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Original poster

What to do.. no money and bills to pay.. help please

61 replies

ep1977 · 15/09/2013 19:07

ok, so I checked my bills account.. have got £148 left of overdraft.
bills to pay..
£50 sky dd to go out on 15th
£12 house ins dd to go out on 15th
£33 water to pay on 15th
Charges to go out on 23rd £38 (overdraft fees and over the over draft charge)
£90 council tax
due now £63 electricity ..
so what do I do..
hubby just got paid on 10th and transferred money into bills account(its never enough each month to cover outgoings!)

OP posts:
lubeybooby · 15/09/2013 19:09

the ones due to go out on the 15th (today, Sunday) would have already been taken on the Friday,(13th)

that always happens with my direct debits

just thinking you may have a bit more than you think?

noisytoys · 15/09/2013 19:09

Pay the council tax it is essential and the consequences of not paying it are huge. Cancel all other direct debits and make an appointment with CAB, stepchange etc for advice. Hope things improve for you soon.

Mintyy · 15/09/2013 19:11

Cancel sky for starters.

The Citizens Advice Bureau is absolutely brilliant for providing help and advice when you are in debt. Google CAB. There are offices all over the country and it is a free service, available to everyone.

tywysogesgymraeg · 15/09/2013 19:11
  1. Stop Sky. You can't afford it. There's nothing wrong with Freeview.
  2. Phone everyone you owe money to and explain your circumstances and offer to pay a little bit, and work out a payment plan.
nkf · 15/09/2013 19:12

Sell something. That's short term. Get rid of sky. Get better paid jobs.

Original poster
ep1977 · 15/09/2013 19:12

I hope so Lubey..
Is my birthday this month and my dds early oct. We have done main food shop and got her a half price bike for her birthday. I'm pretty savvy and frugal. I do supply work and have had nothing since last week in JUly. My little bit of work each month helps meet the bills.. but summer hols has meant that Went over overdraft last month and that means charges of £25

OP posts:
Shinyshoes1 · 15/09/2013 19:13

Ditch the sky

We don't have sky we can't afford it . We have freeview

Imnotaslimjim · 15/09/2013 19:14

Does your DH give you as much as he can towards the bills? If not, is there any chance he can transfer some more cash over?

The council tax is the most important one to pay, as noisytoys has said, the consequences are dire and they chase you pretty quickly

contact the water and electric, and ask for the payment plan to be altered. United utilities will let you pay less than the bill is until you can afford it again, the electric should let you skip a month and spread the extra over the rest of the year

Then you need to sort out your money, you can't live like that every month!

JakeBullet · 15/09/2013 19:15

It is hard.....look at what you can cut. Can you cut Sky back any further. ....or creatively account by cancelling the DD to Sky and then resetting it up as soon as you can.

The fees to your bank.....

Have you considered opening a basic bank account elsewhere and paying all wages in there and then negotiating repayment of the overdraft with the bank....just to avoid the fees and to give you a bit more control over your money. Overdrafts are great but if you are relying on it every month then it never gets repaid etc.....been there and done that.

Sort out what is priority...rent, council tax, electricity, gas, water, food etc and then allocAte what is left to everything else.

It IS hard, everything has increased in price over the last two years.

Soontobemama · 15/09/2013 19:16

Contact your bank and ask them to waive the charges. Most will do this is its the first lot of charges you have incurred in the past six months.

RandomMess · 15/09/2013 19:16

Why isn't your dh transferring over more money?

ChoudeBruxelles · 15/09/2013 19:17

Pay council tax or else you could end up owing a lot more

fackinell · 15/09/2013 19:17

I do sympathise, been there Sad

Have you anything you can sell or car boot? I agree, ditch Sky. Overrated IMO.

RandomMess · 15/09/2013 19:18

They are not allowed to cut off your water...

and yep sky has to go forever just stop paying it.

Hadmeathello · 15/09/2013 19:20

Agree you should contact your bank to see if they would be willing to waive the charges as a goodwill gesture. If they have not done this for you previously you might be in luck.

mintgreenchilli · 15/09/2013 19:22

£50 per month for Sky is outrageous.

