Probably as bad as you will see :(

ETHEL33

Hello,

I have just completed my SOA and it's not looking good To give you an overview as to how it has got so bad my husband and I were previously on much higher salaries and managing the debt but due to medical reasons my husband has reduced his salary by £800 per month in changing jobs and I have reduced my hours to manage childcare. I have been onto CCCS and completed the questionnaire - would love to do a DMP but it doesn't look like I can really don't even want to consider bancruptcy but need to take action quick - using savings to cover shortfall but only have about 2 months worth left!!

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................ 550
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1036
Benefits................................ 524 -£136 at the moment but have been told I may get tax credits of £388 so just processing a claim
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2110
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 547
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 497
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 88
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 24
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 67
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 40
Internet Services....................... 8
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 48
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 28
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1891

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 115000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 295
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 115295

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 103714...(547)......0
Secured Debt.................. 52000....(497)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 155714....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
NR-TOGETHER MTGE LOAN..........18935.....99........0
NATWEST........................15900.....378.......0
CAPITAL ONE....................5000......184.......0
NATWEST OD.....................300.......12........0
BARCLAYS OD....................1550......24........0
ARGOS..........................1500......50........0
NEXT...........................709.......67........0
Total unsecured debts..........43894.....814.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,110
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,891
Available for debt repayments........... 219
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 814
Amount short for making debt repayments. -595
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 115,295
Total HP & Secured debt................. -155,714
Total Unsecured debt.................... -43,894
Net Assets.............................. -84,313


Thank you for taking the time to read my thread it's my first time posting but the stress has just got too much now and I need help

Thanks

Learning2Budget

Just browsing through...do you have any childcare costs, or prescription costs??
Its not the worst I've ever seen and someone will come along that can advise you more. Try not to stress. L2B.x

sistafromanothermista

ETHEL33 wrote: »

- would love to do a DMP but it doesn't look like I can really don't even want to consider bancruptcy but need to take action quick -

Hi,
Why can't you do a DMP?
I'm sure it's not the worst one so i wouldn't worry about that. Is there anyway you could do any extra hours at work?
I'm sure other more established members will be able to give you some good advice on the best route to take...

ETHEL33

Thank you for your quick reply I have no childcare costs as I cover it all now but I haven't added prescriptions as I just avoid going to the docs but really should include I also have no life insurance at the moment which is a concern.

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi Ethel and welcome ..... fingers crossed that the new benefits claim goes through OK (and quickly) - however, even with this you're facing quite a big shortfall which will be really hard to claw back.

The "obvious" things from your SOA are the mobiles and Sky - when can you cancel the contracts?

Even so, I would say something like a DMP would need to be considered to get the debts onto lower payments. Please give CCCS or Payplan a phone & have a chat through your options. Best of luck

thatsean

Ethel welcome - you've made a huge first step coming here and doing the SOA. Well done! You'll find a lot of support on here if you're unsure, or just having a down in the dumps day!

I've only skimmed through as I've got to dash but a few thoughts...

As others have said, no medical, dental or child costs. These are ongoing to work out realistically how much to declare in these sections.

Insurances as you say are a good idea

Are mobiles contract? I presume so. Are they near the end of term? Are they decent ones that you can sell for some cash?

I would second the opinion of talking to CCCS or Payplan. You can't afford the unsecured debt that you have, that's the tall and the short of it, you need to work out a way to deal with this, and they (and we) will help - but they are the experts.

Remember 3 things:
1. You're not alone
2. There's nothing you can tell CCCS/Payplan that they haven't seen before
3. There's more to life than money, you need to get a handle on this to stop it happening again, but don't let debt ruin your life. Understand why you got into debt, and plan a way out of it, and feel proud that you are facing it head on.

All the best. You've already done the hardest part!

S.

Time_to_face_the_music

Hello Ethel

It's not good but there are worse, honestly!

You have done the hardest part by coming here and facing up to it. Well done on taking that most difficult first step :T

It's been said already but the mobiles and the cable has to go and you could probably cut your grocery bill by £100. I have halved my present/gift fund and now do surveys and trade in books to earn Amazon gift vouchers.

I doubt you will ever read better advice than thatsean just gave you:

thatsean wrote: »

Remember 3 things:
1. You're not alone
2. There's nothing you can tell CCCS/Payplan that they haven't seen before
3. There's more to life than money, you need to get a handle on this to stop it happening again, but don't let debt ruin your life. Understand why you got into debt, and plan a way out of it, and feel proud that you are facing it head on.

He really couldn't be more correct.

If you haven't done it already, please call CCCS or Payplan tomorrow and get an idea of your options. We are all here to listen so come back and tell us what happened.

Good luck.

TTFTM

HappyMJ

I would recommend bankruptcy. It gives you the chance to start again. You need to stop making any payments onto any of your debts now and start saving every penny you can (for rent in advance, deposits and BR fees). You would be much better off moving into a rental property and claiming housing benefit to pay part of the rent and get all of your debts written off. In 6 years your credit rating will be back to normal and you will have no debts at all. As you owe so much compared to your mortgage and secured debt then it's unlikely that you will be able to be in the same situation by going on a DMP and paying small payments.

Learning2Budget

I would speak to an adviser at cccs or any other FREE dmp provider. Our budget and income were similar to yours when we joined cccs. Taken us a while but they have been amazing and have helped me budget no end. Good luck.x

mildredalien

Hi ethel

well done for taking the first steps of trying to tackle your debt!

Unfortunately it looks like your debts are not manageable at the moment - you are spending £1858 just to service your debts and mortgage! Although you could probably reduce your outgoings a fair bit, it doesn't look like it would allow you to pay off your debts as it stands.

I'm not sure why a DMP wouldn't work for you, but as others have advised, call CCCS or Payplan and speak to someone - they will be able to provide some more specific advice about your situation.

Remember when you are doing an SOA for a DMP to be realistic about what you need to survive on - including entertainment, emergency funds, all possible travel, insurance etc. Reasonable expenses can include those things as long as they are small, you have to mentally survive the DMP as well as financially!

ETHEL33

I feel at ease reading your replies thank you so much - I have spent months reading posts and kept putting it off as we were treading water but I know we are sinking fast now! I will be ending my contract for my phone in July I have called up about this and I will ask my hubby to reduce the virgin bill to the lowest he possibly can I may amend my SOA as I do need to look at those costs you have mentioned as they will come up. I have already been selling books and CD's and have worked previously as a mystery shopper doing questionnaires but the work is quiet at the moment but I will def keep an eye on all assignments. Come September my kiddies will both be at school full time which will enable me to maybe get a 2nd job but I may then have tax credits reduced or ended so need to look into this one. I'm the one who is panicking my hubby keeps telling me we are good people and we have been ok in the past and we will be ok now but it is seriously effecting my health with terrible headaches, stress rashes, nightmares and never being off my mind for longer than 5 minutes . Will call CCCS this week and will keep you all posted. Bizzarly I managed sister in law through bancruptcy 2yrs ago from start to finish and even managed to help her save her house but none of the family know the mess we ar in I am too ashamed to say anything. Thank you all for listening x