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Determined89
Posts: 62 Forumite
Hi,
This is quite a lengthy post, so apologies in advance if it's a bit of a ramble!
I have been left in considerable amounts of debt since my ex husband and I split up Aug 2015. I was a student, at the end of my first year, at the time of the split. As we had two dogs, I was left in a situation where I couldn't move into student accommodation and was left in the house we had collectively, but took on the full amount of the monthly bills on my own. I managed to graduate in September and now in my first post graduate job (in the NHS). I am still currently in the same house, despite trying to move in the past and the finances are draining me. I have had the spare room advertised for over 9 months now to share the costs with someone else, but to no avail.
I am due to come to the end of my mobile phone contract on the 18th Jan, and I have been looking for new (cheaper) deals to bring down costs (currently at a whopping £60pm) and I am not getting anywhere. My current situation has led to me having a poor credit rating and I have been knocked by two mobile providers. I am considering sim only deals, but petrified that my phone won't last much longer and I will not have the spare funds to get a new handset should this happen.
I am also close to the end of my broadband and gas/electric contracts too (May) and I am wondering whether I will be stuck moving to cheaper deals for the broadband due to my poor credit file?
My outgoings at present are covered by my wage; but I have little left to spare each month. I am contributing to each debt monthly, leaving nothing untouched. I have four debts that have gone to debt collection agencies due to defaults from when I was student. They total £12,430. My aim is to get them all paid off in their entirety. My water, gas and electric is all up to date and under control, with my council tax having fell behind (but on track to be paid off). I am extra careful with my outgoings throughout the month for when it comes to food and general groceries etc. I can't remember the last time I treated myself and went shopping. I sold almost everything that I owned to be able to pay for bills when I was a student.
I now have a new partner, and we are looking at buying a house. Of course, I am not going to be able to make any headway with mortgages, so it will be on him to get that. Once that gets put into place, I will be in a far better position to pay off debt quicker. He has been fantastic and knows everything about the debt that I am in and how much it is. He is just as keen for me to get rid of it as I am and therefore happy for me to focus on that to get it cleared once we live together. This relationship is a long distance relationship, so he is not able to move in with me, we are over 400 miles apart. I will move to be with him once the house has been secured.
Is there any things that I can be doing to get any monthly payments down? I have tried to be as stingy as possible and cutback on everything that I can.
My outgoings are:
Rent; 760
C. Tax; 170 (payments fell behind, now increased to pay years CT off in time)
Gas; 53
Electric; 59
Water; 80
Groceries; 200 (includes dog food)
Broadband; 42
Mobile Phone; 60
Pet Ins; 20
Pet Plan for Vets; 30
Gym; 17
Travel; 0
Debt; 40 (10 to each one)
I have just paid £38 for TV Licence (Qtrly).
Gas/Elec/Water should all go down shortly.
I had someone move in for 9 months during my time as a student and she left the property leaving considerable debts in all three areas. I have been playing catch up ever since. I have £135.68 outstanding in electric, in credit by £53 in Gas and owe £74.31 in water
My income is £1,495pm after tax.
Any advice, help, tips... very welcome!
This is quite a lengthy post, so apologies in advance if it's a bit of a ramble!
I have been left in considerable amounts of debt since my ex husband and I split up Aug 2015. I was a student, at the end of my first year, at the time of the split. As we had two dogs, I was left in a situation where I couldn't move into student accommodation and was left in the house we had collectively, but took on the full amount of the monthly bills on my own. I managed to graduate in September and now in my first post graduate job (in the NHS). I am still currently in the same house, despite trying to move in the past and the finances are draining me. I have had the spare room advertised for over 9 months now to share the costs with someone else, but to no avail.
I am due to come to the end of my mobile phone contract on the 18th Jan, and I have been looking for new (cheaper) deals to bring down costs (currently at a whopping £60pm) and I am not getting anywhere. My current situation has led to me having a poor credit rating and I have been knocked by two mobile providers. I am considering sim only deals, but petrified that my phone won't last much longer and I will not have the spare funds to get a new handset should this happen.
I am also close to the end of my broadband and gas/electric contracts too (May) and I am wondering whether I will be stuck moving to cheaper deals for the broadband due to my poor credit file?
My outgoings at present are covered by my wage; but I have little left to spare each month. I am contributing to each debt monthly, leaving nothing untouched. I have four debts that have gone to debt collection agencies due to defaults from when I was student. They total £12,430. My aim is to get them all paid off in their entirety. My water, gas and electric is all up to date and under control, with my council tax having fell behind (but on track to be paid off). I am extra careful with my outgoings throughout the month for when it comes to food and general groceries etc. I can't remember the last time I treated myself and went shopping. I sold almost everything that I owned to be able to pay for bills when I was a student.
