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

TwistedPsycho

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)

I wish I was living around you area; I have to pay £825 for a 2-bed, NO garden. My rental is at the absolute cheap end of the market too.

Pollycat

tomtontom wrote: »

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

I must admit, the same thing occurred to me too.

A_Couple_In_Love wrote: »

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.

As for saying 'walk if you don't have a car', the OP does have a car and perhaps it's necessary to get his wife to work.

Same for the sofa. The OP does have a sofa, it's on finance which may have been taken out before he lost his job - when he probably could afford it.

I think the sooner the OP posts his SOA on the DFW board, the sooner he'll have lots of helpful comments about ways to cut his expenditure down.

A_Couple_In_Love

Pollycat wrote: »

I must admit, the same thing occurred to me too.




As for saying 'walk if you don't have a car', the OP does have a car and perhaps it's necessary to get his wife to work.

Same for the sofa. The OP does have a sofa, it's on finance which may have been taken out before he lost his job - when he probably could afford it.

I think the sooner the OP posts his SOA on the DFW board, the sooner he'll have lots of helpful comments about ways to cut his expenditure down.

By the sounds of it, the car was bought when both in full employment, I'm not one for loans, therefore I wouldn't take a car out on one incase circumstances change, like in the OP's situation. And again, same for the sofa. This is all I'm trying to prove.

Apart from that, the only things that are actually "changeable" now, are the 4 listed in my first post.

Your wrong, I did take into consideration house prices, but £775 seems a little high considering the OP is in debt. I live in St Helens, Merseyside where the house prices are fairly cheap, but soon moving to Manchester. A house there with a front and back garden, 2 bed rooms are easily available for £400-£500. Yes, you may have to move slightly out of area, and it may not be the nicest of areas, but you have to ask yourself the question. How long do you want to be in debt?

Pollycat

A_Couple_In_Love wrote: »

By the sounds of it, the car was bought when both in full employment, I'm not one for loans, therefore I wouldn't take a car out on one incase circumstances change, like now. And again, same for the sofa. This is all I'm trying to prove.

But from the OP's perspective, a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Whether it was sensible or not, he has loans.

A_Couple_In_Love wrote: »

Apart from that, the only things that are actually "changeable" now, are the 3 listed in my first post.

Your right, I did take into consideration house prices, but £775 seems a little high considering the OP is in dept. I live in St Helens, Merseyside where the house prices are fairly cheap, but soon moving to Manchester. A house with a front and back garden, 2 bed rooms are easily available for £400-£500. Yes, you may have to move slightly out of area, and it may not be the nicest of areas, but you have to ask yourself the question. How long do you want to be in dept?

There may be other things that can be changed but until the OP puts his SOA together (and that's not something that you can do in 5 minutes), we don't know.

As for the rent, the OP said in another thread that he was living in a 2 bed flat so it's not like he's swanning round in a 5 bedroomed detached house.

I think we just have to take his word that his rent is around the going rate for his area.

A_Couple_In_Love

Pollycat wrote: »

But from the OP's perspective, a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Whether it was sensible or not, he has loans.

Your right, but rather then just correct the OP's problems, we should be encouraging to prevent them in the future as well.

A_Couple_In_Love

Pollycat wrote: »

As for the rent, the OP said in another thread that he was living in a 2 bed flat so it's not like he's swanning round in a 5 bedroomed detached house.

How does encouraging to not take loans out, and to cut back and things I think can be cheaper, make you get the impression I am saying he is "swanning round in a 5 bedroom house*?

Pollycat

A_Couple_In_Love wrote: »

Your right, but rather then just correct the OP's problems, we should be encouraging to prevent them in the future as well.

I think when someone posts asking for advice - especially financial advice - they want it tailored to their specific problem rather than replies designed to change the world.

A_Couple_In_Love wrote: »

How does encouraging to not take loans out, and to cut back and things I think can be cheaper, make you get the impression I am saying he is "swanning round in a 5 bedroom house*?

I've already pointed out to you that it's too late to encourage the OP not to take loans out.

You've posted several times about the OP finding somewhere cheaper to live.
Like your 2 bed house for £375 per month.

As other posters have said, renting somewhere for that price may simply not be possible in the area that the OP lives.

He's paying £775 for a 2 bedroomed flat.

I don't have the impression that you're saying he's "swanning round in a 5 bedroom house".
My point was that he's not renting a massive property e.g. a 5 bedroomed detached house so it's probably not going to be an option to downsize, especially as he has a child.

epitome

My Advice:

Do not renew the phone contract (I have a phone I bought for £5 and I have PAYG and I use less than £5 a year in call charges, STOP using your phone.

Get out of the partner's mobile phone contract ASAP.

Cancel Virgin TV, Phone and Broadband
The TV package is just a waste of money you can watch freeview.
The Broadband is EXTREMELY useful -I admit- but if you can stop it and use the library computers, then that is going to save you loads.
The phone.. You have a mobile, what do you need a landline for?

Reduce your consumption of electricity (I use about 1200 Kwh a year that's £14 a month ish)

Job Seekers Allowance Conts Based. Did, you claim last September? What happened?

Mersey_2

Just in case you're still thinking about it - my advice would be definitely do not consolidate your debts, as while it's bound to be very worrying and lead to sleepless nights, your total debt appears to only be £1,500.

The utility companies do have soome schemes to delay/defer payment; but, you need to let them, know, ie that you're willing to pay, but need to do so in reduced instalments.

You may not want to, but Food banks may be a very short-term solution to a lack of cash flow in the immediate 'say' fortnight ahead. You may not qualify, but as others have said - it's worth applying to your local council for hardship/discretionary/emergency funds. They may only give eg £30 [that's the amount they gave someone I advised], but it all helps.

I don't know how readily your internet access is, but - if you haven't already - sign up for reward cards or check your balabce if you have any. [My neighbour's bank card was stolen, but managed to survive on her Boots Advantage card & Tesco clubcard points for a few days].

DawnW

OP, can I suggest you contact one of the free debt charities such as Stepchange? They have helped a great many people on here, and can help you too.

Good luck xx