Help please :(

NicoleWild

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 750
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1013
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 20
Total monthly income.................... 1783

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 700
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 113
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 70
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 33.7
Telephone (land line)................... 60.12
Mobile phone............................ 25.5
TV Licence.............................. 27.1
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 450
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 450
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 80
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2149.42


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
Capital one ...................900.......50.15.....0
Total unsecured debts..........900.......50.15.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,783
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,149.42
Available for debt repayments........... -366.42
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 50.15
Amount short for making debt repayments. -416.57

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -900
Net Assets.............................. -900



Just had a letter from Eon I need to pay over £1,000 for my gas and electric and they are seeking legal action now. I can't get a loan and the only option I can think of now is to pay for 4 weeks worth of shopping, pay my council tax, bills etc and then pay for the bill out of my bank which means I'll be in an overdraft ( I get money weekly, fortnightly and monthly), and just pay that off and be out of money.

I can't get a loan and dont' know what else to do

julieclav

if you ring the company (btw i am not an accountant or anything like that) but I am a working mum who has been a single mum and broke in the past. If you offer to pay anything to a company, I am sure they cannot do anything as u r offering to pay to them, explain your situation. See if u have can transfer any credit card balances to 0% cards if u have any outstanding balances, then cut your old cards up. Dont use them its too easy to get into a debt with them and dont use finance. I notice your phone bill it very high. I went onto talk talk where we have free calls 24hrs a day and internet less than £30 month and found their customer service very excellent. There is such thing as a crisis loan which you will have to contact your council or social services for - but u only get it once. Dont got buying xmas presents this year, we aren't as I am off ill and have been for months so my wage has gone very low so my family know they are not getting presents. As martin always says, if u dont need it, dont buy it. Make bigger meals and freeze the left overs. U will get through this, I did. If you rent have u asked your council for help with your rent? Also they will tell you what else you are entitled to - working tax credit, child tax credits. Go to your citizen advise beaurau (dont know how to spell it I normally just put CAB). I have lived on beans on toast and you will get out of this. Just dont bury your head in the sand and contact all the companies you cannot pay and offfer them ANYTHING you can afford. You can still enjoy christmas without spending silly money. Your grocery bill - is high and we have 3 teens in our house. I go to the bargain shops first ie. home bargains, B&M etc then anything else we go to asda where u can then do a price comparison on line AND if u have spent over £40, u get a £5 off voucher. Also, major bargains on your market especially at the end of a saturday as they need to get rid of their fresh fish etc. I also have bought some gorgeous dresses in Charity shops x

DorsetGirl_2

Can you call them and set up a DD to pay off the arrears going forward as well as paying towards the next bill.

In your SOA you have put £70 each for Gas and Elec - are you paying these?

What are the other Child related expenses? Do you get Child Benefit or tax credits or is that included in your income?

NicoleWild

Yes we're paying the gas and electric but nothingi s getting paid off as we keep getting bill after bill and we're never going to get out of the arrears


Child benefit and tax is included in my income.

Child related expenses are dinner money, as we don't always have food in the house, and then my partner pays maintenance,

Cynical_Monkey

Hi,

First things first... Your SOA doesn't look too bad but I wonder if there are a lot of over-estimates in there!

Your pets section is interesting - If your bills are really £960 per year then consider buying insurance. Why are the bills this high?

You have no money but you spend £600 per year on clothes?

You have 2 children but get no tax credits?

£450 a month on groceries is also at the top end of what you need to spend - Have you considered reviewing what you're buying and meal planning to make this cheaper?

TV License shouldn't be costing you £325.20 a year - if it is, you're due a rebate.

Home phone costs are verging on Amazing! Is this an all in one TV/Phone/Broadband package and if so, can it be cut down?

Lastly but by no means least, the Gas and Electric - £140 a month is just silly. What plan are you on and is this amount including overpayments? Do you know what your monthly or yearly usage is as there is 100% guaranteed to be a cheaper option.

With regards to the bills, double check that the correct meter number is on the statements and do a manual reading to make sure everything is accurate - You can then contact E.On and arrange a repayment plan by stating that you're having financial difficulties and although you'd like to pay the bill, you simply can't afford to pay it all at once.

As a short term solution, Capital One cards are normally 56 days interest free so assuming you have the credit limit to cope, one solution would be to use that to fill this short term financial issue. If you do head down this route, please consider how bad things will be if you don't pay this month off before 56 days - a better option will be to go into your overdraft as you don't appear to have any debts at all other than £900 owing to Capital One

antonia1

NicoleWild wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 750
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1013
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 20
Total monthly income.................... 1783

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 700 Is this good value where you are?
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 113
Electricity............................. 70 Seems high - is this arrears?
Gas..................................... 70 as above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 33.7
Telephone (land line)................... 60.12 Very high - are you sure this is correct?
Mobile phone............................ 25.5
TV Licence.............................. 27.1 I don't think this is right - a TV licence is £145.50 per year, £12.13 per month
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 450 Way too high for a family of four - pop over to old style and you can cut this in half.
Clothing................................ 50 This is too high - wear what you have and when the kids grow out of stuff, ebay the old clothes and buy new ones at primark etc
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 450 Go for packed lunches instead - again see Old Style board for help. Perhaps separate maintenance so that is clearer as well.
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 Should have something here
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 80 Is this best value, do you shop around?
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 You really should have this
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2149.42


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
Capital one ...................900.......50.15.....0
Total unsecured debts..........900.......50.15.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,783
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,149.42
Available for debt repayments........... -366.42
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 50.15
Amount short for making debt repayments. -416.57

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -900
Net Assets.............................. -900

At the moment you don't have very many debts, but if you are spending more than your income its not going to stay that way for long! Have you used the benefit checker to make sure you're claiming everything you are entitled to?

quintwins

£450 is over twice what we pay for shopping for a family of 5, even if you were eating out alot this is still very high, maybe try a few cheap meals for a month or 2 like spag bol and sheperds pie, make a list of what you have in and plan meals around it, if your stuck post on the old style board they could make a meal out of anything over there, if your anything like me you'll have enough to last you the month if not longer, i could even manage xmas dinner as theres ham and chicken in my freezer

if your spending £450 on shopping why do you not have enough food in for pack lunches? make good use of your freezer, make and freeze scones and cheese twists, and readymade homemade sandwichs (cheese and ham freezes well) then lift out in the morning and they'll be defrosted by lunchtime, you can also freeze yogurts but they take slightly longer to defrost, bananas are a fab lunch box food as they keep for ages in the fridge and cost about 9-12p each

is the interest rate on your capital one card really 0%? *doesn't really help now i was just wondering*

if your having a few tight months due to your unexpected bill i wouldn't be adding any to a clothes pot, even if your kids are young and have a growth spurt you could get enought to last a month or 2 for £20 on ebay £600 a year is alot

i don't think your elec and gas is high but then my elec is about £30 a week and my heatings oil so £550 a year

your phone bills high but your maybe in contract so nothing you can do we pay less than that and we have infinety, assuming you have free calls on your mobile use it to phone mobiles, and your house phone to phone landlines, and never do 1471 and press 3 as they charge if you press 3, i know this sounds silly but sometimes we do these things without thinking, i have done this before myself