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

[ep1977]

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!)

[ep1977]

thanks Tony/ some great advice given.

[Tony58]

If it hasn't already been mentioned, talk to your bank manager/clerk about a bigger overdraft.

I get paid monthly, so it can dip a lot into the red and then, once my salary goes in, it goes back over in the pink.

It's unauthorised overdrafts which sting you! (You mentioned £25). I actually got my overdraft up to £2,000 as a large 'buffer'.

Another trick, which I haven't used but I know works for some, is the zero % credit card transfer for 6 months. So long as you can get on top of your plight by then it works well. I think, IIRC, there may just be an arrangement fee of ~£30...?

One last idea to consider. My neighbour recently got all the things which he doesn't use or need and sold the. I've done this myself whereby I ask myself "if I haven't used it or worn it in 3 years do I honestly need it?"

Then sell the items on gumtree, which is free and easy to use. (Not costly and faffy like ebay). My neighbour raised an astonishing £200 from doing so; from stuff he'll never miss.

Good luck

Tony

[Tony58]

That's £4,250 per year tax-free, I should have said.

[Tony58]

Well, again without knowing your home situation, it isn't necessarily about a better job but more income. (Stating the obvious I know).

There's a Government initiative call 'Rooms for rent' whereby you can earn up to £4,250. It was in an effort to help students.

Not often the Gov don't want to tax the knickers of us...

[specialsubject]

broadband internet is almost an essential now but sky isn't. Look for the cheapest possible landline/broadband deal, you should be able to cut that bill in half at least. You can even go to watching 'delayed' TV only on a laptop which means you don't need a TV licence, another £12 a month saved.

it also sounds like some basic shopping lessons are needed for your partner!

good luck.

[Alibabaandthe40nappies]

The 'get a better paid job' isn't an unhelpful one at all.

You can only cut back so far (feckless spendthrift DH's notwithstanding), and things are getting more expensive. Looking for a better job surely goes hand in hand with looking to reduce outgoings if things are tight or you want to afford more luxuries?

[tywysogesgymraeg]

Get rid of the three bank accounts, and just manage one. You are married, so what ever is his is yours (and vice versa) anyway. That's ridiculous paying 3 lots of overdraft charges.

how about just getting rid of the bills account at least, and asking DH to take control of bill paying - that way he'd have a better view of what's going in and out.

As a supply teacher, would you be able to do some tutoring to bring in extra money?
We host foreign students each summer to bring in a bit extra. That's a really easy way of making money as you don't pay tax on it. You need to have a spare bedroom, but kids could share for a few weeks if it means you'll all be better off.

[scarlettsmummy2]

Also, never mind about a good deal, cancel sky. You have no money in your account at all!!

[scarlettsmummy2]

I would say don't pay the council tax, phone them and tell them you are struggling to pay. Then go and see a money advice worker at CAB.

[manyhands]

I'm a supply teacher with no work at the moment. My DH moans BUT he works ridiculous amounts of overtime to keep us afloat. It's hard but he wouldn't spend money we don't have and leave us without enough money for the bills. If the situation were reversed there is no way you'd leave bills unpaid.

[ep1977]

thanks lubey, will do that.. show him everything that needs to go out and look at our income.

feel like its me that's juggling everything but he knows the situation

[lubeybooby]

Quoting your dh "So I work all these hours and I can't even..."

Fraid so - that's how it is for loads of people. Does he think fairies will magically cover the expense of whatever it is he wants to do?

and it's not fair of him to imply that it's somehow your fault. The bills would be there regardless.

Just because you pay them it's like he's shooting the messenger rather than realising it's these companies that need paying, not you - if you see what i mean.

[Paintyourbox]

I think you need to sit down with your H and make a full list of ALL income and ALL outgoings. Then work out the share you are each going to pay in to the bills account each month.

In our house, we earn around the same so we split the bills 50:50. We then split any left over cash equally between us and it goes into our personal bank accounts to do what we wish.

