Cannot afford to pay all our bills, what are the options?

Protocol45

Wow.

Firstly let me say apologies. For some reason, this site decided not to email me about updates to the thread so I'm only just reading them now.

Some really great advice here and really does put my partners and my mind as ease somewhat about our situation.

Honestly, some of the advice is not practical in our situation. Whether it is about getting an evening job or moving home. My partner can also be very stubborn and trying to convince her to make certain changes is an uphill battle. For example, we could easily cancel the landline, saving £15 a month. The only person who phones it is her grandfather. But she never answers the phone since there are family issues that side I try to keep out of. So it is £15 PM just to listen to his answerphone message every other week. Bah

What I have done thus far is send letters with SOE to my mobile provider, Littlewoods and DFS. What is the next step?
What happens if they all chose to ignore the letters and keep sending me bills? Do I just resend the letters?
Also, what happens if they send me a letter back refusing my offer and demanding full payment?

I will try to update this post more often and I can answer specific questions if need be, so many replies since I last posted, hard to keep up.

glasgowsaver2011

£180 per year for a land line you dont use.

Wow.....

Easy come easy go eh!

BillJones

Protocol45 wrote: »

Wow.

Firstly let me say apologies. For some reason, this site decided not to email me about updates to the thread so I'm only just reading them now.

Some really great advice here and really does put my partners and my mind as ease somewhat about our situation.

Honestly, some of the advice is not practical in our situation. Whether it is about getting an evening job or moving home.

What's the problem with getting an evening, weekend, or night job?

If there are relevant facts that you've left out, it'd make sense if you can post them. It's a bit frustrating to read a post, formulate and post advice, and then be told that it's no use as you've only given half the story.

katsu

Hello OP,

Has your partner looked at your SOA? Not wanting to cancel the phone is fair enough if you were paying for it out of your income, but you aren't. The phone is costing you money that you don't have.

How does your partner see that you will both get out of debt here?

If you can't take a job yourself then you need to live on the one income (plus benefits) which means the only outgoings you can have are those that fit inside your income.

Everyone here wants to help you be ok. We give different advice because we don't all are things the same but what we all agree on is that you have two ways to balance your SOA: more money in, whether a second job for her or a job for you, or you cut back your outgoings until they fit within your income.

It isn't easy to get your outgoings back into your income so that is why people are urging you to look for some work when she is home, but it is your choice.

Why not sit with your SOA and your partner and discuss what to cut out until it balances? Find out if you can do things like return the sofa and later get one from a charity shop or furniture charity service for people on a low income.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Protocol45

Protocol45 wrote: »

Wow.

What I have done thus far is send letters with SOE to my mobile provider, Littlewoods and DFS. What is the next step?
What happens if they all chose to ignore the letters and keep sending me bills? Do I just resend the letters?
Also, what happens if they send me a letter back refusing my offer and demanding full payment?

I really need help with this.
I've gotten a letter from Littlewoods today, saying it will pass on the details to a debt recovery company on the 1st...3 days ago.
Not one company has acknowledged my letters in any way. I don't know how to proceed. Resend them?

glasgowsaver2011

Resend them

make token payments of £1

But that will only buy you time.

Long term you need to cut expenses or increase income.

Neither of which you are prepared to do?

Zoology_Dragon

Evening/weekend work maybe but I don't see how working nights would be compatible with child care during the day.