Desperate, am I in the wrong place?

mrsbez_2

I think as some have pointed out, the most obvious solution is to downsize from your home.

This is easier said than done at the moment, as even if you wanted to, you couldn't guarantee that it would sell.

Take on board all the suggestions to reduce your outgoings, put a stop on luxuries and i think (depending on the age of your children) maybe you should look at getting a job and increasing your income. Then see if you can contact CCCS for some sort of repayment plan once your income has increased slightly.

There are lots of others on here that have tackled debts larger than yours and i'm sure they'll be along with more advice soon. It can be done, you just have to put the brakes on, stop the money flooding out and start to repay slowly but surely.

Could you downsize the car?? cut your energy bills right down?

Can highly recommend www.spendingdiary.com, this lets you keep track of where your money is going everyday and you will be amazed at how it all adds up.

iwanttosavemoney2008

Forgetmenot68 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1830
Benefits................................ 217 is this just child benifit are you entitled to working tax credits or family tax credits? give them a ring on 08457 3003900 to make sure you are getting the correct amount lines are open from 8am to 8 pm
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2047

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 715
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 199 is this over 10 months as most councils do it that way but you can ask that you pay it over 12 also check you are not in the wrong band!! could reclaim loads check out how in the reclaim tab at th etop
Electricity............................. 115 time to switch provider turn off everything you dont need on switch to energy saving appliances too
Gas..................................... 51 this seems ok considering the electric bill but you may get it cheaper check with uswitch
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 58 stop having baths and use the shower check these are right and consider having a meter put in
Telephone (land line)................... 40 talk talk are doing a good deal at the mo check em out also check the tab up top about phones
Mobile phone............................ 35 are you really using this amount can you get a cheaper deal there is a link somewhere with instructions on how to get your price plan reduced
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20 if you go with talk talk this will be much cheaper but check otrher providers too
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 how big is your family?? i have 3 kids 2 still in nappies and i only spend £50 a week start doing a weekly menu so you know what meals you are going to cook then just get the ingredients you need this will save you a fortune
Clothing................................ 20 till you can afford em dont buy em or go to a charity shop
Petrol/diesel........................... 150 can you walk more places i know you said your son is seriously ill but can he go in a pushchair or a wheel chair depending on the problem you may be able to get a grant from some charities to help you with certian things maybe let us know so we can find out for you
Road tax................................ 22
Car Insurance........................... 76 get that cheaper time to switch check with comparison sites
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 ??? how
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 70 if this is for things like taxis can you get the bus?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 36
Buildings insurance..................... 23ok you will be able to get these cheaper put them both on one policy and check those comparison sites
Contents insurance...................... 23
Life assurance ......................... 17
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 20 two words student night you get your hair cut for a much reduced fee with an expert on hand just in case it goes wrong
Entertainment........................... 20 till you are better able to pay for it stay in and watch that cash save
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2152

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 400000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 9000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 409000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 105000...(715)......5.99
Total secured debts........... 105000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
A & L overdraft................1000......tbc.......0
Capital One cc.................7228......217.......14
Egg............................10,130....207.......0
Virgin cc......................15,110....274.......0
Lloyds TSB.....................2255......46........16
HSBC cc........................4000......100.......0
Halifax cc.....................2411......48........20
First Dir overdraft............4250......tbc.......11
First Dir cc...................2910......88........19.9
Total unsecured debts..........49,294....980.......-
I dont know much about ccs so i willl let some one else offer advice on this one
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,047
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 2,152
Available for debt repayments........... -105
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 980
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 1085

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 409,000
Total Secured debt...................... -105,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -49,294
Net Assets.............................. 254,706

Scary reading, but at least I've done it. Thank you for any advice.

Forgetmenot 68

And well done for the lightbulb moment you are in the right place we will take care of you;)

Forgetmenot68

iwanttosavemoney2008 wrote: »

And well done for the lightbulb moment you are in the right place we will take care of you;)

Thank you so much for that!

OK, deep breath.... I had a restless night and woke up with the cold hand of dread round my throat this morning, but.. husband has taken part of a day off so we can tackle this together and I'm feeling positive that we can.

Thank you all so much for your replies and support, and Mrs Tine, GeorgeUK, Brummiebabe and iwanttosavemoney2008 for your deailed comments on our SOA. Here goes:

Council Tax : I'm going to check we're in the right band because it does seem very high, though that includes £30/month for some arrears that occurred. It's not a huge house, no. We pay over ten months - I'll ask whether we can pay over 12.

Electricity : We're with Ecotricity on their greenest tariff. I guess I'll have to go back to saving the planet after I've saved our financial situation... I'll get onto the comparison websites today, also for Gas.

