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

Neil_948

options:-


Get Rent & C Tax sorted immediately
Food on table as well
Cancel All DD


Gas & Electricity can you go prepay (yes you pay slightly more for it but could get debt repayments lowered as they know they will get there money eventually)


Mobiles have you checked how much it will cost you to get out of the contract compared to how much you will pay per month now.


Do you really need the car could it be cheaper on public transport if your partner works locally.


Get in touch with step change for the others they will more probably instruct you to make token payments or set you up on a D.R.O


But it's better to get the bull by the horns and tackle it now before you get any further in.

A_Couple_In_Love

Pollycat wrote: »

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.

My 3 points WAS to the OP's specific needs and goes as follows:

House - Look for cheaper place if possible. (If possible, can't get one cheaper, fine?!)

Virgin Media - Cancel TV & Phone (Again, not changing the world).

Mobile Bills (Cut down. Again, its a suggestion, I even mentioned who the package was with)

So do me a favour, and focus on helping the OP rather than keep quoting my posts. If the OP doesn't find my replies helpful, then I am sure he will just read the next one.

sax11

A_Couple_In_Love wrote: »

. Have a look for a home for £400 until you sort out your depts.

A_Couple_In_Love wrote: »

. How long do you want to be in dept?

It's debt not dept

A_Couple_In_Love

sax11 wrote: »

It's debt not dept

Thanks, its my auto-correct.

Protocol45

Pollycat wrote: »

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

I will use this today and see if I have missed anything and report back.

A_Couple_In_Love wrote: »

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.

The thing I am unclear of is just how to go about this. People are saying cancel DD's but I am looking for template letters to send out to these people. I'm sure they are on this site, but I can't find them. I'm sure I need to let these people know that I can no longer afford to pay anymore.

Moving house is also not an option, the only way to reduce housing prices is to move really far away from my location, which wouldn't be worth my partner getting to work, either in her car or on public transport. Also, with the deposit and other fees, which we don't have, there is no way we can even think about it.

Below is a rough breakdown of my SOA.
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................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1444
Benefits................................ 490
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1934

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 160
Rent.................................... 775
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 120
Electricity............................. 90
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 15
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 50
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1950


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 6000.....(160)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 6000......-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Littlewoods....................250.......50........0
DFS............................800.......40........0
Littlewoods (Partner)..........400.......50........0
Loan ..........................1000......14........0
Credit Card....................1000......25........0
Credit Card....................1500......40........0
Total unsecured debts..........4950......219.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,934
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,950
Available for debt repayments........... -16
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 219
Amount short for making debt repayments. -235

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -6,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,950
Net Assets.............................. -10,950

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

Horseunderwater

TV license cost £145.50 this year, so why are you paying £180/year(£15/mthDD). That's £34.50 extra. Ring them up & ask to go onto the cash plan type account, which is £2.80 a week. Yoy get a card & can either go to a paypoint or go online & use a debit card to pay. My point being one less DD bouncing & you can pay it a little late so you pay when money is there.
Do check out housing benefit/ council tax support, you may get a little.

Protocol45

The OP was only roughly until I worked it out. The TV license is a type on my part, you are right, it is not that much.
We have applied for working tax credit and have yet to receive any further information on how much, if any, we will get. Just this morning got a cheque for £350 for overpaid tax, so silver linings in that case.

As I said, how do I start informing creditors? Is there a template I can use to get the ball rolling? Also, should I cancel DD's now? Even though I haven't told them anything yet?

Pollycat

I'm not sure that just cancelling direct debits is the right way to go about it.

You need to speak to the companies concerned (Virgin & mobile providers) and see if you can move to a cheaper tariff.
Just stopping paying a creditor is just storing up trouble for you further down the line.

I believe there are some things missing/wrong from your SOA:
mobile phone contracts - you have £60. Shouldn't it be £70 (£30 you, £40 your wife)?

You need road tax in - unless the Fiat is a 'baby'.

Are you not paying any contents insurance?

Are you paying any of your debts (catalogue/credit cards/loan) at all?

Damage limitation:
have you spoken to the Council about your problems in paying?
Are the £50 & £26 per month 'need to pay' to Electric & water as a result of discussions wit them. i.e. are they aware of your financial problems.

The only positive thing I can see on your SOA is the £400 per
month on groceries.
This is very high for 2 adults and a small child - unless one of you has a dietary or medical problem.

You should be able to cut this down to at the most £200 per month eating well.
What sort of food do you buy? Ready meals? Takeaways?

Take a look at the Old-style board for ideas on batch cooking from fresh, menu-planning (so you don't throw food away) and ideas on menus.

Even not taking your monthly repayments on debts (£219 pm) into account, your income does not cover your outgoings.

