Help desperately needed with money/debt :/

samantham06

Hi guys, hope im in the right place (if not please direct me)
Basically I have so much debt at the moment, and am constantly struggling to afford my bills each month. I am not frivalous, and try to not waste money. Its just me and my son, so I really need some help (or a good kick up the backside....) as im so stressed about money atm.
Here are my outgoings and ingoings, and I will add the debts later.
Outgoings:

Water: £48
Gas/electric: £110
Rent (that I pay): £230
Council tax: £60
Private pension (as im 26 and have none..): £75
University debt: £15
DWP debt: £15
Mobile: £26
Home phone/internet £30
Dog Insurance: £5
Life insurance: £5
Another debt :£10
Prk xmas savings: £30
Nursery (approx): £70
Car insurance: £40
Car fund (tax...ect): £20
Toiliteries: £25
Shopping (im coelaic so costs a fair bit): £350
Petrol to work: £120
Gym: (tied in...) £20.
Sons extra clubs: £40

Income:
£474 from part time job
£80 child benefit
£800 child tax credit and working tax credit
£216 Middle rate DLA for my son who has various difficulties.
£100 carers allowance (deductions due to overpayment years ago).

So as you can see I have a fairly large amount of outgoings but do have a fair bit coming in! So I dont understand why I always have no money!

My sons DLA is due to stop in March and due to the new rules I dont think I shall reapply again. So basically I have around 9 months with extra income, which although its not meant to be used for this...I would like to use it constructively and pay off some debts. As my son never goes without and has everything he needs, and I will of course be less worried and stressed.

These are the debts that I would like to pay some or all of them off
£300 university debt
£1400 lloyds tsb debt (credit card)
£1200 lloyds loan debt (lumbered with when my ex partner went..)
£685 tax credits overpayment (keep hassling me to pay!)
A whopping £900 DWP overpayment that I included in outgoings at £10 a month.

Both of the lloyds ones I am only paying £1 a month too as I dont have alot of spare cash.

Anyway, sorry for the essay... but any advice/plans gratefully recieved.

Tixy

Hi and welcome

I think it would be useful for you (and for us) if you put all your information in to the full statement of affairs calculator - http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php and then copy and paste the results on here.

That will help you see what you should have left per month, and show your full list of debts. It will also help you spot if you've missed any outgoings, tv licence or clothes perhaps.

Then people can try to suggest areas you can make savings and help you work out how much you can afford to pay to the different debts.

samantham06

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 474
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1200
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1674
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 239
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 60
Electricity............................. 60
Gas..................................... 60
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 48
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 26
TV Licence.............................. 16
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 70
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 5
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 5
Life assurance ......................... 7
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 70
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1271

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 500
Total Assets............................ 3500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
llyolds loan...................1200......1.........0
lloyds credit card.............1400......5.........0
Uni debt ......................300.......15........0
Tax credits overpay............685.......0.........0
DWP debt.......................900.......15........0
Total unsecured debts..........4485......36........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,674
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,271
Available for debt repayments........... 403
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 36
Amount left after debt repayments....... 367
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,485
Net Assets.............................. -985

Tixy

Thanks, that makes things clearer.

So at the moment it shows you should have £367 a month left after paying your outgoings. Does that seem about right? what have you been spending this money on so far?

If you do have the £367 and use it to pay off your debts for the next 9months then you will have made serious in roads in to your debt before the DLA stops next year.

Looking at your outgoings

samantham06 wrote: »

Electricity............................. 60
Gas..................................... 60 gas & elec both look high, are you paying off any arrears in this amount? are you on prepayment meters or paying bills? if you are on bills have you shopped around to see if you can find a cheaper tariff at all?
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 48 is this on a meter or a flat tariff? if you are not on a meter then it could be worth seeing if your landlord will let you have a meter fitted. For just 2 people in the house a meter should likely halve this cost (assuming son doesn't have any specific needs that means you use more water than a typical family)
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 26
TV Licence.............................. 16
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 might be worth looking on the oldstyle board on this forum for ideas on reducing this down, it does seem high even taking in to account you being coeliac
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 70
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 5
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 5
Life assurance ......................... 7
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 70
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1271

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 500
Total Assets............................ 3500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
llyolds loan...................1200......1.........0
lloyds credit card.............1400......5.........0
Uni debt ......................300.......15........0
Tax credits overpay............685.......0.........0
DWP debt.......................900.......15........0
Total unsecured debts..........4485......36........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,674
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,271
Available for debt repayments........... 403
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 36
Amount left after debt repayments....... 367
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,485
Net Assets.............................. -985

If you could shave say £50 off your outgoings just from the items highlighted then even without trying to cut down other areas (presents/entertainment etc) you would have £453 x 9months - £4077 to put towards your debts before the DLA stops. So you could clear everything except but £400 in that time (assuming all debts are interest free or had the interest frozen).

samantham06

thanks Tixy. Well according to that I should have, but in all honestly I never seem to have enough money in my account to pay for anything at the end of the month. I just dont know what happens to it.
Are there any suggestions for this? I think I have made a good start in simply working out whats coming in and going out, but now I need to really stick to a budget and work out why my money is dispearring as to be able to save that amount per month would be amazing!!
I am on a water meter so am billed correctly, as far as I am aware although it seems very high!
I have already switched gas/electitric- for some reason as I have an incredibly small house, my bills are astronomical!
I am trying to cut down my grocery costs, but will try harder as they are very high.
Thanks for your advice so far.

samantham06

And sorry- yes all debts are interest free as they are with debt agencies.

Tixy

The next step is probably to try keeping a spending diary for a month or 2, either a little notebook or a spreadsheet or an app on a smart phone.
Write down every single spend you make for the month whether its cash or card, right down to 50p on a chocolate bar, £1 on a newspaper or whatever. Then at the month end check through to see what you have missed off your budgeted outgoings or what you have underestimated.

For the water bill - might be worth doing a leak check to ensure you are not wasting money from either an internal leak (such as a drpping tap/ toilet) or an invisble leak in the ground. Also all the water company websites have useful tips on reducing your usage.

samantham06

Ok thanks, I will start that tomorrow, it sounds like a good idea to help me keep track of where all the money keeps going!

flowerpots

Hi Sam, just to make you aware incase you dont already know but you mentioned not renewing the child DLA next March. Just wanted to make sure you are aware that your tax credits will reduce once you no longer claim child DLA. That is assumming that tax credits are aware and that you are already receiving the extra credit.

saterkey

hi, it might be worth going through your statement with a fine toothcomb to see all is going in and out as it should be, sometimes dd or sos get overlooked for things you no longer use.
If you have been eligible for child dla, its still worth applying again, they can only say no.and you might still be eligible.
could you ask the tax credits to take off maybe £1 a month or week off your debt to them from your payments they give you. that's what they do automatically with me or did I should say.