Can anyone help?x - SOA included

FireWyrm

mumsnopennies wrote: »

I know that Im going have to come clean with my husband but Id prefare to do so once I have a plan of action .
Nope we don't have buildings or contents insurance.
I agree that our shopping bill is high and the new me is going to get an handle on that. It does include nappies and wipes and formula milk tho which alone is 80 pounds a month x

Building insurance should be a priority for you.

I'm with you on the formula, but there are options when it comes to nappies. You don't need Proctor and Gambles high priced paper and compressed wood pulp. Why don't you use cotton and silk in the form of washable nappies? One set is about £100 and you could put three children through them from birth to toilet training. Don't believe the propaganda that you've been fed for years, disposables are actually terrible for children, encouraging less changes because of worry about expense, terrible for the environment because youre dumping raw sewerage into landfills and terrible for your wallet since what costs them 1p to make, they charge you 20p for. Modern washables are soft, durable and more that absorbent enough to keep up with children. No folding required and no more trouble than disposables. I really encourage anyone to investigate.

savvykaz

Why don't you have buildings/ contents insurance??:eek: What if there was a fire, flood or you were burgled??

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Hello again!

I'd just like to add that you have missed off your APR% rates on your SOA. I know you're thinking of going bankrupt, however if you do decide to go on a DMP or try to blitz your debts yourself it's always good to know your APR's so you can tackle your highest (most expensive) first.

mildred1978

FireWyrm wrote: »

Building insurance should be a priority for you.

I'm with you on the formula, but there are options when it comes to nappies. You don't need Proctor and Gambles high priced paper and compressed wood pulp. Why don't you use cotton and silk in the form of washable nappies? One set is about £100 and you could put three children through them from birth to toilet training. Don't believe the propaganda that you've been fed for years, disposables are actually terrible for children, encouraging less changes because of worry about expense, terrible for the environment because youre dumping raw sewerage into landfills and terrible for your wallet since what costs them 1p to make, they charge you 20p for. Modern washables are soft, durable and more that absorbent enough to keep up with children. No folding required and no more trouble than disposables. I really encourage anyone to investigate.

The OP already has 4 children - I would hope she isn't planning another 2 or 3!!!

As for the cost, the upfront cost of buying them pales into insignificance when you factor in washing and drying costs. My son is in reusables, but they cost more like £300 for ones that actually fit his (relatively little) bottom without leaking.

Depending on the ages of the OP's children this may boy be a very sensible suggestion.

mildred1978

Where did the £25k go? Can you sell any of it to pay some of the debt off?

You need to correct your figures and repost your SOA.

freshstart11

I honestly can not see why they told you to go bankrupt.


Do the CCCS online debt action thing and see what they say xx

[Deleted User]

mumsnopennies wrote: »

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned.................... 2Are two cars a necessity?

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0Any way to put something here?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200Any chance of overtime? A promotion? A better paid job? A second job?
Benefits................................ 1145Ensure that you are claiming all that you are entitled to
Other income............................ 0Any option for something here?
Total monthly income.................... 2345

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 325
Council tax............................. 100Is this paid over the usual 10 months - ask your local council if you can spread over 12? If not, then overpay the most expensive debt during your ctax fee months by the same amount (not that they are coming around soon)
Electricity............................. 80This seems high to me - are you in arrears? (if so when will it be fully repaid?), If not then check that you are not in credit with the company and if so claim it back. Othersise ensure that you are on the cheapest tariff for your area/usage (often online duel fuel paid by DD is cheapest), check every 6-12 months. Also, ensure that things are switched off instead of on standby, use energy saving bulbs, turn radiators off in rooms you're not in (when heating is needed), turn the thermostat down on the heating and the hot water boiler (you're unlikely to notice), etc etc
Gas..................................... 60as above
Water rates............................. 40Is this a meter or a standard charge - if not a meter it's probably unlikely to be cheaper given the number of people in the house
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 45This seems high? How many phones is this for? If/when out of contract look at SIM only and PAYG deals - giffgaff have good deals begining at £5 per month (you can keep your number)
TV Licence.............................. 12
Internet Services....................... 20You seem to be paying £40 per month for internet and home phone - I think this can be cut down to £20-£25 depending on who operates in your area - try talktalk
Groceries etc. ......................... 600I know you have a few mouths to feed but I think that this can be cut down - try meal planning and batch cooking, dropping brands, shop at lidl and aldi and top up what you cant get there elsewhere. Cook food from scratch and shop with a list of what you need so you don't get tempted in the supermarket to buy extras
Clothing................................ 40Again, this seems a bit on the high side - try sticking with what you have, shop on e-bay for necessities and also check in your local charity shops
Petrol/diesel........................... 140Are all journeys essential - can you walk.use public transport more
Road tax................................ 30
Car Insurance........................... 80
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 80Is this saved somewhere for when it's needed?
Other travel............................ 0Would this be cheaper if you got rid of one of the cars
Other child related expenses............ 20What does this cover? Can you get the same/similar for cheaper elsewhere?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0never?
Buildings insurance..................... 0Don't you need this?
Contents insurance...................... 0Don't you need this
Life assurance ......................... 16
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50Can you cut this down? Shop in sales and save them for when needed. Also join the survey sites (you will not make a lot of money and it won't be quick) but the vouchers could help out for birthdays/Xmas
Haircuts................................ 20See if there's a local college nearby that does trainee cuts for cheap/free
Entertainment........................... 40What does this cover? Can you get the same or similar from elsewhere for cheaper?
Emergency fund.......................... 0It might be worth putting even a little here to help cover the cost of any unexpected expense, so that if something crops up you don't need to reach for more credit
Total monthly expenses.................. 1818


