stuck in a debt spiral

fatbelly

Keep a record of what's coming in and out and try to get more exact figures - some of these look very rounded.

What jumps out at me is that if you controlled your spending on holidays and entertainment you would at least have something to offer your creditors and could do a debt management plan.

allthe7s

I can't do anything formal I need to remortgage next year. 

I don't think entertainment is usually so high, that was just last month. 

Nothing is put away for holidays that's just what we would want to pay for a holiday each year. Seeing it written down obviously we can't afford that. 

kimwp

Thank you, that makes it clearer. If the SOA is accurate, you need to reduce your spending by at least £500 - I suggest you cut back on presents, entertainment and holidays to achieve this figure, to stop getting further into debt while figuring if there's any other areas you want to cut back on to give a bit more in those areas.

The spend on the house and family seems a bit uneven between you and your DH, but presumably you have reasons for that.

jonnee

As some words of encouragement I think right now you are not in too bad a place. Your unsecured debt payments are a quite a small percentage of your income and the balances are quite low. 

At -£500 a month, this is going to change quite fast so this is a really good and sensible place to take a look and evaluate spending.

A loan from parents isn’t a solution though. You need to address the cashflow. Is there any chance that DH can contribute more? 

MEM62

Just my thoughts.  If teen is adult-age they can get a job and pay for their own phone and earn their own pocket money.  Why are you paying for everyone's 'entertainment'?  You could reduce that grocery bill my some margin and cutting out the takeaways will also help.  Cut down on what you spend on presents.  Not sure of the house dynamic but I suspect that you may be taking the larger financial burden for joint expenses.  If that is correct then it needs to be rebalanced. 
 

allthe7s

It's as balanced as it can be I'm afraid. My DH can't afford to give me any more and my DD is hopefully getting a part time job in the next couple of months but not enough to pay board I wouldn't think. 

Floss

allthe7s said:

It's as balanced as it can be I'm afraid. My DH can't afford to give me any more and my DD is hopefully getting a part time job in the next couple of months but not enough to pay board I wouldn't think. 

But she can fund her own pocket money...once I (and my own kids) got part-time jobs while still in education, pocket money stopped.

Floss

Also, do you really spend £1,500 on presents over a year? Or is this disguising other costs like clothes? Maybe cut out buying for any adults, and also talk to the teenagers about your finances and explain that costs need to be cut all round - presents, entertainment, takeaways, food shopping. They are old enough to be part of the cost-cutting, and to help.

Grumpelstiltskin

OP   You said in your first post you had already been bankrupt once before.

I don't think you have learned from that experience.

You don't seem to be able to separate needs and wants .

This is vital to be able to budget.

kimwp

Floss said:

allthe7s said:

It's as balanced as it can be I'm afraid. My DH can't afford to give me any more and my DD is hopefully getting a part time job in the next couple of months but not enough to pay board I wouldn't think. 

But she can fund her own pocket money...once I (and my own kids) got part-time jobs while still in education, pocket money stopped.

I agree with this. If possible, I personally think that a child in education shouldn't be paying towards board and essentials, but I think it's fair that if the family can't afford luxuries eg designer clothes, anything wanted but not needed, then they can be expected to fund those themselves if they want them.