And you have no contingency at all in your SOA.

To service your monthly bills, you need to up your income.
Is there any way you could get a job in the evenings? Obviously, you'd need to consider the impact of that on your existing benefits.

TBH, the rent on your house is crippling you.
Is there no option at all to move to a cheaper place in your area?

This thread really need to be on the DFW board, I'll try to pm one of the board guide and ask for it to be moved.

Read this about problem debts:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan?_ga=1.267197069.2098250780.1407491076

and this thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4271235

pmlindyloo

Protocol45 wrote: »

The OP was only roughly until I worked it out. The TV license is a type on my part, you are right, it is not that much.
We have applied for working tax credit and have yet to receive any further information on how much, if any, we will get. Just this morning got a cheque for £350 for overpaid tax, so silver linings in that case.

As I said, how do I start informing creditors? Is there a template I can use to get the ball rolling? Also, should I cancel DD's now? Even though I haven't told them anything yet?

Your priority debts are your council tax and your rent.

So use the money you have just got to pay off your council tax. This will stop you getting a liability order and further charges.

Negotiate something with your landlord as regards the rent arrears as this is a priority debt too.

All the others are non priority debts so you can cancel the DDs for these (will stop you getting bank charges)and then send a letter.

You can go to CAB or Stepchange for help but as your debts are relatively small you can probably sort this out yourself. (sorry, did not mean to make it seem unimportant - it is still a major worry I know)

This is an extremely useful website with sample letters you can use.

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/Pages/default.aspx

Protocol45

Pollycat wrote: »

I'm not sure that just cancelling direct debits is the right way to go about it.

You need to speak to the companies concerned (Virgin & mobile providers) and see if you can move to a cheaper tariff.
Just stopping paying a creditor is just storing up trouble for you further down the line.

I Guess I'm just seeking guidance. A few people have mentioned here that I should cancel my DD's with immediate effect.

I believe there are some things missing/wrong from your SOA:
mobile phone contracts - you have £60. Shouldn't it be £70 (£30 you, £40 your wife)?

I was wrong in my assessment, we are both on £30 each.

You need road tax in - unless the Fiat is a 'baby'.

The Fiat is indeed a baby.

Are you not paying any contents insurance?

Nope, one more thing we can't afford.

Are you paying any of your debts (catalogue/credit cards/loan) at all?

I was paying off my Littlewoods slowly, but the £50 they wanted was too much for me to handle after I lost my job. My partner has a slightly more, lazy(?) approach. She will just ignore things and has made no attempt to content the creditors to explain the situation. I know it is wrong and I have tried to talk to her about it, but she refuses to do it.

Damage limitation:
have you spoken to the Council about your problems in paying?

Not as of yet, I was waiting to see what I could figure our here, then I could at least tell them now much I can spare.

Are the £50 & £26 per month 'need to pay' to Electric & water as a result of discussions wit them. i.e. are they aware of your financial problems.

Yes, I spoke to the energy company and Littlewoods and they did lower prices, but it doesn't seem to be enough, not to mention the £800 arrears on the energy bill, that is a huge cloud over things.

The only positive thing I can see on your SOA is the £400 per
month on groceries.
This is very high for 2 adults and a small child - unless one of you has a dietary or medical problem.

You should be able to cut this down to at the most £200 per month eating well.
What sort of food do you buy? Ready meals? Takeaways?

We shop solely at Iceland at the moment. Not healthy food at all, but cheap, £1 here and £1 there on food. We can make it stretch more now, so that £400 estimate will need updating.

TBH, the rent on your house is crippling you.
Is there no option at all to move to a cheaper place in your area?

Not in the immediate area no. For this area, 775 pm for a 2 bed flat is actually standard. We could downsize to a 1 bed, but therein lies more issues with my son. Unless we flat out move really far away, which will mean she will have to leave her job, as the travelling costs will not be worth it.

This thread really need to be on the DFW board, I'll try to pm one of the board guide and ask for it to be moved.

thank you.

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Your priority debts are your council tax and your rent.

So use the money you have just got to pay off your council tax. This will stop you getting a liability order and further charges.

I will contact them tomorrow when my son is being looked after by a friend to relieve some of the pressure.

Negotiate something with your landlord as regards the rent arrears as this is a priority debt too.

They suggested I pay £800 pm to make up the shortfall, the arrears are about £250/£300.

All the others are non priority debts so you can cancel the DDs for these (will stop you getting bank charges)and then send a letter.

This is the confusing part, I will check out your link below for the letters. Mixed signals, people say I should and should not cancel DD's. My credit score is ruined anyway, I'm honestly not bothered how much worse that gets, taken me 10 years to repair the damage I did in my teens and it still was bad and not enough to get credit.