Wowzers! debt a lot worse than we thought ....

plzhelpmesave!

Thanks FatVD for your comments

Breakout Clause is after 24 months, so only 18 to go! We're not losing money and the business has potential as we are constantly trying new things and attracting new customers.

part of it has been a learning curve for me in running a business in a completely new industry, so a massive & expensive learning curve! Also it does take time to establish this kind of business with word of mouth advertising and referrals - we are getting people in, so its about tying them in now for a few months to get a recurring income out of it!

Will keep at it but with a different and stronger effort - think someones comment about 100hours a week is about right - but other than physically being there, I haven't been putting in the kind of background work to make it a proper success, so will be getting butt into action :-)

thanks again

Mummy_Moo

There are lots of people on here that will be able to give you really good advice about different cards, accounts loans and repayment methods etc. They understand that much more than I do, but having had a quick glance through your budget it does look like there are places you can cut down you outgoings. You are earning less than you are spending so unless you make some big changes the situation will only get worse. While it is great that you are looking to increase the household income you need to take action in the mean time.

You have a monthly income of £1,889
The bills you must pay (either essentials like the mortgage, or things like phones where you are tied into contracts) come to £1,626

This leaves you with £263 to cover food, petrol, and anything else.

Depending on how essential the petrol is (do you need to spend that much to get to work?) will affect how tight the budget will be. You need to base what you are spending on what you are earning, not just spending on cards and hoping you'll be able to pay the bill one day.

It might not be much fun but the only way to start making a dent in the debt is to cut out the luxuries, no matter how small. That £10 per month on haircuts could be the interest on one of your cards. You could also cut down your food shopping bill, I know you've got a family to feed but that can be done for less than £300 per month, there is lots of good advice on other threads on how to do this. Try planning meals before you shop, cooking in bulk and freezing leftovers, and switching from brands to cheaper alternatives.

Sorry, I know it can be hard, especially with a family who you love, and want to treat to nice things, but you need to be strict with yourselves before you end up in a bigger mess.

weeble3

my gut instinct is this: this overall situation is not working at all...you cant pay your bills on projected figures. The reality is you need to balance the books now! I think that if one of you stayed home to look after the kids, one car could go and no childcare and the other could get a regular and maybe do the businesses as a leisurely thing but i dont think this is a responsible way of running your financial life. These are hard times!!! theres no grey areas here you need to make changes now!!