Hi, posting for the first time

lyla01

Hi everyone,

This is a bit scary this dealing with your debt business but I'm biting the bullet.

The debt I am going to be posting about is a debt for both my husband and myself. There is the 2 of us and our 2 year old daughter living at home. I have looked at the other threads and know you will want my SOA so here goes.

Income

Mine - £530
Husbands £1000
Benefits £350 (working tax, xhild tax and child benefit)

Total £1880

Outgoings
Mortgage - Halifax £673.12
Mobile phone x2 - £35
Gas - £19
Elec £46 (inc. arreas payment)
BT £11
Orange Broadband £8 until november then going up to £15
Life Insurance £25
Water - £35.61
Council Tax - £106
Car insurance -£30
Petrol £120
Home Insurance £19.46
TV License 11.61
cancer research £2
Savings £50
Food £150
Childcare £200
MBNA £15 minimum paymenc
Husbands HSBC £20 min pay
HSBC loan 89.57
Cahoot loan £124.44
loan repayment to my mum £14
Sofa £35

Total - £1839.69


HSBC loan £5100 not sure of interest 4 years left to pay (not exact figur, will find out from hubby tonight)
Cahoot flexi loan £4843.60 19.9%apr
HSBC CC £3000 16.9% apr (not exact figure again will find out tonight)
MBNA cc £1268.65 15.9%apr
HSBC OD £814.55 (LIMIT IS £500!) 18.3%apr
2nd HSBC od £250 (limit £250) 18.3%apr

Total debt: £15,276.80 :eek:

Although from out income/outgoing it appears that we are doing ok, each month we go over so i am sure i've missed something out.

Please help.

Thank you.

x

rayday2

I should imagine you are spending a lot more than you think on probably small items, best thing you can do is keep a spending diary.

Only thing I can see to go is the charity bit yes its only £2 but you are spending a fortune on interest. You can still help this charity if it means a lot to you by utilising cancer shops or donating things to sell but it won't make your debt any worse.

madmoney_2

lyla01 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

This is a bit scary this dealing with your debt business but I'm biting the bullet.

The debt I am going to be posting about is a debt for both my husband and myself. There is the 2 of us and our 2 year old daughter living at home. I have looked at the other threads and know you will want my SOA so here goes.

Income

Mine - £530
Husbands £1000
Benefits £350 (working tax, xhild tax and child benefit)

Total £1880

Outgoings
Mortgage - Halifax £673.12
Mobile phone x2 - £35
Gas - £19
Elec £46 (inc. arreas payment)
BT £11
Orange Broadband £8 until november then going up to £15
Life Insurance £25
Water - £35.61
Council Tax - £106 you can ask for 12 month repayments instead of 10
Car insurance -£30
Petrol £120 this seems a bit high try to cut down on it
Home Insurance £19.46 can you shop around for cheaper? use quidco!
TV License 11.61
cancer research £2 this will have to go for now until u sort your finances out - charity begins at home!
Savings £50 can any of your savings be used towards your debt? id say cut it down a bit till your back on track
Food £150 go to the old style board to find ways to cut this back
Childcare £200
MBNA £15 minimum paymenc
Husbands HSBC £20 min pay
HSBC loan 89.57
Cahoot loan £124.44
loan repayment to my mum £14
Sofa £35

Total - £1839.69


HSBC loan £5100 not sure of interest 4 years left to pay (not exact figur, will find out from hubby tonight)
Cahoot flexi loan £4843.60 19.9%apr
HSBC CC £3000 16.9% apr (not exact figure again will find out tonight)
MBNA cc £1268.65 15.9%apr
HSBC OD £814.55 (LIMIT IS £500!) 18.3%apr
2nd HSBC od £250 (limit £250) 18.3%apr

Total debt: £15,276.80 :eek:

Although from out income/outgoing it appears that we are doing ok, each month we go over so i am sure i've missed something out.

Please help.

Thank you.

x

i would also keep a spending diary to find out where your money is going - welcome aboard!!!! xxxx

Shineyhappy

Just about to dash home from work, but just thought I would say hi and welcome to the boards!

What are the saving 50 pounds for? Do you need two mobiles and a home phone? Maybe one or both could be switched to PAYG?

I would also check www.entitledto.co.uk to make sure you are getting all the benefits and would visit the Old Style board for tips on minimising your food bill.

Verbatim

Welcome to MSE. :j

I think you've done the scariest bit and it gets better from now.

I can't see anything for car maintenance or tax unless that's covered by savings?
Have you got insurance protection with any of the cc's or loans or mobiles? Is the £35 for both mobiles or each?

fiveyearplan

Welcome! My OH has a cahoot flexi loan - I would make that a priority to pay off or set up a standing order with a fixed payment. We've been paying ours for over 5 years and only reduced the debt by about £1,500. Ugh! I didn't realize the payments are reduced each month so you never pay it off!

There should be plenty of ways to cut back and I'm sure other people will come up with some brilliant ideas. Its also good that you are tackling this before things get worse.

RAS

Hi well done for getting it this far. If you address this now, you have a decent chance of sorting it out. It may be a bit painful for a few months but once you turn the tide, it will start to get more manageable over time.

lyla01 wrote: »

Income

Mine - £530
Husbands £1000
Benefits £350 (working tax, Child tax and child benefit)

Total £1880

Outgoings
Mortgage - Halifax £673.12 - is this interest or repayment
Mobile phone x2 - £35 - for one or both?
Gas - £19
Elec £46 (inc. arreas payment)
BT £11
Orange Broadband £8 until november then going up to £15
Life Insurance £25
Water - £35.61 - this is high, would a meter be cheaper?
Council Tax - £106 - is this over 10 months or 12? Ask to move to 12 if necessary to make budgetting easier
Car insurance -£30
Petrol £120 - this is high - do you need to do this much travel.
Home Insurance £19.46
TV License 11.61
cancer research £2 - sorry cancel this
Savings £50 - do you have a sum already saved up?
Food £150 - there is some scope to reduce this - go to the Money Saving Old Stlye Board for advice
Childcare £200

Car tax?
MOT?
Car maintenance?
Clothing?
Entertainment?
Presents?

Debt


HSBC loan £5100 not sure of interest 4 years left to pay (not exact figure, will find out from hubby tonight) £89.57 - not a lot you can do with this

Cahoot flexi loan £4843.60 19.9%apr £124.44
HSBC CC £3000 16.9% apr (not exact figure again will find out tonight) £20 minimum???
MBNA cc £1268.65 15.9%apr £15 minimum
HSBC OD £814.55 (LIMIT IS £500!) 18.3%apr - do you get hit by charges as well as interest
2nd HSBC od £250 (limit £250) 18.3%apr - do you get hit by charges as well as interest

loan repayment to my mum £14
Sofa £35
Total debt: £15,276.80 :eek:
x

Looking at this, I suspect that you priorities are to get the ODs within limits, and then to hit the flexi-loan.

You can trim back your expenditure a bit, but there are some things missing at the moment. It would be a good idea to start a spending diary each to find out where the odd leakage is.

To kick start the debt reduction, do you have anything that you could sell either on ebay or at a car boot sale?

Is there any chance of either of you doing an extra part-time job for a few months?

For your own needs, sign up with www.freecycle.org and get clothes, toys and household goods for free.

Also ferret out chevalier's excellent post on survey sites, mystery shopping and pay for click sites to raise a bit extra and get vouchers or freebies.

Look at www.quidco for deals that allow you to get cash back for changing suppliers, if they are the best deal for you.