What would happen bills wise if I lost my job?

buckeejit

buckeejit

buckeejit

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Well, I lost my job in July and got a temp job (12 weeks contract) working for a council. My time is nearly up and I finish at the end of the month. I have no savings whatsoever apart from a few hundred and I was wondering what would happen to the likes of my credit cards if I couldn't find another job in time.

This is the first time in my working life (9 years) that I've not had a permanent job and I've always paid my bills.

My monthly bills look like this:

Credit Card - £40 a month (min payment is less)
Car Insurance - £83 a month
Credit Card - £25.00 a month (min payment is less)
Mobile - £50 a month
Credit Card - £40 a month (min payment is less)
Petrol - £100 a month
Internet - £50 a month

Total: £388

I've been on edge for the past few months as I'm worried about paying my bills, I have not bought anything that I don't need as I knew my contract was temp.

I have a job interview this Tuesday for a 6-12 month contract but am very anxious as to how I would pay my bills if I didn't get another job in time. It's stressing me out loads. If I manage to get a decent paying job then I'm going to clear my debt as I hate this feeling. I've been in the worst form for the past few months as it's all getting on top of me :(

Thanks for any tips/advice.
 
Wow your Car Insurance is almost £1k a year, and you've been working for 9 years so I can assume you're late 20's? that seems a bit expensive!

Also you are paying off 3 credit cards at the same time? you must be spending more than you're earning, you need to sort out your spending a little I think!

What about other bills? Food? Electric, Gas, Water etc?
 
I imagine first thing would be paying minimum amounts rather than over paying as you are now.

Mobile and internet costs seem extremely high to me, depending on if you are pay as you go or out of contract then try to lower these.
 
Eulogy said:
Wow your Car Insurance is almost £1k a year, and you've been working for 9 years so I can assume you're late 20's? that seems a bit expensive!

Also you are paying off 3 credit cards at the same time? you must be spending more than you're earning, you need to sort out your spending a little I think!

What about other bills? Food? Electric, Gas, Water etc?
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Yes, my bills come to around 50% of my monthly wage :( I live at home thank god so don't really have any other bills other than about £40 a month for lunches.
 
Try and drive less? (though I know ards is ages away from pretty much anything)

Both your internet and mobile phone deals seem pretty expensive (never had to spend £100 a month on both)
 
If you find yourself in the position of not being able to pay at least the minimum payments on your credit cards then you should speak to the card provider and explain the situation.

Unfortunately the other things you've listed you simply can't have them if you can't afford to pay for them.

Putting them on a credit card may not be an option if you end up telling them you can't make the payments.

You could look into transferring your existing credit card debts onto one that offers 0% interest on balance transfers.
 
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pingwing said:
Try and drive less? (though I know ards is ages away from pretty much anything)

Both your internet and mobile phone deals seem pretty expensive (never had to spend £100 a month on both)
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Driving would be cheaper than other forms of transport. I'll call 02 to see if they can help.
 
First, why are you paying a set amount for your credit cards(!?) a month? I assume it's because you haven't paid them off in full each month? If so why? Has the bill been increasing when you knew you were on a temporary contract?

As you don't have a job I assume your petrol bill will go down to virtually nil which saves you £100 a month. Then if you are at or near the end of your contract see if you can reduce your phone and internet bill! I'm assuming an iPhone and 50/100MB broadband for that cost?
 
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buckeejit said:
Driving would be cheaper than other forms of transport. I'll call 02 to see if they can help.
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Where are you driving too though? The weekly shop isn't going to cost you £100 a month (in fact unless you live really in the middle of nowhere you can always walk to the shops).
 
Credit Card - £40 a month (min payment is less)
Car Insurance - Burn your car, stop these payments
Credit Card - £25.00 a month (min payment is less)
Mobile - Unemployed people don't need a phone
Credit Card - £40 a month (min payment is less)
Petrol - Unemployed people don't need to drive
Internet - Unemployed people can use the library brother

40+40+25=£105

Job seekers = £112 each 2 weeks, you're fine OP.


Alternatively, you could get another credit card.














I kid.
 
Unfortunately both Mobile and Broadband providers give unreasonable contract lengths now so he may not be able to get out of either.

2 year contracts are for idiots! I still don't understand why a broadband provider even needs to force people onto 2 year contracts!
 
Even if he's mid contract, with O2 you can downgrade a tariff after a set period. I got mine down from like 36 to 27, just paid more the first 6 months or so for cheaper upfront cost :)
 
Hopefully the new job will pan out, but if you do get into financial difficulties at least you'll still have a roof over your head.

Before the recession I was sitting pretty but since 2008 my savings have dwindled, the cost of living has risen and my pay have more or less been frozen, I'm pretty much only 1 wageslip away from being in the brown stuff. It stressed me at first but I've got used to it and now it doesn't bother me, if it happens it happens.

Don't worry about it, everything will turn out ok in the end ;)
 
What about council tax and rent/mortgage?

When I was on the dole 2 years ago, I was eligible for housing benefit. It cancels out your council tax. You don't see it going out of your bank then goes back in - it's like as if you're not paying council tax. Beware though because when you do find work again, you have to pay a bit of extra council tax for a couple of months then it goes back to normal.

If you're on a mortgage, your provider may be able to make it interest-only for you. Nationwide honoured this for me for the time that I was off work.
 
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