struggling

uptheswannee

hi help and advice required please
i currently have £2437 debt comprising £600 od £700 credit card
887 argos card and £250 loan from my mum towards a car
problem is my only income is £228 per week min wage from which i pay £121 rent £20 petrol abt £10 work lunch £40-50/m phone £14m mobile then £514 per year tax insurance mot,
there is no room to budget for social,dental,prescription,clothing,
car maintenenance
i have made in roads into credit card but am struggling day to day
as i can,t claim tax credits or any other benefit
my wife pays all other bills and food shopping
would like to be able to do something without affecting my credit
and as i havent had a proper holiday for ten years desperately need one this year

asparagus1968

Hi and welcome,

obvious answer is to up the income somehow-second job /overtime etc
other thoughts:

£10 lunch- is this packed lunches for the month?

£50/60 phone plus £14 for mobile =£64-£74 a month telephones!! extremely high and not what you can afford, how is it this high?

do you actually need a car?

could you do a Statement of Affairs, whivh shows the incomings and outgoings of both you and your wife please?

asparagus1968

ps, you can't afford a holiday I'm afraid!!

realitycheck85

I know you said you don't want to affect your credit rating but have you tried getting a small loan and consolidating everything?

tomtontom

realitycheck85 wrote: »

I know you said you don't want to affect your credit rating but have you tried getting a small loan and consolidating everything?

Taking on more debt is rarely the answer.

asparagus1968

uptheswannee wrote: »

hi help and advice required please
i currently have £2437 debt comprising £600 od £700 credit card
887 argos card and £250 loan from my mum towards a car
problem is my only income is £228 per week min wage from which i pay £121 rent £20 petrol abt £10 work lunch £40-50/m phone £14m mobile then £514 per year tax insurance mot,
there is no room to budget for social,dental,prescription,clothing,
car maintenenance
i have made in roads into credit card but am struggling day to day
as i can,t claim tax credits or any other benefit
my wife pays all other bills and food shopping
would like to be able to do something without affecting my credit
and as i havent had a proper holiday for ten years desperately need one this year

is this right?
228x52/12= £998 income a month

rent £121 a month or a week?
telephone £60 a month
mobile £14 a month
lunch £10 a month or week?
petrol £20 a month
£514/12= £42 a month other car expenses

asparagus1968

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php


this is the link for the SOA

uptheswannee

hi
regards car did put me back in mess unfortunately absolutely essential not necessarily for work
but i have 80 year old mum only reason i need it for
cant cut down any more on packed lunch have got it down to £6 o occassions
regards mobile with t mobile till may when i will change as spoke to them about better deal they said come back end of contract so i wont be
regards loan as you can see paying £121 a week rent would mean that one weeks wages would be completely swallowed up so im looking for something like 0% for a period to spread load
thanks

thecassman86

uptheswannee wrote: »

hi
regards car did put me back in mess unfortunately absolutely essential not necessarily for work
but i have 80 year old mum only reason i need it for
cant cut down any more on packed lunch have got it down to £6 o occassions
regards mobile with t mobile till may when i will change as spoke to them about better deal they said come back end of contract so i wont be
regards loan as you can see paying £121 a week rent would mean that one weeks wages would be completely swallowed up so im looking for something like 0% for a period to spread load
thanks

I think, like what's been suggested a couple of times above, the thing you need to do now is fill in an SOA (link - http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php) and then post it back on this thread... That way we can all scrutinise it and find ways of you saving some money per month.

For example, from the sounds of your circumstances you might be eligible for some benefits that you're not claiming and people on here might be able to help in that regard too.

Indout96

Does your mum need the money ? if not ask if you could pay her back at a later date and use that money to pay off extra from credit card or Argos card (whichever is more interest %)
As that goes down it will release more cash to increase payments and get rid of them completely

cant cut down any more on packed lunch have got it down to £6 o
occassions

1 loaf of bread is £1 or less from Aldi ( price is for Kingsmill 50/50) you can freeze it and just take out right amount each night, paste ect can be as low as 3 jars for £1 (B&M) and last 2 days each.
Full weeks lunch for £2

DONT get another consolidation load - you will just drive yourself further down.

asparagus1968

hi, could you answer my questions in post 6 please? its really not clear what your incomings/ outgoings are.
when mobile phone contract is up maybe have a look at OVIVO?
whats the telephone at £60 ?