Bipolar4LifeSupport

How do I prepare a Personal Budget Sheet?

A Personal Budget Sheet (PBS) will help you budget your money and explain your financial situation to your creditors. In order to prepare a basic PBS, follow the six steps below.

If you need further guidance or help, contact a debt adviser who will be able to assist. You will find details of some organizations that provide debt advice in the Further information section. You will also see details of some online budgeting tools and downloadable templates.

Personal Budget Sheet 6 Steps

Step 1 – List monthly income
Step 2 – List essential expenditure
Step 3 – Calculate monthly surplus
Step 4 – List and negotiate with priority creditors
Step 5 – List non-priority debt
Step 6 – Calculate fair offers

Step 1 – List monthly income

For each item on the list, write down how much you receive each month.
If you do not get paid monthly you will need to do one of the calculations in below to work out the monthly amount. Once you have listed them all, add them together to work out your total income

If you get paid weekly:
Income (£’s) x 52 ÷ 12 = £’s per month

If you get paid fortnightly:
Income (£’s) x 26 ÷ 12 = £’s per month

If you get paid every 4 weeks:
Income (£’s) ÷ 4 x 52 ÷ 12 = £’s per month

If you get paid quarterly:
Income (£’s) ÷ 3 = £’s per month

Make sure you include:

• Income from any employment
• All benefits
• Tax Credits
• Pensions
• Maintenance
• All other income you receive

Example

Paul is living with schizophrenia and claiming Employment & Support Allowance (ESA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA). His ESA is paid fortnightly at a rate of £210.10; his DLA is £207.40 every four weeks. He needs to work out his total income per calendar month (pcm), so will do the following calculations:

ESA £210 per fortnight
£210.10 x 26 ÷ 12 = £455.00pcm

DLA £207 every 4 weeks
£207.40 x 13 ÷ 12 = £224.68pcm

He can now add these two figures together to work out his total monthly income

ESA £455.00
DLA £224.68
Total £679.68

Step 2 – List essential expenses

Write down everything that you need to spend money on each month. You may need to use the same calculations that you did in the income section to work out monthly figures. Once you have written down all of your expenses, add them up to work out your total monthly expenses. Do not include payments to debts.

Include:
•Rent / mortgage / secured loan
•Service charge
•Council Tax
•Gas / Electric / Water
•Care and/or mobility costs
•Home insurance
•Food
•Phone bill
•TV Licence
•Clothing
•Hobbies
•Child care costs
•Cleaning products
•Travelling expenses

If you are unsure how much you spend on anything, try checking your bank statements for clues. If that doesn’t help you may need to have a rough guess, but try to be as accurate as possible.

Example

Paul has the following monthly expenses

Gas £45
Electricity £40
Water £25
Food £180
Care costs £150
Cleaning and personal care £30
Travelling expenses £40
Clothing £15
TV Licence £12
Telephone / internet / TV £40
Hobbies and leisure £40
Money for emergencies £10
Christmas & birthday fund £5
Magazine subscription £5

Total expenditure £637

Step 3 – Calculate monthly surplus

Your surplus income is what you have left over after all of your essential expenses are paid. Subtract your total expenditure from you total income to work out your surplus

If you have debt you should use any surplus income to make repayments. If there is no surplus income to offer creditors you should speak to a debt adviser to find out what options are available.

You can find more information on this in our ‘Options for Dealing with Debt’ section.

Example

Paul can now work out what he can afford to pay his creditors by subtracting his total monthly expenditure from his total monthly income

Total income £679.68
Total expenditure £637.00
Surplus income £42.68

Step 4 – List and negotiate with priority creditors

Include:
•Rent /mortgage or secured loan arrears
•Council tax arrears
•Gas / electricity arrears
•Magistrates court fines
•Tax arrears
•Benefit overpayments
•Hire purchase arrears
•Child Maintenance arrears

Priority creditors should be contacted as soon as possible. If you need time to get advice, let them know, they may be able to freeze any action for a short time while you get help. Provide them with a copy of your budget sheet and any other relevant information that helps explain the situation.

If you have priority debts there is a risk of losing something. It is important that you speak to a debt adviser to ensure they are dealt with appropriately. Contact details of various organisations that provide debt advice can be found in the Further information section.

Example

Paul had electricity arrears totaling £140 and gas arrears of £60. He contacted a debt adviser who reminded Paul that non-payment of these debts, could lead to disconnection of his fuel supply.

The debt adviser helped Paul complete a personal budget sheet, which showed he has £42.68 surplus income available. She suggested that he make an offer that would clear both debts in 6 months. Paul contacted the suppliers and offered to pay the following amounts on top of his ongoing monthly payments.

