Newbie - is there room for one more?!

sunshine38_2

Hi everyone, I have been reading various threads for some time now and picking up tips from all of you lovely helpful people. I wondered whether any of you have the time/energy to try and help me sort finances out once and for all.

Does anyone else look back over their lives and notice a pattern of every 7th year having a battle to get their finances back on track - or does that just apply to me. I've heard of the 7 year itch where relationships are concerned but it never occurred to me that that would be the pattern that my life seems to be following. I'm hoping to be able to break this seemingly never ending cycle ...

This latest episode has come to a head (a) because tax credits payments reduced substantially and (b) OH started self employment 3 months ago and the reality is that we can no longer keep up with everything.

Anyway, I'll have a try setting out my SOA:

Income (monthly)

Me - £930.00 (after tax)
OH - £834.00 (this sum has been calculated as an average over a month = £1933 less insurance (£50pw), settle (£84pw) and petrol (variable))
CB - £120.00
Maintenance - £150.00
TC - £41.88

Total In: 2075.88


Outgoings:

Mortgage - £756.00 (repayment mortgage)
House/Contents insurance - £22.50
Council tax - £111.00 (normally) - now 2 months in arrears and summons served - I am writing to request agreed payments of £156.00 over the next 6 months - so I guess I will have to see whether they will accept that payment offer
BT phone - £13.25 (worked out by dividing £53 by 3 as now billed quarterly)
Gas - £80.00 (British Gas) (can average between £60 and £80 per month with prepayment meter)
Electricity - £68.00 (Scottish Power) (am currently trying to find a better deal but most will not accept prepayment meter customers - any suggestions welcomed please)
Water - £40.00
TV Lic - £12.00
Tiscali broadband/phone - £38.00 (average bill)
Life Assurance - £41.00
Sky - £45.00 (I know - this has got to be reduced or go altogether)
Setanta - £9.99 (again, I guess this has got to go too)
O2 phone - £50.00 (new contract started July for OH business/ease of contacting whilst at work)
PAYG (me) - £15.00
Shopping - £200.00 (for 2 ad, 2 ch, 2 cats - have reduced this from over £400 per month approx 3 months ago - so I guess it's a start!)
Contact lenses - £17.00
NI Contributions - £10.00
Travel
Me: £82.00 (bus and train)
OH: already included in earnings average above as he is a taxi driver

Total out so far ... £1610.74

Debts: (I cant believe how ridiculous this list is going to be!)

HSBC Managed loan - £100.00 (outstanding approx £3,400 - will need to check with OH)
MBNA agreed repayment plan - £30.00 (again will need to check what balance is)
Vanquis £35.00 per month (balance £730)
Catalogue debt £25.00 per month (balance approx £250)
Studio - £30 agreed payment (balance £627 - interest stopped)
Simply Be - £30 agreed payment (balance £940 - interest stopped)
Vertbaudet - £20 agreed payment (balance £520 - interest stopped)
Additions Direct - £15 agreed payment (balance £420 - interest stopped)
Next - £120 (balance £1300)
Capital One - £40 agreed payment (balance £950 - interest stopped)
Barclays CC - £30 (min payment £24) (balance £428)
Citifinance loan - £104 (balance £830 - due to finish May '08)
LX Direct - £20 (balance £240)
Sofa finance - payments start October 2007 - £80 per month
Credit Union - £55 per month (due to finish November 07)


GULP! £734.00

So - total in = £2075.88
total out = £2344.74

Balance - -£268.86 :eek:

I think that's everything although now I dont know whether to laugh (hysterically!), cry, faint, close my eyes and pretend I never wrote all of that or to just give up completely ... which is why I need some help!

Right - I am NOT going to cry and I am NOT going to panic ...

I have really tried to juggle these around for the last 3 months but obviously cannot keep doing that. I find it so difficult trying to organise the budget with my OH being s/e - he could make more than the above figure but equally so he could earn less.

I am aware that there are things missing like car repairs (variable) and car tax (which we will be sorting out tomorrow) and there is nothing left for hairdressers/social or otherwise. We mostly have people round to our house or visit friends/family.

I will be asking my employers tomorrow if there is any chance of some overtime but that will only be paid monthly in arrears so it would be at least a month before I had any additional income of my own to throw at anything.

