Major Debt Help Needed asap

CLAPTON

firstly, sorry about misunderstanding about the joint loan, i just assumed it was secured for some strange reason.

some comments on the SOA
the budget is a bit unrealistically light, there is for example no mention of clothes, car tax, servicing, MOT, RAC repairs, xmas / birthday presents, holidays, socialising, work expenses (lunches/coffees),debtal/medical cost?


you dont say how much the house and mortgage are but is there scope for releasing some equity to pay the debts back
(i'm not saying this is the way to go but its best to have all the facts available).
also you dont say how the debts were incurred...important because unless the basic issue of overspending is addressed even if she resolves the present difficulty she may just repeat the same mistakes again.

the way of tackling the debts depends a lot on your attitude to how much you want/are able to help.
so e.g. you share the household expenses 50-50 but you presumably earn more money than she does.. if you took a greater share, this could free up more money for her to repay the debts.

if she went into a DMP/IVA/bankruptcy you would in any event become responsible for the joint loan, as you are jointly responsible... maybe you could take over this anyway and she may be able to make full repayments.

also her entering into any of the above would damage your credit rating as you are currently financially linked (joint loan and mortgage)

Sus1e

One quick thing I noticed was Spec Savers at £22 a month - I am guessing that this is for Contact lenses.....

Has she tried getting them elsewhere for cheaper? I.e. D&A do contact lenses by post for £13 a month and you are then entitled to 50% off glasses.....

dancingfairy

Mortgage £730.03
BT £17
Halifax (Insurance) £14.3Can you get this cheaper
Water £48.93 Seems high -can you use less at all
TV License £11.37
Gas £24
Electricity £72 -Seems high - can you turn everything off,get energy lightbulbs, turn the thermostat down 1 degree etc
Council Tax £95
Halifax Loan £312
Pet Insurance £10.63
Couches £48.27 What's this?
Internet £21.49
Food £240 Seems quite high for 2- check out old style for tips on how to get it down
Dog food £30

chriswuk_2

Cheers for the support guys, she's speaking to Payplan today at 2.

I've reduced her "shared" outgoings by £100 which will help to pay off debts, I'll need to see how my financial situation fans out before I pay for anymore. As for the above:

Halifax (Insurance) £14.3Can you get this cheaper This was the cheapest at the time by a long shot (compared to cover)
Water £48.93 Seems high -can you use less at all Water rates are really bad arn't they, were on a meter too. We don't overuse water at all, couple of showers per day & washing machine
Electricity £72 -Seems high - can you turn everything off,get energy lightbulbs, turn the thermostat down 1 degree etc This is due to the underestimate of the electricity for a good while, so we owed them a bit. I'm waiting on the next bill from BG to see how the price drop has affected me
Couches £48.27 What's this?This is a finance agreement we have for 2 new couches for the conservatory, think it's only over 18 months as we paid a deposit
Food £240 Seems quite high for 2- check out old style for tips on how to get it down This is stated earlier. This would be a whole months shopping, which includes food for tea's, dinners, household things, cleaning stuff, razors, personal care, alcohol etc - so it's quite tame really

mrslawrence2003

chriswuk wrote: »

Cheers for the support guys, she's speaking to Payplan today at 2.

I've reduced her "shared" outgoings by £100 which will help to pay off debts, I'll need to see how my financial situation fans out before I pay for anymore. As for the above:

