1st Time Poster :-) Struggling and advice needed

pthompson81

Firstly welcome all. I can confirm having read through this forum for a week or so it was the kindness and understand of each of the responses that helped me pluck up the courage to write this.

So.... I am currently really struggling with debt. I have managed so far to pay everything i need to on a monthly basis so as such have not missed a payment (yet). However, the pressure is really started to add up. I have taken a payment break this month on one of my loans but i still only have £140 left over this month for fuel, living etc. Not good.

Next month when this account is back taking taking payments again then I'm pretty screwed. I have a work company car and have been using a CC to pay for fuel and claim back, unfortunately this is currently maxed so fuel is now coming out my spends :-(

A breakdown of my debt:
Lloyds Overdraft - £1000
Lloyds Loan - £7259 (pay 177 a month)
Lloyds CC - £4000 (pay min of 65 a month)
Barclaycard - £7700 (pay min of 202 a month)
Tesco Loan - £7600 (pay 149 a month)
Capital One - £396 (pay min of 13 a month)

All of these are up to date but Ive had to use wonga recently to cover my fuel to enable me to work (i know its a terrible idea). these have all been paid off.

I have spoken to SC and they will be calling me back next week to discuss my optioned but I don't know if a DMP is a good idea. Im scared my credit file and rating will get smashed..

Need some friendly help coz this daily worry is getting 2 much..

Thanks all

Phil

[Deleted User]

First thing I would suggest is, post an SOA, and let the good (aka genius) people of MSE take a look.

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

Make sure to format for MSE, before Copying and Pasting it into the reply window.

pthompson81

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1857.16
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1857.16

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 650
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 114
Electricity............................. 75
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 37
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 50
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 300
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1609


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Lloyds Overdraft...............1000......0.........0
Lloyds Loan....................7259.58...177.6.....15.8
Lloyds CC......................4038.75...65........11.95
Capital One....................396.82....12.9......30.34
Tesco Loan.....................7620.42...149.4.....6.79
Barclaycard CC.................7717......210.......17.9
Total unsecured debts..........28032.57..614.9.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,857.16
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,609
Available for debt repayments........... 248.16
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 614.9
Amount short for making debt repayments. -366.74

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -28,032.57
Net Assets.............................. -28,032.57


Hope i did it correctly???

Willowpop

Just a quickie... you should get 82 a month in child benefit...I think everyone gets it.

Your grocery bill looks pretty high for 2...I have a budget of 200 a month for 2 adults , 1 child and 4 cats.
Can you maybe look at coming off branded items or changing to Lidl or Aldi to save here?
Clothing seems high as well. What does 50 a month cover?

Also, can you reduce your mobile tariff at all? That is really high.

I'm sure others will have a more insightful opinion, but I didn't want to read and run.
I'm sure there are savings in there somewhere

National_Debtline

Hello there,

£250 is within acceptible guidelines for an adult and a child although, as Willowpop mentions, you may be able to reduce it a little. I do think that you need to be more realistic with the budget as a whole though - you currently have nothing listed for travel, birthdays, christmas, haircuts, entertainment and emergencies. These are all likely to be areas that you'll need money for throughout the year. The surefire way to deal with the debts effectively is to start with a watertight budget. Once that is in place you'll be able to identify the best route forward.

We have some useful information about working out a budget which you can find by clicking here.

Very best wishes,

David @ National Debtline.

[Deleted User]

pthompson81 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1857.16
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0 - Not even Family Allowance/Child Tax Credits?
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1857.16

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 650
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 114 - Over 10 or 12 months? If over 10, switching to 12 months will reduce it to £95. Also, are you claiming the single person 25% discount?
Electricity............................. 75
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 37
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 40 - This is a bit high, even if it's for 2 phones. Go PAYG/sim only, at about £10 per phone.
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 50 - You can't afford this. Cancel ASAP and go Freeview/Freesat instead.
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 - You should be able to knock a bit (say £50) off this.
Clothing................................ 50 - Only buy when clothes actually need replacing.
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 300
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 - You need this. Shouldn't cost more than about £10pm.
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 - Nothing ever?
Haircuts................................ 0 - Never?
Entertainment........................... 0 - Nothing? No drinks, takeaways, days out?
Holiday................................. 0 - Not even day trips to the zoo, seaside etc.?
Emergency fund.......................... 0 - You need something in here, otherwise you will go back to borrowing, when there's an emergency.

