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Newbie help please - big bill!!
Wrigglerosie
Posts: 3 Newbie
Hi - newbie here. Not a complete newbie to debt unfortunately - did get into a lot before which I was paying off successfully through Payplan and then I got my share of an inheritance and the first thing I did was to pay off the debts! Hooray!
However - I bought a house (park home) outright with said inheritance money and had work done on it that had to be done with outer walls and insulation. All well and good and that was budgeted for. And then I got made unexpectedly redundant and was out of work for nearly 6 months so was living on inheritance money. Paid the bill for the walls and insulation and was back to having no money again - hey ho, but something I'm used to sadly
Am now working part time at a job I love - trying to pick up extra hours where I can. I have no debt as such apart from an overdraft thats on the limit but as only working part time, its all very tight all the time. And then just this week came another bill from the house people for a bit of the work I had forgotten about which is the outside paint coating (specialist sort of textured stuff - took a guy 2 days to do it) for £2500
the bill has to be paid. I cant increase my overdraft (they kindly upped it by £50 last week - woo-hoo!) so I've been looking at loans but having a bad credit report from previous debts, any loan I could get ( looking here on MSE) would be with a crippling monthly repayment and thats if I got it at that interest rate. I would be left with so little money each month that any unexpected bill or happening would bring the whole thing down. Also looked at credit cards as the amount is apparently considered "small" (not to me!) but again, any I could get would not have anywhere near a high enough limit to pay off the bill.
So what do I do? I have to pay this bill somehow - how the hell do I do it ??
(BTW - am single and no dependants. will go and do a SOA thing and bring it over here)
However - I bought a house (park home) outright with said inheritance money and had work done on it that had to be done with outer walls and insulation. All well and good and that was budgeted for. And then I got made unexpectedly redundant and was out of work for nearly 6 months so was living on inheritance money. Paid the bill for the walls and insulation and was back to having no money again - hey ho, but something I'm used to sadly
Am now working part time at a job I love - trying to pick up extra hours where I can. I have no debt as such apart from an overdraft thats on the limit but as only working part time, its all very tight all the time. And then just this week came another bill from the house people for a bit of the work I had forgotten about which is the outside paint coating (specialist sort of textured stuff - took a guy 2 days to do it) for £2500
the bill has to be paid. I cant increase my overdraft (they kindly upped it by £50 last week - woo-hoo!) so I've been looking at loans but having a bad credit report from previous debts, any loan I could get ( looking here on MSE) would be with a crippling monthly repayment and thats if I got it at that interest rate. I would be left with so little money each month that any unexpected bill or happening would bring the whole thing down. Also looked at credit cards as the amount is apparently considered "small" (not to me!) but again, any I could get would not have anywhere near a high enough limit to pay off the bill.
So what do I do? I have to pay this bill somehow - how the hell do I do it ??
(BTW - am single and no dependants. will go and do a SOA thing and bring it over here)
0
Comments
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Good call on the SOA - you do know the ropes don't you!
How long ago was the work done? I'm thinking if it was a while ago and they've taken an age to bill you you may be able to work out a payment plan with them due to the changed circumstances - but that will depend on how long they've taken to invoice whether that's reasonable to ask, I think.
As you say get the SOA done and we'll take a look🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
Here's my SOA....
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 720
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 720
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 103.6
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 80
Electricity............................. 33
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 12.5
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 11.74
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 33.71
Groceries etc. ......................... 175
Clothing................................ 5
Petrol/diesel........................... 75
Road tax................................ 11.84
Car Insurance........................... 40.95
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 17.6
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 23
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 655.06
Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 85000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 7000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 92000
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 720
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 655.06
Available for debt repayments........... 64.94
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 64.94
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 92,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 92,0000 -
theres nowhere i could put the overdraft which stands at a 1250 limit and I'm pretty much always on it at the end of the month - monthly fee and interest is another £20
The painting work was actually not done long ago because the weather had to be better - I just managed to completely forget that the payment for that had been deferred from when the rest was done!0 -
Are you able to claim Working Tax Credit?
If I am honest the only thing I can see that looks high in your SOA is your grocery bill, though I am sure others will be able to find more. My grocery bill for me & my teenage daughter is about £130 a month.Dwy galon, un dyhead,
Dwy dafod ond un iaith,
Dwy raff yn cydio’n ddolen,
Dau enaid ond un taith.0 -
£23 every month on haircuts?
