Struggling with debt

Nightshark

FireWyrm wrote: »

You are spending £35.50 on 'entertainment' you dont need but only £25 on food. That's madness. Ditch the TV completely, go to catchup and eat better. You are on such a tight budget, you cannot afford to waste a penny anywhere.
...and go to token £1 payments to your creditors. No one is going to make you starve to pay an unsecured debt!

Yeah i know im locked into contracts with sky so leaving would cost me a fortune.But i do understand what your saying

FireWyrm

Nightshark wrote: »

Yeah i know im locked into contracts with sky so leaving would cost me a fortune.But i do understand what your saying

Have you spoken to Sky about this? My understanding is that most creditors these days have to give due consideration to these types of issues. You are starving, no one in their right mind would demand you to pay a contract when you dont have enough to eat. Personally, you might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb, you're already in the doodoo, ditch sky completely and treat them as another unsecured creditor and send them token payments.

What are your future prospects? Any chance of bettering your situation any time soon, or is this permanent?

Nightshark

FireWyrm wrote: »

Have you spoken to Sky about this? My understanding is that most creditors these days have to give due consideration to these types of issues. You are starving, no one in their right mind would demand you to pay a contract when you dont have enough to eat. Personally, you might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb, you're already in the doodoo, ditch sky completely and treat them as another unsecured creditor and send them token payments.

What are your future prospects? Any chance of bettering your situation any time soon, or is this permanent?

Yeah i spoke to sky an reduced my sky bill from 30 too 23 i never thought of it that way of ditching it and treating it as another creditor.As for future prospects i have ajob interview tomorrow and hoping i can make enough of an impression to bag me the job

FireWyrm

Nightshark wrote: »

Yeah i spoke to sky an reduced my sky bill from 30 too 23 i never thought of it that way of ditching it and treating it as another creditor.As for future prospects i have ajob interview tomorrow and hoping i can make enough of an impression to bag me the job

Good luck then. I would give it perhaps one more month, but if you havnt managed to get something locked down by then, just stop with the Sky and for the love of little green apples, get a decent meal instead.

[Deleted User]

sourcrates wrote: »

Fees probably, or they cant add up :huh: !!!

Fees don't account for it, because it's ~ £400 short of the debt, not ~ £400 extra.

[Deleted User]

Nightshark wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 452
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 452

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 16
Electricity............................. 19
Gas..................................... 18
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 23.19
Telephone (land line)................... 15.99 - Could you dump this and use the mobile instead?
Mobile phone............................ 7.5
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 23.52 - You can't afford this. Dump ASAP.
Internet Services....................... 16 - Could you dump this, along with the Landline, and use a Dongle (£10 or £15pm) instead?
Groceries etc. ......................... 25 - This seems very low. Even for February, it's less than £1 per day.
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 30
Road tax................................ 77 - That's £924 per year. :eek:
Car Insurance........................... 61 - That's £732 per year. :eek: Check comparison sites.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 7.99
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 - Never?
Haircuts................................ 4
Entertainment........................... 5.99
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 - You need something in here, even if it's only a tenner.

Total monthly expenses.................. 412.18


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 300
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 300

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
capital one....................852.......0.........0
tesco credit card..............1560......0.........0
SRJ............................113.......0.........0
insurance......................73........0.........0
catalog........................459.......0.........0
loan...........................280.......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........3337......0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 452
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 412.18
Available for debt repayments........... 39.82
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 39.82

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 300
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,337
Net Assets.............................. -3,037

Dumping the Pay TV, replacing the LL and Internet services with a Dongle (@ £15pm) will save you £50-51pm.

Assuming the Road Tax is a mistake (and it's really £77pa), gives you an additional £70-58pm.

That gives you about £121 extra per month.

Any chance you could SORN the car, until you are back in work?

Nightshark

Car tax is 77 for 6 months as for the car insurance thats the cheapest i could get it which is up for renewal in september so hoping its going to drop again .I do get what your saying about the dongles iv used them in the past and found them very unreliable

[Deleted User]

Nightshark wrote: »

Car tax is 77 for 6 months

So that's £144pa.

That's still £65pm you have overestimated.

That makes it:-

Amount left after debt repayments....... 104.82

As for the Dongles, I think a lot depends on your location, in relation to the mobile phone tower.

I've been using a 3 Dongle for over 4 years, and it's been excellent and reliable.

FireWyrm

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

I've been using a 3 Dongle for over 4 years, and it's been excellent and reliable.

It really depends where you are. We are just slightly rural, surrounded by hills and you can only get an O2 signal one day out of three and forget any of the other networks. I wouldnt ditch the landline as it is necessary for internet and IMHO more reliable than a dongle depending on location. It is academic however since the OP is so close to the breadline, it is almost as broad as it is long. The TV must go and with it, the license. I believe the OP should be focusing his efforts on food and finding a new job. Token payments to the creditors for the foreseeable future I think.

Nightshark

Thank you all for the advice i have taken on board all your advice im going to sit down and write to all my creditors and offer token payments