Can't sleep for worrying about debts - HELP!

Mrs_the_boat_every_time

Can see I have some thinking to do regarding children's expenses and food etc - thanks for suggestions. Oldest daughter is 14 - plays in a rock-band and taking music as an o-level so still want to continue the weekly lessons.
Youngest daughter is 11 next month and loves dancing and I feel it keeps her fit and healthy so wouldn't want to cancel this either. Husband's golf is a 'no-go' area - don't want to be dealing with divorce settlement too! He doesn't know how bad things are every month as we have both been sticking our heads in the sand - it's only me who has come up for air this month

Am off this weekend so will be locking myself away in the computer room to go over all your suggestions - feel a bit cheerier all round :j

Now going to compile a food budget and see how much I can get it down to (about time my diet kicked in too!)

Will look into paying council tax over 12 months - and I am confused with the amount of insurances I have for every loan etc. I am terrified to cancel them in case anything goes wrong but maybe I should

Will also look for deal for phone and internet - must have this to keep in contact with all you :A people.

Mad_old_tory

Your oldest daughter is old enough to have a paper round, might be worth looking around the local newsagents or ringing the local freebie papers up? I used to do a couple of rounds a week and could bring in £15-20 a week, more when other paperboys were on holiday. That would reduce your pocket money payments and maybe strike a deal with her to pay a quarter of her lessons or something like that.

You say your hubby doesn't know how bad things are. It's time to show him this page!! That way it might be easier to bring up the subject of golf and he might be willing to compromise when he sees what a difference it could make

mrsspendalot

Food/Clothes: £450 - how much of this is food and how much is clothes?

I have a family of 5 and spend £40 a week on food and £50 a month budgeted for clothes. You can reduce this amount significantly through careful meal planning, cutting brands, and shopping for clothes in cheaper places/ebay.

kittyscarlett

I would say at 14, your oldest daughter is old enough to be doing a paper round and earning towards her guitar lessons/mobile etc. Have you considered getting her a pay as you go phone ? And the 11 year old may not be old enough to do a job as a such but maybe a rota of chores at home that " earns " her the dancing lessons, which would help you out and help her learn a sense of values.

You do need to be honest with your husband about the amount of debt you're in. At the moment you just about have more incoming than outgoing, and perhaps if he sees the extent of the problem he might be taken back enough to suggest some cuts himself or give some advice as to where some could be made. I'm sure there are many people here who could give advice as to the pure finance side of things ie possible unecessary insurances etc.

As for the council tax, I believe its only people that actually work for local government that can pay in 12 monthly installments. I will check this at one of my jobs ( yes, is local govt ! ) as it was brought up on the work intranet not long ago.

the Old Style saving board is as been said a good place to get tips on cutting down on food bills etc. As for clothes... recycle, refurbish, buy 2nd hand etc.. even if the kids/hubby object at first, if you get them on board they could in the end start enjoying it, competing with each other to hunt down bargains :P

Good luck !

mrsspendalot

I pay my council tax weekly over 12 months ... I think it probably depends on the council. I have always spread my payments over 12 months.

floss2

Me too, have always paid over 12m.

Kevicho

Mrs_the_boat_every_time wrote: »

Thanks for the support - you are all so lovely - here goes - try to stay with me!

Statement of Affairs
Monthly

Ok ive reformatted this a little to make it easier on the eye

Mortgage 453.06
Property Insurance N'wide 20.96 - is this the cheapest you can get?
PPI N'wide 11.78 - do you really need this? You may be able to reclaim this back
Credit Insurance 21.49 For home imp loan - if you can cancel this, you should as you as it looks like you dont need it
Legal & General Life Assur 22.69 - again is this the chepest and is it needed, also does itcover what you think it covers?
Sainsburys - Pet Insurance 15.79
Car Exps/Hols Savings 100.00 - stop this and use for debts
Scottish Power - Gas 49.50
Just switched to Atlantic using the MSE advice - due £15 cashback and reduction in monthly payment - good going, what are the savings?
Scottish Power - Electric 49.50As above - switched to npower - good going, what are the savings?
Orange Broadband 19.99 - not sure about there service, but you can get broadband cheaper, check out http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ as well as pricing to ensure you sign up with someone decent
Friends Provident Mort PP 40.21 - Protection plan? what is this? do you really need it?
Specsavers contact lenses 10.00
article on MSE this week and looking into saving on this
Canada Life Critical Illness 15.56 - is this covered by any of the other insurances?
Esure - Car Insurance 19.11 - looks cheap, worth checking for cheaper ones
BT 20.50
TV Licence (Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct) 34.10 - you could change this to monthly at 11 pounds, that way you get a better budget
Halifax Standing Order 25.00 Hubby's Golf Trip savings - is this necessary now? could he make a sacrifice here?
Council Tax 187.00
Golf Fees 64.20 - as above
Daughter's Mobile Phone 15.49
Petrol 50.00
Eldest - Guitar Lessons 100.00 - guitar tabs and tuition can be found for free on the internet nowadays, so unless hes planning on becoming a musician, in fairness this may be overkill
£20 pw
Youngest - dancing fees 42.50 - again if this cat be cut or go somewhere cheaper
Food/Clothes 450.00 - check out the old school board for tips on cuting this back dramatically and still living on good food
Spending Money 150.00 - i have a budget (which i think is generous) of 100 a month, if you can go to cinema for free or do mystery shopping/resteraunts then you may be able to save here
Kids Pocket Money 40.00 - pocket money and expensive lessons/hobbies? Maybe they could get part time jobs

