off sick..about to go bankrupt

sherr

Hi, I'm hoping for some advice.
I am currently off sick and have been on and off for a year with postnatal depression/anxiety. I was on full pay for 6 months, then half pay, and as of next month, no pay. I'm still employed with them and am hoping to get back at some point on reduced duties and hours.
I have a credit card and unsecured personal loan which amount to £15,795. I haven't missed a payment so far but have REALLY struggled the last few months and realised I'm not going to get any better unless I sort this out. I have had advice from stepchange and have a bankruptcy appointment the beggining of march and am currently going through my soa.
I'm unsure what to put as my income? The end of this month I will be paid around £500 (I hope!) as I have asked for my annual leave to be paid to me but last month I only got £250.
I rent, have 4 children (one still in nappies) and a dog. I'm hoping I get to keep the car as my 3 older children go to seperate schools.
This is the rough copy SOA using the half pay income




Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 570
Partners household contribution....... 728
Benefits................................ 707
Other income............................ 200 (maintanence from ex)
Total monthly income.................... 2205
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 586
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 149
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 70
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 32
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 33
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 600
Clothing................................ 63
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 55
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 23
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 15
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 30
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 1959


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1200

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...AP
credit card....................2800......84........
personal loan .................12795.....324.......
Total unsecured debts..........15595.....408.......
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,205
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,959
Available for debt repayments........... 246
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 408
Amount short for making debt repayments. -162
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -15,595
Net Assets.............................. -14,395

Cheeky_Monkey

£600 a month on groceries :eek:

If you have one near you, you should try shopping at Aldi, it's much cheaper!

sherr

I do shop at Aldi 4 children, 1 in nappies, 2 teenagers that eat as much as adults, packed lunches for 3 of them (plus my husband's) and food for the dog. It usually works out at £135 a week but I've allowed £15 for runs to the shop when out of bread, milk etc

Cobalt77

If your debts are less than £20K, have you considered a DRO: http://www.stepchange.org/Howwecanhelpyou/DRODebtrelieforder.aspx

If you fit the criteria, it's usually a far cheaper & better option.

HTH

luvchocolate

your food allowance is fine, well within what you are allowed

fraggle45

Food should be fine I put mine down as £100 just for me and it got upped to £220 - that's a lot of food for 1 a month!

MEM62

sherr wrote: »

Hi, I'm hoping for some advice.
I am currently off sick and have been on and off for a year with postnatal depression/anxiety. I was on full pay for 6 months, then half pay, and as of next month, no pay. I'm still employed with them and am hoping to get back at some point on reduced duties and hours.
I have a credit card and unsecured personal loan which amount to £15,795. I haven't missed a payment so far but have REALLY struggled the last few months and realised I'm not going to get any better unless I sort this out. I have had advice from stepchange and have a bankruptcy appointment the beggining of march and am currently going through my soa.
I'm unsure what to put as my income? The end of this month I will be paid around £500 (I hope!) as I have asked for my annual leave to be paid to me but last month I only got £250.
I rent, have 4 children (one still in nappies) and a dog. I'm hoping I get to keep the car as my 3 older children go to seperate schools.
This is the rough copy SOA using the half pay income




Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 570
Partners household contribution....... 728 Seems low Benefits................................ 707
Other income............................ 200 (maintanence from ex)
Total monthly income.................... 2205
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 586
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 149
Electricity............................. 70 Can you do better?
Gas..................................... 70 Can you do better?
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 32
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 33 Should be much lower
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 600
Clothing................................ 63
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 55
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 23 Affordable?
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 15
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 30
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 1959


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1200

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...AP
credit card....................2800......84........
personal loan .................12795.....324.......
Total unsecured debts..........15595.....408.......
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,205
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,959
Available for debt repayments........... 246
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 408
Amount short for making debt repayments. -162
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -15,595
Net Assets.............................. -14,395

Your partners salary seems low. Are they working part time? If so is there an opportunity for them to work additional hours or full time? Is there room for a better deal on your gas & electricity costs? You mobile phone bill is very high. You can get a sim-only dealt for around £10 per month.

Although your food bill is covering 6 of you there may be some economies to be made. Others on here have done amazing things with really small budgets. It would be well worth some time reading up on their tips and tricks.

The next bit is where I get slated - is the dog affordable? You have vet bills and food costs and I expect that these are not cheap. You seem to be really up against it financially so I may consider re-homing the dog.

elljay

I was given £40 allowance a month for pet care/food. (1 dog, 1 cat, I chicken!)) It's listed on the standard form that the examiner fills in so they'll ask you about it at interview. She had no problem with adding this in.

sherr

Cobalt77 wrote: »

If your debts are less than £20K, have you considered a DRO
If you fit the criteria, it's usually a far cheaper & better option.

HTH

Thanks Cobalt77, a DRO didn't come up as one of the options with stepchange maybe because of the car but I will mention it when I speak to them again.

Cheeky_Monkey

MEM62 wrote: »

You seem to be really up against it financially so I may consider re-homing the dog.

Or go back to work!

The OP has already had a year off sick and is presumably receiving treatment so it shouldn't be unachievable. Afterall, she is running a home and looking after four children so she is able to function!

sherr

MEM62 wrote: »

Your partners salary seems low. Are they working part time? If so is there an opportunity for them to work additional hours or full time? Is there room for a better deal on your gas & electricity costs? You mobile phone bill is very high. You can get a sim-only dealt for around £10 per month.

Although your food bill is covering 6 of you there may be some economies to be made. Others on here have done amazing things with really small budgets. It would be well worth some time reading up on their tips and tricks.

The next bit is where I get slated - is the dog affordable? You have vet bills and food costs and I expect that these are not cheap. You seem to be really up against it financially so I may consider re-homing the dog.

That isn't my partner's salary, just his contribution to the household bills, he pays the rent, car insurance etc. This is what is asked on the form I believe rather than his actual income?
Gas & Electric is key meter and I don't want to change to bill only as I got into debt with them before.
The dog has been with us for 8 years, it's like asking me to rehome my children
I will take on board the food shop advice, thank you