Total monthly expenses.................. 1609


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Lloyds Overdraft...............1000......0.........0
Lloyds Loan....................7259.58...177.6.....15.8
Lloyds CC......................4038.75...65........11.95
Capital One....................396.82....12.9......30.34
Tesco Loan.....................7620.42...149.4.....6.79
Barclaycard CC.................7717......210.......17.9
Total unsecured debts..........28032.57..614.9.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,857.16
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,609
Available for debt repayments........... 248.16
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 614.9
Amount short for making debt repayments. -366.74

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -28,032.57
Net Assets.............................. -28,032.57

My comments in red.

The Capital One debt is the one to concentrate on, as it has a shocking APR.

At your current rate of payment, it's going to take almost 5 years to pay it off, and cost almost as much in interest, as the current balance.

Are all the other debts receiving minimum payments, or are you overpaying on some/all of them?

Is there any way to increase your earnings?

Promotion? Second job? Different job?

Bublin1

Yes, firstly concentrate all your efforts on reducing bills and knocking out that Capital One card. It has the highest APR and the lowest total.

It's worth calling Sky or mobile companies to try and reduce bills.
This month I called t-mobile and slashed my bill in half by going sim only.
Last night I called Sky and the operator spotted that I have been overcharged for my broadband by £2.50 a month for 4 years. I was also being charged for a service I didn't ask for and don't use!

Are you not claiming Child Benefit and tax credits?

GettingOrganised

I haven't got much more to offer in advice except to echo the above, but just wanted to say welcome to the forum and congratulate you on the start of your DFW journey.

kindlefirebabe

Firstly I just want to say that I am really pleased to see that you are trying to get a handle on your debt. I know this probably sounds obvious but I will say it anyway. The main thing you have to do is curb your spending. You can't afford to get in any deeper. Look to cut out all of the unnecessary spending you can't afford luxuries. I have put a few comments below. Please read this in the context intended. I'm really trying to be constructive for you Also CAB can often help you to negotiate with credit card companies to cut the APR in circumstances like yours where you are trying hard but getting nowhere to clear your debts. I would suggest you speak to them urgently.

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1857.16
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0 You need to be claiming Child Benefit and probably entitled to tax credits too.
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1857.16

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 650
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 114 Have you claimed the single person's council tax rebate (25% discount)? If not do it urgently. Also it may help for you to pay over 12 months rather than 10 months
Electricity............................. 75
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 37
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 40 You can't afford this. Go PAYG and be strict with your usage on a cheap bundle.
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 50 You can't afford this, go Freesat or Freeview. You can always get it back when you are debt free.
Internet Services....................... 20 Shop around and get a cheaper deal if you can.. Not sure if this includes your line rental.
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 Use the cheaper supermarkets and try and plan your meals only buying the food you need. Avoid take away food and try and cook some of your meals from scratch. Look at what you are throwing away if this is an issue for you. Use own label brands, you can't afford to be fussy.
Clothing................................ 50 you can't afford to buy clothes while you are in so much debt although this may be different for your child. But supermarkets do excellent children's clothing ranges.
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 300 Look at alternatives if you can although I accept that this may not be possible.
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1609


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0 Take a look at what you own any gear that you can sell on ebay etc to help pay off your debts
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Lloyds Overdraft...............1000......0.........0
Lloyds Loan....................7259.58...177.6.....15.8
Lloyds CC......................4038.75...65........11.95
Capital One....................396.82....12.9......30.34 See if you can do a free balance transfer using one of the recommended CCs on this site and move your Capital One balance and your Barclaycard CC balance. But you must be strict with yourself and cut up the credit cards. Do not add to this debt. Your CC debts are really high which makes it difficult for you to consolidate your debts all into one place.
Tesco Loan.....................7620.42...149.4.....6.79
Barclaycard CC.................7717......210.......17.9
Total unsecured debts..........28032.57..614.9.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,857.16
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,609
Available for debt repayments........... 248.16
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 614.9
Amount short for making debt repayments. -366.74

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -28,032.57
Net Assets.............................. -28,032.57

Gorchard_2

As others say its all about "every penny counts".
Make a budget and Stick to it - never EVER think "Its only £1" ... think its another small step closer to the financial freedom I want.

Selling things on ebay, or a hobby such as Cake-baking can earn a few extra pounds. Any chance you get to save cash or earn cash will make a difference.

Also, when things get tough, come back to the forum and post how you FEEL - the support from members of the forum has helped me SOOO much; it really is good to talk.

Best of luck.