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

Pollycat

There are benefit checkers that you can plug your financial details in to see if you are getting everything you are entitled to.

https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

Here's the thread that has the link to SOA:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/562271

Tixy

As you have priority debts you need to cancel the DDs to any non priority items.

Ignore that they won't accept less than £X per month and write to all non essentials and state that you have priority debts and offer them a token payment of £1 a month. Ask for their bank details so you can set up a standing order for this amount.

Locked in to a contract of not with tv and mobiles based on what you have said you are going to need to default on these contracts as well until your essentials are paid off. I would get yourself a PAYG sim in the meantime.

As others have said it would be useful if your posted a statement of affairs, if you don't want to post on here I would still complete one for yourself, and I would then get in touch with one of the debt advice charities for some help and advice.

Voyager2002

As others have said, use the benefit calculators. It is entirely possible that your Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit were wrongly calculated. And let's hope that your Tax Credits (you should get both Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit) will be a substantial amount.

There are probably savings to be made in your outgoings: check if you are still tied in to a contract with Virgin Media, and if not then consider switching to a less expensive provider. Try to avoid bank charges (these can easily add up to vast amounts) and remember that if your electricity gets put on to a pre-payment meter you will pay more per unit.

retepetsir

Post up your detailed/complete SOA and we'll go from there.

Marisco

Protocol45 wrote: »

In what way did I say I was prioritising those debts?
They fly out my bank and either put me in the red or leave me with nothing.
I've spent 10 years trying to repair my credit score from back in my teenage years and it's depressing as hell to see all that work wasted as I miss payment after payment.
I've spoken to these people, Littlewoods for example refuse to accept a penny less than £30 a month. The electricity company have come to an agreement, but it is £50 ish a month and that only keeps us on the level. I still owe them over £800.
Same goes for the water company. Oh and as you know, TV/Baordband and mobile phones are done on a yearly contract or 2 years. I'm locked in to these companies, if I could cancel my mobile, I would do it tomorrow, but I have to wait until November for that and I think early next year for Virgin.

When I first got with oh, he had a lot of debts that his ex had clocked up, but they were in his name. It took me months to sort it out and get things down to a manageable level. Oh's creditors "insisted" on certain amounts as well. I wrote to them all, told them we couldn't afford what they wanted (enclosing an income/expenditure list) Some were reasonable and some issued a CCJ after taking him to court. Some also passed the debt over to a debt collection agency.

I wrote to the court before the set date, enclosing a letter and listing income/expenditure, the court agreed with us that we couldn't afford what they were asking, and we ended up paying a £1 to a couple of them!! It is time consuming, but worth it in the end. Oh's credit score was shot to hell, but tbh, that was the least of our worries!

You should cancel the DD's though and enter into negotiations with them, and only pay them by standing order, this should be done quickly, as every time a DD "bounces" you'll be incurring bank charges, as you will if you have an unauthorised overdraft as well. Never ignore letters, always respond and always in writing, and don't forget to include everything on an expenditure list.

It'll make depressing reading, especially if it's in a minus every month, but stick with it, keep insisting on how much you can pay, and stick to your guns. Most creditors are reasonable, more so probably now than when I did it, which was the mid 90's, as they realise the situation is a lot worse for some people now than it ever was. Good luck.

Horseunderwater

Going to a PPMeter should only cost the standard tariff rate now. Turn off as many things that are on standby as possible. toddler clothing can often be obtained from freegle freecycle groups in your area.
If on a water meter don't flush every time - just when you need to. Fix dripping taps, does gutter water go into a soakaway or into drains? If former claim the soakaway discount.
Stop buying bottled toddler food & cook baby same as you eat, just blend it as needed.
Contact national debt line or step change - both help you sort out debts.

fabforty

Protocol45 wrote: »

My financial situation has gotten worse of late. To follow up a previous post, I was dismissed from work in Sept last year. Since that time, my partner has found a full time job and I stay at home and look after our 15 month old son.

We are claiming child benefit, have recently applied for tax credits and are receiving housing benefit (£200 a fortnight). But with all this and her wages, it isn't enough to pay everything. we owe the following:

£800+ in arrears with the electricity company, with the neeed to pay £50 min a month.
£300+ arrears with the water company, with the need to pay £26 a month.
£40 a month for TV/Internet/Phone from Virgin
£30 a month for my mobile (contract ends in November)
£40 a month for my partners contract.
£40 a month for DFS sofa, 1 month arrears.
2 months bounced payments for council tax, now £240 owed.
£200 arrears for the rent. Been paying our £775 a month on time, only been short twice.
There is my partners £160 a month car on finance from Fiat, her insurance also, I forget the amount.

Everything is bouncing in my bank, I'm always in negative numbers or positive depressing amounts like +£0.54. We struggle to buy food for the family and it seems our son is the only thing holding us together.

I thought about going down the debt management road, offering token amounts, but I am unfamiliar with how this works and what they can accept.

Any advice on this would be great, allow me and my partner to sleep a little better at nights, which is difficult currently.

How much does your wife earn? It would be easier to advise if we knew what figures were involved.
Does your wife work set hours? If so, perhaps you can find a part-time job, evenings or weekends to fit in around her hours which wouldn't incur childcare cost.? TBH it sounds as if you can't afford to have one parent at home full-time.

moneyistooshorttomention

Drop the mobile phone contracts as soon as its possible to do so and that will save £70 per month.

I have the cheapest possible mobile phone myself and just pay for my calls/texts on it on a PAYE basis. So it was possible to buy a mobile for only £10 (£40 including the first £30 of calls and texts, so the phone itself was £10).

When I had used up those £30 of phonecalls on it I have been topping it up subsequently and I doubt I spend more than £20 a year on top-ups (as, being a mobile, its kept for more emergency type purposes only and the landline and email on my computer are used for everything basically).

Its probably possible to get a cheaper deal for landline/broadband than £40 per month. I have Freeview anyway for my tv and my provider charges me around £35 per month for unlimited broadband and unlimited phonecalls to standard numbers and 0845 numbers.

If your child is still in nappies, then I am guessing you are using disposable ones? If that is the case, then ask on Freecycle for some reusable cloth ones.

A_Couple_In_Love

3 ways to save here:

£40 a month for my partners contract.
Cut down on the £40 a month, you can easily get a tariff with unlimited calls and texts for £15. Check out 02, I previously had this deal with them. (Saved £25)

£40 a month for TV/Internet/Phone from Virgin
You have mobile phones, remove the phone and TV from the package and use Freeview. I pay £25pm for broadband internet only with Virgin Media. (Saved £15)

£200 arrears for the rent. Been paying our £775 a month on time, only been short twice.
Look for a cheaper home, again, I pay £375pm for a 2 bedroom house, front and back garden. Have a look for a home for £400 until you sort out your debt. (Saved £375)

Cutting down on them 3 along, you have saved yourself a total of £415

And remember the rule, if you don't have the money, you can't have it... No car? walk. No Sofa? tuff. It's time to stop taking loans and only buy what you can afford. You'll be far happier in the long run .

I see you haven't mentioned your grocery shopping? It may be worth looking into as many people aren't aware how to budget. For 2 adults we spend around £20-30 per week including household products, we are never short of food and we don't buy value either.

tomtontom

A_Couple_In_Love wrote: »

£200 arrears for the rent. Been paying our £775 a month on time, only been short twice.
Look for a cheaper home, again, I pay £375pm for a 2 bedroom house, front and back garden. Have a look for a home for £400 until you sort out your depts. (Saved £375)

Are you even aware of where the OP lives? In most of the country £400 won't get you a bedsit! :rotfl: