Please help...cant take anymore

joeblack066

Hi there!
You MUST prioritise. The Council Tax bill is by far the most important, the other 2 are for utilities and they can wait. Tou need to send both utility companies letters stating your income, and informing them that you will be apying £1 per month until your financial circumstances improve. Send the 1st £1 with the letter and then stick to it. Then realistically work out what you can afford to pay off your council tax, and make them this offer. Do it all in writing, and once an agreement is reached again stick to it. Of course they will ask for it straight away but they just can't have it can they?! So your offer is very reasonable and should be accepted in the long run. Once these arrangements are in place, concentrate on your health, family and you will begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know. I've been there!

joeblack066

Oh and this might be of help to you

http://www.sofawestcornwall.org.uk/home.htm

Take care xx

newmoneysaver_2

I can't really offer any help, but I just wanted to echo the posts above. You sound like an amazing woman and such a strong, solid couple. I am amazed with everything you have had to put up with and yet you have still managed to study.

I wish you the best of luck and I'm sending some hugs and positive vibes your way.

locutus2003

Another one with no practical help I'm afraid. However, I wanted to post you some hugs here. You must be an incredible woman - and you have a wonderful husband too. I'm sure your little boy is fantastic - shame about his Dad. Can't believe what you've had to put up with.

I can only echo what others have said - post an SOA up here so that people can advise you if there is anything else you can do. There is also a site - entitledto.com (or similar) where you can check that you are receiving all the benefits you are entitled to.

Good luck, take care and remember that your health and that of your husband is more important than anything.

xxx

Sue-UU

Digitalsgirl_Hubby wrote: »

Just really wanted to say again thankyou to everyone, its nice to know that there are still some nice people in the world.

Hi dghubby,

Good to hear from you and to hear the whole story re your health, but the problems with your boss was back a while ~ now ~ let's hope you can soon start to claw your way back for all your sakes! There are plenty of nice people in the world dgh it's just that we don't get to meet them all!;)

Digitalsgirl_Hubby wrote: »

However to top things off i started getting pain in my knee's when going up and down stairs, yet again long story short basically doctors have no idea why but there is something wrong with both knee caps behind the knee cap which makes it very painful to squat down, do stairs etc, so still waiting for news on that.

Your knee problems sound exactly like my hubby had some years ago. He had to go into hospital for a camera to be inserted into his knee so they could view all the rough areas below the kneecap. Finally they scraped them off and things are much better. Why not approach your Dr to get you referred for whatever it is you need as you won't get better until something's done.

Digitalsgirl_Hubby wrote: »

And finally i have had a hearing problem since i was very young, had grommits 4 times in both ears and now both ear drums are very scarred, decided to say to doc who referred me to speciallist who has said i need something doing as my hearing is now at 70% loss, which makes life very frustrating, would love to have hearing aids, but of course the wonderful NHS is slower than a dead snail in superglue.

So keep badgering the Dr and specialist to get something done and if hearing aids are needed then are they going ahead to get them too? They are marvellous these days as digital are the ones used, especially for folk such as you who have a 70% loss. Keep on pestering them dgh, they may be slow, but however slow they are - you need a starting point and soon!

Digitalsgirl_Hubby wrote: »

So there you have it..... Im not entirely useless....im just in need of repair
Digitalgirls Hubby

You most certainly don't sound useless, though you do sound as though you're in need of repair, so push the Drs to help you get there ~ THEN you can get back to work so you and your dear wife can be free from so much stress and worry and she can get back to her studies and nearer to fulfilling her dreams of working towards a house for you all be able to live so very happily together in.

I wish you all the very best for now.... and for a great future.... which is within your reach if you look towards it now! Sue.

Serendipity_phoenix

Right then, 2nd atempt as computer crashed after I had just finished last SOA (took me 2hrs!):(

Outgoings per month

• Rent £650
• House insurance £28
• Car insurance £34
• Pet Insurance £35
• BT line rentel £10
• BT internet £25
• Electric £30
• Water £30
• Food Shopping £150
• Petrol £100
• Tv licence £12
• Mobiles £80
• Pet food £50
• school trips/events £10

Total = £1244



Would like to budget for (as dont at the mo)

• Car Maintenance £20
• Car tax £20
• House maintenance £20
• Family Trips/days out £20
• Hoilday £50
• Anniversary/birthdays £20
• Michaels Pocket money £24
• Tony and I going out together once in a while £50
• Shopping non esentials £30
• Oil £10
• Wood £10
• dental £10
• glasses £10
• hairdresser £30
• Computer things £20
• clothes £50
• beauty £10
• health pills £10
• Meals out £30
• medical insurance ??
• books/mags/hobbies £10

