The unthinkable has happened...redundancy

squidgychesspiece

Hello all

*takes deep breath* so I've always been in debt ever since I was 18 and could take out a credit card. At one point I had 5 credit cards, 3 store cards and a loan :eek: Admittedly I spent a lot of the money on clothes, shoes and generally having a good time and never really worried about paying it back. I've always had a decent job and so I suppose my debt has just risen with my income. I've missed the odd payment over the years but generally managed to control things (or think I was controlling them) by borrowing from family or switching debt around. I had more recently reigned my spending in a hell of a lot compared to when I was younger and so hubby and I were no longer living hugely above our means but weren't really making in roads into the debt either (he also has his own debt for us to worry about).

Then two months ago I was made redundant Although I did receive a payout (and was so grateful - they didn't really have to pay me a penny having been there less than a year) it was nowhere enough to clear all my debt let alone hubby's. Now I am struggling to find another job and wondering what the hell we are going to do when this money comes to an end. To make matters worse I find I am slipping back into old spending habits as being out of work for a long period is soul destroying and shopping is one way to alleviate the boredom / put it all to the back of my mind. I had hoped to pay off at least some of my debt with the money but for now we just continue to use this to live on until it runs out.

I very much doubt I am going to be able to find such a well paid job anytime soon and it was only because I earnt a good salary that I could service my debt. I feel utterly ridiculous as we could be sitting pretty now with a nice little payout in the bank instead of worrying ourselves sick about how I am going to manage. Is it worth asking if creditors will suspend payment for a few months until I can find a job? How would this affect my credit rating? I know it's all my own doing but honestly any advice at all would be welcome.

Thanks in advance

SCP

sistafromanothermista

:wave: and welcome to the board.
You are not alone most of us are here for the exact same reasons as you spending too much on things we can't afford (me included)
First step is to post your SOA (statement of affairs) this lets us see what you owe at what % so we can try and help cut a few costs on things you may not have thought of (believe me this really helps)

You will find a link on a 'sticky' at the top of the board.

squidgychesspiece

Thank you. I have never really admitted I had a problem until now when I've sat down and looked at it properly. Realising I am officially unemployed with c.50k of debt has been a massive wake up call I can tell you!!!! I will post a 'SOA' as soon as I can work out how to do it

sistafromanothermista

squidgychesspiece wrote: »

Thank you. I have never really admitted I had a problem until now when I've sat down and looked at it properly. Realising I am officially unemployed with c.50k of debt has been a massive wake up call I can tell you!!!! I will post a 'SOA' as soon as I can work out how to do it

It's fairly easy (i managed it so it can't be hard:))
[STRIKE]You've done the hardest bit[/STRIKE] (well actually that's a lie, the hardest bit is scrimping and saving to pay it back _pale_ ) you've taken the first step to debt freedom. Join the long haulers if you're planning to stay around a while :cool2:

squidgychesspiece

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2600
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3800
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 795
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 156
Electricity............................. 23
Gas..................................... 108
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 43
Mobile phone............................ 80
TV Licence.............................. 29
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 280
Road tax................................ 17
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 400
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 25
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 23
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2449

Assets
Cash.................................... 10000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 6000
Total Assets............................ 16500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
hsbc Loan 1....................3731......267.......0
hsbc Loan 2....................11731.....213.......0
co-op loan.....................7932......209.......0
student o/d....................1500......0.........0
mint cc........................5000......111.......NaN
halifax cc.....................5860......117.......29.94
hsbc cc........................2067......52........NaN
mbna cc........................8808......313.......30
Total unsecured debts..........46629.....1282......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,800
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,449
Available for debt repayments........... 1,351
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,282
Amount left after debt repayments....... 69
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 16,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -46,629
Net Assets.............................. -30,129

squidgychesspiece

Well it wasn't as bad as I thought....only 47k of debt and not 50k! :rotfl:
I wasnt sure of all APR's but will find out. I have included all of our debts whether in my name or hubby's. Obviously my income is now £0 and my travel of £400pm is now nil too but this is how it looked prior to redundancy HELP!

SCP

Snowy_Owl

squidgychesspiece wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2600
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3800
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 795
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 156
Electricity............................. 23
Gas..................................... 108
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 43
Mobile phone............................ 80 This seems high - can you get a cheaper tariff?
TV Licence.............................. 29
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 This can definately come down. We are @160 pounds pm for 2 adults and 2 cats.Try OS and grocery boards for advice.
Clothing................................ 100 Cut this back for a while - do you really need new clothes?
Petrol/diesel........................... 280
Road tax................................ 17
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 400
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 25
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 23
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 15 Try the local college - mine my local college charges 4pound for cut&blow-dry
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2449

Assets
Cash.................................... 10000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 6000
Total Assets............................ 16500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
hsbc Loan 1....................3731......267.......0
hsbc Loan 2....................11731.....213.......0
co-op loan.....................7932......209.......0
student o/d....................1500......0.........0
mint cc........................5000......111.......NaN
halifax cc.....................5860......117.......29.94
hsbc cc........................2067......52........NaN
mbna cc........................8808......313.......30
Total unsecured debts..........46629.....1282......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,800
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,449
Available for debt repayments........... 1,351
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,282
Amount left after debt repayments....... 69
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 16,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -46,629
Net Assets.............................. -30,129

