Help

lok1

Hello to all hopefully someone can offer some help to my quite bad situation.

Please bare with me, following an accident and having had several months off work for which i fell behind on everything. I have now returned to work but a different job which is less in salary but had to be done for health reasons. The result has seen me having to open a new basic bank account as i was so much in my overdraft, whenever i got any money natwest took it all i couldnt afford to eat and there answer was to borrow money from friends and family.

So here is my SOA as best as i can think of if i have missed anything let me know and i will sort it.

loan £25,000 6 % apr
creditcards £2,100 15 - 19.9 apr
education loan £4,000 0% apr
overdraft £1000 £10 per month fee

income £1209.87


outgoings
Mortgage/Rent - £507.76
Council Tax - £57
Gas /Electric - £10
TV License - £10.99
Phone - £11.79
Food - £80
Insurance - £21.54
creditcards - £48.00
Petrol - £10
loan natwest - £303.18
education loan - £75.00
smoking £25.00
mobile £35.00
broadband - £24

total £1219.26

as you can see im in a bit of a pickle i am currently in the process of sorting the house for a lodger so that will add another £160 per month, also in the process of sorting out a second job but the nature of the job means i dont always get work through it but it adds another £35-£70 a week .

Thanks so much
Hope to hear back from people soon with ideas of what i can do.

loubie_lou

Hi and welcome to the forums!

There will be plenty of helpful suggestions and tips posted soon but here is what I think:

Mortgage/Rent - £507.76 What is the apr on this? Can you go on interest only for a while?
Council Tax - £57 Does this include single persons discount? You will have to let the council no you are no longer living alone when your lodger moves in!
Gas /Electric - £10 - Why so low?
TV License - £10.99
Phone - £11.79
Food - £80
Insurance - £21.54
creditcards - £48.00
Petrol - £10
loan natwest - £303.18
education loan - £75.00
smoking £25.00 - Visit your docotr about giving up, this needs to go!
mobile £35.00 - Is this the cheapest you can get?
broadband - £24 - As above

Just a few pointers to get you started.

Re your prospective lodger, surely you will be able to ask for more rent than £160 per month?

Are any of your creditors harrassing you yet about you not paying them for a while?

All the best

Loubie

cassey1

Lok1,welcome. I am not the best person to help,there are members on here which will be able to give you helpful advice.But what i can think of is :

find a cheaper broadband package.
transfer credit card bal to interset free credit card.

You may have already thought of these but i hope it helps.

lok1

loubie_lou wrote: »

Hi and welcome to the forums!

There will be plenty of helpful suggestions and tips posted soon but here is what I think:

Mortgage/Rent - £507.76 What is the apr on this? Can you go on interest only for a while?
Council Tax - £57 Does this include single persons discount? You will have to let the council no you are no longer living alone when your lodger moves in!
Gas /Electric - £10 - Why so low?
TV License - £10.99
Phone - £11.79
Food - £80
Insurance - £21.54
creditcards - £48.00
Petrol - £10
loan natwest - £303.18
education loan - £75.00
smoking £25.00 - Visit your docotr about giving up, this needs to go!
mobile £35.00 - Is this the cheapest you can get?
broadband - £24 - As above

Just a few pointers to get you started.

Re your prospective lodger, surely you will be able to ask for more rent than £160 per month?

Are any of your creditors harrassing you yet about you not paying them for a while?

All the best

Loubie

hi and thanks for the quick response i am not sure on my apr for the mortgage but i am on a fixed deal til 2010 and they wont budge on that i have tried, my council tax is on single persons discount and will go to £91 a month when the lodger moves in . The lodger will only be paying that as that is what we have settled on i did try bartering as he is a friend of mine:rotfl: ( i have major issues of trust and could not live with someone i do not know ).
My electric and gas is so low because i only have a gas fire no central heating or running hot water for that matter another reason for the low rent lol
The smoking issue has been bought up with the doctor but he has agreed with me that for the time being it is acceptable as giving up would worsen my health problems i am on anti depressents amongst other things.
Mobile it was the cheapest i could get at the time but still have 12 months left of the contract so cant change that
I need the broadband i have because of my course ( i have vast quantaties of things to download and i need the monthly quota and plus as i dont go out at all its a small price to pay for my gaming sessions and entertainment.
I know it sounds like i am being negative but i do apreciate the help and responses seems like a nice to be for help.

