Ok here goes.....please help.

hlmurray

This may not be lots compared to some, but I am finding it a struggle and am constantly seeing what assets I have to sell to get some money to covers some bill or another and am quickly running out of options.


Income:
currently on SMP of £112 a week will stop next monday as work have screwed me over and tied me into 3 months non paid AML unless I give 28 days notice even though I signed forms always stating I would be returning after 9 months SMP.
Tax credits: £209 a week
CSA: £30 a week
Child benefit : £30 a week.

Outgoings:
Rent £475 a month
gas £50 a month
electricity £50 a month
water £40 a month
childcare £400 a month (now tied in as expected to be returning to work)
petrol £150 a month
Contents insurance £16 p/m
Tv license £11 p/m
mobile phone and internet £35 p/m
food and clothes £150 p/m
sky 20 p/m
sainsburys cc 100 p/m
halifax cc 50 p/m
nationwide loan 87 p/m
ccj- 50 p/m
council tax debt 50/pm
old over draft debt 60/pm
old catalogue debt 100 p/m


The sainsburys cc has 2400 (credit limit 2000) on it- i havent used it in about 6 months but all the charges and interest are making the 100 a month dissapear, the halifax is 1400, credit limit 1200, again i get more in charges then the 50 i pay so it is getting higher not lower.
nationwide loan has a balance of 3600-no arrears.
ccj is with grattan- total 550 no arrears
council tax debt is 560 no settlement yet accepted
old over draft debt is 500
old catalogue debt is 1000

I have 2 small children and aquired all this credit whilst i was married and could afford it, now divorced and really making myself sick with stress.

Any advise much appreciated.

MrsTinks

I've summarised things below for you: (please correct if I have miscalculated)

Debt: £10010.00

Monthly out: £1894
Monthly in without SMP: £1076
With SMP: £1524

So when you loose the SMP you are looking at a gap of £818.

A few bits:

Rent £475 a month
gas £50 a month Can you look for a better deal on this?
electricity £50 a month Can you look for a better deal on this?
water £40 a month This seems very high to me - are you paying of arrears?
childcare £400 a month (now tied in as expected to be returning to work) Is there any get out clause for this?
petrol £150 a month Try to cut this down can you walk to the shops - good for knackering the kids too!
Contents insurance £16 p/m Shop around and try quidco for cashback.
Tv license £11 p/m
mobile phone and internet £35 p/m Can you get pay as you go and or cut down on usage?
food and clothes £150 p/m Visit the OS board - I'm sure some of the very clever people there will be able to help you.
sky 20 p/m This has got to go. Sorry it's a luxury you can't afford right now.
sainsburys cc 100 p/m
halifax cc 50 p/m
nationwide loan 87 p/m
ccj- 50 p/m
council tax debt 50/pm
old over draft debt 60/pm
old catalogue debt 100 p/m

A few options I can think of are getting some work you can do from home etc (the naughty phone lines or text services are an option) - get a temp job. It's not that hard to get one and the one I have pays me about £1000 after tax a month. Every little helps!
Can the childrens father contribute more towards the kids? £30 doesn't seem a lot to me but then I don't have kids so not my area of expertise!
Speak to ACAS, CAB or your union if you have one and see if you can't get round the somewhat odd 3 months unpaid before returning to work - it sounds very dodgey to me...
I would also recommend speaking to one of the free debt charities - you need to start thinking about an DMP I think...

misspoppy

Hi Have you checked out if your tax credits will change when your SMP ends? Also when are you returning to work? Have you applied for housing benefit and council tax benefit?

You could speak to ACAS about your AML (What ever that stands for) as your employer could be acting unlawfully.

cattie1

Hi I noticed that you wrote council tax debt but no payments for council tax this year?
Have you tried ringing your credit card company and asking to go on a repayment plan with them where the interest is stopeed or lowered?
barclacard did it for me and oh and it was much more managable.
Also I thin it is a good idea to go to CAB to see if they have any advice especially on you work/maternity situation and what they have done for you?.
Good Luck, I hope things improve for you.

kittiej

How have they managed to tie you into the 3 months AML?

I thought you had to specifically ask for this extra time off before you actually go on ML.

If you didn't then you should be able to just turn up to work as usual after your 9 months. You don't legally have to give any notice.

tigerfeet2006

Here are the links to the debt charities tine was talking about in my signature.

monkey22_2

Hi hlmurray,

I've got 2 little ones as well and I know how stressful it is but try not to worry too much, you'll get loads of advice and support here.
Regarding your debts, your main priority is the Council Tax and arrears, they HAVE to be paid. With the credit cards, however, they will just have accept reduced payments if need be.
Talk to CCCS or Payplan for free advice - they're really good.

Good Luck and keep posting.

pinkkaz

claim back all your credit card charges for a start - it could amount to '000s! see martin's article for how 2.