Whoops :( can I join you?

chirpychick

Despite being a member for 8 years now, i dont think i have ever ventured over here :eek:

Hubby and I were in an IVA in 2010 having had 64k of debt ( i still have no clue how this happened). The IVA is long gone thank god! We made all of our payments plus an extra year and managed to repay a lot more than anticipated.

However, in the almost 2 years now since the IVA ended so much has changed. Last year my husband was made redundant and we used his redundancy to live. We He found a new job but its 8k a year less plus costs 150pm to commute whereas before it cost £20 a month!!!
So we are actually a lot worse off than we were.
We used some of the redundancy money to buy a second car which was an essential, nothing hugely expensive and reasonably economical (45mpg).
Since then we have struggled to live within our means of the new income, we have lost 2 close family members our son (5yrs) has had health problems diagnosed and is now home schooled all of which contribute to why i dont currently work other than ad hock admin now and again.
We do claim benefits for our son which are used for him for the things he needs but i also claim carers allowance too.

In the space of 8 months we have managed to get ourselves into 3k of credit card debt :( thankfully this is scary enough for us to say hide them cards and dont use them. We have learnt our lesson even though it may seem different.
We have taken out 0% cc’s and are in the process of transferring the balances. (One card each). We have sat down and worked out all of our finances together and there is nowhere really we can cut back on other than our grocery spend which has got a bit out of control.

The cc debt has been for repairs in the house, plus luxuries we should never have really spent money on, visiting family where bereavement is concerned i.e for funerals and last visits. So some fairly justifiable and some not.

I know that picking up on it now means we can take action and we have a plan to clear it within 12 months. But it will really take some cutbacks.

I just need somewhere i can come and discuss what we’re doing to clear this off hopefully quicker than the 12 months.

I think the accountability also helps!

Emmel

Hi Chirpy, Im sure you will do grand in clearing this off, we too spend/waste too much money on food. I have now started to meal plan and freeze portions for work etc. Have also upgraded our freezer for a larger one so we can store more things and hopefully less trips to the shops

National_Debtline

Hi ChirpyChick,


Changes in circumstances, bereavements, and health issues make a situation like this very hard, but you are doing the right thing by trying to nip this in the bud early. Perhaps you could post your SOA - http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php for other posters and that would help identify options to boost income as well as possible savings on the expenses.


It is hard to know for certain what income boosting ideas will work (a SOA will help), but from your message there may be a couple of things that may be possible. First of all, if you can't work full time/ sociable hours, due to home schooling, then look for evening and weekend work. I understand that this may also affect benefits, so there is more to consider, but it is the best I can suggest from the message so far.


Meal planners are a great way to help monitor shopping bills, and ultimately try and save a bit of money. Are you sure the second car is used enough to justify the running costs if you don't need to use it daily for work etc? Sometimes public transport (and even taxis) can save money compared to the running costs of car over the course of a year.


Not using the credit is also a good step, at least this way now, you know you are working your way back. Best of luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

chirpychick

I will do a SOA a bit later to see if anyone can suggest anything.

The 2nd car is essential as my husband works so far away and we have appointments and Home school groups we go to which aren’t easily accessible by public transport especially with a SEN child.

We did for a long time just have the one car until my husband got this new job.

Both cars are owned outright (one was given to us when my BIL passed away) they aren’t flashy or expensive.

Working evenings and weekends would be difficult because of husbands hours and having to travel (we have nobody nearby who can babysit or anything like that) but it is something I’m looking into.
Possibly some kind of flexi hours at the local care Home.

I will do our SOA this evening thank you for the advice