Help!!!

Kerrynocash

So, I am a single parent, recently divorced. Ex-husband left without taking his share of the debt! I've been struggling along but it's got to the point where everything is maxed out and I did the Budget Calculator and my outgoings are over £130 each week higher than my income. EEK! Was with my family yesterday and my brother in law suggested Bunkrupty... don't know what's best to do or how to go about it. Statement of affairs is below.

Income: (Monthly)
Wages 891.20
Tax Cred/Child Benefit 1547.28
Maintenance 100 2538.48

Outgoings:
Rent 268.46
Contents Insurance 43.39
Gas 64.95
Electric 43.39
Household Maintence 25.00
Cleaning Products 21.65
Phone 16.00
Internet 19.00
TV Licence 11.65
Mobile 45.00
Food 324.75
Eatout 43.30
Coffee/Snacks 43.30
Drinks for Home 21.65
Smokes 108.25
Car Breakdown Cover 2.92
Car Maintenance 20.83
Tax 15.00
Petrol 43.30
Personal Loan Repayment 203.33
Credit Repayments 600.00
ISA 20.00
Childcare 866.00
DVD Rental 5.00
IT/Computer 10.00
Hobbies 10.00
Cinema 1.67
Family Days 20.00
Gym 19.75
Healthcare Cash Plans 9.62
Haircut 20.00
Clothes(Me and Kids) 50.00
TV (Pay £1 for 4Hours Viewing) 50.00
Newspapers/Mags 10.00 3077.16

(538.68) Per month

My Debts Are as Follows:
Debt Limit Balance

Overdraft (0%) 1750.00 1650.00
Visa 2850.00 2850.00
Mastercard (0%) 3500.00 3480.00
Debenhams Card 1500.00 490.00
New Look Card 300.00 40.00
M & Co Card 500.00 400.00
Littlewoods Catalogue(0%) 5500.00 1975.00
La Redoute Catalogue 750.00 45.00
Next Catalogue 2000.00 65.00
Style Card 400.00 380.00
Edge Card 775.00 90.00
Argos Card 750.00 370.00
Bank Loan 10979.82

Total Outstanding 22,814.82

ANY help to try and make sense of this would be greatly appreciated!!!:o

SarahNeedle1872

Kerrynocash wrote: »

So, I am a single parent, recently divorced. Ex-husband left without taking his share of the debt! I've been struggling along but it's got to the point where everything is maxed out and I did the Budget Calculator and my outgoings are over £130 each week higher than my income. EEK! Was with my family yesterday and my brother in law suggested Bunkrupty... don't know what's best to do or how to go about it. Statement of affairs is below.

Income: (Monthly)
Wages 891.20
Tax Cred/Child Benefit 1547.28
Maintenance 100 2538.48

Outgoings:
Rent 268.46
Contents Insurance 43.39 this is very high.... switch to another provider, and go thru a cash back site
Gas 64.95 this is high... try turning the central heating down a couple of degrees, this will help usage
Electric 43.39 again this is high - we use less than this per month and we do not have any gas.
Household Maintence 25.00 what does this entail?
Cleaning Products 21.65 this is very high - check out Old Style Money Saving and see how u can reduce this by using vinegar/sodium bicarb etc
Phone 16.00
Internet 19.00 this is high, switch to a cheaper provider
TV Licence 11.65
Mobile 45.00 can u change tariff or go to PAYG
Food 324.75 This is high. How many is this for? Again check out old style for meal planning etc
Eatout 43.30 has to go!
Coffee/Snacks 43.30 has to go!
Drinks for Home 21.65 can be cut down
Smokes 108.25 has to go!
Car Breakdown Cover 2.92
Car Maintenance 20.83
Tax 15.00
Petrol 43.30
Personal Loan Repayment 203.33
Credit Repayments 600.00
ISA 20.00 u cannot afford to save while u are servicing debts. How much is in here? U should seriously consider using it to pay off the highest interest debt.
Childcare 866.00 Can u get Childcare vouchers from work?
DVD Rental 5.00
IT/Computer 10.00 What is this?
Hobbies 10.00 What is this?
Cinema 1.67
Family Days 20.00 This is a lot. There are plenty of things that u can do for free
Gym 19.75 Has to go
Healthcare Cash Plans 9.62 What is this for?
Haircut 20.00 This is a lot for every month
Clothes(Me and Kids) 50.00 Again this is quite a lot.... check out ur local charity shops..
TV (Pay £1 for 4Hours Viewing) 50.00 This is a lot? I don't understand this?
Newspapers/Mags 10.00 3077.16 Don't buy news/mags, u can read them online