Total £454

Debts

• HSBC Flexi loan £1000
• HSBC overdraft £1500
• Council tax £398
• Burtons (old store card) £330
• Powergen £250
• BT £310
• Natwest £309
• Allience and leicester overdraft £250

Total £4347_pale_

Income per month

• Incapcity benefit £567
• Child Benefit £73
• Child tax credit £160
• CSA £300
• Housing benefit £426

Total £1526

HSBC owe us £2500 before interest + charges they are adding monthly:mad:

SmoSmo

Hi Digital, I just wanted to wish you, your hubby and your son all the best in sorting your situation out. Some of the great people on here will be able to help and the support on here is wonderful, the fact that you have posted is a positive step and the help I am sure will come pouring in. Take care and dont be too disheartened xxx

ceridwen

Hi

First thoughts:

- you can get cheaper broadband than this I would have thought. First off - find out if you are in an area covered by cable. Secondly - check out on the main MSE website page re broadband providers.

- not sure why you are covering costs of house insurance and house maintenance (as the property is rented would have thought this is the landlords responsibility?). Obviously, you need insurance for your own possessions - but I would have thought that is as far as it goes (and - again - check out different insurance providers via MSE - as its astonishing the huge difference in charges between them).

- car? Is this a possible saving here - as in not having a car? Unless you live miles from anywhere and with an awful bus service - could you look to cut out the car expenses and free up a bit of money by selling the car?

- mobiles at £80 per month sounds high. As you have a landline phone - could you not swop to pay-as-you-go mobiles and keep their use for emergency purposes only. Some months ago (when my mobile gave up the ghost) I managed to buy a new one for £40 - which included £25 of calls. In other words the phone itself only cost me £15. This was with the network that was cheapest at the time (and probably still is?) - ie Virgin. I find that I only need to buy a £5 top-up for my phone about every 2-3 months, with being careful how much I use it.

- food shopping: Come over and visit the Old Style Board (where many of the "regulars" achieve total miracles on their food-shopping bills). I'm sure you'll learn loads there.

(At a very rough estimate - I reckon you could save about £200 per month straight off - even if you are "locked into" your phone and/or Internet contracts at present and cant swop yet.)

TheAble

First of all, to echo the posts of others, it's imperative you take professional advice as soon as possible. Citizens Advice and CCCS are the way to go - call them as soon as you can.

I think they will probably tell you to concentrate on getting your council tax paid first - somehow you must find the money to get this paid as the council don't tend to be too sympathetic. You may want to consider the BT debt after that - they may cut you off otherwise and your internet access could be essential to getting you back on track.

Your bank loans etc need to be address but I'm assuming they are unsecured so not right up there on the priority list - but see what CAB and CCCS say.

The areas you can cut down on are petrol (high considering no job), internet connection (look to switch if not tied in - use quidco.com for cashback), phone calls (again high - use Primus Tel and 18866 to get these way down), mobiles (maybe ditch altogether if contract is up - use PAYG), pet food (use cheapest you can get), pet insurance (may be a better deal available, again check quidco). Also double check you are on the best deal for electricity.

Moving on to the items you'd like to budget for:
Although it's difficult, try to cut out all forms of luxuries and entertainment, at least for now. You'll enjoy them more when you've got your finances sorted out. Think about what free things you can do for entertainment. It's possible to get a free trial at LoveFilm DVD rental at the mo for instance, and get Quidco cashback. All non-essentials have to go. Your son gets a lot of pocket money for a six year old doesn't he? I used to get a quid when I was six, and it's not that long ago. Meals out have to go. Hairdresser could be reduced. If you have a lot of prescriptions you may wish to consider the pay monthly/ pay quarterly "certificates" the NHS do.

Finally I would like to say good luck and keep going - you should be proud of yourself for having gotten this far.

ceridwen

Thinking further on transport front - instead of the car then I would imagine bikes can be bought pretty cheaply secondhand (and theres always Freecycle) and the shopping could be done with the famous Old Style shopping trolley (I've seen ones available for £13 - it may be possible to find them cheaper) or delivered by Tesco (£5 charge I believe - but that has to be a lot cheaper than car use).

Double bonus with getting rid of car as well - unless its YEARS old - then I would have thought you would get at least £500 for selling it.