Life is becoming such a struggle :(

janegresty

I would love some advice. CAB are not helping in the slightest!
We owe around £10,000 in total.
At present my partner does not work as he got laid off and he has tried so hard for the last week to get a job, but he hasn't even been offered an interview yet.
At current we are paying £450 rent to cover our arrears, but they have said that from next month that will go up to £500 per month.
We are paying £130 a month to council tax, and £100 a month to repay back our overpayments that we had for housing benefit.
We are behind on all the bills right now... gas £100 water £220 electric £32 Tv license £60
And now we have creditors threatening to take us to court aswell.
We also have a laptop and tv from brighthouse that is nearly paid off, and we owe them £55 today, but have no money until the 13th of august and even then not enough for all the bills.
If we dont pay brighthouse they will take our laptop and tv away, but they wont give us any money in return, so we will of lost out on 2 years worth of payments (which is alot) so i really want to keep paying them.
But in the next month I really think we are going to end up homeless and with lots of court dates lined up.
This nearly happened before and someone bailed us out, but there is no one to do that this time.
I am so bad with my money, but this last month or so I have done so well with it, but it still isn't enough.
Please help me, any advice is appreciated and i will be very very grateful to you!
jane

Lucy1982_2

Hi :hello:

First of all calm down. Everything will be ok.

I'm not sure I can be much help, but have a look at the thread called 'First Time poster' as this will show you how to do a statement of affairs. A list of all your incomings and outgoings and debts with their APR's.

Obviously your OH needs to find a new job. Is there anything he can do in the meantime to raise some cash? Have you got anything you could sell on Ebay/Amazon or use to do a car boot? This might give you some cash relatively soon.

My other suggestion would be to speak to one of the Debt Management plan recommended here. I don't know anything about them, but they may be able to help.

Others will be along soon with some more advice, but if you can pop your SOA we can see where you would be able to cut back on things (if anywhere)

Take care and try not to worry

Lucy

dancingfairy

Hi and welcome.
Have you posted an SOA (statement of Affairs- see the thread for first time posters) - this will help us see if there are any areas you could cut back. Putting together an SOA should help- you will nee this to talk to the council/if you end up in court/for CAB etc. By the sounds of it this will show that you do not have enough money coming in to pay the bills and will show how much you have left to be able to repay them the money you owe them- if you can demonstrate that you don't have any money left (by showing them the budget) they should be able to accept a reasonable payment plan. This is where I would start. Grab a cuppa and draw up an SOA.

In the meantime are there any things you can ebay/car boot etc?
Has your partner tried any temp agencies - they might be able to help?

Good Luck

janegresty

We have already sold what we can on ebay and car boots... we haven't much left in the house now, only things we need. i will do an soa tonight as im at work at the moment, also i used to be with a management debt company, but i had to pay them a fee. so i have cancelled that and tried to pay creditors on my own. but its not working out as i have no money.
we have cut back on food - buying only cheap food and eating cheap stuff rather than what we would like to eat. we also take food from relatives when they have extras.
i walk to work and back to save money and we have both quit smoking. we also have 2 dogs which we have to feed and we cannot give them away as they are like our children. ive been to cab 3 times and they just tell me to pay important bills and ignore the rest. thats the only help they gave.
we use cheap shampoo and washing powder, and the dogs eat the cheapest dog food out there.
i feel we have cut back as much as we can now, and unless we starve for 2 months or something, i dont think there is any ways we can cut back any more

Lucy1982_2

I think that the DMP they recommend here are free.

But pop up an SOA and we can go from there.

dancingfairy

o.k Firstly starving is not an option- you need to have something to live on. In one sense the CAB is right you need to make sure you pay your priority debts first and concentrate on these - ie housing and council tax - as you don't want to end up homeless as that will make things a bit harder for you. After you have paid for essentials - gas/electric/water/ food etc any money you have left will need to be divided among the people you owe money to. I am sorry the CAB aren't helping you- have you been to see them recently now your situation has changed?. Do an SOA later and post it up here and I am sure people who know more will be able to help you with what needs to paid in what order (but I think the above is a rough guide). From what you have said a repayment plan may well be necessary but use a company who does not charge for this service - CCCS are highly recommended on here as are Payplan- they will have more power to negotiate with your creditors for you - they will need an SOA as well so this will help for when you speak to them.

Keep posting - there is a way out of this mess and I'm sure lots of people on here will help as much as they can.

dancingfairy

I also wanted to say I think that you need to check whether you are entitled to any benefits - try entitledto.com (I think it is that). I am not sure whether CCCS and Payplan can advise on these but would imagine they can.

joeblack066

Hiya. I know how bleak you feel because I was there in October last year. However I got through it and so will you. Please please post the SOA because people may be able to help. Also check www.entitledto.com to see if you can get any housing benefit etc. What line of work is you OH looking for? There may be people on here with hints and tips or even leads! Keep posting, and keep your chin up!

Madnessa

Maybe in the worst case scenario you could "hide" the TV and computer at a family member's or friends house. If you don't have it they can't take it. Just until you can afford to pay?

Do you really need the computer or could you sell it?

Has your husband tried signing up at agencies. Even if it is just part time he could be earning anything between £500 - £1000 per month depending on his skills. Just one salary in your situation is not going to cut it. And with the summer hols lots of agencies are looking for people.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

janegresty

i have tried payplan and cccs they said i am not in enough debt for them to help me and i cant sell the laptop as technically it isnt mine until i have paid it off fully.
i will do a rough sao and do proper when i get home.
monthly incomings - £740.00

outgoings -
rent - £450
council tax - £130
electric - 30
gas - 30
tv licence - 30
brighthouse - 250

owed
personal debt (to family member) - 8,458
housing benefits repayments - 1,231
lloyds tsb credit card - 618
lloyds tsb overdraft - 216
rbos credit card - 585
capital one credit card - 200
other credit card - 521
bt - 188
3g contract phone - 268
o2 contract phone - 97.52
tv licence - 52.68
electric - 90
gas - 30
water - 200
bright house - 298 left to pay
rent - 300

Lucy1982_2

Have a look at this link http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx?country=uk as it will show you how to pay your debt without earning to much interest.

I know it's been said before, but your OH needs to find some work (easier said than done I know) even tempting or stacking shelves for now would be a help.

The key is not to panic, have you tried writing to the people you owe asking for them to reduce the payments? If you explain your situation they might be able to help you. Even if you just offer them a minimal payment.