Basic Bank Account. At least get the ball rolling - you will need a new account and it must be with a bank where you have no previous connection or accounts/credit cards. Once you have done this, you can work on your SOA and then I would suggest talking to someone at CCCS or Payplan, or at least going to their websites and making a start on sorting things out. You will get through this, it will be tough, but it will ultimately be worth it. Good luck.

BlushingRose

Buffster - I believe that Virgin only use cabled area for their broadband/telephone services. We have no cabled service in Hull. Also, we cannot switch to Sky either.

Nargle - Thanks. Re: changing banks, what would happen to the current overdraft on the account we've already got? We're right up to it's limit so should we switch, we'd immediately be defaulting on that, wouldn't we?

sickasachip13

Yes, you'd be defaulting on it, but if you did go onto a DMP then it would form part of the overall debt.

BlushingRose

We do really want to try and avoid defaulting on anything - at the moment we're in 'good' debt, so to speak. Are we fooling ourselves?

merlot123

BlushingRose wrote: »

We do really want to try and avoid defaulting on anything - at the moment we're in 'good' debt, so to speak. Are we fooling ourselves?

Going to be honest with you, you are in denial about the "good debt", credit card/loan debt at your current level compared to your income is NOT good debt, you need to take advice from a debt charity as soon as tomorrow.

This will not be resolved overnight, but what I can tell you is you have done the correct thing by acknowledging your situation now, and whilst your debts are high,I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

Are you with Kingston communications? I cannot understand why the government has not stepped in to offer Hull residents a choice.

merlot123

BlushingRose

Merlot, yes we are and unfortunately they haven't allowed cabling or BT into Hull. They say they're not stopping them but apparently there aren't enough people in Hull to warrant the other companies spening the money to come in (or something)

I suppose we've been thinking of it as 'good debt' because we've not defaulted, not been chased by anyone or anything like that.

sickasachip13

Hi,

To be brutally honest, to me (and I'm not an expert by any means), your debt just doesn't look sustainable or manageable. Your debt is actually growing almost on a daily basis, if you're using your credit cards to pay for basics - this isn't a criticism, it's just fact, and we were in a similar situation for a long time. It was horrendous and it was only when all our sources of credit dried up that finally we accepted what the true situation was - it was utterly dreadful and, in hindsight, I wished we'd done it a lot earlier.

We hadn't defaulted on anything at the point of going onto a DMP, had a great credit history and it was very, very scary. But we had been kidding ourselves for a long time (following my redundancy).

I genuinely don't know how you can protect your credit history in your situation right now. Is there a particular reason this is so important - I'm not being flippant, I just wondered.

You seriously need to get professional advice

BlushingRose

Sorry, just had a panic cry :-(

My OH has written to the bank and asked if there's anything else they can do for us to help, even just not charging us fees if we go over the overdraft limit for example. They have, in the past, been very helpful but now they're telling us that 'computer says no' when we ask for any favours.

Could you give me a link to your blog? I'd love to read it.

How long is one's credit score !!!!!!ed after doing stuff like this? Is it ever repaired? Can we keep the mortage, and if we move bank accounts, we'll instantly have defaulted, something we've managed to avoid up until now?
Also (and I may have missed the point here) but how will moving the account help? The outgoings are equal or more than the incomings, so surely we'll just get straight into bother with a new bank?

Sorry for all the questions (and sorry if I sound defensive) but I (we) want it all clear in my mind.
Thanks