With already having poor credit rating I believe that we are unable to get a better/fixed deal on the mortgage - especially now that OH has gone self-employed and we dont have any certified accounts or anything yet to produce (although we are keeping records for the purposes of accounting).

I am so sorry that this is such a long thread. Can anyone help me formulate a better plan? I keep wondering about those payment plan people but this is my last desperate attempt to sort things out before going down that route. As you can see I had already attempted to sort some accounts out earlier in the year (although I was receiving more tax credits at that point so the payments were worked out including that income received at the time).

I would appreciate any advice to be able to bring sunshine back into our lives again (whether winter may be approaching or not!)

Thank you so much for taking the time to read through.

Sunshine38

PasturesNew

sunshine38 wrote: »

Outgoings:

BT phone - £13.25 (worked out by dividing £53 by 3 as now billed quarterly)
Tiscali broadband/phone - £38.00 (average bill)
Sky - £45.00 (I know - this has got to be reduced or go altogether)
Setanta - £9.99 (again, I guess this has got to go too)
O2 phone - £50.00 (new contract started July for OH business/ease of contacting whilst at work)
PAYG (me) - £15.00

So that is £171.24 for: phones, internet, tv

I just signed up with Virgin Media and got:

broadband, TV (free channels), phone (eve/weekend calls free), voicemail plus (something to do with answerphone/redirection etc), mobile phone with 300 mins/300 texts ... for £31.75/month

There must be some way of bundling up what you've got in some way to reduce your costs.

I realise different services are not available everywhere (I am about to get cable for the first time ever) but there must be something available to reduce some/all of your cost.

bored_of_debt

Hi sunshine38, welcome to the site!

I can't offer too much advice as I joined just yesterday but I received advice almost immeadiatly on my situation - so i'm sure theres plenty of people on here that can offer you some good advice.

The only advice I can really offer is basic stuff such as the reduction or removal of your sky etc but it seem your already aware of the simple changes like that so... welcome again, i'll leave the others too it

You've already made a step in the right direction!

affordmylife

Hi sunshine

Just to say well done for facing up to it.

I have just recently finished paying off all my store cards and mail order debts so I know how that feels. I will never use them again as it is too easy to ring up and order things it doesnt feel like real money does it. If I want something now I go shopping for it.

There will be some clever people along soon to help you sort the rest out.

I think they usually say pay off the ones with the highest interest first. Also it makes you feel better to pay off a few of the smaller debts (preferably with the high interest) cos its another one you havent got to pay the next month.

Good luck with it all you will have a better life once you have it sorted.

Bunnyinthelights

Welcome Sunshine,
I can't offer anymore advice but would it be feasible for one of you to get another part time job?
Bunny

Rikki

Welcome. :hello:

Are you on a water meter?

What are the interest rates on the remaining cards?

You have down well to get the interest stopped on alot of your depts. :T

You need to concentrate on reducing and paying off the ones left with the highest interest rates getting and extra you can push there way first.

SarahNeedle1872

Hi Sunshine, welcome to MSE....

Can't really give u much more advice than has been given, as Rikki says, concentrate on paying ur highest APR debts first (and the council tax arrears).... If u can, post the APRs here too for us to see...

Sarah x

sunshine38_2

Wow, replies and ideas already - THANK YOU!

I just took a deep breath and posted as much info as I could just to get me started (before I chickened out again!). I will take a look at the APRs but will have to dig through the mountains of paperwork to find them.

I cant get a cable package - the neighbours across the road can - but they have no plans to put cable on our side of the street ! I never bundled the cost of those together before - funny how people look at things differently - I was looking at them separately. Now that Virgin have taken over I will try again to see if we can coax them to run the cabling along our side of the street.

I will look into the sky BB - thanks. OH has computer/sat nav in car and he can speak (via a button) to and from the office re jobs etc but that's all. I believe because it's his first year as a taxi driver that's the reason why the insurance is so high at £50 per week. He pays it weekly with his settle and we thought that it was something we would just have to "put up with" until his first 12 months are out of the way and we could shop around for a better quote.

Thanks again for such a warm welcome :j

JonathanA

Hi sunshine

You've probably already thought of this, but have you got any surplus stuff around the house that you no longer use / need that you could either ebay or car boot? It may give you a few extra quid to put towards paying something.

