Small debts but small lone income

Tall_girl

Hi
I have just joined today after reading other diaries on here and need budgeting advice if anyone can spare the time.
I’m a single mom who works full-time:o:o but never seem to have much spare.
Just after tips really.
I have very old debt not on my credit file of which I pay a token amount plus a small credit card debt.

Not sure how to do a SOA but here goes.

No in household me plus two teens
Take home salary £1300 (4 weekly)
Tax credits £200.16 (4 weekly)
Child benefit £80.00 (4 weekly)

Outgoings are as follows-

Rent £610
Council tax £90
Gas /electric £105
Water £42.32
Tv license £13.20
Home insurance £6.69
Car tax £14.00
Car insurance £19.17
Sky phone/internet £27.00
My phone (sim only)£10.00
Sons phone £30.73
Fuel to work £60.00
Sons travel to college £80.00
My prescription £8.00
Other sons pocket money £40.00
Hairdresser £15.00
Food £300.00
Credit card £100.00 (0% for 6 months)
£3.00 old debt repayments

My credit card has a balance of £700 on it and I have very old debts after my divorce of around £4000.00

I have no savings and just really wanted to ask for any thoughts really.

Thanks for reading.
K

Siebrie

Hi Tall Girl, welcome to the Boards! You really don't seem to have much left at the end of the month. Do you or your sons get any child support? Is gas and electricity included in the rent? Can your sons work? What are the interest rates on your debts? Is the old debt after divorce the one you pay GBP3/month to?



The Old Style boards have a lot of tips, I suggest you take a look there.

CJRyder

Cancel the TV Licence. £13.20/month towards your debt. There are better and cheaper ways to get entertainment. Apart from BBC iPlayer, none of the catch-up services require the telly tax. Also a subscription to both Netflix and Amazon Prime is cheaper (albeit not by much) than the TV Licence.

Siebrie

I had a second look; you don't seem to have clothes, hobbies, gifts and entertainment listed. Maybe you can keep track of every single penny for two or three months? Go through your bank statements for the last year and list all the regular expenses. I just noticed that you do have gas/electric listed separately; can you reduce them? There are plenty of tips on the Old Style board, for instance the 'Prepping for Winter' thread.



Can son go sim-only, too?