(538.68) Per month

My Debts Are as Follows:
Debt Limit Balance

Overdraft (0%) 1750.00 1650.00
Visa 2850.00 2850.00
Mastercard (0%) 3500.00 3480.00
Debenhams Card 1500.00 490.00
New Look Card 300.00 40.00
M & Co Card 500.00 400.00
Littlewoods Catalogue(0%) 5500.00 1975.00
La Redoute Catalogue 750.00 45.00
Next Catalogue 2000.00 65.00
Style Card 400.00 380.00
Edge Card 775.00 90.00
Argos Card 750.00 370.00
Bank Loan 10979.82

Total Outstanding 22,814.82

ANY help to try and make sense of this would be greatly appreciated!!!:o

Hi Kerry, well done on posting ur SOA, its a scary thing isnt it!?!
Just having a quick look, there are a lot of things here that u can cut back on, as I have detailed above...
Also can upost the APRs and minimum payments for the debts listed above, to break down the £600 u have put in.

U need to speak to one of the debt charities, CCCS, National Debtline or the CAB.... bankruptcy may be an option for u but u need to speak to someone first.

HTH

Sarah x

SarahNeedle1872

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help
Read this article from the top...... and the charities are about halfway down

Sarah x

GirlRacer_2

Kerrynocash wrote: »

So, I am a single parent, recently divorced. Ex-husband left without taking his share of the debt! I've been struggling along but it's got to the point where everything is maxed out and I did the Budget Calculator and my outgoings are over £130 each week higher than my income. EEK! Was with my family yesterday and my brother in law suggested Bunkrupty... don't know what's best to do or how to go about it. Statement of affairs is below.

Income: (Monthly)
Wages 891.20
Tax Cred/Child Benefit 1547.28
Maintenance 100 2538.48

Outgoings:
Rent 268.46
Contents Insurance 43.39
Gas 64.95 - shop around for cheaper
Electric 43.39 - shop around for cheaper
Household Maintence 25.00 - what is this?
Cleaning Products 21.65 - use stardrops
Phone 16.00 - shop around for phone/internet package
Internet 19.00 - as above
TV Licence 11.65
Mobile 45.00 - cut it back to the lowest tariff
Food 324.75 - pop over to old style board and halve this
Eatout 43.30 - this needs to stop
Coffee/Snacks 43.30 - this needs to stop
Drinks for Home 21.65 - cut back on this
Smokes 108.25 ??
Car Breakdown Cover 2.92
Car Maintenance 20.83
Tax 15.00
Petrol 43.30
Personal Loan Repayment 203.33
Credit Repayments 600.00
ISA 20.00 - you can't afford to save until your debts are paid off
Childcare 866.00
DVD Rental 5.00
IT/Computer 10.00 - whats this
Hobbies 10.00 - whats this
Cinema 1.67 - do you need this if you have dvd rental
Family Days 20.00
Gym 19.75 - cancel, walking costs nothing
Healthcare Cash Plans 9.62
Haircut 20.00
Clothes(Me and Kids) 50.00
TV (Pay £1 for 4Hours Viewing) 50.00
Newspapers/Mags 10.00 3077.16 - papers and mags - read news on internet

