Planning for debt

calamity

New here so please stay with me if I get the explanation wrong.
We currently have high outgoings--which are just about manageable.
I am currently on long term sick leave and will be going onto half pay in about 6 weeks time---this will cause a problem.
I am considering asking for a 2 month payment break on our mortgage right now as this--if the lender allowed it--would let me mop up all our credit card debts in advance of my half pay.
Other than quite high monthly outgoings we would then be left with only one loan which has 14mths to run.

taxi73

Hi and welcome...most mortgage lenders allow a payment break.If you post your SOA for incomings and outgoings we may be able to help you cut back further...see southernscousers sticky at the top of the board

calamity

second try --site lost it first time--or maybe i did
Income p mth.
Self £960
Partner £1690
Child benefit £165
Tax credit £42

total income £2857

Outgoings

BT line rental £12
Sky (phone and broadband) £45
Build and cont ins £22.31
Council tax £175
Mortgage £749
Endow/life ins £229.25
car Ins x2 £79
Tv lic £11.37
Gas £46
Elec £61
union fees £18
BoS loan £335.61

---

14 mths left
Mobile £17
Next £45-total due

---

£340
BoS credit card £50

---

total due £900
Debenhams credit card £50---totla due £995
petrol £160
food £450
childcare £260

Total==£2815.54

As you can see we scrape through at present but in 6 weeks when i go on half pay it will be a different matter.
Also just realised i woould need a 3 mth payment break on the mortgage --not 2

thanks again

mrsspendalot

food, petrol, gas, electric, sky and insurance for cars all look very high - how many children do you have? If you are on long term sick do you need to spend £260 on childcare? Do you need 2 cars?

Try the comparison sites for gas, electric and insurance sites, get rid of sky and aim to halve your food bill and you will have enough savings made to make a real difference with your debts.

I have 3 children and we spend between £35 and £45 a week on food - pop over to the old style board for some ideas on cooking from scratch etc.

Oh and welcome to DFW

lynzpower

I agree, that 450 looks massive!

I feed 2 adults and a hungry dog on 125 a month, but Its possible to do 100 for the 3 of us- and its certainly not beans on toast every night.

your electric looks high too. Tell you what, right now, spin round the house and unplug everything thats not being used. believe me you will be staggered. mobile phone chargers, radios, printers, anything at all thats not being used. get into the habit of switching things off at the wall. I found post its were the way I got into the swing of it.

the sky phone & broadband is pricey, you can get free evening & weekend calls on primus 2 for nothing - yes thats right 0.00 and you dont even pay to connect to it. Broadband can be got from tesco value for 9.99, there may be cheaper ones around now. this will save you 35 quid per month. But of course you will forfiet the TV channels, but in this sort of hole your in i think thats worthwhile.

calamity

thanks for the welcome--the cost for sky includes the phone and broadband and is actually cheaper than we were with the phone and broadband separate.
We need the 2 cars cos hubs works a good bit away and is disabled and i work about 15mls away when i am working---even when not working i need the car to get the oldest child to school.
have 2 other children both under school age and need to keep my nursery place open for when i go back to work--that is the unknown in all this.
in adition to this both cars are paid for and if we sold one then i went back to work we would need a loan to get another

My shopping bill includes all cleaning etc and we do cook a fair amount fom scratch but 1 of the kids is on a special diet--no prescription and another one has learning disabilities and will only eat certain foods--and i really mean that --he would starve before eating something new.
My electricity and gas is about on par with what my neighbours pay to a variety of different suppliers --so will look at comparison sites but not sure that i would save much there.

thank you for your reply and I am sorry if i seem to sound a bit negative and knocking back your ideas--im not but like most things in life it is not that straightforward.

lynzpower

Of course everything can be tweaked to fit your situation.

But the fact of the matter is you will be right in the deep dodo if you DONT slice back.

Yes, it might be cheaper to have sky package as it is than BEFORE- but is it cheaper than the 9.99 I just quoted you? No, it isnt So therefore to my mind you are wasting 35 quid you dont have on something which you can get cheaper?

It is a huge sea change in thinking, from going from what you can afford, to deciding what you cant. I was on log term sick leave last year and I went to nil pay :eek: now that was scary. However, we managed absolutely fine when I went onto half pay, because we had sliced right back. Going back to work for me wasnt an option - I simply was not well enough. I still managed to over pay my cards and clear debt in almost the same rate as when I was off work on full pay. I know it sounds trite, but it can be done. Dont think about what CANNOT , simply face what can.

eg you have a kiddie with disabilities. OK, well your the parent, your the expert, youll know what they'll eat and what they wont. So unless youve been feeding them caviar and steaks it can be done cheaper. What sort of things will they eat. Additionally, dont hesitate to pop over to the old style board. MSE is a very busy place with hundreds of people - you can guarantee someone will have had a similar experience to you and can help you along.

Stick with us, it is worth it

Lynz
x

calamity

Going back to work might not be an option here either but at the moment that is a long way off.
We were with tesco broadband but they would not up rate our modem to wi-fi unless we took out the £22 package which combined with the £37 a month that we were paying BT cost more than the sky package--we have no extra TV channels that is the phone and broadband.
I have tried my son with tesco and other supermarket own brand weetabix and coco-pops but he refused them after one mouthful same with a few other things.
All the kids eat loads of fruit but again will only eat certain types.
I know i sound as though i cannot change and that is not the case or i would not be here. But i have already looked at ways of cutting down before i came here and have made the changes that hubs and kids will live with.
I certainly do not see a way of getting a shopping bill including all toilet roll etc own to £100 a month or there abouts when my milk alone comes to £40 mth

mrsspendalot

Start small then - aim to spend £10 a week or £10 a month less to start with. That could be something as simple as not buying chocolate biscuits and crisps or switching cleaning products to using stardrops instead which does just about any cleaning job you can imagine.


Before i came on here i used to spend £375 a month and never imagined that i could get it any lower with 2 babies in nappies and a daughter in school, but i did gradually. what i did was go over to the oldstyle board and popped up a typical weeks shopping receipt and let them scrutinise it - saved me £20 the following week!

do you get some disability allowance for your child if they have learning disabilities and higher living costs as a result? also if you are maybe not going back to work will you get extra tax credits or any other kind of help? check out www.entitledto.co.uk for any benefit entitlements you might be missing out on

mrsspendalot

also i see you mention your husband is disabled - do you not get any tax credit/ disability money for his disabilities either?

calamity

Thankss for the mention of stardrops --someone told me about that a few weeks ago but i could not remember the name--where is it available.
We have recently applied for DLA for our son and waiting on a decision - Also applied for hubs but he was turned down and at present refuses to "beg" his way through appeal process--- he was injured and left with a leg2" short following loads of breaks in pelvis and back---prescriptions alone come to £42 mth for him now.

Will try with the shopping list that is a good idea --thank you