Telephone : We're with Talk Talk which was the cheapest a while ago. I think we use it too much for calls to mobiles, which are expensive I know. Local and national numbers are always free, but not 0845 etc, and abroad. I have just got a new contract for a £25/m plan with T-mobile for my mobile which gives me £180 worth of texts, calls to landlines AND mobiles which I barely use, partly because the reception is not great at our house. But the answer is there for me... The other £10/m is for my daughter's PAYG.

Broadband : I'll see if Talk Talk (or someone else) can give it to us cheaper, or go back to dial up.

Water : This isn't metered

Groceries : I know I'm not disciplined here and that I buy randomly without a proper meal plan, and have to supplement from more expensive local shops. That's got to stop. I'll write a careful list and use more "basic" lines.

Mrs Bez, thank you, I'll check out that link for a spending diary - I know I need it.

iwanttosavemoney2008 - That amount is only child benefit. Out tax credits were stopped as they said I hadn't returned the froms in time. I'm still convinced that I rang them as I'd done the previous year, in plenty of time but it's not been sorted out yet. Also I must return the new forms that they sent me last week - my fault.

Thank you all so much. What a great place to find!

Forgetmenot68

Forgetmenot68

...and I'm going to look for a job, of course! Having had five children and not worked since the first was born my confidence has been knocked, but that state of mind is a luxury I can't afford any more. They're all at school now so no more excuses thinking childcare will be too expensive to warrant the small salary I could expect...

Forgetmenot68

Paige

I do not think down sizing is a good option if you have to take into account travel costs and moving costs. You may be better off to get a job yourself and remortgage to clear your debts but only if you will have enough income to cover the new payment amount. Also I am not sure what mortgage deals are about - its limiting at the moment, who is your current lender ? They may let you remortgage with them, it will cost you a fee but not as much as moving to a new lender. The house could take a long time to sell in this market.
In the short term could you sign onto a temping agency - these pay weekly which would give you some cash quickly - do you need child care , or are your kids old enough to let themselves in from school ?
Dont panic - help is here
Paige X

Forgetmenot68

...and my husband is talking to estate agents to get our house properly valued, and look to see what else is around. He's also talking to Charcol as an alternative, to see whether we can extend the term from 14 and 17 years back to 20-25, though he is already 45... Hlaf is repayment and half is interest only - we were mis-sold enowments. We still have them - can we do anything with them?

I missed a page of notes of replies to comments on our SOA....

Car insurance : breaks down as £23 for my husband's little car for getting him to the station, £43 for the people carrier and £10 AA membership (which will have to go). £43 is a new quote. Our existing insurers wanted £1300 for the year...

Pet insurance : 2 dogs and a cat (£14 + £14 + £8). None of them have ever been ill/had an accident so I'm tempted to cancel, at least for the young dog and the cat. older dog is nearly nine - maybe it's better to keep it for her?

Car: The people carrier we only bought in February as our old one written off (not our fault) and we needed a reliable people carrier, we thought. Paid on credit partly, and we shouldn't have done that.

We'll get there...

Forgetmenot68

Starlett

Hi,

I've little to add over and above some of the other comments, but have you considered changing cars, lower tax group, insurance group, eco group etc...?


I also offer you support and luck!

This forum has been so helpful for me, and a real inspiration... I hope you get as much and more!!

Good Luck
Starlett. x

Forgetmenot68

Thank you Paige. I know it seems obvious when you look at our assets that we should sell our house, but what with stamp duty, solicitors and other moving costs I do worry that we won't be very much better off. We are going to look though to see if it's one solution, but would not be able to afford the area we're in at the moment, which as you say will increase travel costs for my husband (already £300/month which is deducted at source). Also, with all the unsettling things that have happened to our children in their short lives (their sister died of leukaemia a little while ago), I'd hate to have to uproot them if there was another solution. If we are able to remortgage and extend the term, it would be less that the nearly £1000 /month that our debts are costing us now, which together with any salary I earn, and radically better budgetting may mean we can get onto an even keel again. I know it's going to be a long road. But a friend did me a really good (I hope) CV recently and I'm going to spread that around everwhere I can think of today, including temp agencies. Thank you!

Forgetmenot68

Forgetmenot68

Thank you Starlett! I'll have to think about the car idea... any savings count.

Forgetmenot68

Forgetmenot68

Paige - children are 4-13 - 3 at primary school in the village - would hate to trust the nine year old to walk home with the 2 younger ones, but I suppose if someone walked with them and the 13 year old was home not long after... that is an idea...