Grocery bill can be reduced.
Car insurance is high, (unless you're young, live in a high risk area or drive something sporty?)
Have you applied for exemption/reduction of medical costs due to low income?
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-low-income-scheme
If you're working part time could you get a second job for a few extra hours?
In the short term, if the bill needs paying imminently, anything you could sell? (Could you manage without a car for a while?)
Once this crisis is over, you really need to start building up an emergency fund.2.22kWp Solar PV system installed Oct 2010, Fronius IG20 Inverter, south facing (-5 deg), 30 degree pitch, no shadingEverything will be alright in the end so, if it’s not yet alright, it means it’s not yet the endMFW #4 OPs: 2018 £866.89, 2019 £1322.33, 2020 £1337.07
2021 £1250.00, 2022 £1500.00, 2023 £1500, 2024 £13502025 target = £1200, YTD £9190
Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur0 -
OK - in the circumstances I'll make this a brutal one - but I have a feeling you're looking for that anyway...Comments in red as ever...Wrigglerosie wrote: »Here's my SOA....
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 720 Look for ways to boost this - even survey sites can help you earn a bit more here and there. Otherwise mystery shopping maybe? There are threads on all sorts of things on the "Boost your income" board.
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 720
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 103.6
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 80 Single person discount applied? Do you pay this over 10 months or 12?
Electricity............................. 33
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 12.5
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 11.74 Is this a SIM only deal? Can you shop around and shave anything at all off it?
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 33.71 Can you shop around and see if you can shave anything at all off this?
Groceries etc. ......................... 175 You can definitely get this down - I feed two of us on less than that
Clothing................................ 5 Nope, not for the time being
Petrol/diesel........................... 75 This is a big old lump bearing in mind you income. Think of any ways you can reduce - and definitely ditch any short journeys in favour of walking
Road tax................................ 11.84 Do you actually pay this monthly?
Car Insurance........................... 40.95 Ouch - this is high, Have you shopped around the comparison sites? Just beware of cancelling mid year as some providers will make you pay the remainder of the premium
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 How does that work then with the mileage you're presumably doing?
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 17.6 Is this anything that can be reduced?
Pre paid certificate for prescriptions etc?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 Tsk. And you were doing so well?
False economy - come on, sort it out!
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20 Might have to bin this for now I'm afraid
Haircuts................................ 23 Work out how to reduce this. Let it grow/extend time between cuts by just getting a fringe trim, that sort of thing?
Entertainment........................... 0 Probably unrealistic...need to factor something in here ideally
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 655.06
Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 85000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 7000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 92000
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 720
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 655.06
Available for debt repayments........... 64.94
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 64.94 Do you have this surplus?
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 92,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 92,000
OK - I do have one suggestion for you. That car - one way to cover the outstanding bill would be to sell it and buy something older - not ideal but as a last resort and possibly better than getting into further debt?
You can definitely knock £50 a month straight off the groceries - do a full fridge/freezer/cupboard audit and look to spend as little as possible by eating from supplies for a few weeks to start you off. With that plus other savings I reckon you can get that surplus you're showing up to £120 a month or a little more - and that needs to go back against the overdraft. Personally I always urge people to get OD's gone as fast as possible, and this is all the more true if you're aware your credit history may not be the best.🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
That's a great tip from Jackie about the medical costs exemption, and I assume you have checked to see that you aren't entitled to any other benefits?
Agree about the Emergency fund but get the bill sorted and OD gone first off. To be honest after that I'd just be throwing every spare penny at savings as that will help you build up savings for things like car replacement in the future.🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
Another thing I would add, after seeing EssexHebridean's comments, is seeing if it is possible to have your haircut in the local college where they do the training? You may well be able to get it for under £10 there... just an idea.Dwy galon, un dyhead,
Dwy dafod ond un iaith,
Dwy raff yn cydio’n ddolen,
Dau enaid ond un taith.0 -
Sorry if I have missed something but you say you bought the house outright yet pay £103 rent.
Is that in the right column?Aiming to make £7,500 online in 20220 -
Sorry if I have missed something but you say you bought the house outright yet pay £103 rent.
Is that in the right column?
I'm guessing that will be ground rent/site charges - it's a "Park Home" I believe.🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0
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