trying to take my head out of the sand

LauraLeah91104

hi guys.
ive decided to take the bull by the horns and try and get our finances in control.
We cant seem to stay afloat and if one of us gets a short wage one month, if affects us for about 6 months and i cant take the strain and pressure anymore.
ive tried discussing it with the people directly, but they werent willing to help, just strarted waffling about us breaking the contract we signed etc etc, no offer of lower payments etc whilst we get sorted or anything.
is this something i could organise with cccs, or does it have to be a more serious problem for people with higher more serious debt, ours is just of £10k (but thats with interest etc included) once it gets paid off etc.

is there a plan (not an iva or serious) that i could try and enter into to try and cut back our spending,and ive tried budgetting and it simply doesnt work. We Want to cut back out spending, but we seem to be tied into contracts etc with or mobiles, landlines and sky digital etc, so cant see a way out there. our mobiles are almost £90 a month (for two iphone contracts with vodafone).
ive asked to reduce our tariff but they class that as a new contract so i would have to pay to get out of it which we can neither afford, nor would it help us.
We dont go out socially or by new clothes, we dont spend a fortune on shopping, our only vice is that we both smoke, but only when we can afford too and lately hasnt been often and have cut down dramatically.

i just feel like im so sick of not been able to afford the basic things my kids need on a day to day basis and we struggle to by new shoes and clothing for them etc and we both work and have a mortgage and cant understand y we work and yet always skint...
i know im not the only person who struggles, but it would be nice to hear how other people managed to give me a boost...
i think i am in need of some inspiriation and pointing in the right direction.

many thanks in advance for anything anyone may write,

laura

Googlewhacker

Others more knowledgable will be along shortly, but to assist them to help you - follow the advise by DVardysShadow:

"I suggest you do a Statement of Affairs and copy it here.

http://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html

When you have filled it in, click 'Calculate' on the Statement of Affairs form, click 'Format for MSE'. This gives you a popup window. Click 'highlight text', right click on the highlighted text and copy the highlighted text including all formatting codes. Paste the copied text into a post for other posters to comment

Some people will have a go at trimming your budget. Others will have a go at the scheduling of your debt. Ideally we need to know how much longer each debt has to run."

LauraLeah91104

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................ 465
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1006
Benefits................................ 978
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2449

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 426
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 388
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100.98
Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 46
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 18
Telephone (land line)................... 35
Mobile phone............................ 90
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 8
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 352
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 8
Buildings insurance..................... 45
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 8
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2051.98


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 80000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 85000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 58000....(426)......4.2
Secured Debt.................. 7000.....(152)......10
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 5300.....(236)......15.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 70300.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
vanquis credit card............561.......22........39.9
capital one credit.............1014......30........24.9
capital one....................200.......5.36......29
Total unsecured debts..........1775......57.36.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,449
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,051.98
Available for debt repayments........... 397.02
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 57.36
Amount left after debt repayments....... 339.66

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 85,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -70,300
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,775
Net Assets.............................. 12,925

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

Googlewhacker

LauraLeah91104 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.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 465
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1006
Benefits................................ 978
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2449

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 426
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 388
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100.9810 or 12 months?
Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 46
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 18
Telephone (land line)................... 35
Mobile phone............................ 90To high..is this 1 or 2 phones?
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300Look at trimming this, plenty on oldstyle board to help you
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 8
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 352
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 8
Buildings insurance..................... 45Seems very high...have you shopped around?
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 8
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2051.98


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 80000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 85000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 58000....(426)......4.2
Secured Debt.................. 7000.....(152)......10
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 5300.....(236)......15.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 70300.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
vanquis credit card............561.......22........39.9
capital one credit.............1014......30........24.9
capital one....................200.......5.36......29
Total unsecured debts..........1775......57.36.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,449
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,051.98
Available for debt repayments........... 397.02
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 57.36
Amount left after debt repayments....... 339.66

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 85,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -70,300
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,775
Net Assets.............................. 12,925

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

You are showing a surplus £350 a month (after paying the unsecured loans)

Where is this going? I suggest you look at doing a spending diary and just see where you are wasting money, most likely on that cup of coffee at a shop or a paper here and there etc

You don't need a DMP or IVA IMO, you need to stick to a budget and account for every penny spent.

Sell your IPHONES and buy some cheap phones for now and use the money from those phones as your safety net incase you have short months.

MOGGYMALONE

i think so many families are struggling at the moment its awful - cuz all the basics have increased so much. Are you tied in with Sky contract or can you cancel that? I wonder can you swap your phone contract to a friend or someone who could take on the payments for you? not sure if that is allowed with these things but just a thought.