(538.68) Per month

My Debts Are as Follows:
Debt Limit Balance

Overdraft (0%) 1750.00 1650.00
Visa 2850.00 2850.00
Mastercard (0%) 3500.00 3480.00
Debenhams Card 1500.00 490.00
New Look Card 300.00 40.00
M & Co Card 500.00 400.00
Littlewoods Catalogue(0%) 5500.00 1975.00
La Redoute Catalogue 750.00 45.00
Next Catalogue 2000.00 65.00
Style Card 400.00 380.00
Edge Card 775.00 90.00
Argos Card 750.00 370.00
Bank Loan 10979.82

Total Outstanding 22,814.82

ANY help to try and make sense of this would be greatly appreciated!!!:o

Sorry if I've been harsh but if you are serious about sorting out your finances you need to be ruthless. You remind me of me 5 yrs ago, left with husbands debt. You can get out of it you just need to be determined.

Good Luck

Adrasteia01

Kerrynocash wrote: »

So, I am a single parent, recently divorced. Ex-husband left without taking his share of the debt! I've been struggling along but it's got to the point where everything is maxed out and I did the Budget Calculator and my outgoings are over £130 each week higher than my income. EEK! Was with my family yesterday and my brother in law suggested Bunkrupty... don't know what's best to do or how to go about it. Statement of affairs is below.

Income: (Monthly)
Wages 891.20
Tax Cred/Child Benefit 1547.28
Maintenance 100 2538.48

Outgoings:
Rent 268.46
Contents Insurance 43.39 - This is very high. You should be able to find a MUCH cheaper policy elsewhere. Have a look at quidco.co.uk in case you can get cashback on one.
Gas 64.95 - This is high. Can you cut down on the usage of this?
Electric 43.39 - Same
Household Maintence 25.00 - What is this?
Cleaning Products 21.65 - Is this really necessary? What does it include? We'd only spend about £10 a month on cleaners including laundry tablets/fabric softener/cleaners of all kinds.
Phone 16.00
Internet 19.00
TV Licence 11.65
Mobile 45.00 - Can you cut down on this and only use when necessary/in emergencies/for short calls only?
Food 324.75 - You should be able to cut down on this easily by cooking meals yourself from scratch/batch cooking/buying items on offer or from discounted supermarkets/value ranges instead of finest. How many people is this feeding? Have a look at the Money Saving Old Style board.
Eatout 43.30 - You could stop eating out and just cook at home.
Coffee/Snacks 43.30 - Is this necessary? Could you give up snacks or buy them in bulk from a supermarket and take them to work with you? Could you drink 'work coffee' or buy cappuccino sachets instead of buying coffee out? Or give it up?
Drinks for Home 21.65 - I take it this is alcohol? Can you give it up completely or just buy a bottle of wine every other week?
Smokes 108.25 - Can you cut down, give up or switch to roll your own? Optionally, if a friend or yourself is travelling, can you get duty free?
Car Breakdown Cover 2.92 - Do you need a car?
Car Maintenance 20.83
Tax 15.00
Petrol 43.30
Personal Loan Repayment 203.33
Credit Repayments 600.00
ISA 20.00 - How much is saved? You would be better putting this money against your debts rather than saving it.
Childcare 866.00 - I believe there's a childcare voucher scheme that can save a lot of money on childcare - I think Martin has info on it on his site.
DVD Rental 5.00 - Not necessary - give it up. Borrow dvds from friends.
IT/Computer 10.00 - What is this?
Hobbies 10.00 - What is this for? Is it necessary?
Cinema 1.67 - This isn't necessary - if you want to do all you can to avoid bankruptcy, I'd suggest giving it up.
Family Days 20.00 - Same for family days for now. Go out somewhere free, or spend time with the kids at the park or beach.
Gym 19.75 - Can you give it up and exercise for free, walking, running etc?
Healthcare Cash Plans 9.62
Haircut 20.00 - Can you hold off on this for now?
Clothes(Me and Kids) 50.00 - If you have enough clothes for now, can you hold off on this and not buy any more for a while?
TV (Pay £1 for 4Hours Viewing) 50.00 - This seems expensive. Are you using someone else's tv? If so, it would be loads cheaper to just buy a cheap portable and use that instead. If it's to pay for sky or similar, you don't need it.
Newspapers/Mags 10.00 - You don't need them. Read the news/articles on the web or in work instead for free.

