May - living on fresh air challenge...

Frith

But I have TWO mortgages to pay! They haven't taken April's again yet.

Also, I am not getting FOUR weeks of benefit between now and the bills being paid. I am getting benefit next week (£170ish) then the same benefit the week after. That is £340 in total. I can't count the last week of May money, that will get here too late! The 1st week of May money is in the bank, £150 as I took some out for petrol.

I did have more in the bank but it went yesterday for April's phone bill.

Normally I spend £30 on food per week, that is with everything else we might need for the week (toilet rolls etc). £20 of petrol is sometimes too much, sometimes we get £10.

Running out of money was a combination of the car MOT, driving long distances to see my sister and grandma (for reasons we won't go into at the moment), new school shoes and not realising straight away that the CSA payments had stopped AND getting a new washing machine. No, there wasn't one on Freecycle, I ask on there and elsewhere for 3 weeks before buying.

Liz

Frith

P.S Is there such a thing as a 6 week month?

Robflh

Hi ACEY

ACEY wrote: »

But I have TWO mortgages to pay! They haven't taken April's again yet.

You might have two mortgage payments to make this month and unless you have spent it, you should still have £97 of last month’s payment in the bank (£102 minus the £5 you was short by). You do not have to make two payments, you only have to make one but you will need to do something to get rid of the arrears as soon as you can.

ACEY wrote: »

Also, I am not getting FOUR weeks of benefit between now and the bills being paid

Nevertheless, you would have had four weeks money from when the bills were paid last month until the bills are due to be paid this month. If not, you have spent money that you did not have and that is why you have a short fall this month.

However, if you were relying on the CSA money, which you did not know had stopped, that would be an expectable reason for having spent money that you thought you had but that you actually did not have. I think that makes sense.

Contact your mortgage lender and your bank to explain to them that some of the money you would normally have coming in has stopped (the CSA payment) and that this is the reason why there was not quite enough money in your bank account to make last month’s mortgage payment.

Tell you mortgage lender that you cannot pay this month’s mortgage and the £67 fee, would they be kind enough to wave the fee this time and could you pay an amount extra each month to get rid of the arrears you now have (£10 a month, if they ask you how much).

Pay as much as you can as quickly as you can but do not tell them, that is what you are going to do, you are pleading poverty.

Once upon a time in a far off land, workers were paid once a week on a Friday afternoon. For most months that meant four paydays but every so often, they were paid five times in a month (have a look at May). That meant they had four and five week months.

JSA and Incapacity Benefit are paid every two weeks. If the money is paid on 02 May it will also be paid on the 16th and the 30th. That makes six weeks money in one month (a six week month).

Mortgage relief payments are weekly but paid every four weeks. One month each year the money will be paid on the 1st or 2nd or 3rd of a month and again on the 29th, 30th, or 31st. That makes eight weekly payments in one month (an eight week month).

Frith

Thanks, I see what you mean by a 6 week month now! I am paid weekly so had not thought of that.

I wrote to the mortgage company and my bank earlier this week asking them to waive the payments and explaining why.

Yes, I've overspent (see the end of post #12).

About the mortgage being paid twice this month, when I went in to the mortage company last Saturday and indeed my own bank, they said the direct debit could not be cancelled (?) which I thought was odd at the time. I'm annoyed about it being late as it will show on my credit reports. Not that I'll be needing a credit check anytime soon!

I don't think I have the strength to speak to a dozen people at the CSA today.

Re: the interest being paid on my mortgage (weekly?) - I don't see that, it goes straight to the mortgage company. They have never complained so I presume its all going OK!

Total spent in May so far: £2.88

Liz

Frith

I'm looking forward to going food shopping! The boys are away this weekend so I'll be on toast and jam/Marmite until Sunday.

Today - Weetabix breakfast, jam sandwiches and carrots sliced for packed lunches (a bit dull but never mind!), 2 crumpets from the depths of the freezer for my lunch. Tea will be sausages, beans and scrambled eggs. And.... toast! From the store cupboard I hope to find enough pudding rice to make a rice pudding...

Both boys eat masses of fruit (2 bags of apples a week) so that has been the first thing to go :-(

Liz

RAS

ACEY

Nice to talk.

Hi I think that there are a couple of things.

One. loads of people find it incredibly difficult to handle monthly bills when they are paid weekly or fortnightly. No doubt some of your comes on different days even? and when it is a short month like february, you have money going out at four week intervals rather than 4.3 weeks, which means less income to cover the same DDs.

The other is that you are so close to the wire all the time, it is easy to trip over.

Maybe the best thing will be to write out the days of the month, your starting balance and then write in what you will get in and have to pay out each day, with e running totla alongside so you can see when the danger period is. It may be that by delaying the car tax payment a week, or something, you can get over the "hump", but I do not know and really it is hard to work it out without a lot more detail.

Will mail you shortly.

Frith

Thanks, RAS.

Yes, for 9 years I was paid every month on the 23rd (that's why all the DD's still come out between the 25th and the 28th!). I was paid, the bills were paid and I could easily see what was left.

I shouldn't have left so little in that the mortgage bounced but nearly £100 of charges when you don't have much is enough to make things a lot worse.

Child benefit and child credits are paid on Tuesdays. Income support is paid on Fridays (so I do have more in my bank today, which is comforting).

Liz

Robflh

Hi ACEY

Yes, paying for your bills monthly, when you get your money weekly or fortnightly, is a pain in the posterior.

One solution is to keep a minimum in the bank at all times and for me that is £200. That way there is always enough in the bank for DD’s and I can pay my credit card bills as soon as they arrive.

However, I have internet banking and I use that to check that money has come in to my account when it is supposed to and that the DD’s are for the correct amount. They can be altered by your creditor whenever they wish to.

In my case, if I need to pay for repair on my car or replace an electrical item, I use my credit card and then, in theory, I can pay an amount each month until the debt has been cleared.

If you do not have a credit card, you have to save a bit each month, so that you can build up a contingency fund, emergency fund or your rainy day money. Then when something goes wrong, you can use that money to bail you out.

Anyhow, ring your mortgage lender and find out if you have to pay twice this month or if you can pay the normal £102 and set up a Standing Order to pay back your arrears by £10 a month (they may want more then that).

If you need a reason to do it, £67 and £102 makes £169 and that would be enough money for you to survive this month.

Frith

Few mushrooms for a more exciting tea and more milk!

Total spent in May so far: £4.93

Robflh

Hi ACEY

Can you clarify something for me? Is the Beaver Scouts £30 each term (£90 per year) and the Gymnastics £60 per term (£180 per year).