Current Debt repayment

Ive listed your debts in priority to pay off, the key is pay off the highest interest rate debts first and pay the minimum on the rest.
It would be useful to find out minimum payments on these (except for the parent loan that should remain unless shes really wonderful for a while ) and then rework your budget to clear off in this case, the next card first, you havent listed the APR but they usually are extortionate, but it could be paid off in one go with all the savings you could make.

Next £358.35
Credit Card - Halifax Visa £9409.60 20.95
Car Loan Nissan Finance 135.16 0% apr
Payment Protection Plan 9.19 For car loan - again is this necessary?
Nationwide Home Imp Loan 136.97 6.70%
Parent Loan 125 until Feb 2011 - wonderful mother-in-law 41 repayments left so around £5125 owed
Overdraft - Halifax £3000

Total listed debt unknown (18K + loans)

Credit Card - Halifax Visa 250.00
Bal at 31.08 £9409.60 Interest 20.95%pa
Car Loan Nissan Finance 135.160% apr finishes Dec 2008
Payment Protection Plan 9.19 For car loan
Nationwide Home Imp Loan 136.976.70%pa - finishes July 2011
Parent Loan 125 until Feb 2011 - wonderful mother-in-law
Next 50.00Balance owed at 18.09 £358.35




Total Monthly outgoings 2734.75

Total monthly incomings 2775.89

40 spare before savings

Ok general hints here.

The first thing i noticed is all the insurance you guys have, PPI is usually a rip off, and generally not worth having.
Check out the ppi articles on this site for cancelling them and getting the money back, this will free up monthly cashflow, and also reduce your debt without any real work whatsoever.

2nd thing is making some sacrifices, and yes it is wise to make some sacrifices in the short term just to give you that initial boost to repayments.
Once the cashflow increases then you can strat treating yourself more, or you can realise the wastage and continue killing that debt.

Another good thing to look at is whats around the house, items that arent needed can be sold on ebay/carboots, again to give you that initial kickstart which can knock months off your debt free date.
Also as many people on here will testify, a house with fewer items in it is much more calming and easier to clean.

I personally think possesions are a huge cause of misery overall, but thats a different thread lol.

Also might be worth trying to sign up for mystery shopping, as free nights out, are easily found, whether resteraunts or cinema.

In closing, just remember this, congratulations on realising that your life can improve, let no one persuade you that spending money is a necessity, i think if you set the goals high, then you can cull your monthly outgoings and be debt free in no time.

Good luck and best wishes


Kev

floss2

Mrs_the_boat_every_time wrote: »

Oldest daughter is 14 - plays in a rock-band and taking music as an o-level so still want to continue the weekly lessons.

Does she not get any lessons at school? Does she need that mayn, can they be cut by 50%, and then when she gets a job she can pay for moer? She will gain as much by practising evry day & having a lesson every 2 weeks than weekly.

Mrs_the_boat_every_time wrote: »

Now going to compile a food budget and see how much I can get it down to (about time my diet kicked in too!)

Do a store cupboard stock-take first, and plan from that before you buy anything else. Don't forget the freezer! Menu plan for a week so you know what you need to buy, make a list & shop on internet - there are usually free delivery codes around MSE - then you don't impulse buy, or have OH "helping" by putting stuff into the trolley that isn't needed!


:wave:

floss2

Sorry for spelling, think my fingers are a little odd this morning!

Karmacat

Just wanted to echo what kevicho has said above, thats exactly the points I'd have made if I hadn't been swanning off on other parts of the site!

Its hard to make the cutbacks, we know. We want it all to be easy ones, like the PPI, but I'm afraid they're not. Short term, there often have to be sacrifices, your heads are only just above the water, and you need more security than that, you have kids.

Mind you, prattling on about sacrifices, I reckon that by cutting out the extra insurances, and cutting *down* on several areas - food, dd's mobile, the lessons (but not cutting *out*) you could easy peasy reduce your outgoings by £250. And if you push, it could be plenty more. There's plenty of give in your statement, you could do really well.

Go through what Kevicho and the others have written, and let us know what you decide.