When things hit rock bottom the only answer is to fight the way back up...

Hiddenidenity

Debt 09/05/2017
Council Tax [STRIKE]£2092.71[/STRIKE] £2086 (£6.71 paid )
Fine 1 £1250
Fine 2 £200
Aunt £1000
Mum £340 + [STRIKE]£87[/STRIKE] £50 (£37 paid)
Step Dad £1000
Friend £1379

Total [STRIKE]£7348.71[/STRIKE] £7305 ( £43.71 paid )

Hiddenidenity

Sent mum £37 need to try and pay her the £50 over the next week.

Sent £6.71 to council tax (tried to send the £1.71 but min payment £5 )

Really tempted to withdraw the PayPal funds (£40) and put it towards making some more payment's so undecided!

enthusiasticsaver

Well done on getting the rent sorted HI and good idea to get your OH to put his wages in your account as it sounds like you manage money better now the gambling sorted. Good news on not buying cigarettes.

I would agree that setting up an emergency fund for situations like last week would be a good idea. Priority debts are rent, council tax and utilities and food. Everyone else can wait.

Hiddenidenity

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Well done on getting the rent sorted HI and good idea to get your OH to put his wages in your account as it sounds like you manage money better now the gambling sorted. Good news on not buying cigarettes.

I would agree that setting up an emergency fund for situations like last week would be a good idea. Priority debts are rent, council tax and utilities and food. Everyone else can wait.

I'm secretly proud of myself with gambling. Not a single bet since everything hit a head in march. Not even tempted, disgusted at what I'd done tbh.

StI'll no cigarettes bought. I'm struggling today though!

£15 left in the bank and around £3 in change. This should see us through now till Friday but obviously no money to make any payments anywhere either. :cool:

I'm going to use the payment a day/rounding down my bank account and send it over to my instant saver to start a small emergency fund. I expect we'll be dipping in and out for a while until things settle.

The rent should (providing OH doesn't drop us in it) be covered now every week.
Gas and electricity I have no choice but to upkeep because it's pay as you go and £17 a week goes straight off the top up towards the debt.
Council tax is a huge problem. I really need to sort this. It's the biggest debt and the most concerning after the rent. Realistically we need to have it paid for March 18. Them seeking a liability order is playing on my mind a lot

Hiddenidenity

Further to my comments about council tax there's 46 Friday paydays until the 30th March 2018. That means we really need to pay £45.35 a week at least to make this be paid off. Currently we are £60 behind on our arrangement and I'm worried this will make them pull the arrangement and expect the whole amount. Stress!

enthusiasticsaver

Could you not have asked your mum if you could delay paying her over the £37 and pay the council tax instead?

You could ring them and say you are having difficulty and can they suggest anything. Keeping in contact with your creditors is the most important thing. Don't ignore them if you are unable to keep to arrangements.

Toni'sfriend

Hope everything goes ok with the little one's appointment tomorrow. Remember the benefits you should be claiming for her.
You're doing really well trying to sort this out, Could you phone re council tax and let them know you're doing your best but having a bit of difficulty at the moment. Just maybe keeping them up to date with your situation might help. At least they'll know your not just ignoring it.

Hiddenidenity

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Could you not have asked your mum if you could delay paying her over the £37 and pay the council tax instead?

You could ring them and say you are having difficulty and can they suggest anything. Keeping in contact with your creditors is the most important thing. Don't ignore them if you are unable to keep to arrangements.

Toni'sfriend wrote: »

Hope everything goes ok with the little one's appointment tomorrow. Remember the benefits you should be claiming for her.
You're doing really well trying to sort this out, Could you phone re council tax and let them know you're doing your best but having a bit of difficulty at the moment. Just maybe keeping them up to date with your situation might help. At least they'll know your not just ignoring it.

Thank you. Mum wants the £87 (now £50) right now. I've explained to her I can't but she's really pushing for this back (it was some uniform and bit's she bought the older kids why she had them because we where in hospital with youngest) I'm hoping to have her paid this month then the £340 she'll have to have at the agreed amount of £10 a week.

So looked at the council tax account it's £64 I owe by tomorrow so haven't broken the agreement yet but will have tomorrow so I'll call them in the morning after school run.

Decided laptop fund cancelled DS can wait a bit longer and he'll manage doing it at school out of school hours. So once the last 2 items listed end tomorrow night I will withdraw all of the PayPal money not held and post then pay the remainder off the council tax. If we catch up the £64 we just have to stick to the arrangement of £25 a week every Friday (along side the usual DD that's budgeted for) I need to remember to allow for V1rgin DD coming out of OH account on the 31st too

Need to call my fine see where it's at. I've made a few extra payments the last few weeks but haven't kept track. The bigger fine is OH he received it last Monday and the first payment is due the 5th June hopefully we'll be on track of following a budget by then.

Toni'sfriend

Can I ask if your mother knows just how bad things are for you just now? Is she in difficult financial circumstances herself?

enthusiasticsaver

How about starting up a notebook/spreadsheet to record payments you have made to various things and when so you can keep track of how much you owe and have paid? I think using the paypal money to pay your council tax is a good idea.

Leaving the laptop fund until you have got your budget working for a month or so is a good idea. It will soon be the summer holidays so maybe aiming for a refurbished one by September would be a target?