Thanks
Lok1

misspoppy

Hi

I understand all too well how bad health affects everything else. Its a good plan to get a lodger but why are you intending to charge so little? Will they be paying half of the bills on top? £40p/w is very very low.

lok1

misspoppy wrote: »

Hi

I understand all too well how bad health affects everything else. Its a good plan to get a lodger but why are you intending to charge so little? Will they be paying half of the bills on top? £40p/w is very very low.

Hi the going rate around here for a room is £50 p/w all in i dont live in a very nice area and being as i dont have things like running hot water or central heating i can hardly charge £50 p/w, also as i have major issues of trust it has to be someone i know so again hence the lower rate.
at least now i am on meds i have got my spending under control so i can try and sort myself out.

thanks
lok1

lok1

ok seems like no one wants to help me then

poorandindenial

Hi Lok1

Your post had fallen off the bottom of the front page of the board so no-one will have seen it for quite a while, when you come online it is an idea to promote it to the top by posting another message (as you have done now) Also there are not that many people on here at this time of night so you might not get many posts back at the mo.

Have you spoken to the loan company to rquest a payment holiday for a month, this could help you get back onto an even keel. Also the education debt, they may be willing to take less per month and reschedule the loan if you tell them about your current situation. You might also want to look at the "up your income" forum too, there might be some cunning ways of increasing your incomings.

mum2one

Im in the same boat - financial headache.

I would suggest looking for a cheaper broadband package, or even ring your exisiting supplier and say you want a pac code to change supplier, just say that the price is expensive and youve been offered xx, you dont really want to change but finances must and 9 times out of 10 they will help you.

You may need to let your mortgage compnay that you are getting a lodger,

Smoking at the end of the day, if you cant give it up and with what your going through, you done need any added stress.

Have you done the snowball link, that gives you targets to pay, and a end of debt date/

Also start preparing the SOA as that way you can write to comapnies say loan ans ask for a freeze on interest, a months payment holiday, how much longer have you got on your education loan to pay.

Is there any bank charges, credit card charges, or missold PPI that you could start the ball rolling on?
x

lok1

mum2one wrote: »

Im in the same boat - financial headache.

I would suggest looking for a cheaper broadband package, or even ring your exisiting supplier and say you want a pac code to change supplier, just say that the price is expensive and youve been offered xx, you dont really want to change but finances must and 9 times out of 10 they will help you.

You may need to let your mortgage compnay that you are getting a lodger,

Smoking at the end of the day, if you cant give it up and with what your going through, you done need any added stress.

Have you done the snowball link, that gives you targets to pay, and a end of debt date/

Also start preparing the SOA as that way you can write to comapnies say loan ans ask for a freeze on interest, a months payment holiday, how much longer have you got on your education loan to pay.

Is there any bank charges, credit card charges, or missold PPI that you could start the ball rolling on?
x

Hi sorry if i come across as a bit kurt sometimes, just i have my good days and bad days with my illness and as such my pills don't allways work.

ok i have knocked my internet down to £21.99 a month and recieved a letter from my education company demanding final payment but for £1,569 which is strange so need to phone them in the morning to sort some kind of payment plan out.
As for bank charges i didnt think this was viable at the moment ? would be nice if it was as just got a charge for £500 , credit card charges i can do if i can be pointed in the right direction please, PPI they have just payed out for my 2 months of sickness so not sure if i can claim anything there.

On the topic of a lodger will i need to declare the extra income to anyone, also can anyone recommend a home insurance company that i can get with having a lodger mine doesn't allow them.

Also if you dont mind a link to the snowball calculator as i can't seem to find it at the moment.

Thanks again
Lok1

mum2one

Hi
if its any help Ive sent you a private message with my email on if theres anything you need.

Ive the link somewhere for the snowball, hunt that out and post it later, my beds calling!

If I can think of owt else will shout
You take care, and get some sleep, xx