Help with sorting out my debts!

dsljfreeman

My Wage after Tax = 1,980
Wife Wage after Tax = 1,250
Total = 3,230
What about child benefit and tax credit?

Outgoings
Council Tax = 250 is this over 10 months or 12, if over 10 you could lower payments to £208 by paying over 12
Fuel = 200 (2 cars work must have)
Having a Life = 200 If you don't really go out much, what is this spent on?
Mortgage = 800 Could you swap to interest only payments for a year or two
Internet = 15
Car Insurance = 80 (2 cars) When due, have a look on Quidco to see if you can get a cheaper quote plus earning cashback
Sky TV = 62 (full package plus multi-room) I know how much you don't want to get rid of Sky, but have you noticed how much you are paying to watch the same programs over and over again, you should look at downgrading or cancel all together and go Freeview
Setanta = 15 Is this the Sports channels, do you watch enough on here to benefit paying £15 per month
BT = 60 Are you taking use of the friends and family discount, this is very high
Gas = 50
Gas Homecare Plan = 30
Electricity = 40
Car Finance = 290
TV License = 12
Loan = 207
Shopping = 400 This can definitely be cut, look at meal planning, collect coupons, maybe look at baking your own biscuits, making jelly etc so you don't pay out on treats
Kids = 100 (playgroup, toddlers, ballet, skating fees)
Home Contents = 30
Life Assurance = 55
Total = 2,896

Leaves = 334

Thats the outgoings, to be honest as you can see l dont really need much help with this as l wouldnt change any of the above as we both dont go out very often, dont smoke and dont drink so things like changing the sky package, setanta or kids fees is a no go, the only thing l might do there would be to change the sky package to a tv,phone and internet deal to see if it saves me money!
The problem lies below, here we go:

Egg = 10,000 outstanding £160
Debenhams = 2,270 outstanding
Lloyds TSB = 8,200 outstanding £148
Halifax = 1,700 outstanding £35
Studio = 510 outstanding
Vertbaudet = 410 outstanding
Next = 800 outstanding £75
Argos = 700 outstanding

Total = 24,590 outstanding Payments £418


Please Please help me, I understand you may think it is a little cheeky to say l wont change much of our monthly expenditure, maybe l just have to do this, just need some direction in getting of those debts.

I feel we are turning a corner now as there is finally no credit available as our rating has gone so we are on our own which in my eyes will be a blessing in disguise in the long run.Appreciate anybody who could offer me some guidance, thanks very much for your time!Best Regards Dps.

l dont want to get a Trust Deed cos l would be worried what they take off me in the value of my house.[/quote]

I know you have stated your case above but the remaining fact is you cannot afford your lifestyle and manage the debt you have, you are defaulting on debts just so that you can have luxuries and treats.

If you don't want to change your monthly spending then you and your wife will both have to look at getting second jobs.

Cutting back on your spending doesn't have to be permanent, just try it for a year or two, try really hard to throw everything at paying off your debts then when they are significantly reduced or paid off then you can pay out for luxuries

Homework

Sorting out your debts will mean you changing the income/expenditure ratio so that you can manage in the future. You won't be able to carry on as you have been as you have not got any more credit and aside from spending and servicing your debts you now need to be putting money aside in case of emergencies for a new cooker or bed which you will not be able to get on credit.

You say you do not want a Trust Deed because of value in your house. If you are sequestrated by a creditor the value in your house will be considered. You can be sequestrated for over £1500 of debt by any single or group of creditors so you want to get things in place before anyone starts threatening you.

Please contact a Money Adviser or CCS, Payplan, CAB. But please be prepared to alter your expenditure to secure your future and avoid any problems.

It is all short term when you have the rest of your life to live. Even when you have to give up things you do not want to - once the debt is repaid you can start again.

chevalier

Sorry if this comes across as a bit harsh, but what do you want to do?

Do you want to pay off your debts as quickly as possible, and get rid of the stress that these debts are causing you.

Or do you want to stay as you are and risk getting into more difficulties as you fall behind with more of your creditors.

Think of it this way. £62 a month for sky and £15 a month for Setanta is £924 a year. This would pay off your Vertbaudet and another catalogue account. A freeview box costs from about £20 depending on what functionality you want from it. But you would still save. Our freeview box picks up Setanta (though we can't see it as we haven't paid the money) so there is no reason to have the sky. You could get a freeview box and get Setanta through that.

Food £400 - this is £4800 a year. If you cut £100 a month of that then you could clear another catalogue debt in a year. I have 2 adults, 2 children and 2 cats to feed and it costs me £250 a month and that includes getting all of my meat from the local butcher (mainly free range), and we eat very well.

So now is the time to take the bull by the horns and take the pain. Why because at 5 and 2 your children will be happy with cbeebies for example, but later they may want all of the other sky children's channels. They won't really notice if their clothes are bought second hand from ebay (get good next and vertbaudet bundles on there) rather than new. Fast forward 5 years and they will notice.

chev

C32AMG

mookybargirl wrote: »

I hope you don't mind but I've made it a little easier to read so people can help give advice (welcome to mse)

My Wage after Tax = 1,980
Wife Wage after Tax = 1,250
Total = 3,230 Not a bad wage at all.

Outgoings
Council Tax = 250 - Why is this so high? What band are you in?
Fuel = 200 (2 cars work must have) - How economical are they?
Having a Life = 200 - Need to cut this down, you got yourselfs into debt so you need to get out of it. If it means 'not having a life' for a few months, thats a price you'll have to pay.
Mortgage = 800
Internet = 15
Car Insurance = 80 (2 cars) - Have you shopped around? Multi-car policy?
Sky TV = 62 (full package plus multi-room) - Get rid of it, Freeview will have to suffice.
Setanta = 15 - Get rid of this at once.
BT = 60 - This is too high, especially as it doesn't include Internet access! Why?
Gas = 50
Gas Homecare Plan = 30 - Expensive? Shopped around?
Electricity = 40
Car Finance = 290 Sell the car and buy a cheap model?
TV License = 12
Loan = 207
Shopping = 400 - This is too high, I'm sure you can half this.
Kids = 100 (playgroup, toddlers, ballet, skating fees)
Home Contents = 30 - Expensive? Again, have you shopped around?
Life Assurance = 55
Total = 2,896

Leaves = 334

The problem lies below, here we go:
Egg = 10,000 outstanding
Debenhams = 2,270 outstanding
Lloyds TSB = 8,200 outstanding (includes 1,000 bank overdraft)
Halifax = 1,700 outstanding
Studio = 510 outstanding
Vertbaudet = 410 outstanding
Next = 800 outstanding
Argos = 700 outstanding

Total = 24,590 outstanding

You have stated that you dont want to cut down, but quite frankly you are going to have to. Whilst your income exceeds your outgoings, you have obviously lived some way beyond your means and until such time as that debt is either cleared or reduced dramatically you really need to cut down on luxuries and get back to the bare bones. There are many things you can do with your family that don't cost a lot of money.

Sell the car with the finance, and pay it off. Buy a cheap car until your debt is sorted. Cut out the unnecessary luxuries (Sky, mainly). Reduce the things that can be reduced (Shopping etc) and you'll have that debt paid off in no time.

I reckon you could reduce your monthly expenditure by about 800-1000 a month if you are prepared to pay your debt off ASAP. Once your debt is paid off, you can then go back to the life you are having now (albeit with no debt). Surely that is better than struggling to pay this debt for years and years?