Please help

Steph8821

Hiya  im Steph
Long time lurker of this forum but finally decided to create an account.
Me and my partner are in quite of alot of debt with low a income. We have had a really rough 3 years or so which contributed to this mess we are in.
Please dont judge me
I will post the soa below.
Benefits are universal credit and child benefit.
My income is carers allowance for our son. My husband does not work  recently been laid off. 

Other income is my sons dla.
Hope this helps.

I would really appreciate your advice
thanks steph x

[b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 2

Number of children in household......... 2

Number of cars owned.................... 1[b]

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 292

Partners monthly income after tax....... 0

Benefits................................ 1784

Other income............................ 359[b]

Total monthly income.................... 2435[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 0

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0

Rent.................................... 750

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 115

Electricity............................. 45

Gas..................................... 45

Oil..................................... 0

Water rates............................. 42

Telephone (land line)................... 0

Mobile phone............................ 70

TV Licence.............................. 12

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 55

Internet Services....................... 0

Groceries etc. ......................... 550

Clothing................................ 40

Petrol/diesel........................... 100

Road tax................................ 13

Car Insurance........................... 70

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40

Car parking............................. 0

Other travel............................ 0

Childcare/nursery....................... 5

Other child related expenses............ 359

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0

Buildings insurance..................... 0

Contents insurance...................... 0

Life assurance ......................... 0

Other insurance......................... 0

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50

Haircuts................................ 40

Entertainment........................... 50

Holiday................................. 0

Emergency fund.......................... 20[b]

Total monthly expenses.................. 2471[/b]

[b]

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 0

House value (Gross)..................... 0

Shares and bonds........................ 0

Car(s).................................. 1400

Other assets............................ 0[b]

Total Assets............................ 1400[/b]

[b]

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts[/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Joint Loan.....................18700.....280.......4

Partners loan..................15500.....305.......11

Very  partners.................1100......65........0

Carrepossesion partne..........7000......0.........0

Argos  partners................1200......52........0[b]

Total unsecured debts..........43500.....702.......-  [/b]

[b]

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]

Total monthly income.................... 2,435

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,471

Available for debt repayments........... -36

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 702[b]

Amount short for making debt repayments. -738[/b]

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]

Total assets (things you own)........... 1,400

Total HP & Secured debt................. -0

Total Unsecured debt.................... -43,500[b]

Net Assets.............................. -42,100[/b]

[i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]

Steph8821

Hiya i forgot to mention both loans and the car repossession  are all defaulted. We have been paying token payments for a year or so. I dont know  the ins and outs tbh my partner sorted everything out x

poppasmurf_bewdley

Your groceries figure of £550 for 2 adults and 2 children is very high.  I would be looking to get this down to about £300/350.  

Use Adli/Lidl instead of Tesco, Asda, etc, and buy unbranded instead of branded, ie Weetabix £3, own brand £1.50, Heinz Beans 55p, own brand 30p.  

Also, shop when your local store has many 'just in time' offers on products coming to the end of their shelf life but which can be frozen.  

Also, you have nothing for contents insurance, which is very worrying.  Mine only costs about £5 a month, and I consider it an essential.  

Harlequinn87

HI Steph, I agree with poppasmurf, you can defo cut down on groceries. Mobile bill are you stuck in a contract? if not you can get sim card only deals from £5. I was in a similar situation with my debts and i had to be very frugal. May seem mean but i also told friends and family not to bother with birthday gifts and Xmas so i wouldn't have to buy for them, i didnt even tell them it was due to paying back £32k worth of debt and just said money was tight at the moment, they all understsood and some even said they were actually struggling as well and were glad i said something first. Obviously i understand you have kids but maybe have a strict limit on present spend. Sell anything you don't use or need any more and shop around for better deals on your utilities if you can.  Car costs insurance and petrol seem high especially if your partner isn't working and the current covid issues...are the petrol costs current? car insurance is high for me but depends on the car you have i guess, i would defo look into reducing the cost if possible..  also lastly i found keeping a spreadsheet with all my spending really helped and kept me on track with my money. It was really hard and really sucked at times but I'm now debt free and now have savings and live easily within my budget so i hope this helps you and your family

poppy10_2

Mobile phone bill is huge. Should be able to get that down to £24 a month for two contracts with unlimited calls/texts and a generous data allowance. Sell the iphones and get cheaper models. Cancel the Sky TV. Cut down on grocery bills.

sourcrates

You are £43k in debt, and have an income mainly consisting of benefits.
Even after shaving something off those spending figures, you will still have very little in the way of disposable income, have you considered bankruptcy ?

Could be the best time to do it now, fresh start after 12 months, with no debt or IPA.

Alternative is many years in debt management, struggling to make ends meet, if partner is likely to find new employment soon, then a reassessment will be necessary, but as things stand, its the obvious choice.

DrCarrie

Hi @Steph8821
Welcome to the boards. 
No judgment here!
I wonder if your SOA is accurrate? Some of the its do seem a bit high. But nevertheless if it is or not, first step is trimming down your outgoings, where ever you can. I am not going to make any sggestions as I expect if you really look at it, you will see some areas you can cut back on. 

I am not an expert, but there are ways of approaching your creditors to reduce intrest and such, but I can't advise you, on that. 

I find it super helpful to have the MSE budget planner spreadsheet as you can play about with your budgets for differnt areas. 
Your SOA says you can't afford the minimum repayments  on your credit, that must feel very scary. I wuld really encourage you to look around the boards, research what you can do, take time to think, and then act. Stay active on the boards and it will keep you focussed. 

Steph8821

Thank you for all your replys.
Mobiles are contracted, the food is including cleaning products. E liquid and nappies and alcohol. 

The sky is internet included and netflix.
Sourcrates  thats what step change advised my partner and me DRO, but these seem really scary to me.
What will happen if i choose to just pay token payments for a along time.
Thanks again for helping and advise x

sourcrates

If your individual debts are less than £20,000, then a DRO each may be the way forward.
Nothing to be scared of, it’s very simple to do, and sorts your problems in 12 short months.

Note : the DRO rules are changing in May, £30,000 debt limit, £100 disposable income limit.
Token payments are only suitable as a short term solution, the sooner you take action, the sooner you’ll sleep better at night.

Steph8821

That would be nice  many sleepless nights atm. All the debt is in my partners name
but i am on the loan which is a joint debt ;(

Whiterose23

What is £359 child related expenses? Also £40 a month on haircuts? 

Stop buying alcohol. Switch to Aldi/Lidl - you should be able to cut a lot off the grocery bill.