Halifax (Insurance) £14.3Can you get this cheaper This was the cheapest at the time by a long shot (compared to cover)
Water £48.93 Seems high -can you use less at all Water rates are really bad arn't they, were on a meter too. We don't overuse water at all, couple of showers per day & washing machine
Electricity £72 -Seems high - can you turn everything off,get energy lightbulbs, turn the thermostat down 1 degree etc This is due to the underestimate of the electricity for a good while, so we owed them a bit. I'm waiting on the next bill from BG to see how the price drop has affected me
Couches £48.27 What's this?This is a finance agreement we have for 2 new couches for the conservatory, think it's only over 18 months as we paid a deposit
Food £240 Seems quite high for 2- check out old style for tips on how to get it down This is stated earlier. This would be a whole months shopping, which includes food for tea's, dinners, household things, cleaning stuff, razors, personal care, alcohol etc - so it's quite tame really

no - even tho that amount includes all those things it still really is high. i live in london and have several food allergies which means i have to buy special food that costs a lot more than normal (eg bread is £1.50 a half loaf, small packet of pasta is £1.80), i also buy all organic meat and veg, and including personal hygiene stuff, cleaning products, all food, wine etc etc the bill is rarely over £200 now for two of us - more usually around £150. and i shop mainly in sainsburys....

art_student

Dear chriswuk, I agree with others on this thread that you could reduce your food shopping bill. I know where you are coming from with the £240 a month - I used to think that was a reasonable budget for 2 (I do the shopping for me and my husband) but I have recently reduced it alot by doing meal plans for the week ahead. I see what food I have, write down what meals I will cook each day then write a shopping list of what I need to buy - ONLY TO MAKE THESE MEALS. Then I write the week's 'menu' on the blackboard to make sure I stick to it.
This has really saved me money, mainly because I no longer buy stuff I am not actually going to use.
Give it a try!
(I am a student but my husband woks full time - just so you don't think I only eat rice and pasta!!!)

danno_4

CLAPTON wrote: »

firstly, sorry about misunderstanding about the joint loan, i just assumed it was secured for some strange reason.

some comments on the SOA
the budget is a bit unrealistically light, there is for example no mention of clothes, car tax, servicing, MOT, RAC repairs, xmas / birthday presents, holidays, socialising, work expenses (lunches/coffees),debtal/medical cost?


you dont say how much the house and mortgage are but is there scope for releasing some equity to pay the debts back
(i'm not saying this is the way to go but its best to have all the facts available).
also you dont say how the debts were incurred...important because unless the basic issue of overspending is addressed even if she resolves the present difficulty she may just repeat the same mistakes again.

the way of tackling the debts depends a lot on your attitude to how much you want/are able to help.
so e.g. you share the household expenses 50-50 but you presumably earn more money than she does.. if you took a greater share, this could free up more money for her to repay the debts.

if she went into a DMP/IVA/bankruptcy you would in any event become responsible for the joint loan, as you are jointly responsible... maybe you could take over this anyway and she may be able to make full repayments.

also her entering into any of the above would damage your credit rating as you are currently financially linked (joint loan and mortgage)

Hi clapton,just red some of your remarks,not quite sure what debts the person as that you replied to but just a few obsivations on what you said.I would have thought that there credit ratings would have been shot to start with so would not worry at this stage about them iva's are quite expensive cost about 3k plus then you have to get 75% of your creditors to agree not always easy.whitout knowing all the facts they would in my opion be better off writing to all creditors and asking for 28days to enable them to speak with some one about there financial affairs aso asking to freeze interest on the acount.this will give them a little bit of breathing space to decide which way to move,also after the 28days that could ask for a further 3months but offering token payments of £1 per week with a review in 3 months time.from my experiance i see no problem with creditors axcepting this.
kindest regards
danno

chriswuk_2

Update !

Other half sorted herself out with a DMP via Payplan yesterday, so she is relieved & happy !!

All she has to do now is send a letter to her creditors explaining the situation, cancel DD's, send a £1 token payment to each, ask each one to freeze her interest & inform them that Payplan will be contacting them soon.

Is there a letter template about for this type of thing ?

Once again, thanks to everyone who had some input into this thread

saffronflowers

Chris, well done both of you, one big step, and the best thing is she is happy and releived, all the best for you both.

Sfx

chriswuk_2

Thank you - it means I'm only £100 down a month now covering some of her bills & not a lot more lol

Anyone know of a template letter ?