My DP is terrible at food shopping, he will buy all the offers etc which we don't need. I food ordering online then collecting from the store has stopped that behaviour (or getting shopping delivered).

Sky defo has to go, you can't afford it.

[ssd]

op, your problem isn't money, its your dh and how you both manage your finances.

[Tony58]

I saved £280 in one swoop by going on to a water meter. It was going to be £530 pa and it dropped to just £200 pa using a meter.

You can get an estimate by filling in a questionnaire, which I found to be pretty much spot on.

I live on my own, or have been, so the saving for me is more substantial than for a family. That said, however, I think you'd have to be a very heavy water user not to be better off.

I have no regrets whatsoever. Some people are a bit precious about their right to use as much as they want, but I don't see it that way and I do like to be as green as possible anyway.

It's a commodity, just like any other IMO, so I personally dont have a problem so long as I'm not being ripped off. (Which is very much not the case since I'm up on the deal).

[MinimalistMommi]

I don't actually understand why DH isn't covering all bills while you have shortfall, I'm confused, you are not living apart from what I've read here...

[MinimalistMommi]

Are you primary or secondary? If primary, can you sign up for being on 'bank staff' at a local nursery?
It sounds like you need to take control of money from your DH (is it not in joint account if he is obviously not great with money?) and it sounds like you need to do any food shopping.

[RudolphLovesoftplay]

I don't know much about how recruiting teachers works, but could you get a permanent teaching job? Even as a job share, at least you would have a regular income. Plus, it gives you a fallback if things don't work out with DH for whatever reason.

In the short term, I agree with everybody else about the dd's, especially sky.

You need to sort out with the DH how much is required for bills, and until you earn more he HAS to give you it. Otherwise he is financially abusing you.

[davidtennantsmistress]

I've come to the conclusion in this day and age rain day fund is a luxury, we certainly don't have any spare every penny is accounted for, what we've just started is pay day pool resources, pay everything out, then have a set allowance each per month for spends; the rest goes into an instant saver account, however, it usually comes back out as a bill will come in, so lucky if there is coppers left a the en of each month.

[ep1977]

I know noisytoys.. I'm lucky. I get to spend time with my dd while she's still young and I really enjoy working. I've applied for jobs but no luck. Got to final 4 and had an interview in august but didn't get the job. Need to pay off overdrafts, get in credit, have some money put aside for a rainy day.. easier said than done.. when I do get some supply it means we aren't getting further in debt. when I have a dy spell we struggle and then get charged

[noisytoys]

It is normal now to work all the hours and have nothing left for luxuries. Me and DH both work full time and we have nothing left, nor do any of my colleagues

[ep1977]

I have told dh that the money he puts in each month is not enough. I pay for food shop and meet the rest of the bills when I do supply.. he went to meet a mate at a shooting range today.. only costs a fiver and usually has to not go as has no money.. if I ever say perhaps we could pay this or that first he says "so I work all these hours and cant even.." blah blah..

[confusedofengland]

I disagree with those saying pay council tax first. Ring them up & explain your situation, you will probably find they are sympathetic & will give you extra time to pay. I have done this once or twice when DH was between contracts & they have been really friendly & helpful, probably more than utility companies would be.

[whattodoo]

Is your DH aware how much your regular bills come to each month? How does he propose covering them with the income you have between you?
If he has money to fritter at the beginning of each month, then there is no reason on this earth you should be in this mess.

[ep1977]

jobs for tomorrow.. phone elec company/bank/tax credits help line

look for 0% credit card and new bank account.. set up dd to pay off overdraft as we are paying over £30 in overdraft fees each month on 3 accounts(mine/his/joint for bills) so might as well pay £30 pm to lower that debt that continuous fees for nothing to show for it
think will pay council tax though cus I know they on u pretty quick if you don't pay... or maybe ring to see if I can miss this month and pay an extra next year is it march and april you get free?