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Whatnodosh?

Hi all,

I am new to this site and would appreciate some comments and advice.

I am 37 single mother of 2. I live in private rented (costing me a fortune) and I now work full time (1 month ago).

I am in debt for just under £24,000. I am currently on a DMP with CCCS, paying £100 per month. This will take me approximately 20 years to pay off.

I have now got a full a full time job, but as you probably know, most of my tax credits will be taken away from me and I now am no longer eligible for housing benefit. I have approx £100 per month more, however, I will lose child benefit and child tax credit in about 18 months when my son reaches 16, depending on whether he stays at school or not. Although I am trying to repay my debt, I am also seriously considering bankruptcy as I know that I will never be able to manage any more payments. I have a half decent wage, and I am not in arrears on any primary bills, ie rent, water. Just the cost of living is getting bad. I know I am not the only one. But need some help please

Shineyhappy

Are you sure about the benefit losses? Check out www.entitledto.co.uk if you havent already.

I think that the best thing you can do is draw up a statment of affairs (ie incomings and outgoings and details of all the debts) and let us know how old your children are. This will be needed as you will probably need to see CCS again.

Try not to panic and get yourself a nice cup of tea. It does get easier and I am sure you will be given some great advice (and loads of support) on here.

Whatnodosh?

Thank you. I knew this would be the best place to be. No-one knows a situation fully unless your in it. My children are 11 and 14. I have already contacted Inland Revenue about Tax credits and they have confirmed that I will lose the working tax element. I am still paying my DMP, and have contacted them about a new budget. Doesnt look like fantastic reading tho.

pania

hey honey, welldone for making the first big importnant step and getting on here. ALthough it doesn't look fantastic reading please still let us see the situation, trust me we will have seen worse at some point!! There is so much love supprt and help here that we will soon have you feeling better. And if BR is the only way forward then so be it and you'll get plenty of asvice on that to.
Look forward to "speaking" soon.
Hugs for now
P
XX

pania

oops typing fingers sorry.

Whatnodosh?

Off into town now to spend more money for School Uniforms!!!!! Its never ending. Will post my figures later when I get back. Nice to know that people do care and that I am not the only one (sounds daft that, but I think many people think they are on their own) bye for now.

dancingfairy

If you do need to consider bankruptcy (not saying you do or don't) then check out the bankruptcy board and I'm sure they'll be able to give you some insight into it and whether it'll be worth it in your situation but post an SOA and we can go from there.
Take care- there's always people that care.

Whatnodosh?

Hello All

My income is £1840 various sources

Outgoings as follows

rent 625
gas 50
elec 50
water 58
c tax 86
tv lic 11
mobile 28
tel 30
car 43
petrol 65
bus 92 children to school
shopp 300
smoke 20
Clothing 39
hair 12
hobby 48
p money 20
sund 15
cccs 100

Amount 1692

1840
1692

148 left

Forgot to mention what I owe

LLoyds TSB Personal Loan 12343.74
LLoyds TSB Credit Card 6125.41
LLoyds TSB Overdraft 1451.41
Barclaycard 4208.00

We have not had a holiday since I split from dad, kids need clothes all the time as they are growing, and I may lose half of cb, child tax and maintenance when my son reaches 16. I certainly cant spend the next 20 years paying this off. When I look around my home there is nothing special in it, |How did I get here?????

angelavdavis

Whatnodosh? wrote: »

Hello All

My income is £1840 various sources - does this include maintenance from ex?