Hope these ideas help- Good luck!

gizmo111

You need to do an SOA as it is now with no income from you. Have you claimed all benefits on just one wage?

tlh858

squidgychesspiece wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2600
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3800
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 795
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 156 12 months or 10?
Electricity............................. 23
Gas..................................... 108 This is huge - does this include arrears you paying off?
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0 Is this really 0?
Telephone (land line)................... 43
Mobile phone............................ 80
TV Licence.............................. 29
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 100 Every month? You can cut this significantly.
Petrol/diesel........................... 280 Is the car used for work? Will mileage be less now you are not working / will be getting a different job?
Road tax................................ 17
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 400 What is this for?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 25
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 23
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 Really 0?
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 0 Is this and holidays really 0?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2449

Assets
Cash.................................... 10000 Is this the redundancy money?
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 6000 What is this?
Total Assets............................ 16500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
hsbc Loan 1....................3731......267.......0
hsbc Loan 2....................11731.....213.......0
co-op loan.....................7932......209.......0
student o/d....................1500......0.........0
mint cc........................5000......111.......NaN
halifax cc.....................5860......117.......29.94
hsbc cc........................2067......52........NaN
mbna cc........................8808......313.......30
Total unsecured debts..........46629.....1282......-

You need to put in the missing interest rates.

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,800
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,449
Available for debt repayments........... 1,351
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,282
Amount left after debt repayments....... 69
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 16,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -46,629
Net Assets.............................. -30,129

As previously, you also need to amend this with the figures now you are not working.

McKneff

Stop buying clothes, you will probably have enough in your wardrobe to last for years and years.

Your gas usage is horrific.

Your landline cost is horrific.

Groceries, you could easily know £100 off this is your careful

squidgychesspiece

Morning

Thank you all for your comments, I really really appreciate it. I have amended my SOA as advised and looks a lot worse now I had forgotten we owe DH's parents £2.5k but I did find the missing APR's with the exception of mint which is DH's. They too are horrendous!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1200
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 795
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 156
Electricity............................. 23
Gas..................................... 108
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 43
Mobile phone............................ 80
TV Licence.............................. 29
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 280
Road tax................................ 17
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 25
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 23
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2189

Assets
Cash.................................... 10000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 6000
Total Assets............................ 16500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
hsbc loan 1 ...................3731......267.......0
hsbc loan 2 ...................11731.....213.......0
co-op loan ....................7932......209.......0
OH's parents...................2500......0.........0
mbna...........................8808......313.......30
hsbc cc........................2067......52........29.9
halifax cc.....................5860......117.......25.95
mint cc........................5000......111.......0
student o/d....................1500......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........49129.....1282......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,200
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,189
Available for debt repayments........... -989
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,282
Amount short for making debt repayments. -2,271
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 16,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -49,129
Net Assets.............................. -32,629

I will try to explain a bit more...

Council tax is over 10 months. I didn't know that you could pay over 12?

As for gas, we had a large bill after the winter which we couldn't afford to pay in one lump and so the £108 is paying off arrears as well. I don't know when (if at all) that this goes back down.

Oh talking of arrears, we owe the council about £250 from a while back and have just had a reminder letter so need to pay that asap.

£nil in for water rates as on a meter and haven't had a bill yet (I think they only bill annually). I had hoped to put some money aside each month to have a buffer for when this arrived but hasn't worked that way.

Mobile phone - the tariff is supposedly only about £40 but always seem to end up way over. I need to look into this. Landline includes internet and get free evening/weekend calls so doesnt seem too bad? The stupidity is we havent actually had a phone (handset) for months as ours broke and so all calls have been going on the mobile - even freephone numbers. Grrr! But we have one again now.

Groceries I would definately like to cut back. We buy a lot of alcohol which we have both said we will cut out completely. Not only money saving but healthier too. Oh and there is a dog to feed who costs about £50 per month.

Clothes I know I need to stop asap!! I fooloshly ordered a few things online last week (about £120) but looking at this they need to go straight back! I have added in amounts for gifts and ents, it's really hard to say as I don't know about you guys but I'm not sure where half the money goes!

The cash is indeed my redundancy money (or whats left of it). It was £15k but we have had 2 months of living off this and owed my mum a little which she desperately needed back. It's dwindling pretty fast :(

The other assets are 2 pieces of jewellery which I am loathe to sell as they have huge sentimental value but if I don't get a job soon I may not have much choice.

Forgot to add - the mileage is DH who drives about 18 miles each way to work. The £400 was my travel cost (season ticket) but this has gone now anyway. DH's dad very kindly puts the car through its MOT each year and touchwood we have had very few problems with it despite it being an old banger. I've probably jinxed it now

Thanks again everyone.
SCP