My SOA- Have a CAB appointment Tuesday :)

impulsive1

Hi All,

I have an appointment with Citizens Advice on Tuesday who are going to help me in applying for my bankruptcy.
I have wrote a list of all the creditors and the amounts and included letters for them all. However I am worried about my monthly outgoings going forward if you could have a look over and let me know your thoughts and experiences that would be great.:)
I have £400 towards the bankruptcy and hope that I will have the other £300 in 2 weeks when I get my wages and some ebay payments come through.

Here are the details of my monthly outgoings:

Income: £1570 Per Month

Rent: £475 (3 Bedroom house that I share with my partner and 2 children who spend 50% of their time with me)
Council Tax: £114
Life Insurance: £17.10
House Insurance: £15
Gas and Electric: £86.00
Water: £61.70
TV Licence: £12.12
Mobile Phone:£36.00
Home Phone/BB: £17.50
Sky:£20.00
Bus Fares: £49.00
Weight Watchers: £19.99
Gym Membership: £31.95
Food:£350.00
Kids Breakfast Club: £32.00 (2 days per week for 2 kids over 4 weeks)
Pet Insurance: £20.00
Pet Food: £20.00

Total Outgoings:£1377.36
Disposable: £192.64

I am currently not factoring in any money for the following:
Health, House repairs, Hairdressing, Pocket Money and School Trips, Gifts, Clothing and Footwear and childcare costs for after school clubs etc.

There are no official maintenance payments in place for the children as we spilt custody, however my ex-husband claims the WFTC and Child Benefit for them but agrees to use this to pay for school lunches and clothing etc.

I want my bankruptcy over and done with in a year if possible. My ex applied for his in 2010 and has been discharged already. I just don't like it hanging over my head. Myself and my partner would like to have a baby and I would like to look at furthering my career but i'm not prepared to do any of that until this has been sorted.
Thank you in advance for your comments and support.
Impulsive1

kepar

Does your partner have an income?

impulsive1

He has just started working part time 22 hours. He hasn't been contributing to the household for 13 months due to his previous employment ending and then he wasn't eligible for job seekers
Not sure how or why it effects the bankruptcy at the moment until I speak with CAB

BobQ

Do you really neet to have Weightwatchers and a Gym membership? Its not what I would call essential. l can see you need a phone and BB but is Sky essential? You could just have Freeview.

You do not say what your debts are but you do seem to have concluded you have no chance of paying them despite the fact that you seem to be living within your current income, excluding I presume interest payments.

impulsive1

Hi Bob,

I have had my family home repossessed and sold for less than its value so there is nearly £100,000 worth of secured debt and over £40k worth of personal debt some of which was hour but my ex husband has already gone bankrupt. So there is no other choice.
I am currently 4 stone over weight which contributes towards my stress and depression so ww and the gym are there to help with my mood and weight loss. If I need to "hide" these in my budget then I will try to cause they contribute towards my wellbeing. I will prob cut out the gym when I file next month though cause I will hopefully have lost enough to continue running outside

PippaGirl_2

I have been told the OR doesn't allow gym memberships or pet insurance - though no personal experience of trying for those.

debt_doctor

Hi,

Your partner would be expected (as part of the calculation) to contribute to the household expenses in a manner he could afford.
Personally, there would be £500 going in to food and clothing if it were me and holidays at £ 60 and haircuts at £30.
I think you could show reason for the gym membership (although would generally not be allowed)
DD

impulsive1

Can anyone advise what is and what isn't acceptable on outgoings. I didn't find CAB to be that helpful today if i'm honest.
They said that I couldn't claim anything more on food than what they would allow for a single person even though my kids stay with me 50% of the time as I don't get any benefits or maintenance payments for them.

Any thoughts?

debt_doctor

impulsive1 wrote: »

Can anyone advise what is and what isn't acceptable on outgoings. I didn't find CAB to be that helpful today if i'm honest.
They said that I couldn't claim anything more on food than what they would allow for a single person even though my kids stay with me 50% of the time as I don't get any benefits or maintenance payments for them.

Any thoughts?

Hi, you have seen my comments within this thread, and I'm afraid that I don't agree with my CAB colleague whom you saw - if your kids stay with you 50 % of the time then they need feeding, clothing and related costs for 50% of the week.

DD

JCS1

PippaGirl wrote: »

I have been told the OR doesn't allow gym memberships or pet insurance - though no personal experience of trying for those.

gym membership is ok if you have a note from drs, pet insurance should be ok too

JCS1

impulsive1 wrote: »

Can anyone advise what is and what isn't acceptable on outgoings. I didn't find CAB to be that helpful today if i'm honest.
They said that I couldn't claim anything more on food than what they would allow for a single person even though my kids stay with me 50% of the time as I don't get any benefits or maintenance payments for them.

Any thoughts?

Can you re-do your SOA using this link please:

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

There are some categories on there which people often forget, such as prescriptions, professional memberships, etc,

I also disagree with CAB, if you have 2 kids for 50% of the time you need to work out your outgoings on the basis.