Our Soa - help please we’re struggling

Ms_Chocaholic

Dom135246 said:

Thanks it is like that, a never ending cycle. We were in a good position and Covid did cause a lot of the problems, as did ill health. 

I’m not sure about the budgeting, I think we live fairly frugally and try to stick to the budget but some things like Christmas and birthdays and other commitments always seem to cost much more than what we have allowed, and sometimes if something is needed and we just don't have the funds I don’t know what else to do to solve it. 

I’m confident that if I hadn’t lost a whole months income we would manage but I’m noticing the interest went up by £30 last month on just one card which I wasn’t expecting. I thought the minimum payments would stay at around £15 - £30 but suddenly to go up to £61. 

When you say "something is needed", what are these types of things - is this where the problem lies maybe in that you don't need them?

Dom135246

I was just looking, the £150 a month I added for Christmas and Birthdays was realistically what I spend in a year. I had a budget that allocated £16 a month which didn’t work for us. I know it sounds stupid though what I’m saying. It’s like something that happens that I would stop tomorrow but it messes up all the families Christmas if we opt out, 

Ms_Chocaholic

Well done on posting to try to resolve this, it's very brave of you x

moving_forward

Family will understand if things are hard and you have to cut back on gifts for a bit. It's hard but try to think how you would feel if someone spent money they didn't have on you. We cut down on gifts and it worried me but family was great about it and it helped them not over buy with us too. Fingers crossed the work will come back soon. Is there any other temp work you could do in the meanwhile. I accept it's easier said than done.

Dom135246

Thanks for everyone’s help. I’ll try and answer as best as I can.

Internet is BT 2 year contract (18 months left)

Phone is 2 Giff Gaff SIM cards at £6 each plus and mobile internet sim for £10 I sometimes need for work but don’t always take out. we only spent £6 in January the other two we didn’t renew). None are on a contract.

The pet insurance covers pre existing conditions and dental care, and we haven’t taken it out yet though, we’re looking because we can’t keep affording the vet bills as they are. It also includes a care plan with a vet which the insurance says is needed.

The food bill budget buys dog food (he’s a big boy) toiletries and cleaning items, that’s why we try and stick to beans on toast and anything we save goes towards paying debt.

I can’t seem to get employed other than in casual bar work, I’m probably too old.

We have sold our car recently to try and save on monthly bills. 

SaverRate

Dom135246 said:

Thanks for everyone’s help. I’ll try and answer as best as I can.

Internet is BT 2 year contract (18 months left)

Phone is 2 Giff Gaff SIM cards at £6 each plus and mobile internet sim for £10 I sometimes need for work but don’t always take out. we only spent £6 in January the other two we didn’t renew). None are on a contract.

The pet insurance covers pre existing conditions and dental care, and we haven’t taken it out yet though, we’re looking because we can’t keep affording the vet bills as they are. It also includes a care plan with a vet which the insurance says is needed.

The food bill budget buys dog food (he’s a big boy) toiletries and cleaning items, that’s why we try and stick to beans on toast and anything we save goes towards paying debt.

I can’t seem to get employed other than in casual bar work, I’m probably too old.

We have sold our car recently to try and save on monthly bills. 

Can you ring/contact BT and see if they will do anything price wise for you especially as BT's prices are due to rise soon?

If on no contract can you look at switching? have a look at Best Sim only deals: Compare cheap contracts - Money Saving Expert Cheapest on the page is £3.90 but only get 1GB data. 
If you use a data sim too have you looked at changing to a higher data phone sim package instead? e.g. ID Mobile do 10GB on the above link for £7/month but you get a £25 gift card too? 

If you dont mind me asking, who is the insurer you are looking at? Have you checked all limitations in the terms and conditions for the pre-existing conditions?

Dom135246

I’ll look at the phone and internet ideas, thank you.

The insurer I’m looking at is Brought By Many.

I didn’t want to take out a new pet insurance and be paying premiums on it for years and then when I come to claim they say they won’t pay because of a pre existing condition. Brought by many after 2 years start from scratch for pre existing conditions but for our dog probably because of his size, insurance is quite expensive, We literally in November decided to put £150 a month away and build up funds hoping he would be fine for a few years and in January it has almost cost us £1000 already. There was a small vet bill in the summer too. These conditions won’t be covered for 2 years but if anything new pops up we’ll be fully covered in two weeks time from taking it out. 

We had him insured at a local vet for a good few years but hardly used it other than for minor things noted on his medical records and we moved house and it was so much more to insure him and we live too far from the other vet to have continued it.

This is what I mean when I say there is always something needed.

I just want to pay back what we owe as soon as possible and enjoy a normal debt free life.

We don't mind about the vet fees, just trying to explain how we’ve got overwhelmed so quickly. 

Thanks again

TheAble

You can tinker at the edges with all these expenses but to repeat the point it's lack of income that's your problem. Anyone's going to struggle on £100 a month. There's no way you're just restricted to casual bar work either - have you considered taking a job at Tesco for example? I know for a fact that they're hiring right now and would doubt age is going to factor into it.

SaverRate

Dom135246 said:

I’ll look at the phone and internet ideas, thank you.

The insurer I’m looking at is Brought By Many.

I didn’t want to take out a new pet insurance and be paying premiums on it for years and then when I come to claim they say they won’t pay because of a pre existing condition. Brought by many after 2 years start from scratch for pre existing conditions but for our dog probably because of his size, insurance is quite expensive, We literally in November decided to put £150 a month away and build up funds hoping he would be fine for a few years and in January it has almost cost us £1000 already. There was a small vet bill in the summer too. These conditions won’t be covered for 2 years but if anything new pops up we’ll be fully covered in two weeks time from taking it out. 

We had him insured at a local vet for a good few years but hardly used it other than for minor things noted on his medical records and we moved house and it was so much more to insure him and we live too far from the other vet to have continued it.

This is what I mean when I say there is always something needed.

I just want to pay back what we owe as soon as possible and enjoy a normal debt free life.

We don't mind about the vet fees, just trying to explain how we’ve got overwhelmed so quickly. 

Thanks again

If you go with Brought By Many go via topcashback Bought By Many Pet Insurance Discount Offers & Cashback Deals | TopCashback < If you haven't already sign up for TCB and use it for literally everything. Its not always guaranteed so dont go for something thats more expensive than a comparable product just because they give more TCB. 

Alternatively before you purchase call them up and ask if they can discount it any further?

Did you go via a comparison site? If not may be worth it or have a look at Royal & Sun Alliance underwritten policies as we found these cheaper than BBM. They underwrite M&S Bank , Tesco Bank, More Than, John Lewis, RSPCA pet insurance policies. 

Dom135246

TheAble - I usually get between £400 and £900 a month once its in full swing - it’s zero hours and flexible. I applied at Morrisons, Co-op and as a postman but got rejected, and this job accepted me and offer regular and reliable work. In Scotland the venues had to close and are only just starting to get back to normal again. I hadn’t thought of applying at Tesco but thanks I’ll have a look.

HarryDavies01 - thanks for the advice on the pet insurance I’ll have a look at that too and TopCashBack. I’ll phone BBM too and see if they can offer a discount.