Help for a newbie

kazwookie

Start to cancel spotify / sky and such like

Lots of support and help on this site.

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

Don't be scared. The only thing to be scared off is sticking your head in the sand.

theoretica

A great start at clarity on your situation!  I think you probably do need to look at all the family income and spending however you decide to sort this, you look to need really full information about your finances.

What are you benefiting for your Amazon prime cost? 

enthusiasticsaver

Well done for starting to address this and it is good your wife is on board.  A good starting point is the soa as you have already done and there is some room to trim your budget although it probably does not feel like it now.  If you have rarely budgeted in the past it is tough initially but you really need to think about where every penny is going. 

A few suggestions have already been made.  If your credit score is good, you can easily meet minimum payments on the card and you are able to get 0% interest deals still I would not go down the DMP or asking for interest rate reductions immediately as that will impact on your credit rating and affect your ability to get good rates on your personal debt and your mortgage. I also would not move to an interest only mortgage before exploring better rates unless you are on a fixed rate at the moment and there is a penalty to get out of it.  

I would tackle this one step at a time.  First make a budget, start up a savings for emergencies fund and do a spending diary where you record every spend.  You can easily get rid of that takeaway budget and do fakeaways instead where you pick up cheaper food in the supermarket to give you the odd treat.  Look to cut back on the groceries spends too.  £400 is not huge for a family of 4 but I expect you can find savings somewhere.  Lidl and Aldi are good for deals.  You need to budget for absolutely everything.  If you have a company car that is great as presumably you do not need to maintain it but if your wife has a car too you should be putting money aside especially if it is an old car.  A good start is £50 a month to cover repairs, mot, insurance etc but you may need more if it is only worth £2k and she does a lot of mileage.  Think about if you really need 2 cars. Presents, clothes, holidays, house maintenance  and pets if you have one are all areas as well as cars that you should be saving in pots rather than using credit. Same goes for school uniform, shoes and childrens activities. 

If you feel you have cut back as far as you can and can just about meet minimums but cannot afford to live then you are in a debt spiral and a DMP is really your only option.  There is a support thread on here.  I think you can sort this without going down that route though.  The most important thing is to stop using credit cards to live off.