Finally need to face up to it

skinny-on-the-inside

Hi all please be gentle
I have been running from my situation for a while and today have taken the first step and have contacted payplan to enter a dmp.
Any advise anyone can offer would be appreciated on what I can expect. I have detailed my soa below.

Household Information[/b]\
Number of adults in household........... 2\
Number of children in household......... 2\
Number of cars owned.................... 1\
\
Monthly Income Details\
Monthly income after tax................ 1705\
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0\
Benefits................................ 136\
Other income............................ 0\
Total monthly income.................... 1841\
\
Monthly Expense Details\
Mortgage................................ 0\
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 238\
Rent.................................... 0\
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0\
Council tax............................. 117\
Electricity............................. 51\
Gas..................................... 25\
Oil..................................... 0\
Water rates............................. 0\
Telephone (land line)................... 25\
Mobile phone............................ 60\
TV Licence.............................. 12\
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 26\
Internet Services....................... 25\
Groceries etc. ......................... 400\
Clothing................................ 40\
Petrol/diesel........................... 100\
Road tax................................ 16\
Car Insurance........................... 45\
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 11\
Car parking............................. 0\
Other travel............................ 0\
Childcare/nursery....................... 156\
Other child related expenses............ 28\
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 24\
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0\
Buildings insurance..................... 16.5\
Contents insurance...................... 16.5\
Life assurance ......................... 21\
Other insurance......................... 0\
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10\
Haircuts................................ 20\
Entertainment........................... 10\
Holiday................................. 0\
Emergency fund.......................... 14\
Factoring fees.......................... 25\
Total monthly expenses.................. 1532\
\
\
Assets\
Cash.................................... 0\
House value (Gross)..................... 0\
Shares and bonds........................ 0\
Car(s).................................. 3000\
Other assets............................ 0\
Total Assets............................ 3000\
\
\
Secured & HP Debts\
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR\
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0\
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 6200.....(238)......10.9\
Total secured & HP debts...... 6200......-.........- \
\
Unsecured Debts\
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR\
Next...........................950.......92........0\
Very...........................4000......100.......0\
Littlewoods....................6500......200.......0\
Bankof scotland overd..........300.......0.........0\
First direct overdraf..........1000......0.........0\
Quickquid......................450.......145.......0\
Wonga..........................1300......1300......0\
Ladder loans...................1500......209.6.....0\
Pounds to pocket...............900.......135.......0\
Sunny..........................350.......125.......0\
Arcadia........................200.......7.........0\
Arcadia........................590.......20........0\
Arcadia........................480.......15........0\
Littlewoods visa...............400.......12........0\
Barclaycard....................800.......16........0\
Bank of scotland...............2500......40........0\
Total unsecured debts..........22220.....2416.6....- \
\
\
Monthly Budget Summary\
Total monthly income.................... 1,841\
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,532\
Available for debt repayments........... 309\
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 2,416.6\
Amount short for making debt repayments. -2,107.6\
\
Personal Balance Sheet Summary\
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,000\
Total HP & Secured debt................. -6,200\
Total Unsecured debt.................... -22,220\
Net Assets.............................. -25,420\
\
Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com. \
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/font]}

skinny-on-the-inside

I will add I have been rolling over these payday loans and can't cope with doing so any longer

Dobbibill

Hi skinny,


Well done for facing up to things, you should feel proud of yourself for doing this.


I will run through a few things that jump out to me (very gently though). I can see why you would be looking at a DMP as you have got a significant shortfall every month so I can also see why you have gone down the payday loan route (hindsight is a wonderful thing)


Your mobile phone expenses are quite high - this could be cut with a sim only deal or PAYG


Maybe look for a better deal on your landline and internet - I found a better deal for less than £22 for both (hunt for a good deal)


Buildings and contents insurance is quite high, again hunt around, you may find you can get a better deal without compromising on any sort of cover


Presents £10 ??? is this really accurate or could this be contributing to the overall debt on catalogues???


With regards to the debts, are these payments the minimum or have you made any reduced payment arrangements???


Just to add, I wish you well in getting to your goal of debt freedom. It will be hard, it will take time but with determination and support I'm sure you will get there and be wiser for it


DB

Sazzie23

Hi Skinny


Well done for making a start, I can see how those debts will have crept up. I noticed the late timing of the post, I'm guessing there have been a few sleepless nights lately, is your partner with you in this?


I noticed there was no mortgage or rent payments shown, but equally no house as an asset, but there are children, so is there maybe a partner who pays the rent etc?


Even if you decide on solo DMP (why screw both credit ratings) perhaps consider rewriting the SOA as a a joint one to see if there are other areas that could be cut-back.


I'm not sure but would you be able to claim child tax-credits or other benefits?


Regards the DMP, over on the DMP support thread I think they'd recommend you do a few months of token payments in order to get a bit of an emergency fund, "emergencies are inevitabilities" is my favourite quote. For some reason DMPers cars have a habit of getting expensive just as you start the DMP. Remember there will be no back up plan to get credit once you start the DMP so the budget needs to be able to cover it all.


Any chance you could cut down on car fuel costs or groceries? That would give you a bit of wiggle room on the budget. The grocery challenges on here can help to focus on where you can make changes to the way you buy & cook food.


Make sure you follow all the advice about changing back accounts, cancelling continuous payment authorities and direct debits as your cash will disappear quick if the PDL's can withdraw it.


Creditor wise, the DMP support threads report that PDL's are reasonably OK to deal with once they realise you are going to pay eventually, catalogues seem to get the worst press for being unpleasant to deal with, so make sure you feel strong before you talk to them. Barclays/First Direct/BOS are generally OK depending on who you get.


