In a mess! Advice needed

Brie

Before you cancel prime and netflix.....do you ever watch live tv or use BBC iplayer?  If the answer is NO you might want to cancel the tv license instead.  Well - cancel prime if you're using it to buy stuff as it will make you stop and think about having to pay for delivery.   But I would assume between Sky and netflix you have all the media stuff you could want.  If you don't want to cancel the tv license you might want to consider where you are in the subscription year.  Can you cancel the DD and afford to start it up again in 6 months at double the price?  Might buy you some breathing space. 

Then I would look at the smaller loans/cards/accounts you are paying off.  I think I noted 3 that are under £200?  Is there just one of the those you could nuke just to give yourself a boost?  It's very encouraging to draw a line through a debt.

After that you need to look at which of these debts are charging the most interest and hit that one the hardest.  Even an extra £1 a month will start to make a difference.  Obviously watch out for anything that might have an early redemption fee.

Are you getting any red letters of any sort?  Those are always a temptation to prioritise but should never be more important than anything that keeps you properly housed (your first 4 outgoings).

Union help?  Can your union offer any assistance at all?  Even just with 1 - 1 debt/budget counselling?

Well done on knowing you need to be having packed lunches - even a meal deal every few days adds up!!  And well done for getting started on this before you're really in a crisis.   

Brie

Oh and as for selling stuff.....what about clothes you no longer wear?  If OH had a very good job perhaps there's a few suits he no longer needs?  Or stuff your daughter (& other older kids) have grown out of or no longer consider top fashion??

MrsCanary

Hi Bolt 1234, 

Thanks, and in response to your questions:

Bolt1234 said:

So why is the daughters mobile contract so much.  That is clearly a iphone 14 or similar. I have a son still at university who wanted something similar (everyone has one etc etc!).  I said we would fund £25 per month.  Anything else he would pay for.  He did think about it carefully (!) and decided to go for it. It is an iPhone 12 and an iPad bundle. We bought them for her in August 2021 when she started Uni.
Amazon Prime and various warrenties really arent worth it.  We will cancel them.
Gym will have to wait until you can afford to re-join. This is a contract so we can't leave until it is finished.
How much is your daughters wedding costing? It is just the cost of the holiday. She wouldn't accept a penny from us towards it. I have heard that the average cost of a weeding is well over £20K.  Please dont say its anything like that? Not a clue, she wouldn't tell me if I asked. We have two daughters but only the youngest is still at home.
Also what is your daugher working as as that only allows her to pay you £60? There are plenty of jobs out there, bar work, etc. She works 24 hours a week - weekend work, then has uni full time Mon - Fri, plus helps with us looking after our parents.


Thanks

RAS

Bolt1234

I think younger daughter is paying her car insurance, fuel etc to get to uni and work, and transport GPs. 

But I agree that the phone is expensive and her leaving the bath running has really badly affected her parents. 

Given the existing finances, the family needed to get their heads round not buying NEW cars, furniture and phones last year. But that water under the bridge.

Hopefully they have some stuff to sell, can concentrate on recipes using beans, polenta etc and cut their costs.

MrsCanary

Hi Brie,

Again, a huge thanks for your advice and comments. I have also responded to those:

Before you cancel prime and netflix.....do you ever watch live tv or use BBC iplayer?  If the answer is NO you might want to cancel the tv license instead.  Well - cancel prime if you're using it to buy stuff as it will make you stop and think about having to pay for delivery.   But I would assume between Sky and netflix you have all the media stuff you could want.  If you don't want to cancel the tv license you might want to consider where you are in the subscription year.  Can you cancel the DD and afford to start it up again in 6 months at double the price?  Might buy you some breathing space. We do watch them yes - our TV licence will renew in April. I think it is just spread over 12 months.

Then I would look at the smaller loans/cards/accounts you are paying off.  I think I noted 3 that are under £200?  Is there just one of the those you could nuke just to give yourself a boost?  It's very encouraging to draw a line through a debt. I was thinking of asking some of our creditors for a payment holiday to do this but am worried it will negatively impact our credit.

After that you need to look at which of these debts are charging the most interest and hit that one the hardest.  Even an extra £1 a month will start to make a difference.  Obviously watch out for anything that might have an early redemption fee.I am just going through them to find the interest payments now

Are you getting any red letters of any sort?  Those are always a temptation to prioritise but should never be more important than anything that keeps you properly housed (your first 4 outgoings). No, none.

Union help?  Can your union offer any assistance at all?  Even just with 1 - 1 debt/budget counselling? I never thought of this. I will look into it!

Well done on knowing you need to be having packed lunches - even a meal deal every few days adds up!!  And well done for getting started on this before you're really in a crisis.   We want to try and limit any more damage. We really are trying hard and we have so much going on it is just becoming too much. For all three of us, really.

MrsCanary

Brie said:

Oh and as for selling stuff.....what about clothes you no longer wear?  If OH had a very good job perhaps there's a few suits he no longer needs?  Or stuff your daughter (& other older kids) have grown out of or no longer consider top fashion?

We do this. We have Vinted and use it to sell then buy any essentials.

Grumpelstiltskin

Forget your credit being negatively impacted, you won't be using credit hopefully.

If you do go into a DMP which at the moment is down the line then it will be impacted.

Is your council tax paid over 10 or 12 months?
If 10 you will have the 2 free months at the moment.

Water rates is it metered?  Do you live in the south west?

MrsCanary

Hi Grumpelstiltskin,

Again - huge thanks. I am just adding the details to the SOA now.

Grumpelstiltskin said:

Forget your credit being negatively impacted, you won't be using credit hopefully. We are trying to protect our credit as much as we can because were hoping to get a mortgage in a few years once our short-term debt is paid off. We are both in our early 40s and feel such failures already for not being homeowners.

If you do go into a DMP which at the moment is down the line then it will be impacted. We really want to avoid this if we can.

Is your council tax paid over 10 or 12 months? 12 months

Water rates is it metered?  Do you live in the south west? No, it is billed. We are in the North - Yorkshire.

Martico

Good luck.
One other point that I don't think has been mentioned, and one to plan towards, is insurance payments. Monthly payments are basically an expensive form of credit. If you're able to save in advance (tricky at the moment, I realise) then paying for the year upfront is always much cheaper than spreading the payments over the year. 

Grumpelstiltskin

Yorkshire Water I guess?
Check out a water meter.

Yorkshire Water - Water meters