I am in a mess and don't know what to do

meer53

I know you don't want to tell your OH but he will find out one way or the other. If you have any joint financial products, you are financially linked. Any search for anything on a credit file will take into account your debts. Do you really want to have to worry constantly about this ? Surely it would help you to confess all and get everything out in the open ? It would be one less thing for you to worry about.

A word of warning about DMP's though. I work for a bank and if one of our customers enters a DMP/IVA, their account would be closed, so make sure you have more than one bank account open as once in a DMP or IVA it will be very difficult to open another.

[Deleted User]

We have 1joint account and all payments come out of there.

meer53

uselessnow wrote: »

We have 1joint account and all payments come out of there.

What about your mortgage ? Is that joint too ?

You are financially linked then, any search will show all debts, yours and your OH's. Even a search for something like a mobile contract could be impacted.

[Deleted User]

Has anyone seen anything I have on my SOA that I can cut back on? One or two things has been mentioned but I have given the reasons for my responses.


I also have the balances now of 3 of my 4 credit cards. Do I just list them or create a new SOA?

parsniphead

Hi (Not) uselessnow.

One area perhaps you could cut a little is groceries. I feed two adults and a toddler for less per month. We eat well. Have you been over to the Oldstyle threads. They have some fab ideas for eating on a budget and not wasting anything.

I hope you are starting to feel better.

enthusiasticsaver

Your SOA already looks fairly lean - petrol and groceries could be cut back depending on car use. You say you spend on your hobbies. Can you make money out of these hobbies? If you do not work and are just reliant on benefits you are limited in how much you can do.


It looks like the minimum payments are covered just about though. The best option is to move to lower interest rate cards but you may not get those approved if you do them in your name.

[Deleted User]

parsniphead wrote: »

Hi (Not) uselessnow.

One area perhaps you could cut a little is groceries. I feed two adults and a toddler for less per month. We eat well. Have you been over to the Oldstyle threads. They have some fab ideas for eating on a budget and not wasting anything.

I hope you are starting to feel better.

How much do you spend a week on groceries if you don't mind me asking?

[Deleted User]

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Your SOA already looks fairly lean - petrol and groceries could be cut back depending on car use. You say you spend on your hobbies. Can you make money out of these hobbies? If you do not work and are just reliant on benefits you are limited in how much you can do.


It looks like the minimum payments are covered just about though. The best option is to move to lower interest rate cards but you may not get those approved if you do them in your name.

Petrol depends on where in the country hubby is working. Some months he doesn't use any. I need to look at groceries. I know it will be a large spend the next time we go as freezer and cupboard are almost empty.


I have tried to move to lower rate cards but was not accepted. 2 of the cards have had transfers done to them as they had a lower BT offer with no fee. When I next get a statement I will know exactly what is at what rate.

Willowpop

uselessnow wrote: »

Has anyone seen anything I have on my SOA that I can cut back on? One or two things has been mentioned but I have given the reasons for my responses.

Water seems quite high...would it be worth looking into getting a meter? I'm assuming at that price you're not on a water meter already?

Groceries seem a little high perhaps, I reckon you could cut back a bit there. I have 2 adults, one child and 4 cats to feed and manage on £50 a week for food and toiletries etc.
A large chicken can feed the 3 of us for 3 days worth of dinners (roast, pie, and something like fajita type wraps), and that's only about £4 in Lidl...free range would be slightly more, but we can't afford that right now.
So, we would only need one other choice of meat for the week and if I get mince for a couple of £, that will do the rest of the nights in various guises.
I cook a lot from the agirlcalledjack website, she has some amazing recipes on a very low budget.
Where do you shop? It might be worth dropping a brand or 2, or if you shop at one of the big 4 supermarkets, then switch to Lidl or Aldi as they are much cheaper.

[Deleted User]

Willowpop wrote: »

Water seems quite high...would it be worth looking into getting a meter? I'm assuming at that price you're not on a water meter already?

Groceries seem a little high perhaps, I reckon you could cut back a bit there. I have 2 adults, one child and 4 cats to feed and manage on £50 a week for food and toiletries etc.
A large chicken can feed the 3 of us for 3 days worth of dinners (roast, pie, and something like fajita type wraps), and that's only about £4 in Lidl...free range would be slightly more, but we can't afford that right now.
So, we would only need one other choice of meat for the week and if I get mince for a couple of £, that will do the rest of the nights in various guises.
I cook a lot from the agirlcalledjack website, she has some amazing recipes on a very low budget.
Where do you shop? It might be worth dropping a brand or 2, or if you shop at one of the big 4 supermarkets, then switch to Lidl or Aldi as they are much cheaper.

We are already on a water meter. This bill covered over 6 months this time.
I shop at Aldi most of the time, Cost is usually between £30 and £40 a week. Just fruit and veg from local Tesco. That usually costs about £6 a week. I always split packs of meat into portions in the freezer.