Outgoings as follows

rent 625
gas 50 - See if you can get a better deal through uswitch. Sign up to quidco to switch supplier so you get cashback
elec 50 - as for gas - get the kids involved in this one, have them ensuring that their electricals are switched off rather than put on standby, even get one of them to keep a note every day of the meter reading so they can watch it go up or down. If you make it a game - who can use the least electricity it gives them a bit of an incentive.
water 58 - this seems high - is it a meter?
c tax 86
tv lic 11
mobile 28 - Could you switch package for a cheaper one or go pay as you go?
tel 30 - Does this include internet? Martin has an article here on lowering the costs of phone calls
car 43 - what is this for?
petrol 65 - this seems high considering the kids go on the bus? If I were you, if you have to use this much petrol, buy it at Tesco or BP and get points or nectar on them - then you can use the vouchers for days out (book online - they are worth more points than at the supermarket).
bus 92 children to school
shopp 300 - might be worth going over to the Old Style forum for ideas on reducing the shopping bills? Again, use tesco or nectar (tesco is better) to get points to treat the kids.
smoke 20
Clothing 39 - do you really need to spend this month every month? Have you tried freecycle? Its where people can recycle items rather than stick them on landfill, they are always advertising kids clothes available. You could post to see if anyone has a school jumper/blazer their child has grown out of.
hair 12 - check out local colleges - many do courses in hairdressing and offer reduced haircuts, etc that are carried out by the trainees under the watchful eye of a pro. They can be a lot cheaper.
hobby 48 - What is your hobby?
p money 20
sund 15 - what is this?
cccs 100

Amount 1692

1840
1692

148 left - any idea what this goes on? I recommend starting a spending diary to keep track of costs - its a real eye opener and will help highlight areas where you might have a tendency to fritter - a couple of quid a week soon adds up.

Forgot to mention what I owe - I am guessing because its a DMP that the lenders have frozen the interest?

LLoyds TSB Personal Loan 12343.74
LLoyds TSB Credit Card 6125.41
LLoyds TSB Overdraft 1451.41
Barclaycard 4208.00

We have not had a holiday since I split from dad, kids need clothes all the time as they are growing, and I may lose half of cb, child tax and maintenance when my son reaches 16. I certainly cant spend the next 20 years paying this off. When I look around my home there is nothing special in it, |How did I get here?????

Well, that is the question we all ponder over from time to time!

What will your son be doing at 16 - will he be working or staying on to study? If he will be staying on to study he may be entitled to some sort of benefit. If he will be working or drawing benefits - he will need to contribute to the household.

So would the extra £100 be after paying off the creditors at the same rate?

I have used the snowball calculator (assuming frozen interest) to work out when you would be debt-free if you paid £200 towards your debts and its September 2017. However, the interesting bit is when you actually look at reducing some of your other outgoings and see how that makes an impact. Looking at trimming the gas/electric/phone/mobi/petrol/clothes/losing sund would amount to about £80 extra. Adding that to the snowball calculator, this reduces your debt free date to November 2014.

Its just food for thought.

Bankruptcy is a personal choice obviously and we have all felt dragged down by debt at some time or another. There are lots of people on the bankruptcy board who can advise you specifically around this.

Good luck

top_drawer_2

hey,

Hugs to you ... Sounds like you are pretty down, I suffer with depression to although I have a lot less on my plate... You mention in one of the posts that you need to buy school uniform ... well I was just thinking... have you had a look on freecycle?

I got a breadmaker off there a couple of weeks ago and it works a dream, in all it cost me £1.10 as I got the bus back ...LOL. I have noticed that people put some bloody good stuff on and sch uniform seems to be a common one.

Jen

Whatnodosh?

Yes my income includes maintenance

I could swop my gas and elec but, they will then want paying in full and I dont have the money for that.

My petrol is high as I have a 15 mile round trip to work, and I take my son to football and boxing, it is his hobbies and interests (His dad used to pay for them, but has now said that as I am working full time, I can do them!!) I also take children to parents house, when I am working, so I drive quite a bit.

My home telephone is for another 10 months under contract so cant change that. I will never go PAYG again, as my phone has been a lifeline to me. My parents had a horrific accident 5 years ago, and I had no credit, no money and was unable to sort my kids out or tell my sisters, all the time leaving my parents in Intensive Care, while I drove around like a mad woman. The Car money is what CCCS have set as a figure for car insurance/tax etc.

and an emergency figure (sundries) as 15 per month.