Back on the wagon!

A question about : Back on the wagon!

Well after having a few years out of work having children I have just spent my 6th month in work and finally want to sort my finances out!

I am currently paying Ј600 a month in rent which is half of my monthly wage and don't want to do that much longer so looking into saving for a mortgage.

I have just got my credit report and have 3 defaults:

Gothia Ltd- Ј145 defaulted 11/12/11
Lowell- Ј533 defaulted 25/12/09
Halifax Ј2282 defaulted 23/04/12

I have written to Gothia for f&f today.

I also have a ccj of Ј4098, I have just rang Northampton county court who confirmed it was for tuition fee loan. (basically Student finance were funding me then found out I was repeating the year for the 3rd time as id changed courses and withdrew the funding, I didn't know until end of the year and I buried my head and moved house then found this lovely thing on my report!)
The original debt was Ј3225 with interest of Ј668.63. The lady from the court said the interest cant be right as that's extremely high for the amount?

So my questions are:

Where do I start/what do I pay off first?
How do I dispute the interest?
How do I start paying off the CCJ?

I will do my SOA now too so you can see what I have left etc

Any help eternally grateful!!!

Best answers:

• Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
  Household Information
  Number of adults in household........... 1
  Number of children in household......... 3
  Number of cars owned.................... 1
  Monthly Income Details
  Monthly income after tax................ 1294.28
  Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
  Benefits................................ 1416
  Other income............................ 0
  Total monthly income.................... 2710.28
  Monthly Expense Details
  Mortgage................................ 0
  Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 166
  Rent.................................... 595
  Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
  Council tax............................. 100
  Electricity............................. 80
  Gas..................................... 40
  Oil..................................... 0
  Water rates............................. 65
  Telephone (land line)................... 0
  Mobile phone............................ 35
  TV Licence.............................. 12
  Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60
  Internet Services....................... 0
  Groceries etc. ......................... 200
  Clothing................................ 100
  Petrol/diesel........................... 100
  Road tax................................ 17
  Car Insurance........................... 56
  Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
  Car parking............................. 0
  Other travel............................ 0
  Childcare/nursery....................... 537
  Other child related expenses............ 0
  Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
  Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
  Buildings insurance..................... 0
  Contents insurance...................... 0
  Life assurance ......................... 0
  Other insurance......................... 0
  Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
  Haircuts................................ 20
  Entertainment........................... 0
  Holiday................................. 0
  Emergency fund.......................... 0
  Total monthly expenses.................. 2213
  
  Assets
  Cash.................................... 0
  House value (Gross)..................... 0
  Shares and bonds........................ 0
  Car(s).................................. 0
  Other assets............................ 0
  Total Assets............................ 0
  
  Secured & HP Debts
  Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
  Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
  Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 2000.....(166)......13
  Total secured & HP debts...... 2000......-.........-
  Unsecured Debts
  Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
  Credit Union Loans.............0.........203.......0
  Lowell.........................533.......0........ .0
  CCJ............................4098......0........ .0
  Halifax........................2282......0........ .0
  Gothia.........................145.......0........ .0
  Total unsecured debts..........7058......203.......-
  
  Monthly Budget Summary
  Total monthly income.................... 2,710.28
  Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,213
  Available for debt repayments........... 497.28
  Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 203
  Amount left after debt repayments....... 294.28
  Personal Balance Sheet Summary
  Total assets (things you own)........... 0
  Total HP & Secured debt................. -2,000
  Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,058
  Net Assets.............................. -9,058
  Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
  Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.
• Do you actually have that surplus left?
  You need to start building an emergency fund too.
  HBS x
• No she just gave me the phone number for the solicitor who is dealing with it! She said at 8% per day it seemed a lot?
  I wish I would have challenged the whole thing when it came as I should never had owed it!
  Guess il just have to phone them Monday x
• Just wanted to say good luck!
• 8% per day would indeed be a lot
  However 8% per annum is "statutory interest" so if this is what is being chanrged you probably can't challenge it.
  Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 166 - what is this for, a car? when does it end?
  Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60 - you can't afford to pay Ј720 a year for extra TV channels - cancel this and sign up to cheap broadband
  Groceries etc. ......................... 200 - really very unlikely for a family of 1 adult and 3 kids. You will be doing well to manage on Ј250 and Ј300 is more likely. It has to include all toiletries and cleaning stuff as well as food.
  Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10 - pretty low, unless your car is very new Ј30 would be safer
  Childcare/nursery....................... 537 - is this likely to reduce a lot in the next couple of years?
  Other child related expenses............ 0 - what none? you never buy books or toys or take them swimming? Perhaps they are too young to need much but quite soon this will be Ј50+ a month
  Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
  Emergency fund.......................... 0 You should be putting a bit aside every month for the unexpected. Say Ј25
  I would be surprised if a realistic SoA shows you have more than Ј50 surplus a month.
  How large are your credit union loans? when will they be cleared?