Really hoping someone can help me see a light at the end of the tunnel

llcooljayne1

Hi,

I'm looking for a bit of advice because I'm trying to work this out but going around in circles!

I want myself and my partner to start saving someone's for a house. However we have go yourselves into lots of debt I've tried sitting down and working out the best way to pay it off but I can't and just getting myself in a mess so was hoping someone here could help me out!

So the debt is:

£13500 loan for our car
£6450 tesco 0% interest credit card
£1200 Barclays credit card
£4200 loan of my partners from years ago
£1200 overdraft

We are both in our early 30's and I hate being in this mess. I have just had a baby so am on maternity leave so my income has been cut by over £1000 a month. I'm actually loosing sleep over this (as well as being up with a newborn) is this debt really awful for our ages? Is there any way out or do I have to get used to the idea it will always be like this?

Thanks everyone ��

[Deleted User]

Hi auntloo,

I didn't want to read and run...it really doesn't have to always be like this, but there are rarely magic solutions, so it does take some working at! Some others more equipped than me will be along to offer some advice shortly, I'm pretty certain they will probably suggest you post a SOA with more details of your expenditure so they can give some advice about where you can make savings to put towards the dent. These boards have been a great, great help to me, and changed dealing with debt from a private misery to a communal challenge, we can do this kind of feeling, - I'd even go so far as to say I've had a lot of fun at times beating the debt. Hang in there, you will definitely sleep better once you have a plan.
CL

sourcrates

Hi, and welcome. The first thing you need to do is complete a statement of affairs, this is available in the stickies at the top of the forum.
People can then advise you better, where savings could be made, however, as you are on maternity leave, with a lower than normal income, if you find yourself struggling, just make sure essential bills are paid, for example, rent/mortgage, council tax, and utility bills, and of course food.
All unsecured credit is non priority, so can wait until you can afford it again, no need to worry about it, the key is to keep your creditors informed of your financial situation, write to them and explain you cant make payment for say, six months, till you return to work, you could offer £1 per month to each one, but really, if things are that tight, don't pay anything, just keep your creditors up to date with your situation, communication is the key.
Obviously you will need to keep paying the car, unless you can do without it ?

llcooljayne1

Thankyou so much for your reply. I do feel very alone with this. My partner is one of these people that has the attitude of 'everyone's in debt nowadays and our debt isn't that bad' so he doesn't help much I know most people are in some kind of financial difficulty but the fact is I don't want to be, I want to save for my daughters future and I can't do that being in this position. I've been to the bank to get hell and they just want to offer me more money! Not the solution I was hoping for! So here I am, as much as I'm embarassed about the mess we are in it's time to be honest and sort this crap out once and for all 😁

llcooljayne1

To be honest I want to get rid of the car, it's worth around £16,000 so I would sell it tomorrow and pay off the loan and some of the debt but other half says it's an asset?!?!

sourcrates

auntloo wrote: »

Thankyou so much for your reply. I do feel very alone with this. My partner is one of these people that has the attitude of 'everyone's in debt nowadays and our debt isn't that bad' so he doesn't help much I know most people are in some kind of financial difficulty but the fact is I don't want to be, I want to save for my daughters future and I can't do that being in this position. I've been to the bank to get hell and they just want to offer me more money! Not the solution I was hoping for! So here I am, as much as I'm embarassed about the mess we are in it's time to be honest and sort this crap out once and for all 😁

No need to be embarrassed, most folk on here have been in similar positions, including myself, debt seems to be acceptable these days, its when a change of circumstance happens, that problems start, the point you realise you cant carry on as you have been doing is called your "light bulb moment".
I suspect you are in this position now, but your partner maybe isn't, could be up to you to take the initiative here.

sourcrates

auntloo wrote: »

To be honest I want to get rid of the car, it's worth around £16,000 so I would sell it tomorrow and pay off the loan and some of the debt but other half says it's an asset?!?!

Its not an "asset" if you don't own it unfortunately


Statement of affairs available here :


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

llcooljayne1

That's exactly it, when I was working I earned a very good wage of about £1650 per month. It's dropped to the governments amazing maternity package of £578 a month. So now we can't afford things like a nice car. I'm the only one who uses the car as my partner has a company van and to be honest me the baby and the dog don't really require a £16000 vehicle to get us to the park and back �� I think I'm going to talk to him about selling the car and me just getting something cheaper

