Can someone who knows, help?

Coffeescone10

Hi there

After watching the forum for a long period of time I need to post in an effort to seek advice. After first marriage failed I registered for bankruptcy due to martial debts and being enmeshed in debts with my in-laws (they owned their own business and it collapsed). Second marriage I managed to find work and after sequestration I started to rebuild credit to the point I had a healthy score and qualified, managed and was responsible for obtaining credit. Fast forward two years I found out husband (who earned a high salary) was unfaithful and I ended it. I went from two incomes one high one low to my part time wage. My credit score has depreciated to 70..! It’s a total shock and without anyone being hard on me I will be honest and say I have missed payments (minimum payment too high) defaulted on second husband BT sports account and have max out my credit cards. After being in a really low place financially first time I’ve found myself here again. I rent my property from my parents because I couldn’t obtain a mortgage after second marriage failed. Second husband couldn’t get credit so I was leaned on for holidays and spending etc to use my credit cards. My dad took out a loan for me and second husband as he lost his job for a short period of time, this helped us pay debt. To survive after living without husband I have used credit cards again. My parents have lowered the rent which is ideal but my children solely rely on me, and I want to be in a better position financially for them to depend on me. Can anyone help? It’s a mess.

EssexHebridean

OK - this is the reason why it's usually best NEVER to take out debt "on behalf of" another person - however when you totally trust that person, that's not always a practical approach to take, I know.

First thing - your "credit score being at 70" means absolutely nothing, Nada. Zilch. Sweet F. A. Ignore it. The ONLY person who sees that number is you. The only person who CARES about that number is you. So there you go - one less thing to worry about. What you need to be thinking about is your credit history - and now that you know that, today is the day you can start rebuilding things there.

Have you already been through divorce proceedings from your second husband? And I take it the children are from your first marriage - is the financial agreement from that, relating to them (and you if applicable) being stuck to?

Your first step here as you will know from your time viewing the forum is to put together your Statement of Affairs - SOA. The link is in my signature. Fill that out openly and accurately - it will help to get together a year's worth of bank & cad statements - and make sure it reflects the way things are right now, not what you think you "should" be spending or what you imagine we expect to see. Format it for MSE and copy it into the thread and we can take a look at your budget and see whether there are any areas that savings can be made, and also help you to find a way forwards from the situation you're currently in.

sourcrates

Hi,

Your post is entitled “can someone who knows help”

Yet you don’t really pose a specific question, you are obviously aware of the debt solutions available, and that personal circumstances dictate your choice, yet you give us no detail to work with, we need to see some figures.

So an SOA is the first step.

D_M_E

https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/ and format for MSE then post it up here and people may be able to give a few pointers.

Coffeescone10

atement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b]

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned....................

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1600
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 140
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1740

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 291
Rent.................................... 450
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 126
Electricity............................. 62
Gas..................................... 55
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 85
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 55
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 100
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 14
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 65
Life assurance ......................... 14
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 65
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2029


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 22000....(291)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 22000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Bank of Scotland card..........3300......90........0
Marbles........................1600......180.......0
Vanquis........................3500......274.......0
Capital one....................750.......25........0
Total unsecured debts..........9150......569.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,740
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,029
Available for debt repayments........... -289
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 569
Amount short for making debt repayments. -858

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -22,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,150
Net Assets.............................. -31,150

Retireby40

Are the children from 2 different fathers. If so aren't you getting financial support from both?

Theres lots of things you need to reduce. £85 mobile phone is a lot. Plenty of sim only deals for £15-20.

£100 a week on groceries is pretty steep. Bulk make dinners and weekend food things like chilli/pasta/chicken currys.

You spend £55 on satellite TV. Get rid. If the kids need to watch something just get an internet service maybe for half the price and they can use YouTube.

Scrap the contents insurance. Its £65 a month and realistically what are the chances of someone coming in and robbing your tv. They wont try to rob sofas and big things.

How old are the children. You have £65 a month haircuts. I take it you get your hair treated once a month. Kids haircuts are relatively cheap. If Male £7-10. Girls I dont know but it wouldn't be a monthly trip. So someone is having too much hair attention which also needs reduced.

Holidays/Christmas and general luxuries all need cut out. Its going to be hard but living beyond your means in the past I.e holidays your really couldn't afford has come back to bite you. But you can sort it out but it's going to be slow long and with lots of sacrifices. And your gonna have to get used to the word NO. For not just when your kids want something but also yourself. Good luck.

WhenIam64

What is the Secured Loan / HP debt for. Is it a car on a PCP?

Are you still in Scotland as the laws are different.

fatbelly

It looks like Scotland because water is zero. As I'm not an expert on Scottish options I'm just going to make general points.

1. You're negative 289 and you're paying 291 for a car on HP by the looks of it. You can terminate this at any time

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/S/factsheets/Pages/hire-purchase-debt-scotland/hp-debt-advice.aspx

2. A lot of your expenditure figures look very rounded. If you keep a diary you can be more precise.

3. There is no spend on some things that probably should have: clothing, car maintenance, road tax, gifts

4. Some figures look a bit high. Are you getting a single adult discount on council tax (and paying over 12 months)? Phones look high, groceries, contents insurance.

5. As a starting point you should make sure you are banking where you do not have debts, then go to token offers on the four credit cards while you look at options. As things stand you are just digging a bigger hole and that at least will just make sure the hole stays the same size.

theoretica

Are you getting the single adult discount on council tax?
Shop around for contents insurance - I suspect you could get that far cheaper.
As mentioned above, are you getting child maintenance?

pmlindyloo

I note that you receive no other benefits other than Child Benefit.

Have you done a benefits check?

I suspect that you might be entitled to Universal Credit based on what you have said. (I am presuming you are not claiming tax credits at the moment?)

You can fill in your information here to see if you are eligible:

https://moneysavingexpert.entitledto.co.uk/home/start

The one 'sticking point' might be your renting from your parents. Do you have a proper tenancy agreement set up?

Coffeescone10

Again thanks for the replies. Sadly the children’s father is no longer here and died last year, no pension or life insurance as he didn’t take care of they things (we were apart at time of his death). He did pay maintenance but only up until he passed away. We weren’t legally still married either so bereavement benefit does not apply to the children. I do get 25% discount on CT. the car is PCP? 100 a week shopping includes children’s activitiy money also. Haircut includes us all and I shop at cheaper shops. Don’t do gifts or luxuries as such. Just aim to work and make sure kids get what they need