I now have a new partner, and we are looking at buying a house. Of course, I am not going to be able to make any headway with mortgages, so it will be on him to get that. Once that gets put into place, I will be in a far better position to pay off debt quicker. He has been fantastic and knows everything about the debt that I am in and how much it is. He is just as keen for me to get rid of it as I am and therefore happy for me to focus on that to get it cleared once we live together. This relationship is a long distance relationship, so he is not able to move in with me, we are over 400 miles apart. I will move to be with him once the house has been secured.
Is there any things that I can be doing to get any monthly payments down? I have tried to be as stingy as possible and cutback on everything that I can.
My outgoings are:
Rent; 760
C. Tax; 170 (payments fell behind, now increased to pay years CT off in time)
Gas; 53
Electric; 59
Water; 80
Groceries; 200 (includes dog food)
Broadband; 42
Mobile Phone; 60
Pet Ins; 20
Pet Plan for Vets; 30
Gym; 17
Travel; 0
Debt; 40 (10 to each one)
I have just paid £38 for TV Licence (Qtrly).
Gas/Elec/Water should all go down shortly.
I had someone move in for 9 months during my time as a student and she left the property leaving considerable debts in all three areas. I have been playing catch up ever since. I have £135.68 outstanding in electric, in credit by £53 in Gas and owe £74.31 in water
My income is £1,495pm after tax.
Any advice, help, tips... very welcome!
0
Comments
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Pet Plan for Vets? What's that again? £50 a month is quite a lot (plus food as well)Savings as of April 2023 Savings account - £26460.50(14474.88)Current account - £2140.24(4576.79)Total - £28600.74(19051.67) £1010 (£65pm CS/BS) £250 CS/BS/JS0
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zippygeorgeandben wrote: »Pet Plan for Vets? What's that again? £50 a month is quite a lot (plus food as well)
This is for two dogs. It's a plan which is set up which covers; boosters, worming and flea tablets all year, 10% discount on any consultations with the vets, annual health checks and a few other bits and bobs. It's definitely worth the cost when you break down each individual cost across the year.0 -
Fill this in and fomat for MSE
http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.phpShampoo? No thanks, I'll have real poo...0 -
Fill this in and fomat for MSE
http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php
It won’t let me copy and paste from my phone. I will do it in a little while for you to see0 -
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1495
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1495
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 760
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 170
Electricity............................. 58
Gas..................................... 53
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 80
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 38
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 42
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 50
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Pet Food................................ 60
Total monthly expenses.................. 1521
Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Debt 1 ........................2381.56...10........0
Debt 2.........................3470.26...10........0
Debt 3.........................3559......10........0
Debt 4.........................3020......10........0
Total unsecured debts..........12430.82..40........-
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,495
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,521
Available for debt repayments........... -26
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 40
Amount short for making debt repayments. -66
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,430.82
Net Assets.............................. -12,430.82
Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.0 -
As you can see from above, I have a deficit at the moment, but this is because of higher outgoings for the council tax. This is to be paid by March, so this will be lower. This month, I have extra shifts from my previous job, which will give me around £250 extra income (I have not included this in my income as this will be a one off, as of Feb I am unsure as to whether I am going to get anything extra).0
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Do you get single person occupancy on the council tax?
When you come to change Broadband providers use a cash back site like TCB for example as they are currently offering £50 cashback for Sky Broadband.
Short of that I am struggling to see where you can save money.Dwy galon, un dyhead,
Dwy dafod ond un iaith,
Dwy raff yn cydio’n ddolen,
Dau enaid ond un taith.0 -
Do you get single person occupancy on the council tax?
When you come to change Broadband providers use a cash back site like TCB for example as they are currently offering £50 cashback for Sky Broadband.
Short of that I am struggling to see where you can save money.
Yes, I get single person occupancy already. My CT should be 101 per month, which was spread over 10 months, but as I said I fell behind during the last few months due to poor income (around £1,100pm) after leaving my degree. I am now paying that back. Once the new CT year comes around, that will save me some extra money each month.
I most definitely want to change providers, this contract initially started at £20pm, but has crept up to £42 over the past 12 months.
I am going to consider a second job (permanently). I will have to discuss this with my line manager though as it requires approval through them.0 -
Is it possible to move house to somewhere cheaper? I don't know the going rates in Plymouth but here in West Wales you'd have a small castle (in some places) for that amount a month.Dwy galon, un dyhead,
Dwy dafod ond un iaith,
Dwy raff yn cydio’n ddolen,
Dau enaid ond un taith.0 -
A lot of Plymouth is very expensive to rent. I have looked to move a few times, but I am restricted with the dogs. Most places don't accept pets within rental properties, and those that do are the same price (if not more) than what I paying now. I desperately want to leave the SW for this reason. The cost of living is ridiculously high, especially for one person. I am also not sure as to whether moving would work as my credit rating is now poor. I also don't have the capacity to save up deposits and moving fee's etc.
I have never tried to get help in the form of benefits etc, no clue if I am entitled to any either. It's kind of not my style, although I did query it when I was a student as times were extremely difficult. The stress has eased a little now as I am on a more comfortable wage, but as you can see it is still not easy!0
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