Debt has reached £20,000!

amorge

Hi, so the SOA does not include wife's debts nor the tax credit and Child benefit - is that right, just £200 towards the housekeeping? Does she earn, i think it might be more useful to include all her earnings and debts? I think I'm right in saying that if you enter into a DMP or anything your wife will be affected if you have any form of financial connection - I'm sure if I'm wrong someone will correct me.

sourcrates

Hi,
If you can get your total debt below 20k, a DRO (debt relief order) may be an option, from October the limit for DRO's is changing to 20k, up from 15k, so that may work for you, there are other qualifying criteria, full details here :

http://m.stepchange.org/how-we-can-help-you/debt-solutions/debt-relief-order/?WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=288026&WT.seg_1=dro&gclid=CJLxn4mxvMYCFe3HtAodjN0N7w

tony1976

"post deleted, found what I needed"

tony1976

"post deleted, found what I needed"

lee111s

You alone spend £500 a month on groceries? I know you're feeding 5 but I bet you could cut that by around £200 by cooking meals in bulk from scratch. Where do you do your shopping? The prices Aldi and Lidl are great and the quality of stuff is brilliant.




Do you and your wife not split the groceries? Do you pay all of the bills in the house? What does your wife contribute? Or are those numbers half of everything that's paid (is your rent £530 or £1060)


Something doesn't quite add up with that SOA from what I can see.

ShirePiskie

tony1976 wrote: »

Thanks for your replys. I done the soa. A lot of it are estimates as stuff like groceries etc varies monthly and kids cloths cost etc depends on their growth sperts etc. I do not own a house (live in housing association home). Here is the sao.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1700
Partners monthly income after tax....... 200
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1900

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 530
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 150
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 60
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 45
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 15
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 30
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 You should be able to get this down to at least £300 especially as you're not including the baby expenses and toiletries
Clothing................................ 50 This needs to come down. No clothing for adults and make it £20 for the children. Check out ebay for 'mixed bags' of kids' clothing by age group. You can get a real mix for around £5. Also, as the kids grown out of stuff, list it on ebay so this category becomes self funding)
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 30
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 30 Can you make this every other month? So, £15. Have you checked out local colleges, you can get cheap haircuts by students
Entertainment........................... 25 Look at free options, you may have to go without for a few months until your balances come down
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 You need something here, even £10 a month.
Baby (Nappies etc)...................... 50
Body Care (shampoo, soap etc)........... 25
Total monthly expenses.................. 1865


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................2947......57........6.9
MBNA...........................1807......25........0
Bank of Scotland...............2137......25........0
Barclays Overdraft.............450.......15........0
Barclays Loan..................12000.....241.......5
Tesco Credit Card..............1500......25........7
Total unsecured debts..........20841.....388.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,900
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,865
Available for debt repayments........... 35
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 388
Amount short for making debt repayments. -353

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -20,841
Net Assets.............................. -20,341

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

Just a few suggestions up there which could help you bring down your £353 deficit. By my quick reckoning, just these bring your shortfall down to £93.

For the next moth, keep a spending diary for every penny, then you can REALLY see where it goes. It's a real eye opener.

Depending on your hours of work, could your wife do a few hours of work some evenings (supermarket, bar work, cleaning, or deoending on her skill set 'remote PA', typing) when you're at home. Think of it as a temporary idea, it could just boost your income.

Easier said than done but half an hour a day by either you or your wide could bring in £50 a month for online surveys. The rate 'per hour' seems low if you figure it out, but that could tip you over into the black from the red with other cutbacks.

You can do this. I was if £20k of debt and on a similar income when I split with my husband, it's taken 7 years, but I'm months away from being debt free, without having to go down the DMP/ IVO route.

Good luck.

amorge

tony1976 wrote: »

She is a full time mum. The only financial connection is a joint account which I am closing at the same time I set up the 'safe' bank account. Everything else is in our soles names. TBH the only thing the joint account was used for was so we could transfer each other money easily.

Not meaning to sound rude but how much does she get in Tax Credits etc, I'm guessing about £180 in Child Benefit, I don't see how come you are paying ALL the bills from the sounds of things but she's keeping the tax credits? Maybe you need to receive them all and then give her monthly spending money?

tony1976

"post deleted, found what I needed"

tony1976

"post deleted, found what I needed"

amorge

tony1976 wrote: »

She's gives me £200 - £250 a month and she has her own depts to though. If all the money came to me her depts would not get paid. That said, I am going to have another sit down with her and go through it. She is not unreasonable but the reason we have seperate finances was because she was really bad at managing her money.

Sounds like a good idea good luck, I know it can be really hard broaching money and very stressful

Don't forget the point of CTC & CB is financial help for the kids, so maybe get her to pay for the clothes/uniform etc from that?