trying to get my head out of the sand

oldbrookmum43

hello everyone really need your help
with getting my head and rest of my body out of the sand
little info on me
mum of 3 grown up children
widowed(since sept 2014)
trying to run a car and run a house
working full time

eldest child now move out to start her new journey in life
middle child in first year of uni
youngest child in first year of 6th form

and well me im in DEBT.....

£1,100 wages from my job
£320.00 from late husband pension
£148.00
child tax credit for youngest child
£82.00 child benfit
£487.00 from widows parents allowance

---

£2,137 a month

so why am I in debt and worrying sick about it.....

my wages and pension go into bank on the first of every month
my child benfit goes in bank every Tuesday
and child tax credit and widows around the middle of the month

bills....

£29.00 house alarm
£50.00 water
£17.00 dvla for car tax
£109.00 council tax
£39.00 house contents insurance
£66.00 sky
£28.00 bt
£23.00 life insurance
£175.00 car finance
£38.00 daughter mobile contract phone
£138.00 car insurance
£18.00 daughter cineworld card
£18.00 my cineworld card
£40.00 my mobile contract phone
£15.00 daughter phone insurance
£600. rent for house
£80.00 for gas and electric meters
£20.00 outstanding npower debt(owe them £160)
£20.00 paying each month of a outstanding overdraft on my other bank account which is now at £900.
£25.00 catalogue when oven needed replacing. still got £500 left to clear
£125.00 loan from a family member still got £1,500 left to pay..


The problem im hitting every month is im going into my overdraft on my bank account so when my wages are going in, its clearing that overdraft then im left with a few hundred ££££ then direct debits start popping out then im back in the RED again...

so like for example when my wages clear in the bank on 1st November my wages of £1,100 will only be £665.00
and that's before I think of petrol and shopping....
any advice would be very helpful please

oldbrookmum43

anyone about to help me

DebtFreeDuo

There is a template SOA here (stoozing website) that really helps break things down completely and works out income vs outgoings, from the above we can't see what you spend on groceries for example or what interest you are being charged. There is a lot there that you could cut back on, some ideas based just on the outgoings are:

Home contents: Is this a monthly figure? I pay £6.86 for mine per month.
Sky: Do you really need this? Almost £700 per year is a lot of money to spend on TV. For me I have amazon prime and thats it, cost me £39 per year (student rate) and I don't need to pay for a TV licence.
Car insurance: Are there named drivers on this and do they use the car often to justify such a huge amount?
Mobile phones: £93 for the contracts and the insurance, can you look at changing this to a sim only deal? In totalt this is costing you £1116 per year.

Bumblebeemoment

Where do I find the template

DebtFreeDuo

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

HairyHandofDartmoor

Sorry to hear you are a widow, it must be tough for you coping with everything on your own

Once you've filled in your soa on the stoozing.com website then people will be able to help you better

oldbrookmum43

Trying to put this stooping thing into place but can't copy and paste it

enthusiasticsaver

oldbrookmum43 wrote: »

hello everyone really need your help
with getting my head and rest of my body out of the sand
little info on me
mum of 3 grown up children
widowed(since sept 2014)
trying to run a car and run a house
working full time

eldest child now move out to start her new journey in life
middle child in first year of uni
youngest child in first year of 6th form

and well me im in DEBT.....

£1,100 wages from my job
£320.00 from late husband pension
£148.00
child tax credit for youngest child
£82.00 child benfit
£487.00 from widows parents allowance

---

£2,137 a month

so why am I in debt and worrying sick about it.....

my wages and pension go into bank on the first of every month
my child benfit goes in bank every Tuesday
and child tax credit and widows around the middle of the month

bills....

£29.00 house alarm
£50.00 water
£17.00 dvla for car tax
£109.00 council tax
£39.00 house contents insurance
£66.00 sky
£28.00 bt
£23.00 life insurance
£175.00 car finance
£38.00 daughter mobile contract phone
£138.00 car insurance
£18.00 daughter cineworld card
£18.00 my cineworld card
£40.00 my mobile contract phone
£15.00 daughter phone insurance
£600. rent for house
£80.00 for gas and electric meters
£20.00 outstanding npower debt(owe them £160)
£20.00 paying each month of a outstanding overdraft on my other bank account which is now at £900.
£25.00 catalogue when oven needed replacing. still got £500 left to clear
£125.00 loan from a family member still got £1,500 left to pay..


The problem im hitting every month is im going into my overdraft on my bank account so when my wages are going in, its clearing that overdraft then im left with a few hundred ££££ then direct debits start popping out then im back in the RED again...

so like for example when my wages clear in the bank on 1st November my wages of £1,100 will only be £665.00
and that's before I think of petrol and shopping....
any advice would be very helpful please

The items I have highlighted are all things you cannot afford. £36 per month on cineworld cards plus sky takes up almost 10% of your pay before you even get to essentials like gas and electric, water, council tax, rent and food. Expensive mobile phones plus insurances should be changed to sim only (no insurance as if you are paying £39 per month on contents insurance which is extortionate then contents out of the home are probably covered). Your income is not high enough for all the extras. Strip the direct debits down to the essentials. With the others decide which gives value for money and choose the ones you least want to do without.


Incidentally I am not saying cancel home insurance just get it cheaper by using a comparison site.

enthusiasticsaver

I have just added up what you have put down above and it comes to £1673 so that leaves £450 per month to cover everything else you have not put down like food, fuel, clothes, gifts, household stuff or car maintenance. Your car is expensive in proportion to your income and the insurance is very high. Is it possible to do without a car until you have sorted out your finances? That would save you £330 plus any fuel you pay each month. How much is it needed to get you to work or daughter to school?

Once the mobile phone contracts are finished move to sim only which is much cheaper. We pay £11 sim only for one of ours and you can get them even cheaper than that. I would prioritise the overdraft (due to recent charges increases) and the npower debt as paying by meter is the most expensive way of paying for utilities. Can your family member accept a reduction to £100 per month until you have got your budget sorted? You also need an emergency savings account so you should be putting money into that too.

117pauline

Good morning

I'm sorry to hear of your situation. It must be very hard having to deal with this on your own.

I hope you manage to get your SOA into your diary because it is the best place to start. Consider it a work in progress for the first year as you refine it to what you really spend rather than what you hope to spend.

In my opinion, a spending diary is vital where you record every purchase.

Look over the last three month's bank and credit card statements. See where and when you overspend, if you do

I am sure that the bills outlined can be reduced by shopping around etc

Finally, I hate to say the Christmas word but this will make the budgeting more difficult however not impossible.

Good luck with your journey, keep posting, we will keep encouraging and making suggestions
Pauline

Kitten868

Hello lovely. I'm so sorry to hear about your partner. I cannot imagine how hard it must be to be widowed so young. I'm impressed with you managing.
I don't think your situation is awful. There's lots of bits there that can be cut or cut down. You seem to be paying a lot for everything. As others have said those cinema passes need to go and you need to reassess all of your insurances as they are so high. Review all of your direct debits as a first point of call. I'm sure you'll save hundreds each month straight away. Any money saved can come off debts.
Tell a bit about your debts and we can tell you which order to pay them down.
Once you've done that you can work on the next bit. You can do this xxx