Help needed please 🙏

Cherryfudge

needtosortmylife said:

Cherryfudge said:

Hi, I think it would help if you log all your spending each day - it's amazing how little bits get forgotten and they really do add up. Your SOA can be a work in progress: part of getting control of your money is developing an awareness of any leaks.

You will probably have seen Don't get overwhelmed by the thought of working through all areas at once, chip away at it and you may find you can reduce costs in some areas. It's better to get a handle on some of it than none of it, and eventually you can add to the areas you have under control.

You've done the hard part by coming on here to talk it through and getting an initial SOA written. Now that part is done, keep looking at all your spending and you will find where the money goes (and once you find that, you can catch the escapees).

I hadn’t thought of that, but yes that would help as I don’t know where my money goes. 

In the longer term you will need to allow for all sorts of things like clothing, Christmas & birthdays, whip round at work, postage, car repairs, insurance, holidays, school trips (etc.) but to start with, a real focus on details will help.

Receipts, credit card bills and bank statements come in very useful at this stage.

RAS

You needed to spend a little time getting a handle on your actual spends. I was a bit surprised that you thought you had £400 spare and are eligible for UC, unless you'd got very generous CMS payments.

For one thing, a lot of the items are rounded to the nearest ten or five pounds. Life isn't like that. The TV licence is £14.12 for example.

You've mentioned a car, but no petrol, tax, maintenance, or parking costs?

How do your younger children get to school? Do you get those demands from school for additional items? Do you get "mum I need a fiver for......?" 

And you all need clothing. 

Editing by the way is impossible for complete newbies. I'm not sure whether the required limit is 10, 20 posts, but you will see a little circle in the righthand corner with 3 dots. Click and choose edit or delete.

ManyWays

Can you go back and redo that with realistic amounts and include the totals please.
You cant feed an adult and three children on £100. Is that one over 18 and working, 2 under 18? 
You have to allow for clothes for you and the children including school uniform costs and presents. 
Car maintenance looks low unless its pretty new, how much is it worth or is it on finance? You never pay for parking at all?
An emergency fund is for emergencies, not a slush fund to spend every month.  

Floss

I would suggest you start to keep ALL receipts and log everything you spend just to get an idea where it is going. Try to work in cash only where you can as it is easier to not buy if there is none, whereas tapping a card can be too simple & eats up your money.

Also, the TV licence is now £15 as I have just renewed mine. 

needtosortmylife

RAS said:

You needed to spend a little time getting a handle on your actual spends. I was a bit surprised that you thought you had £400 spare and are eligible for UC, unless you'd got very generous CMS payments.

For one thing, a lot of the items are rounded to the nearest ten or five pounds. Life isn't like that. The TV licence is £14.12 for example.

You've mentioned a car, but no petrol, tax, maintenance, or parking costs?

How do your younger children get to school? Do you get those demands from school for additional items? Do you get "mum I need a fiver for......?" 

And you all need clothing. 

Editing by the way is impossible for complete newbies. I'm not sure whether the required limit is 10, 20 posts, but you will see a little circle in the righthand corner with 3 dots. Click and choose edit or delete.

I get UC of £200 approx p/w. I get CM payments of £100 p/w when he decides to pay. 

I just rounded the pennies as was easier for me.

I did include petrol, car tax etc.

I’ve never kept money aside for anything, I just ‘wing’ it, which has been my problem. 

Only 1 at school, he rides his bike. But yes, I have to pay for extras he needs. 

I can now edit, so I’ll take another look at the SOA. 

Thank you. 

Brie

Great to see that you've started this journey - been there, done that!!  (except I had cats instead of kids, much easier  )

If you were talking to a debt adviser at one of the charities (NationalDebtline, Stepchange, Community Money Advice) they would ask for 3 months of bank statements.  That way they can see exactly where money is being paid out, see if it's actually £475 a month on groceries rather than £400, see where you're taking cash out to give the kids a fiver etc.  This all helps to put together a picture.

And - you say you give mom £100 for the car.  What's that all about?  Is it her car that you are borrowing, or paying off a car loan she made to you?

Best of luck with this - it takes time but slow and steady.....

HenryMSingh85

First of all, dont beat yourself up. It helps to be realistic about your situation - its a crappy situation to be in (but this prompts action!) while at the same time never ever give up hope you can get out of this situation. These are my thoughts:

1) no point in paying off credit card debt better to wait for it to default
2) DMP plan is the way to go 
3) Complete a SOA
4) Get someone to review the SOA
5) Budget for a little reserve including unexpected costs 
6) review your SOA once a month and diligently stick to it 

Step change is a debt free charity that can provide support.

Wishing you all the best, you can do this!

needtosortmylife

Brie said:

Great to see that you've started this journey - been there, done that!!  (except I had cats instead of kids, much easier  )

If you were talking to a debt adviser at one of the charities (NationalDebtline, Stepchange, Community Money Advice) they would ask for 3 months of bank statements.  That way they can see exactly where money is being paid out, see if it's actually £475 a month on groceries rather than £400, see where you're taking cash out to give the kids a fiver etc.  This all helps to put together a picture.

And - you say you give mom £100 for the car.  What's that all about?  Is it her car that you are borrowing, or paying off a car loan she made to you?

Best of luck with this - it takes time but slow and steady.....

My car died & my mum lent me the money to buy a new car, so I pay her £100 a month back. 

Thank you for your help.

needtosortmylife

HenryMSingh85 said:

First of all, dont beat yourself up. It helps to be realistic about your situation - its a crappy situation to be in (but this prompts action!) while at the same time never ever give up hope you can get out of this situation. These are my thoughts:

1) no point in paying off credit card debt better to wait for it to default
2) DMP plan is the way to go 
3) Complete a SOA
4) Get someone to review the SOA
5) Budget for a little reserve including unexpected costs 
6) review your SOA once a month and diligently stick to it 

Step change is a debt free charity that can provide support.

Wishing you all the best, you can do this!

Thank you 🙏 

needtosortmylife

Hi all. So I have set up DMP with 3/5 creditors, waiting to hear from debt company for 1 & still waiting for MBNA CC to default. 

I have also opened a Monzo account (I liked the savings pots idea) & started an emergency fund, 6 months late but feel better starting it at last!

I have reviewed what I’m spending on & trying really hard to just get what we need not what we want! I’ve also cancelled our Sky TV saving £40 a month. With Christmas coming it’s going to be difficult but set myself a budget that I plan to stick to. Last Christmas I actually spent £2500 on a CC 😫

Just wondering if this will be it now, will the 3/5 creditors keep sending me letters & calling etc or I just be able to slowly pay off my debt. 

Thank you ☺️