Its all gone Pete Tong!

jbindebt

Hello Im a newbie this evening and would like some helpful advice about my SOA. Big thanks to Gemma who has pointed me in this direction and made things not look so bad.

Income- My partner and my wages 1624 Tax credit(shrinking)227 and Child Benefit 120 Total 1971 Monthly

Outgoings- Mortgage 1186 (Its killing us one month behind)
C.Tax 150 (3mths behind)
Gas 40 (missed)
Elec 4
Water 40 (missed)
TV Lic 11
B+C Ins 24 (missed)
Tobacco 140 (My missus! but I cant persuade her!!)
School travel 100
Sky 37 (missed)
Work travel 75
Catalogue 44 (Its the only way we can buy clothes)(Missed)
Food 280 (This is rarely met and we have one toilet roll!)
Boiler cover 15 (missed)
BT 40(missed)
AOL 10
Mobiles PAYGx2 20
Birthdays/Nights out/Valentines/Mothers Day etc.. 0 (Wing it!)

Also offered 11 debtors (owed 50 grand) 5 pounds each a month and being met with laughter.

Total out-2266 monthly
Yep, I know the maths doesnt add up (-295 monthly) thats why the bills are now being missed, the mortgage is a month behind and I lost my job last weekend which drops us right in it. Partner and I fighting over stupid things, kids asking for £1.70 to go to the swimmers and met with tears. Dear God is life THAT bad when you cant give your child a small treat? Waiting for an interview with CAB and everyone saying you better fill in some council papers as you'll lose your home. (Which has little equity in it)

Please help.



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chevalier

jbindebt wrote: »

Hello Im a newbie this evening and would like some helpful advice about my SOA. Big thanks to Gemma who has pointed me in this direction and made things not look so bad.

Income- My partner and my wages 1624 Tax credit(shrinking)227 and Child Benefit 120 Total 1971 Monthly

Outgoings- Mortgage 1186 (Its killing us one month behind)go interest only or ask for a payment holiday
C.Tax 150 (3mths behind) you have to sort out a repayment plan about this. remember it is the only debt you can go to jail over
Gas 40 (missed)
Elec 4
Water 40 (missed)
TV Lic 11
B+C Ins 24 (missed)
Tobacco 140 (My missus! but I cant persuade her!!)if she wants to smoke then she has to earn this money, otherwise she has to step up to the plate be an adult and go to the dr to get help quitting. either that or its rollies only as this is cheaper. but in the long run does she really want to increase your children's risk of getting asthma etc by smoking around them?
School travel 100
Sky 37 (missed) sorry get rid, and use the box to get freeview, still has cbeebies and cbbc on them
Work travel 75
Catalogue 44 (Its the only way we can buy clothes)(Missed) have a look at www.freecycle.org for free clothes for all the family, also charity shops, and ebay. What about selling clothes you have outgrown.
Food 280 (This is rarely met and we have one toilet roll!)
Boiler cover 15 (missed)
BT 40(missed)
AOL 10
Mobiles PAYGx2 20
Birthdays/Nights out/Valentines/Mothers Day etc.. 0 (Wing it!)

Also offered 11 debtors (owed 50 grand) 5 pounds each a month and being met with laughter.

Total out-2266 monthly
Yep, I know the maths doesnt add up (-295 monthly) thats why the bills are now being missed, the mortgage is a month behind and I lost my job last weekend which drops us right in it. Partner and I fighting over stupid things, kids asking for £1.70 to go to the swimmers and met with tears. Dear God is life THAT bad when you cant give your child a small treat? Waiting for an interview with CAB and everyone saying you better fill in some council papers as you'll lose your home. (Which has little equity in it)

Please help.



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talk to CCCS or Payplan about a debt management plan, their links are at the top of the forum
good luck
chev

jbindebt

It's been a while since I posted and reading this gave me goosebumps.
Nearly two and a half years has passed and i'm still hanging in there.
I thought I was losing everything and although I'm still up to my eyes in debt it's all in order, I sleep at night, don't live in fear of loosing our home and am greatful for everything in my life. Amusingly the credit crunch was the biggest favor anyone could do for me. It gave me the ammo to stand up to people and the legal people I dealt with were reasonably understanding.

Keep your chin up and you'll get through it.
Good luck.
John.

eyeopener2

Maybe you could say how you have gone about dealing with your debt?

E2

indierocker85

John, did you manage to keep your house etc? Did you go interest only, or get a break on it? HAve you managed to get yourself a job again?

JohnD76

and is your Mrs still smoking ? :-)

TheRock

Whilst I have every sympathy for you that you have found yourself in what must be a very stressful and difficult situation the clear factor here is your partner is spending £140 on smokes I’m sorry but that is selfish. If she can compromise then you will be able to clear your council tax bill, which has been pointed out you can go to jail for (although I think that’s more for refusing to pay rather than can't pay).
Step one is to contact the council and negotiate a payment plan with them.
You don’t need sky.
perhaps you can try cutting your food bill a bit by using own brands?
mobile phones limit to £10 each top up.
Can the school not offer some sort of concession on travel or do you drive to school. is there a cheaper alternative?
With you being behind with the mortgage i doubt they will let you take a payment break, however you can call them and explain the situation.
I really think the key here is getting your partner to cut down/stop smoking tell her this will make the difference to letting the kids go swimming and not being able to go swimming!

I hope that things start picking up for you and your family soon.

jbindebt

Haha yes she is!!
Bless her she went six months last year then stupidly folded, recently tried again so we'll keep an eye on that. I and the kids give her hell but it was nice last year when she stopped and this "realisation" dawned about the extra income.

I'm thankfully back full time working and greatfully earning more than before as is my good lady. The "crunch" was helpful as my mortgage dropped almost 600 pounds!! The repossession hearing was scary but as I had been sensible and always made a reasonable attempt to pay, the judge amazingley came down on our side. What they don't like is when people pay nothing for months then make desperate promises that they cant believe. The arrears (£4k I think) is a simple £50 per month on top of £800. (The mortgage company solicitor was furious and looking back it was funny to see him being embarrassed by the judge).I managed to argue a particular debt from £17000 down to £7000 and my employer helped me clear it.(A life changing experience I couldn't begin to explain but am forever greatful.)
I've still got about £30k hanging round my neck but I make the minimum payments and each month something else drops off to give a sense of acheivement. We haven't had a holiday since 2004 and I'm happy to be secure in my home with my family. I don't drink, ditched the expensive mobiles, run the car on biodiesel and bought a £20 bicycle off ebay to have a race over the fields with my kids.

It would be lovely to be debt free but at the moment I can't get any credit and you know what....that's just perfect for me.

Hope this helps.