I need help please - financial crisis

BeingMe

He is self employed. I have heard from others that they find it difficult to collect payments from self employed people. I shall call them tomorrow though.

He had promised to pay for half of the children's Christmas presents and our daughter's birthday presents (her birthday is in December). We agreed on a budget before hand but he is now saying he can't afford to pay me back this money. I would have spent much less had I known and I'm now in my overdraft at the beginning of the month and facing a surprise council tax bill and £200 extra to find for the rent at the end of this month.

Lurker1972

Ask the council to reduce the rate that the overpayment is recovered at. It will take longer to repay, but if that reduces the pressure on your budget, so be it. Think of it as an interest free loan!:p

BeingMe

The £200 extra is not the shortfall created by the overpayment, it is the amount by which they have reduced my housing benefit. I previously received my full rent, as of this month I will receive £300.

The letters they have sent are very confusing. They are saying that the repayment will be covered by arrears. I am not owed any arrears so it is just a matter of time before they realise this mistake and begin taking payments. Or should I speak to them? I tried calling today but couldn't get through.

Frugalsod

I have never being in a debt repayment plan but you should find things easier very quickly as they will be able to see your limited income restricts the ability to repay them.

One thing that I discovered is that doing your groceries online can be a money saver. I use a site called mysupermarket.co.uk and it makes suggestions for items that you buy. You can make some savings by simply trading down. Then you can see which supermarket will cost you the least. I found that by making a big online order every few months even the lowest delivery charge £3 is minimal. A friend with a car mentioned that it could cost more than the £3 delivery charge to go to the supermarket in petrol and wear and tear on the car. Though in your case it might have another benefit. If you order heavy items you actually have someone bring them into your home for you. That is helpful as it definitely saves wear and tear on the car, and your back.

I would start by working out a meal plan for say a month, and then work out what you actually have in stock so can work out what you need to get. Remember to keep some flexibility. If something is really cheap then buy more and endeavour to use it in various meals. Then shop online for it and keep an eye on the total. Some of the supermarkets will let you keep the delivery crates until next time and what you could do then is rearrange the items so they are sorted by week. If you have 4 weeks worth and 4 crates then you know everything in the top crate is for the current week and so on. In that way your weekly shop might have only cost 75p to deliver. You could also put snacks in each crate and then tell them that there are some in each weeks crate and as the crate is opened then they can get some when they want, and to share. Though if they run out on day one they will have a whole week before the next crate is opened. They might cheat and delve down a crate but if they run out long before the end of the month they only have themselves to blame.

I would also avoid fresh veg items as you could by these on your way home from work, and they are also the one thing that causes prices to vary with what you have budgeted for. Plus you can get better deals in the clearance bins.

crafty_witch

Your benefit award looks wrong to me. I am a single Mum getting working tax credit and my award (with the child benefit) is about the same as yours, I earn about the same wage but I don't have as many children. So either yours is wrong or mine is:eek:

I would get back on to HMRC and ask them to double check it

Also, I know it's a major headache but get on to the CSA as a matter of urgency, your ex should be helping you support the children self employed or not!

Chin up

[Deleted User]

I've adjusted for the presents and the haircuts, and that leaves you needing to save £202.12, to balance your general household budget.

We will deal with the debts all in good time.

BeingMe wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 747
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 570 - Are you sure you are not entitled to anything else?
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1317

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 500
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 104 - Is this over 10 or 12 months, and are you claiming the single persons discount?
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 35 - This could be a bit cheaper. Try U-Switch for a better deal.
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 - This isn't too bad, but you could probably still squeeze £100 from it.
Clothing................................ 100 - This is high. Use what you already have for a while then, when you start buying again, reduce to £50.
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 0 - Nothing?
Car Insurance........................... 35 - Not bad but, you might still do a bit better. Try comparison sites at renewal.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 8 - This is only £96pa, which seems a bit low.
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 10
Other child related expenses............ 0 - None?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 - Never?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 - You need this.
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 80 This is still almost £1,000pa. Cut to £50, which is still £600pa.
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 50 - Can you trim this a bit?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 - You need something in here.

Total monthly expenses.................. 1519.12


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Store account..................1500......130.......25
Credit card....................2000......100.......30
Credit card....................800.......17........30
Store cards....................700.......25........30
Catalogue .....................1100......110.......0
Store card.....................1800......35........30
Total unsecured debts..........7900......417.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,317
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,936.12
Available for debt repayments........... -202.12
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 417
Amount short for making debt repayments. -619.12

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,900
Net Assets.............................. -6,400

So, let's see where we stand now.

If you haven't claimed the single person's CT discount, and are currently paying over 10 months, then claiming the discount and swapping to 12 months, would get it down to £65pm.

Even without that, clipping £100 from the groceries, £50 from clothing, and £30 from presents, will save you £180pm.

Add back on £15 for Contents Insurance, and £25 for the Emergency Fund, and you are still spending £140 less.

Still a bit shy, but we are getting there.

When_the_going_gets_tough

Op lots of good advice here. You may also want to visit the CAB for some help, also Christians Against Poverty offer a face to face service if you live in one of the areas they cover. Either of these would give you a bit of moral support and practical help. There is always a solution to debt issues, I am sure you will find a way through.

BeingMe

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to reply. I must admit I was nervousness about posting.

I don't think I filled in the statement of affairs correctly as I was getting so confused between things I receive weekly/monthly. I can't remember now how I came to the figure of £570 but I agree it doesn't look right.

I'm struggling to fall asleep tonight but I'm going to try and stay positive that this can be resolved. I will get all my paper work out tomorrow and use the correct figures.

Thank you once again to everyone.

armchairexpert

Being, I just want to welcome you to the boards. This is the right place to be.

And I bet you anything you like that once you're on your feet a bit better, you will indeed find that life as a single parent is much, much easier than life with an abusive sod. Really and truly.

(Also, please don't believe him ever again when he says he'll split a cost with you, unless he fronts up his half first!).

Tinwhistler

BeingMe wrote: »

I have included in the birthday presents section the cost of buying presents for children whose birthday parties we are invited to. Has anybody got any good ways of reducing these costs please?

I would try to get the kids to make gifts both the cards and gifts. Home made chocolate krispies can't go wrong and the tv would be off for a bit. There's lots of crafty sites to get kids involved of all ages. When Easter comes there's a chance to get creative. I'm sure there will be lots of tips on the old style money saving board too.

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/coloringeggs/a/foodcoloreggs.htm