Decide if you are going to answer phone calls or not...I didn't..if they want to talk to you they will generally leave a message, so I only ever phoned back when I was feeling together. If I answered one by mistake I would simply say, its not convenient to talk right now & hang up.


Have your story ready for everyone else, friends/family/colleageues depending on who you want to tell what to....mine goes like this
'I've been worrying a bit about money lately (my income came down drastically so that's reasonable), so I'm trying to stick to a spending plan until I get things back on track' this gives you breathing space if people ask you why you are not having a holiday/having a big kids party/buying the latest DVD etc. There are no lies in what I say, but it doesn't reveal the extent of my situation. It also means if someone does call up and leave a message that gets overheard, people aren't too shocked and I can say something like 'I've been making the minimum repayments, but they are trying to get me to take out more credit and I'm not ready to do that at the moment'. Of course there is no shame in taking out a DMP and if you want to let people know, that is great, mostly you'll find real friends will help you and family will try to prop you a bit by offering to pay something off you (if they can).

I got myself a prepaid credit card so if I want to go out and not look like I'm skint to someone I can still pay for things, although some websites don't accept it.

So good luck with it, & come over to the DMP support thread if you want more advice/friendly non judgemental support. Hopefully you will be able to sleep better soon.


Sazzie

foxgloves

Hi,
I think you should be able to lop £100 off your grocery budget each month. We cut ours a lot by meal planning each week, then writing shopping list with only what you need for those meals plus breakfasts & lunches. We also shop around. Aldi have some great prices & decent quality & despite being a bit of a Waitrose girl, we get loads of stuff from Aldi now. We cook from scratch as ready meals/takeaways can really add up, as can cooking different meals for different or fussy family members. Every so often, I have a batch cooking day (esp if I've got stuff which needs using up) & get it into the freezer to give me some free meals later in the month (on a busy day, getting one of these out to cook can be like a homemade ready meal). Try local market for fruit & veg, see if there's a local butcher who does weekly offers. We also have a policy of buying a reasonable amount of some things, i. e crisps, we'd buy enough for a pack each a day, but when they're gone, no more will be bought till the next week. If you meal plan, you won't need to pop out for those top-up shops where you go in for bread & come out with a £20 bagful. You probably already do some of these things. I know a £100 saving a month won't solve your problems, but with debt-busting, every little really does help.

On_my_way

Hi,

Firstly, well done for realising that you need help.

A dmp will sort you out but you will also need to be much more disciplined in your approach to everything.

You can easily save at least £100 off your grocery bill, work out unit prices on offers, use up things in your cupboards and freezer before buying more, using cheaper but just as good brands etc.

You haven't put down anything for rent or your partner's income..between you can you increase your income? Even for a year, with a second job etc?

Good luck, you will be able to sort this out.

skogar

Hi Skinny,

Firstly congratulations for deciding to deal with the problem. :j

Sorry I can't offer much help on how to deal with the existing debts as I don't know much about that really.

I'm another one saying that the grocery budget is probably one of the easiest to cut back on. The old style board is probably a good one to try if you want ideas on this. But the tips I've found useful are meal plan and look what you are throwing away. Look at what you have got in - including the freezer, then plan your meals for the week then make a shopping list. Then go shopping ONLY buying the things on the list - no it was on offer excuses. I find this bit the really tough bit. Then as far as possible stick to the plan. Also look at the stuff you've got in the fridge - are you throwing stuff out because you don't get though it in time. Could you use it to make something and stick it in the freezer or is it best not to buy it as you never use it? Only you can decide. Loads of other tips on the old style forum which I've found really useful. Also check that what you're quoting as a grocery budget is actually what is being spent on food - frequently I've seen posts where when someone has looked into what they are spending the "grocery" money on it includes loads of other things - cleaning products, toiletries, even clothes and other random things so the amount they think they are spending on food is not as much as they think making it more difficult to cut back.

Sorry, you may well already do all these things just remember I'm a Luddite who lives in the dark ages and try and make allowances.

£60 / month on mobile phones to me sounds a lot (but is it for 1 person or 4?) as you have a land line but then I have a pay as you go bought for the princely sum of £3 which is almost always off (only for my emergencies not other peoples) and I put less than £20 / year on it. It is used occasionally to ring people and I am rarely on the phone for more than a minute. I don't chat to people on it. Would it be cheaper to go for an inclusive deal on your land line that includes calls and internet access, and cut right back on the mobile usage? Just a thought.

Again could you cut back on cable TV. I realise for avid sports fans this is not often a priority but might be worth a though. I haven't had a TV for years so don't think of it as a necessity but people are usually amazed when I explain I haven't see program X due to not having a TV so I accept my priorities seem a bit weird to many.

Good luck:)

chesky

Does partner work? If not, why the childcare cost?

skinny-on-the-inside

Hi all and thanks for the advice
My partner does work full time but his salary is wiped out by the mortgage and the remainder of childcare fees. Hence why I haven't quoted it in my soa.
I agree my mobile cost is high this is for 2 bills mine and my son which I am locked into contract for another year unfortunately.

My house insurance is due for renewal next month so hopefully can save some there.

Thanks for all the help and advice so far

asparagus1968

hiya, think it would be easier to advise on here if you could do a joint SOA
things that jump out-
groceries
mobiles-even if locked in, ask for a reduction,tell them you are struggling
satellite tv- a luxury you can't afford, and in fact free view is fab,you'd soon get used to it(and the extra money)
landline and internet-change supplier, shop around for better deal,use mobile minutes and texts before resorting to using landline for calls
house insurance-use topcashback and compare,bet you will get it cheaper.
medical-could you get a season ticket cheaper?
what was the HP for? i'd thought car, but assets only list £3000 for car.
have you spoken to someone like stepchange or national debtline?
good luck:)