Is your OH tied to certain hours in the car (is it his, or does he drive for someone else) & could he do a few extra hours too (safely of course!)

sunshine38_2

Hi again,

Rikki, thanks - Yes we are on a water meter and I do try (and remind the kiddies) to turn the tap off when brushing teeth, limit the number of washes I put on etc.

Bunny, my ideas so far are to increase my hours in work on an overtime basis (there was mention last week that it could be available to me if I wanted it - I guess I NEED it more than want it), we are planning a car boot next weekend (I'm hoping that they still run in October in our area) and I was going to hunt for things to put on eBay. OH is going to try and work as many hours as he can now that I've made him aware of the situation (I even made him open the summons so he could try and face the reality of our situation - that makes me mean, doesnt it?! Seems to have worked though).

Have just got to put the kiddies to bed and then I'll be straight back. I'll try and get those interest rate details then.

Thank you everyone x

MissKJ

Hi Sunshine. There is a lot to take in,but maybe print thisnd redo your SOA when you have adjusted.

Mortgage - £756.00 (repayment mortgage) you probably can't change this, but are you entitled to any payment holidays. I get olne every 9 months as long as i keep up payments, then use this to owball your debts. will explain later.
House/Contents insurance - £22.50 not bad but when renewing, go via a cashback site.
Council tax - £111.00 (normally) - now 2 months in arrears and summons served - I am writing to request agreed payments of £156.00 over the next 6 months - so I guess I will have to see whether they will accept that payment offer ask if you can pay over 12 months not 10 to spread payments better
BT phone - £13.25 (worked out by dividing £53 by 3 as now billed quarterly)look at bundleing packages to get cheaper
Gas - £80.00 (British Gas) (can average between £60 and £80 per month with prepayment meter) no no no! change suppliers via cashback such as moneysavingsupermarket. you nwont miss paymenst when you get organised, so will increas your options.
Electricity - £68.00 (Scottish Power) (am currently trying to find a better deal but most will not accept prepayment meter customers - any suggestions welcomed please)ditto
Water - £40.00 this is high. install a hippo in your loos (plastic bottle in cystern), recycle bath water by pouring into loo to flush etc
TV Lic - £12.00
Tiscali broadband/phone - £38.00 (average bill)see above
Life Assurance - £41.00 seems high. research this.
Sky - £45.00 (I know - this has got to be reduced or go altogether) you knoe if you need it, but setanta aswell
Setanta - £9.99 (again, I guess this has got to go too)
O2 phone - £50.00 (new contract started July for OH business/ease of contacting whilst at work)package
PAYG (me) - £15.00
Shopping - £200.00 (for 2 ad, 2 ch, 2 cats - have reduced this from over £400 per month approx 3 months ago - so I guess it's a start!)
Contact lenses - £17.00
NI Contributions - £10.00
Travel
Me: £82.00 (bus and train)
OH: already included in earnings average above as he is a taxi driver

Total out so far ... £1610.74

Debts: (I cant believe how ridiculous this list is going to be!)

HSBC Managed loan - £100.00 (outstanding approx £3,400 - will need to check with OH)
MBNA agreed repayment plan - £30.00 (again will need to check what balance is)
Vanquis £35.00 per month (balance £730)
Catalogue debt £25.00 per month (balance approx £250)
Studio - £30 agreed payment (balance £627 - interest stopped)
Simply Be - £30 agreed payment (balance £940 - interest stopped)
Vertbaudet - £20 agreed payment (balance £520 - interest stopped)
Additions Direct - £15 agreed payment (balance £420 - interest stopped)
Next - £120 (balance £1300)
Capital One - £40 agreed payment (balance £950 - interest stopped)
Barclays CC - £30 (min payment £24) (balance £428)
Citifinance loan - £104 (balance £830 - due to finish May '08)
LX Direct - £20 (balance £240)
Sofa finance - payments start October 2007 - £80 per month
Credit Union - £55 per month (due to finish November 07)


GULP! £734.00

So - total in = £2075.88
total out = £2344.74

Balance - -£268.86 :eek:

put your debts into the debt snwball calculator and you will see the woods for the trees. you an do this, I started with a minus figure after debts but am successfully paying off.

good luck.

Oh and don't but anything you dont need, sell sell sell and make sure you use it to attack your debts