3077.16

(538.68) Per month

My Debts Are as Follows:
Debt Limit Balance

Overdraft (0%) 1750.00 1650.00
Visa 2850.00 2850.00
Mastercard (0%) 3500.00 3480.00
Debenhams Card 1500.00 490.00
New Look Card 300.00 40.00
M & Co Card 500.00 400.00
Littlewoods Catalogue(0%) 5500.00 1975.00
La Redoute Catalogue 750.00 45.00
Next Catalogue 2000.00 65.00
Style Card 400.00 380.00
Edge Card 775.00 90.00
Argos Card 750.00 370.00
Bank Loan 10979.82

Total Outstanding 22,814.82

ANY help to try and make sense of this would be greatly appreciated!!!:o

Hi,

Looking at your SOA there is loads you can cut down on. LOADS. Your rent is only just over 1/10th of your earnings. I have written in notes beside each of the figures.

I'd suggest bringing down the credit cards first that are extremely close to their limits otherwise you may be hit with charges if they go over.


Tamara

bountiful

I relatively new at this - so am not going to attempt too much advice. However, I have been a single-parent for the whole of my son's life and know how hard it is. If you haven't done so already, it might be a good idea to cut up all those store cards and commit yourself to a promise not to use them at all whilst you are in this situation.
Hope you can take action on some of the suggestions already given. Also - get a benefits check for you and the children - there may be all sorts of help you can get with costs if your children are school age etc. I can see that you are claiming Tax Credits etc, so you may already be up to speed on all that - but just thought I'd mention it - do you get Housing Benefit or does WTC/CTC cancel it out?
good luck;)

Kerrynocash

Sorry, contents insurance is only 10.02 per month, not per week!
Mobile is on a contract, tied in til september!
OK Eat out, drinks, coffee all gone!
Car necessary as work is not close to childcare and I wouldn't have enough time to get to the nursery before it closes! No one available for car share!
Will look into cashing in Isa (not much saved, it shold give me about 600)
Childcare vouchers not available, have already looked into it!
DVd Rental is now finished too!
IT/Computer is for ink, paper, various consumables.
Don't even know why I put cinema in, I can't remember the last film I saw, maybe it was wishful thinking!
My hobbies are just doing crafty type things with the kids.
Family days amount is usually fuel for car to go to a free place like the beach, there are no safe parks near me!
The gym is a membership (I never use) I think i'm bound in for another few months!
Will Stop clothes and haircuts!
The TV thing is a payment scheme am almost finished it now! I think one month to go!

Kerrynocash

Should have said, Gas and Electric on Prepayment meters!

SarahNeedle1872

What happens when the tv payment schem,e finishes? do u loose the tv?
Check out ur local freecycle, as someone will probably have a tv that u could have

Sarah x

splishsplash

Hi Kerrynocash,
I just have a couple of quick questions -

1. does your rent cover council tax and water costs?
2. is your car insurance covered under car maintenance?
3. do you have some other way of paying for birthday/Christmas gifts?
4. how may children and how old?

I'm only asking because to get a full picture of where you're at, you need to be able to include everything in your SOA.

You've had some great advice so far. You have a large income every month, and with a bit of lifestyle change you could easily come in under budget.
Best of luck!

mom23

Hi Kerry
How many children do you have?
Can't believe you can't get help with childcare as this is nearly as much as your monthly wage