new and in need of some help :(

piglet39

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.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 788
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1888

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 105 Is this right? Is this what you pay weekly or monthly
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0 What should it be. Can you rely on this being paid for you?
Electricity............................. 52
Gas..................................... 52
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 50
Mobile phone............................ 70
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 35 Can't afford this honey - maybe Freeview?
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 320 This is high - me and three strapping lads £180 - pop over to o/s board/drop a brand etc
Clothing................................ 0 Need to have something here
Petrol/diesel........................... 240 This is pretty high - As its partners vehicle fuel too can he help you out/pay himself?
Road tax................................ 19
Car Insurance........................... 98 How essential is your car?
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 Anything here?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 Really should have something here
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 Cut this down for the mo - I know it's hard with kids but if they are old enough then it does no harm explaining why and if they are young they really won't know that you have reduced your budget. For anyone else - just be straight and explain money is tight
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 80
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1218.12


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
rent...........................2000......20....... .0 I have been here
council tax....................3448......0.........0 Ditto above
Total unsecured debts..........5448......20........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,888
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,218.12
Available for debt repayments........... 669.88 Where is this going?
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 20
Amount left after debt repayments....... 649.88

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,448
Net Assets.............................. -5,448


Ok - my thoughts above and there will be lots more experienced peeps than I to give more advice.

Honey - I'm sure things seem bleak at the mo and you are obviously aware that the rent and council tax are a priority but I can't help thinking there is a bit more to this:)

Did NDL set a budget with your council tax payments (what you would normally be expected to pay. Without these figs your budget is a bit skewed.

You have a large surplus - do you know where this is going at the moment. I'm going to say start a spending diary and I'm sure many others will but this is an awful lot of money which is disappearing.

Your post stood out to me - I too was in serious rent and council tax arrears although the figs were £3k rent and £2K council tax, Bailiffs knocking on the door etc etc. but it CAN be sorted.

Piglet x

ambercharlie10

welshone27 wrote: »

Well done on facing up to it.x
im sorry but i have to ask, if you and your partner live appart why do you pay for him mobile and why is he on your insurance? I could be wrong ofcourse but it seems you are living together but not declairing it. this is an annonomous forum so if this is the case, theres no need to hide it.
sorry if anyone thinks im out or order, not my intention. i just think its to obvious.

Im new to this myself also, this site is amazing and has helped me a lot. i hope you get the advice you need :-)

hi no thats not the case, its a bit long and slightly personal but as you say its annoyumous but basically me and my partner split up in 2009 when i was pregnant with out second child, it was a shock to both as our daughter was just one! my partner then recived a facebook message (off all things) from his fathers step son, my partner has not seen his dad for over 15 years or heard from him, he found out alot of awful stuff, and basically that the things his mum told him growing up werent true, and he found out he had a half brother, we moved into this house with no heating in -15 weather my dog strung 9 puppies on us and he lost his job.... and stress was high!! we spent months argueing before we decided was better for us and my daughter to spend some time apart, and we then realised we got on better and our daughter wasnt seeing us argue, time passed i had our son and we stayed seperated, but friends and then its only been these past couple of months we decided to get close again, and i suffered bad anxiety and suffer with emetophobia and needed some support, he didnt move back in as we didnt want to end up argueing and ruining what we had again, until his mum who who lives with has decided to move out of the flat she rents and move in a pub with her new partner, leaving rob to pay all the bills... so basically we have to decide to stay living apart paying 2 houses or cut our loses and try and again and put his money into my sinking ship????

sorry for the life story :eek:

ambercharlie10

eyeopener2 wrote: »

Good, you have addressed one problem and sorted it out. So we move onto the others.

Is this a private landlord you owe the rent to or the council/housing association?

How much is your car worth? Could you sell it and buy cheaper?

I think there are restrictions on Debt Relief Orders on cars worth over £1000 (please someone correct me on that though).

E2

no it housing association, car is proberbly only worth about £700 maybe less and does need some work so would be lucky to get much

there is a restriction on cars over £1000

just spoke to debtline, and sorted a new budget sheet and also adviced me to offer council tax £152 + an extra £100 which according to my budget sheet should be more than possible. so from this day on i live to my budget sheet... and a money diary too

eyeopener2

Yay!

Now, we can advise you on any budget things, how to save money on cooking (go to the Money Saving Old Style Board for that).

Once you begin to live on a buget it can be difficult a first but you soon get used to it. Especially when you see your debts coming down. It becomes a habit like anything else.

Money/spending diaries are invaluable. you will be amazed where it all goes.

Keep posting and ask advice everyday if need be.

E2

welshone27

Ah I understand now. Hopefully you can see why it came across different.

I will say though, as you are claiming as a single person he should really be paying you money for the children. Also you said he has a company van? I take it he's working then. You shouldn't be using the money you have to pay for his phone and insurance. You need your money for you and your children to live on. Ofcourse should he move back in, adjust everything accordingly.

£320 is a lot for groceries for one adult and two children. You could easily cut atleast £150 off this by meal planning. That way you can make a list of what you need to buy and you'll know what's in the house to prepare food. Saves those little trips to the shop for that one thing that magicaly turns into 10 things (me do this, noooo never.....:silenced:).

Mobile bills are very high, as is the entertainment and presents. Cut them right down for now to help make a dent in your debts.

What I done to get me started was write out a whole month and mark off all the days we have money. Then to the side of that I wrote out all debts and minimum repayments as well as bills. I then played around and slotted everything into place through the month. You need to budget for EVERYTHING. Even newspapers if you buy them. Trust me, it all adds up.

Through January I kept every single recipt no matter how small (my children both had a 25p mix each, I put the recipt in the pot lol). That way I could look over everything at the end of the month to see if my planning had worked. I then used this to help me get a better idea for febs budget.

Also do you have a pot/tin? Could you possibly put your spare change from you purse into the pot each night? If you're not in a position to save it, open it at the begining of each month. You'll not have wasted it, and it could give you a better start to the following month. You could be amazed how much you've potted up without realising it (this would have prob been the money that would have been spent on something that you have nothing to show for. We're all guilty of this).

It can be done, you're moving in the right direction. I've spent a lot of time looking through these forums and the information/hints/tips i've picked up is priceless. Keep a diary going. I'd lvoe to read how you're getting on.