TotallyBroke

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................ 465
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1006
Benefits................................ 978
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2449

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 426
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 388
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100.98
Electricity............................. 25 Are you in credit or debit on these, turn everything off at the plug. Reconsider heating timers or lower the thermostat.
Gas..................................... 46See above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 18
Telephone (land line)................... 35I guess this includes the sky... make sure no calls are made from housephone except to free from landline numbers
Mobile phone............................ 90 You cant afford these, so agree sell one or both and get the package dropped slightly as soon as you can
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300Look at shaving this down, lots of helpful hints and tips on other boards
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 8
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 Look at how much car cost you last year in repairs etc and split over 12 months
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 352
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 8
Buildings insurance..................... 45
Contents insurance...................... 0Is this included in Buildings
Life assurance ......................... 8
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 Look at last year what you spent and split to a monthly amount
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2051.98


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 80000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 85000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 58000....(426)......4.2
Secured Debt.................. 7000.....(152)......10
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 5300.....(236)......15.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 70300.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
vanquis credit card............561.......22........39.9
capital one credit.............1014......30........24.9
capital one....................200.......5.36......29
Total unsecured debts..........1775......57.36.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,449
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,051.98
Available for debt repayments........... 397.02
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 57.36
Amount left after debt repayments....... 339.66

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 85,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -70,300
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,775
Net Assets.............................. 12,925

Thats all I can suggest at the minute

LauraLeah91104

hi, thanks for repling, council tax is for 10 months, we paay by direct debit so get two months free.
mobile figure is for two phones, we have looked at trimming our tarif down, but the companies now class this as a change in contract, so we would have to buy ourselves out of the contract, so that isnt an option.
groceries is monthly, that includes big things like washing powder etc.
things have been trimmed, it was about £100 per week. now its alot less. this last week ive changed where ive shop and managed to fill fridge and freezer for £60. so ill see how long that lasts as then ill be able to update this figure.
The figure in buildings contents, is actually for building and contents, i just put it in one column. ive shopped around and found that my current supplier (asda) (my employer) are on price comparison site with quotes for half of the figure i pay. so ive spoken to then the change this. loyalty no longer pays.
we are tied into sky til augst for tv, but have just joined then for phone n broadband to save £40 as we were previously aol customers. so we have already brough this figure down a little bit each month.
unfortunately, there is no one that can take our phones on for us as they have all got their own bills etc.
i tried downloading an iphone app fo a budget calculator and calendar to kep track of spending etc, but it only held 18 transactions, and with our direct debits and pay that was filled up within one day, and i wasnt paying for the advanced app!
thank u so much to those who have read and replied, i work in a spermarket and i can see everyday the price increases and its bad when peoples shopping in one month comes to more than their mortgages.
something is going to go bang and soon, and i want to hopefully sorted and stable by then,

somehow our disposble income is not there at the end of the month.
We do not go out drinking or slurge on anything, we do not go out for family days out or meals out etc because we simply cannot afford it.

LauraLeah91104

electricity and gas bill came this morning. Bill is £15.40.
Everything already gets unplugged where possible on an evening. we have an electricity monitor and i manage n monitor things daily on this. unfortunately, we have only had the car a year, so have not had to do any maintaince on it, so got no figure to base it on, we have warranty with aa with our finance company, so anything goes wrong, it goes there n gets fixed for free also.
one thing we will not be doing is selling either phones. as when we worked out what we would be spending on pay as you go, it isnt much difference and just isnt worth the change. we get free texts and calls, which we use, so we would end up paying more... thats something we looked into doing months ago but quickly deciced it was pointless.

joedenise

I think you need to start a spending diary. If you don't have the £350 left over at the end of the month it must be going somewhere. If you write down everything you buy, a coffee, a magazine, bar of choc etc you will see where you are "wasting" money.

Once you know where this money is going you will be in a better position to stop the wastage and get your money to balance properly.

Denise

ifstar

If you haven't already done so, cut up the credit cards. The APR on them is really high. Any free money you have, try and chuck that against the highest first and get rid of that then work through the others but definitely cut them so that there isn't the temptation to use them once they are paid off.

glasgowsaver2011

LauraLeah91104 wrote: »

electricity and gas bill came this morning. Bill is £15.40.
Everything already gets unplugged where possible on an evening. we have an electricity monitor and i manage n monitor things daily on this. unfortunately, we have only had the car a year, so have not had to do any maintaince on it, so got no figure to base it on, we have warranty with aa with our finance company, so anything goes wrong, it goes there n gets fixed for free also.
one thing we will not be doing is selling either phones. as when we worked out what we would be spending on pay as you go, it isnt much difference and just isnt worth the change. we get free texts and calls, which we use, so we would end up paying more... thats something we looked into doing months ago but quickly deciced it was pointless.

I think what the person who suggested selling your phones meant was

Buy a 10 quid PAYG unlocked simple phone (Tesco has one) - Each

Put your sim in that.

Take both Iphones, sell them on one of the phone recylcer

You will get 200 quid each for each I phone 4!