Assets
Cash.................................... 0Don't you save money for presents/Xmas and birthdays and car maintenance somewhere?
House value (Gross)..................... 80000
Car(s).................................. 1500If you got rid of one of the cars then you could pay off a chunk of debt with the proceeds and also save on running costs - tax, Mot, maintenance, insurance, petrol
Total Assets............................ 81500[/b]


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 22000....(325)......0Is this really o%
Total secured & HP debts...... 22000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APRIf these are not all 0% you really need to find out what the APR's are in order to prioritise overpayments when possible
tesco loan.....................12000.....264.......0
barclay card...................7000......189.......0
mbna...........................2000......60........0
mothercare.....................450.......8.........0
next store card................1000......100.......0
tesco card.....................1000......30........0
debenhams......................1600......40........0
Total unsecured debts..........25050.....691.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,345
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,818
Available for debt repayments........... 527
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 691
Amount short for making debt repayments. -164I think that you can make this up quite easily in your SOA, however in order to pay the debts off more quickly you will need to make sure that you can increase this in order to over pay. Overpay starting with the debt that is costing you the most in interest (possibly next card, if this is not on an introductory rate)

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 81,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -22,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -25,050
Net Assets.............................. 34,450

Hi,

I have made some comments above, I hope that at least some of them are of help. Sorry, I didn't manage to read all the posts on your thread, so sorry if I've mentioned something that 's already been addressed.

Good luck with getting your debt tackled,

D9

asparagus1968

hi,well done on deciding to start tackling all this,i know its scary at first.

loads of advice already given so i won't repeat it all.

but just wondering what the £25,000 was spent on??without your husband knowing? if it was just the costs of living surely he must know what money is coming in and whats going out,and ask himself where the extras are coming from?did you have holidays or something?
i just think,although you feel its all your debt,perhaps some responsibility should be going in your husbands direction? and maybe the road ahead will be easier if you are both working towards the same goal,
good luck,keep posting,read again and again the replies you have had so far.

paulmapp8306

HappyMJ wrote: »

Correct. They would get the interest paid on the mortgage instead or would have PPI to cover the payments. They can be cancelled out. It's just an equivalent figure. You aren't expected to pay anything towards debts on benefits so can use the figures that someone on benefits would get and make them fit your own circumstances. As the OH is contributing something then the sum of what she gets and what he contributes equals what they would get on benefits then those figures can be used.

Benefits would be £111.45 JSA couples rate weekly, £20.30 Child benefit for the first and £13.40 for the next 3 weekly. Multiply by 52 then divide by 12. (£745 per month) Tax credits are £545 plus £2,690 per child per year. (£942 per month). My rubbish calculation earlier was less. It's actually £1687 per month. Then add the mortgage and council tax. £2112.

Um - doesnt work for us all.

My wife gave up a (low paid part time) job to move into our home (Im forces, posted in Belfast - settling in Nottingham), so although looking isnt entitled to JSA. She didnt pay any tax so no contribution based, and because of my wages no income based. When I leave, I wont get JSA either (I was told neither - BUT surly Im entitled to contribution based?). My pension will mean I wont get income based JSA - or any other benefits.

So - Ill get Child benefit (2 kids) at at 33.70 every 4 weeks, then child tax credits of £545 and £2690. Thats a total of £4987.40/year or £415.62/month. Together with my pension which is £9400/year, so £783/month my income including benefits will only be £1198.96/month. Even if I get contribution based JSA, it will only be for 6 months, and is what? £67/week or something? Even If we got a couples rate (which I doubt) It still only adds £111.45, so £5579.80/year, giving a total of £1680.61/month.

Right there is why the system is crap. If Im assessed on what I would get on benefits - ie over £2112 - when Im blatently getting £430/month less than that??? Secondly, I serve 24 years in the Army, get a small pension for doing so (yes I know its from when I leave - and thats a BIG bonus) BUT because I get the pension - Im actually £430/month worse off that if I had not pension and could claim full benefits. How is that remotely fair.

Sorry for the rant, just couldnt believe those figures.

Back to the OP.

I would add in some of the extras your missing, and cut the grocery ammont by £100 then approach CCCS. Once you have a DMP in place, you can then save a little extra over time. Your bedt isnt that big - mine was £42k at one point.

HappyMJ

freshstart11 wrote: »

I honestly can not see why they told you to go bankrupt.


Do the CCCS online debt action thing and see what they say xx

With no earned income in her own name it is impossible to pay the debt off without living a life scraping around for money each month and borrowing money every time an emergency comes up or even just borrowing money to make ends meet each month. OP can declare BR and not have to pay a penny towards any of the debts as her own personal income is less than or at least equal to someone on benefits at zero pounds per month.

My guess is the OP has had a long term small overspend each month and it's been going on for years using credit cards to finance it and then when they were maxed the debt was refinanced into the Tesco loan and then the cards have been used again.

I'm also guessing that Entertainment for 6 people is much more than £40 a month or in context £1.53 per person per week. For myself only I spend about £20 each week. Such as going cinema, days out, pub trips, bowling alley, swimming pool, visits to pub for pub meal and a few drinks, etc...