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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:
Original poster
ep1977 · 15/09/2013 20:30

thanks guys.. should say that rang up to cancel sky and they did do a deal.. also that the £50 is a guesstimate as it is for phone, broadband and sky tv. It varies each month depending on phone bill..

hubby works a lot but earns a crap wage. I am supply teacher and have had no work this term so no pay since July(hence the over overdraft)

~ will ring bank and ask to waive or delay fees
~will pay council tax

My husband feels like he works all the time for nothing
I have said about not enough money going in but he says he cant afford to pay anymore into it
I know he is shit with money and when hes got it at the begiimimg of the month will buy crap

E.G he went food shopping and spent £120.. forgot to buy most of the staple foods I need to provide meals(potatoes, meat etc)

He did however buy crumpets, shed loads of sweets and chocs and crisps. most have got eaten since bought yesterday!!

When I pointed this out to me he asked if I was having a go!!

OP posts:
Original poster
ep1977 · 15/09/2013 20:36

Ehric.. not getting child tax or working tax credits at all. they stopped in April.. say we are above the threshold or it was raised.. I must chase this up. I appled for job seekers as a lot of supply teachers do but was refused as I hadn't paid enough Ni in previous 2 years. DD was born oct 09 and I started doing a few days supply a month 2 and a half years ago. I don't get work for a few weeks at start and end of each term and sometimes the build up to xmas is poor too.

OP posts:
prettymess · 15/09/2013 20:49

So

prettymess · 15/09/2013 20:51

Oops, accidental post.

whattodoo · 15/09/2013 20:55

ep what solution does your DH suggest?

RandomMess · 15/09/2013 21:03

Do you have mortgage or do you rent?

Original poster
ep1977 · 15/09/2013 21:06

Random.. mortgage goes out on 12th

OP posts:
LEMisdisappointed · 15/09/2013 21:06

don't just stop paying the sky, you will be contracted in - just ring up and try and cancel the contract, don't be sucked in by any "deals".

Can you maybe sign on wiht some other agencies for the supply work - my friend did supply and was on with more than one agency - it will pick up soon, i know this time of year is slack for supply teachers.

Do a "go compare" for things like house insurance and make sure you are paying the lowest possible payments, the same for car insurance - you would be surprised how much money you can save. look for better deals on your phone and internet - what about your mobile phone costs, can they be cut at all? Gas and electric can be put onto card metres, we have this and would never go back to bills, it costs about £15 year more but it works out much less because it forces us to budget with it and we never get big bills we can't pay.

Its horrible when things are tight, i know how you feel - there are lots of ways to cut costs before you start to feel the pinch just by shopping around, have a look on martins money saving website.

As for council tax, they will be understanding, if you talk to them, if you don't keep them in the loop they can be pretty unflexible.

We don't have anything on direct debit because if we don't have the money in we get charged (DP is self employed and has erratic paydays) whereas companies will generally wait a few days to a week for payments if you talk to them and let them know when you will be able to pay.

RandomMess · 15/09/2013 21:07

Can you extend the term of your mortgage to reduce your monthly payments?

It sounds like you and your dh need to go through all your regular income and all outgoings and budget together.

EhricLovesTeamQhuay · 15/09/2013 21:18

Wtf - so he earns enough to cover bills but spends it on shit then moans at you?
You got bigger problems than money my friend.

Original poster
ep1977 · 15/09/2013 21:18

LEMis.. thnks for advice.. did my car and home insurance on saving websites and saved loads.. both cars failed mot s in July and Aug and needed wrk doing on them £500 in total,, both got old, cheap run around cars and are needed for work.

all dd were cancelled 2 years ago when we were way over our overdrafts... just had a meter put in for gas and that's much better. elec has not been done as a rotten backboard or something.. waiting to hear.. I should ring them..
I am signed on with the council and directly with a few schools but like u said its rough this time of year as schools don't send their staff on courses as they are busy settling their new classes. also they've just had 6 wks off so aren't ill yet!!

OP posts:
Original poster
ep1977 · 15/09/2013 21:33

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?

OP posts:
whattodoo · 15/09/2013 21:40

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.

confusedofengland · 15/09/2013 21:40

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.

Original poster
ep1977 · 15/09/2013 21:47

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..

OP posts:
noisytoys · 15/09/2013 21:59

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

Original poster
ep1977 · 15/09/2013 22:10

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

OP posts:
davidtennantsmistress · 16/09/2013 06:25

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.

RudolphLovesoftplay · 16/09/2013 06:38

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.

MinimalistMommi · 16/09/2013 09:50

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.

MinimalistMommi · 16/09/2013 09:52

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...Confused

Tony58 · 16/09/2013 10:11

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).

ssd · 16/09/2013 10:18

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

Paintyourbox · 16/09/2013 10:22

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.

lubeybooby · 16/09/2013 10:34

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.