Dilidali · 15/09/2013 19:24

Ditch the sky.
Pay the council tax.
Call your utilities provider and ask for a month's holiday. Also look for cheaper deals elsewhere.
Talk to your bank re: overdraft. How much are you allowed and what penalties are you incurring, there are better deals out there
See if you can transfer the overdraft onto a 0 % interest card. Then split the amount to12 and set up a direct debit towards that account so you can pay the debts.
From tomorrow there's a new thing which allows you to change banks within a week, they transfer the direct debits for you. Shop around for a better deal.
Set your direct debits to leave the account the day after you get paid.
Stick to a food budget.

Good luck.

davidtennantsmistress · 15/09/2013 19:29

Sorry but how exactly is the comment 'get better paid jobs' helping exactly?

I would ring sky and cancel, at the very very least they will want you to stay and reduce your dd package, mine was cut in half, water and electric I'd ring and say you're very sorry can you skip this month and put the payment over the remaining year.

Council tax, get down to your local offices, when's yours due, ours is the first or the 31st depending on if you're dd or not, ours also is very very good if you say to them you need to skip a month they also will let you either pay double onth after or split that payment over the remainder. The bank charges agree also see if they will postpone those charges for a few weeks?

Talk to your dh Looks like more needs to be tfred each month. Is he aware of the juggling that's going on?

davidtennantsmistress · 15/09/2013 19:31

Should say with ours if you consistently miss or move payments they don't let you do dd for the following year so it's worth conversing just to keep the option there.

Mintyy · 15/09/2013 19:34

"Get better paid jobs" is just one option of many that could help op. It might not be possible, but it might also be possible. We are all just thinking aloud here.

Tony58 · 15/09/2013 19:34

Please don't take this the wrong way but, as I used to say to my daughter when she asked for something I would say "is it a need or a want?".

Naturally she would always say it's a need. :-)

But, as an adult, you must realise how to 'cut your cloth to suit' and Sky is most definitely a want.

In fact, and I don't know all your history of course, but at £50 per month if you had ditched it long ago you may not even be in this situation.

I'm what you might call 'old school' and to this day I don't have a credit card or rely on credit. I have a debit card. Not aimed at you, but, the trouble today is too many people buy today and think about the payment tomorrow.

Maybe it goes back to what some here will remember as a pay packet. You had all your week's money in your hand and if you blew it you were screwed! (Hope that word is okay).

Anyway, to get deep for a minute. Don't sweat the small stuff. Think about all the crises and upset in life - yet we're here just the same and can look back and laugh. It's character-building... ;-)

davidtennantsmistress · 15/09/2013 19:40

I understand that minty, however also in the current climate I consider myself lucky to have a job at all. Likewise a better paid job isn't going to solve the immediate issue in hand; normally a better paid job, you only reap the benefits months down the line once you've gotten out of the mess that the lower paid one et you in if that makes sense?

EhricLovesTeamQhuay · 15/09/2013 19:53

£50 sky dd to go out on 15th cancel this if you can. If you can't, cancel it before the next payment.
£12 house ins dd to go out on 15th don't cancel this.
£33 water to pay on 15th Cancel this. They can't cut off your water so you can pay double next month or rejig your DD amount once you have cancelled sky.
Charges to go out on 23rd £38 (overdraft fees and over the over draft charge) call the bank and explain you won't have the funds to pay this. Ask for an extension.
£90 council tax cancel this BUT call the council immediately and explain you have a short term cash flow problem. Get it paid ASAP.
due now £63 electricity cancel and amend your DD for next month.
so what do I do..
hubby just got paid on 10th and transferred money into bills account(its never enough each month to cover outgoings!) does he have anything at all left?

HappyMummyOfOne · 15/09/2013 19:54

If your supply work is low on the ground then take any job you can get, lots of seasonal ones being advertised already which can tide you over whilst you look for something permanent.

You clearly cant afford sky so cancel it asap and go through food bill etc and cut out anything bar essential items.

EhricLovesTeamQhuay · 15/09/2013 19:57

Will your income this year be much less than last year? Could you call tax credits (assuming you get them) and give them your projected income for 13-14? If it's lower than last year your payments may go up a bit.