Going under quickly! Where to start?

weezypoos

Hi guys, bit of a newbie and have had my head so far underground that I'm now in debt crisis! My partner and I married on 7th July this year and have been planning the wedding for 2 years. We were in debt before this but have now added to our woes by horridly overspending on our big day. We've taken on loans and credit cards which were a great short term solution but now we've got to the point where we have no left overs at the end of each month and are in huge trouble now. All our payments are up to date and as yet we have not missed any but I cannot see how we can keep this up. Some of our c/c's are over their limit so the charges are making it impossible to pay any of our debt off. I have drafted a SSOA below and have utterly shocked myself now I can see what we owe. Please be gentle!!

Monthly Incomings

My wage after tax - £1024
Hubby's after tax - £1089
Tax Credits - £45
Child Benefit - £68.

Monthly Outgoings

Rent - £330
Council Tax - £110
Sky TV - £46.00
Gas - £80
TV - £10.99
BT Rental - £35
My Car Insurance - £35.69
Hubby's car Insurance - £24.27
Tiscali Broadband - £29.52
Catalogue - £180.04
My Loan - £181.56
Hubby's Loan - £185.96
My C/C 1 - £50.00
My c/c 2 - £54.00
My c/c 3 - £84
Hubby's c/c 1 - £80
Hubby's c/c 2 - £78
Overdraft Charges Currently £150 plus £30 interest charge


Untill I get home I have no idea of APR's.

My Loan £9804.24 with HSBC
Hubby's loan £10,098 with MBNA
My c/c 1 HSBC. Limit £500, current balance £442.04. (£50 per month)
My c/c 2 - Vanquis. Limit £1000, current balance £1078, (£54 per month)
Mt c/c 3 - Capital 1. Limit £1000, current balance £1038, (£50.01 per month)
Hubby's c/c 1 - MBNA. Limit £2500, current balance £2545.22, (£78 month)
Hubby's c/c 2 - HSBC. Limit £2000, current balance £2098, (£80 month)
Catalogue - Next. Limit £2300, current balance £1805, (£181 a month) :eek:
Overdraft HSBC. Limit £1500, current balance £1876 with £150 charges to add on plus interest of around £30.

We are in debt by around £30,000!

Where oh where do we start?

jo1972

Hi Weezy,

Welcome :wave: and congratulations to you and Mr Weezy, shame you've started your married life in debt but most of us have and you'll be stronger because of it.

The experts will be along to pick your SOA apart lol! First thing you need to realise is that you have made your first step at sorting it now, things generally feel worse at first when you realise the state of things but you will quickly also realise that there are steps you can take to reduce the amounts you owe and you will see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Good luck, I will keep an eye on this thread to see how you're going

Jo.x

thunderchump

Just a few quick observations, you haven't included1. Food2. Petrol3. Car Tax / repairs4. electricity5. mobile phone?someone will be along soon with some better suggestions for sure!hang in there!

Spendaholic_Chick

first thing I notice is sky tv - could you either cancel it or get a cheaper package?

MrsTinks

OK as far as I can see you have £1646.51 going out before food/clothes/petrol/anything else
so income £2226-£1646.51=£579.49
Is this definitely everything? Because you have just under £600 a month unless my clculations are way off (not the first time...)

Monthly Outgoings

Rent - £330
Council Tax - £110
Sky TV - £46.00 Cancel it - get freeview - this is a luxury.
Gas - £80 is this in arrears? Check Uswitch to see if you can get better rates - sorry don't have gas so don't know if this is normal. If you swap use quidco for cashback.
TV - £10.99
BT Rental - £35 This seems very high as it's not including broadband...
My Car Insurance - £35.69 Nearly £430 a year - is this the cheapest you can get? Try quidco for cashback
Hubby's car Insurance - £24.27 £291 a year... again try quidco.
Tiscali Broadband - £29.52 HOW much??? SWAP! Use quidco
Catalogue - £180.04 This will have an extortionate apr% - concentrate your spare funds on this to start with probably (depending on your apr% on the CCs...)
My Loan - £181.56 These remain fixed for now. Chances are they will be relatively low APR.
Hubby's Loan - £185.96 Ditto
My C/C 1 - £50.00
My c/c 2 - £54.00
My c/c 3 - £84
Hubby's c/c 1 - £80
Hubby's c/c 2 - £78
Overdraft Charges Currently £150 plus £30 interest charge Start re-claiming any charges - have a look round for the sample letters

Can either or both of you look for new/second jobs to help reduce the debts quicker? You have 2 cars (I guess as you pay 2 lots of insurance) can you do without either or both? It would save you nearly £100 a month not to mention running costs and petrol (tax, maintenance, MOT, etc)

Food - get over to the OS board - It's perfectly possible to feed a family on £100 a month - there are people over there who amaze me every day with the miracles they perform in the kitchens!

Christmas - start putting things aside NOW - enter competitions, send off for freebies etc. Gather fruit like blackberries for home made jam for presents.

Ebay anything you don't need - anything not suited for Ebay - do a carboot - a good de-clutter is good for the soul and might give you some much needed spare cash

Good luck!

weezypoos

Thank you all so much for the advice. Ok, in answer to some questions!

I have no idea how much we spend on food, clothes etc, it is something we will have to work out tonight but I know its far more than what's needed!

Sky - It is going. Hubby is a huge sports fan and after months of mourning, he is agreeing that it is a luxury.

Gas - We only have gas and no electric. I used Uswitch last year and changed suppliers only to get the same monthly payment terms plus a hefty final bill from our old supplier!

BT Rental - Sorry, that should have been quarterly so about £9

Car Insurance - I looked at changing this but found that most new companies required a deposit first and we really don't have it spare!

Tiscali - Includes all our calls.

Catalogue - I am paying off any extra we have each month to try and reduce this, damn shoes!

Overdraft Charges - We claimed these back from HSBC last year. I'm a bit scared that if I claim again (despite claims being on hold) they will close our account. I do have another account but I still have to pay HSBC the charges and loan back from their account.

The cars cost us a fortune but we both work in seperate area's and no buses run there! Considering selling the car and getting 2 cheap lower cost ones.

I have contaced CCCS. Do you think I have reached this stage yet or do you think there may be hope for us before we go down this route?

Thank you all very much, its hugely appreciated!

taka

I have no idea how much we spend on food, clothes etc, it is something we will have to work out tonight but I know its far more than what's needed

What about keeping a spending diary? Write EVERYTHING down even to the last pence! It will amaze you how much you spend on nothing in particular! It certainly helps me! The canteen at work was getting way too much money from me!!

weezypoos

Thanks Taka

COuld I ask where the OS board is? SOrry, just trying to find my feet!

taka

Its called Moneysaving Old School... Look at the forum jump pull down menu thing (top right on this page and choose Money saving old school). Good luck!

rlm_3

Here's the link to the OS board: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=33

It's under the Home, Work and Play section of the forum.

I don't post on there much but read it most days and people are very friendly. On the OS board there really is no such thing as a stupid question!

Good luck with your budgeting!

jo1972

Take Taka's advice and go over to the OS board, it's unbelieveable how some people can easily live on half of what they used to without any difficulty. So much stuff we use/buy is surplus to our needs. Go take a look..

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?s=&daysprune=&f=33

RLM - snap!!