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My budget

saubryn
Posts: 610 Forumite
Ok, this is my budget as someone suggested posting in another thread:
Rent: 260 month (thats 220 normal, 40 off what is owed, suspended possession order)
Council Tax: Theoretically nil but I have areerrs they want at 80 / month
Travel: 80 month (two people, cheapest pass that will work for us)
Phone + Broadband 50 Month (was 70 have cut it down to bare minimum)
Food 120 month
Income 600 / Outgoings 590
We don't have a tv license because we don't watch TV, we don't smoke, don't drink, almost never go out, haven't bought ourselves any clothes or anything in ages, don't even buy the books we need for uni unless we get free amazon vouchers for doing surveys online or something.
To explain the income - 600 / month that's from our two part time jobs (which will stop in may, then we will have 3 grand student loan to live on till mid Sept (we're both students on the same course), so income will still be 600 / month and if we get another job it will be a bonus) The student loan started later than normal because our position is rather complicated with uni, but at least we found out we would actually be entitled to a full student loan instead of the part time one.
Getting another part time job is something I do hope to do but I don't want to bank on it - I was able to get jobseekers before I got the student loan (I'm on a course that is only 10 hours a week) but because it's going to complete the same speed as the full time students I was apparently able to get the student loan (never claimed the loan and jobseekers at the same time tho) - does that mean that when this job finishes I'll be able to claim jobseekers again?
In terms of what I owe - between loans and credit cards it adds up to about 17grand. I'd post a breakdown but realistically I don't think it's worth it. Most of this stuff is from a previous relationship - I can't speak to the other guy to make him take responsibility because a)it's all in my name and b)he was abusive so there's no way I'd go near him again.
I tried the payment arragements thing at a token figure and two have them are applying for CCJs anyways.
The broadband HAS to stay - partly because it's the only thing we have to do, and partly because we need it for uni - there's only one bank of computers kitted out for our course and they're always full, so we do a lot of very very large downloads and a lot of online work. When I saw the CAB they basically said ignore the other depts and pay what you can towards the rent arreers - they fudged broadband into other categories to make it look more of an allowable expense.
I really can't see a way out of this. I've posted several times about the housing problem and at least thats mostly sorted out now, but I think it's about time to get the rest sorted so we can concentrate on studying!
Thanks in advance guys.
Rent: 260 month (thats 220 normal, 40 off what is owed, suspended possession order)
Council Tax: Theoretically nil but I have areerrs they want at 80 / month
Travel: 80 month (two people, cheapest pass that will work for us)
Phone + Broadband 50 Month (was 70 have cut it down to bare minimum)
Food 120 month
Income 600 / Outgoings 590
We don't have a tv license because we don't watch TV, we don't smoke, don't drink, almost never go out, haven't bought ourselves any clothes or anything in ages, don't even buy the books we need for uni unless we get free amazon vouchers for doing surveys online or something.
To explain the income - 600 / month that's from our two part time jobs (which will stop in may, then we will have 3 grand student loan to live on till mid Sept (we're both students on the same course), so income will still be 600 / month and if we get another job it will be a bonus) The student loan started later than normal because our position is rather complicated with uni, but at least we found out we would actually be entitled to a full student loan instead of the part time one.
Getting another part time job is something I do hope to do but I don't want to bank on it - I was able to get jobseekers before I got the student loan (I'm on a course that is only 10 hours a week) but because it's going to complete the same speed as the full time students I was apparently able to get the student loan (never claimed the loan and jobseekers at the same time tho) - does that mean that when this job finishes I'll be able to claim jobseekers again?
In terms of what I owe - between loans and credit cards it adds up to about 17grand. I'd post a breakdown but realistically I don't think it's worth it. Most of this stuff is from a previous relationship - I can't speak to the other guy to make him take responsibility because a)it's all in my name and b)he was abusive so there's no way I'd go near him again.
I tried the payment arragements thing at a token figure and two have them are applying for CCJs anyways.
The broadband HAS to stay - partly because it's the only thing we have to do, and partly because we need it for uni - there's only one bank of computers kitted out for our course and they're always full, so we do a lot of very very large downloads and a lot of online work. When I saw the CAB they basically said ignore the other depts and pay what you can towards the rent arreers - they fudged broadband into other categories to make it look more of an allowable expense.
I really can't see a way out of this. I've posted several times about the housing problem and at least thats mostly sorted out now, but I think it's about time to get the rest sorted so we can concentrate on studying!
Thanks in advance guys.
DFW Nerd No. 140 
Status as of 30/11/12
[strike]Rent 2500 Council Tax 800 NlPower - 800[/strike][SIZE=-2]:j IF - 8000
British Gas - [strike]112[/strike] - 102 Lloyds - 1123
Barclays - 306 Barclaycard 1,123 HSBC - 200 Capital 1- 400 Barclayloan - 4500[/SIZE]

Status as of 30/11/12
[strike]Rent 2500 Council Tax 800 NlPower - 800[/strike][SIZE=-2]:j IF - 8000

Barclays - 306 Barclaycard 1,123 HSBC - 200 Capital 1- 400 Barclayloan - 4500[/SIZE]
0
Comments
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£50 a month for phone and broadband seems high......I'm sure someone on the telephone boards could sort you out there.
My line rental, calls, broadband and mobile top ups average out at approx. £34 a month.
Worth seeing if there's another deal you could swap too."Start every day off with a smile and get it over with" - W. C. Field.0 -
Council Tax, why do you have arrears? Is it from when you wernt a student because students are exempt.
the 17K is credit cards and loans, have the creditors agreed to freeze the interest so this debt is no longer growing. You already know to clear the debt you need to cut back or increase payments.
have you considered bankruptcy, read some of the threads and maybe give us some more details. Bankruptcy will affect your credit and ability to get mortgage and take your assets (if you have any) student loans arnt included, council tax is and you need to check your tenancy status that you can remain if you are bankrupt, likely you will also have to keep paying the SPO at rate agreed. Are all the debts in your name? if you both owe the debt you may both have to go bankrupt.
sorry just more questionsReady to Go Go!0 -
Seeing as you have nothing left from your income to service your debts, it would seem that bankruptcy is the only real course of action that you have available to you, as Jen_Jen has suggested above. Yes, you could possibly cut back on food a little and maybe save a few more pounds on the phone/BB but lets be realistic, that £30-£40 a month isn't going to go very far with 17k debts. Not sure how the the student loan that you're due in May would be affected as you're not supposed to apply for or accept credit when bankrupt - there may be special rules for student loans. You need to speak to a professional really, call the National Debtline or CCCS.He huihuinga taangata he pukenga whakaaro – A meeting of people; a wellspring of ideas (Maori proverb)0
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Hi
sorry to hear of your plight, not sure what course you guys are on, but why do you stop work May - Sept?? if you could get a job through that time, you could use some of your loan to pay back your debts?? Are you learning something on your course that you could use to earn extra money?? I did hospitality, so could use it to get a higher level part time job then a basic waitress....but some friends tutored GCSE or A level students when they could as they did more academic degrees.
if only I could do smilies - I'd send you a smile :-)0
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