llcooljayne1

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\f0\fs22 \cf2 \cb3 \expnd0\expndtw0\kerning0
\outl0\strokewidth0 \strokec2 [tt]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet\
\
Household Information\
Number of adults in household........... 2\
Number of children in household......... 1\
Number of cars owned.................... 1\
\
Monthly Income Details\
Monthly income after tax................ 600\
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2000\
Benefits................................ 0\
Other income............................ 0\
Total monthly income.................... 2600\
\
Monthly Expense Details\
Mortgage................................ 0\
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0\
Rent.................................... 1200\
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0\
Council tax............................. 159\
Electricity............................. 52\
Gas..................................... 50\
Oil..................................... 0\
Water rates............................. 0\
Telephone (land line)................... 0\
Mobile phone............................ 70\
TV Licence.............................. 0\
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 70\
Internet Services....................... 0\
Groceries etc. ......................... 300\
Clothing................................ 0\
Petrol/diesel........................... 100\
Road tax................................ 0\
Car Insurance........................... 66\
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0\
Car parking............................. 0\
Other travel............................ 0\
Childcare/nursery....................... 0\
Other child related expenses............ 80\
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0\
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 48\
Buildings insurance..................... 0\
Contents insurance...................... 0\
Life assurance ......................... 0\
Other insurance......................... 0\
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0\
Haircuts................................ 0\
Entertainment........................... 60\
Holiday................................. 0\
Emergency fund.......................... 0\
Total monthly expenses.................. 2255\
\
\
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\
Barclays credit card...........1200......30........0\
Barclays overdraft.............1200......0.........0\
Tesco credit card..............6400......65........0\
Partner loan ..................4250......300.......0\
Tesco loan ....................13500.....282.......0\
Total unsecured debts..........26550.....677.......- \
\
\
Monthly Budget Summary\
Total monthly income.................... 2,600\
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,255\
Available for debt repayments........... 345\
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 677\
Amount short for making debt repayments. -332\
\
Personal Balance Sheet Summary\
Total assets (things you own)........... 0\
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0\
Total Unsecured debt.................... -26,550\
Net Assets.............................. -26,550\
\
[/tt]}

ViolaLass

auntloo wrote: »

\
Household Information\
Number of adults in household........... 2\
Number of children in household......... 1\
Number of cars owned.................... 1\


Monthly Income Details\
Monthly income after tax................ 600\
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2000\
Benefits................................ 0 Not even child benefit?
Other income............................ 0\
Total monthly income.................... 2600\

Monthly Expense Details\
Mortgage................................ 0\
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0\
Rent.................................... 1200 This is high, could you live in a cheaper area?
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0\
Council tax............................. 159\
Electricity............................. 52\
Gas..................................... 50\
Oil..................................... 0\
Water rates............................. 0\
Telephone (land line)................... 0\
Mobile phone............................ 70 For two phones? Could cut plenty here.
TV Licence.............................. 0\
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 70\
Internet Services....................... 0\
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 Could cut £100 here, easily, more if determined.
Clothing................................ 0 Never?
Petrol/diesel........................... 100 Does the company pay for your partner's petrol? If so, how are you spending so much?
Road tax................................ 0\
Car Insurance........................... 66\
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 Never anything?
Car parking............................. 0\
Other travel............................ 0\
Childcare/nursery....................... 0\
Other child related expenses............ 80
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0\
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 48 £576 a year!
Buildings insurance..................... 0\
Contents insurance...................... 0\
Life assurance ......................... 0 Getting this through work? If not, should be considered now you have a child.
Other insurance......................... 0\
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 Never?
Haircuts................................ 0 Never?
Entertainment........................... 60 Certain? Seems quite low.
Holiday................................. 0\
Emergency fund.......................... 0 Nothing?
Total monthly expenses.................. 2255\
\
\
Assets\
Cash.................................... 0\
House value (Gross)..................... 0\
Shares and bonds........................ 0\
Car(s).................................. 0 Car should go here.
Other assets............................ 0\
Total Assets............................ 0\
\
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts\
\
Unsecured Debts\
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR\
Barclays credit card...........1200......30........0\
Barclays overdraft.............1200......0.........0\
Tesco credit card..............6400......65........0\
Partner loan ..................4250......300.......0\
Tesco loan ....................13500.....282.......0\
Total unsecured debts..........26550.....677.......- \
\
\
Monthly Budget Summary\
Total monthly income.................... 2,600\
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,255\
Available for debt repayments........... 345\
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 677\
Amount short for making debt repayments. -332\

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -26,550\
Net Assets.............................. -26,550\

I think you're really overspending - lots of places where you could save but the priority also needs to be sorting your partner's attitude. This level of debt may be 'normal' in his eyes but it is seriously holding you back - you don't have enough to service your debts each month nor do you have emergency savings, let alone the beginnings of a house deposit.

I think the SOA may need redoing too - some areas where your lack of spend seems unlikely.

gfplux

Looks clearly that you are overspending. Until you have that under control the debts will just get bigger.