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!)

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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?

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.

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...

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

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

thanks Tony/ some great advice given.