Biting the bullet (soa)

HappyMJ

FatVonD wrote: »

I only use the car at weekends so I've allowed 2 lots of £10, for when DS goes to his dad's and £5 for the other 2 weeks of the month.

I need to look into other packages so thanks for the link. Could I keep Virgin for the TV and change the phone and broadband to Tesco?

Yes what is Virgin's minimum package? You can usually ring them and tell them you have to leave to to a problem with money and they will usually cut the price in half for 6 months. I think the minimum is £14 a month...

rising_from_the_ashes

FatVonD wrote: »

I've been looking into taking out a bank loan to combine the two but it works out at about £150.00 per month for about 5 years. I'm unsure whether I'd be better off trying to get another 0% deal for the CC and adding the tax bill to my mortgage (or putting the tax bill on my CC and keeping my fingers crossed I could move the whole lot to a 0% deal.)

Totally agree with Tixy please don't add the tax bill or debts to your mortgage - you'd then be turning them into secured debt.

FatVonD wrote: »

Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 62 This seems a little high - as a comparison I pay £70 in total for gas & elec (3 bed semi in Scotland so it's cold!) with around £40 of that being for gas. Check things not left on in rooms when they're not being used, check readings against bills, comparison sites etc
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 55 Sorry but not essential - you can get a landline/broadband package for under £30 / month saving £35
Groceries etc. ......................... 280 You should be able to get around £100 off this - try the Grocery Challenge on the Old Style Board, great bunch of people, loads of tips & fab recipes
Petrol/diesel........................... 30 Seriously? Not worth having a car & paying for it's running costs if this is all the mileage you do!
Road tax................................ 0 Need to add
Car Insurance........................... 22.57
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 Need to add
Other travel............................ 235 What's this? Can you buy weekly/monthly tickets? Seasonal ticket loan through work?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 Need to add
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 Need to add
Entertainment........................... 80 Cut in 1/2 - saving £40
Emergency fund.......................... 0 Need to add
Total monthly expenses.................. 1919.35

There's a few savings mentioned above but these will probably be wiped out by the things that are missing.

Car - sorry but it's costing way too much for the amount you use it and you need to seriously thing about getting rid of it.

Do you have a spare room you could rent out?

Unfortunately, you really need to up the household income so I can only suggest that OH starts looking for a job with more hours (? assume that's why there's no income for him & it doesn't cover very much).

Best of luck

HappyMJ

The tax bill must be paid on time..It should not be delayed. Non payment of tax is serious so if the only way to get money is to add it to the mortgage then that is what the OP has to do. Although I would seriously start saving now. You only have until the end of January to get the money together. You could try and find a balance transfer credit card with a low interest rate to get some money to pay them off then pay off that card over the next year.

FatVonD

Tixy wrote: »

What does other travel relate to? is it essential and is it the most cost effective way of buying tickets? (eg season tickets/offpeak tickets etc).

That's my monthly travelcard for work.

Tixy wrote: »

You are spending very little of petrol a month, is it worth running a car for those fuel miles - could you manage of public transport instead? this would free up road tax, insurance, mot & servicing costs etc as well as giving you a lump sum from the sale of the car.

My travelcard would get me to my ex's to collect my son for free, I'd just need to buy DS's ticket but I'd worry that if DS was ever in any kind of trouble (when out with his mates) I'd not be able to get to him if I needed to plus I'd not be able to nip to the supermarket whenever I wanted which might be a good thing!

Tixy wrote: »

How big is your property - would it be feasible to consider renting out a room to help with income.

2 up, 2 down so not an option!

Tixy wrote: »

Is OH able to increase his income at all? Rather than buying takeaways and odd bit of shopping could he take on a bill or pay a little in to your account each month? Is his son not able to get help for his college fairs/claim any benefits?

I have spoken to him about taking on a bill and he's agreed, I just need to sort it out at a time when we're both at home and the call centres are open. Paying his son's fares are in lieu or maintenance to his ex wife.

Tixy wrote: »

How recently have you shopped around for gas & elec suppliers/tariffs? may be worth doing to see if you can get any saving there.

I've looked online a couple of times and I think I'm with the cheapest though we could do with turning the thermostat down and leaving a blanket in the sitting room!

Tixy wrote: »

Also try to work out how much your tax bill will be as soon as you can. If you have an accoutant also talk to them about asking HMRC to allow you to repay in installments.

DH is hopefully dropping off my accounts to the accountant today, I didn't realise you could pay in installments so thank you for that!

HappyMJ

FatVonD wrote: »

DH is hopefully dropping off my accounts to the accountant today, I didn't realise you could pay in installments so thank you for that!

The problem is that you admitted you can pay by adding it to your mortgage and that is what the HMRC will expect you to do. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/payinghmrc/problems/cantpay.htm

FatVonD

the_cat wrote: »

Really? i know 2 black cab drivers who both support their families without any additional wage from an OH to top it up. They may of course own their cab which would be a part of it but being effectively self employed, your OH could just work longer hours or less sociable and thus more profitable ones couldn't he?

DH is a yellow badge (ie suburban) and the number of licenses allowed in his area has been increased dramatically (thanks Ken Livingstone) so there are too many drivers chasing too few jobs.

Tixy

FatVonD wrote: »

DH is hopefully dropping off my accounts to the accountant today, I didn't realise you could pay in installments so thank you for that!

If you are not in a position to pay then at the current time HMRC are being a bit more willing to allow people to pay in installments, but you need to agree this upfront, and they don't usually like it to be more than 6months.

Regarding the unused CC - before you cancel it you might want to phone up to see if they will offer you a promotional rate (either on purchases or balance transfers).

Re OHs income, whilst I'm not suggesting he shouldn't pay towards his son if this payment is in lieu of maintenance and is taking up almost all his income then maybe he might need to reconsider how much he can afford to be paying on his current income, not how much he used to earn.

the_cat

FatVonD wrote: »

DH is a yellow badge (ie suburban) and the number of licenses allowed in his area has been increased dramatically (thanks Ken Livingstone) so there are too many drivers chasing too few jobs.

Ah, I see. Both the guys I know are up in the centre of London so that explains it. Bearing in mind that the economy will not likely get any better for some time though, it appears that OH has more of a a hobby than a job. A little harsh I'm sure, but demonstrates the point that if he can't get enough work to contribute properly, then its time to reassess and either change to something else or get something in addition part time to make up his share

FatVonD

the_cat wrote: »

Ah, I see. Both the guys I know are up in the centre of London so that explains it. Bearing in mind that the economy will not likely get any better for some time though, it appears that OH has more of a a hobby than a job. A little harsh I'm sure, but demonstrates the point that if he can't get enough work to contribute properly, then its time to reassess and either change to something else or get something in addition part time to make up his share

Don't even get me started on that one (I agree wholeheartedly) :mad:

FatVonD

Tixy wrote: »

If you are not in a position to pay then at the current time HMRC are being a bit more willing to allow people to pay in installments, but you need to agree this upfront, and they don't usually like it to be more than 6months.
.

Thanks, I will drop the accountant an email now to ask if I can do that!