Gas arrears: £10
Electricity arrears: £25

These offers are accepted. Although this only leaves £7.68 for non-priority debts, Paul’s fuel debts will be paid in 6 months, at which time he can increase the repayment of the others.

Step 5 – List non-priority debts

Make a list of all of your non-priority creditors and write down how much you owe to each individual debt. If you have taken advice and made arrangements to repay any priority debt you have; and you have remaining surplus income, you can calculate fair offers to repay non priority creditors.

Include:

• Credit Cards
• Overdrafts
• Unsecured Loans
• Catalogues
• Water arrears
• Debts to family and friends

Step 6 – Calculate fair offers

All non-priority creditors should be treated fairly, so if you have money to offer, each should get a fair proportion based on the amount owed. The best way to do this is with a pro-rata calculation.

Pro-rata calculation

In order to calculate fair offers to your creditors you will need to know:

• How much you owe to each debt
• Your total debt (to all non priority creditors)
• Your surplus income (after priority debt arrangements)

To work out how much you should pay to each creditor, follow the calculation below for each of your debts:

Surplus income x each individual debt ÷ total debt = pro-rata offer

Example

Paul has 3 non priority debts totalling £600. He owes £150 water arrears, £350 on a credit card and has £100 overdraft. He has £7.68 per month to repay his debt.

To find out how much he should pay to each creditor, Paul needs to do the following calculations:

Water: £7.68 x £150 ÷ £600 = £1.92
Credit card: £7.68 x £350 ÷ £600 = £4.48
Overdraft: £7.68 x £100 ÷ £600 = £1.28

Anyone can fall into debt. A sudden unexpected change of circumstances could mean that although you used to be able to afford all of your essential payments and bills, you no longer have the money to manage. Studies show that one in four people with a mental health problem also has debts and that one in two adults with debts also have a mental health problem.

Living with debt can be stressful, however there can be a number of ways to deal with it. This section suggests the first steps you should take if you find yourself with unaffordable debt. It explains how you could negotiate affordable payments to creditors, what can happen if you do not pay, and provides details of organizations that can help.
•Seek help. There are organizations that provide free and confidential help and advice. You don’t have to deal with the debts by yourself.
•Ensure any income that is being paid into a bank account is protected by opening an account that is not linked to your debts.
•Complete an income and expenditure sheet in order to make sure any offers you make are realistic and sustainable.
Separate your debts into priority and non-priority – deal with priority debts first.
•Non-payment of priority debts may result in the loss of something, for example your home or fuel supply.
•Non-payment of non-priority debt may result in the debt getting passed to a debt collection agency or the creditor applying for a County Court Judgment (CCJ).
•If you are unable to repay your debts at the rate agreed when you entered into the agreement, it will be noted on your credit reference file. This can make it more difficult to obtain credit in the future.

How does ESA work?

There are two different types of ESA.
•Some people will get ‘contribution based ESA’ (CB-ESA) because they made enough National Insurance contributions while they were at work to qualify for it (similar to Incapacity Benefit).
•Others will get ‘Income-related ESA’ (IR-ESA) provided they have little or no income and little if any capital (similar to Income Support)

Everybody making a new claim for ESA (unless terminally ill) will go into the ‘assessment phase’ for the first 13 weeks. During this period, the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) will assess your physical & mental health and your prospects of working or training for work. While this happens, single people will be paid the basic ESA allowance which will be the same as Jobseeker’s Allowance. This is £71.70 for people 25 or over and £112.55 for couples. These figures are correct for the period April 2013 until March 2014.

At the end of the 13 weeks (it could take longer) the DWP will make a decision about your eligibility for ESA. There could be three possibilities:
•Some people will be found ‘fit for work’ and could claim JSA.
•Some will remain on ESA and will move into the ‘work-related activity’ group.
•Some will remain on ESA and move into the ‘support’ group.

Both groups who remain on ESA will get an additional amount – £28.45 for the ‘work related activity group’ and £34.80 for the ‘support’ group. People in the support group who get Income-related ESA will also receive the Enhanced Disability premium – an extra £15.15.

It will be possible for people on Income-related ESA to be paid extra money called ‘premiums’ currently paid to people on IS who qualify for them (e.g. because they receive a certain level of Disability Living Allowance, live alone and nobody is claiming Carer’s Allowance for supporting them). This will be in addition to the basic ESA allowance and the additional amount paid for support or work related activity.

1 year cap on contribution based ESA for those in the Work Related Activity Group

If you are placed in the WRAG and are receiving ESA based on your National Insurance contributions, from April 2012 you will only get CB-ESA for 12 months. After this time, if you would also qualify for ESA because you have a low household income you can continue to receive it. If, however, you live with a partner who works and your household income is over the earning’s threshold or you have savings/capital over the allowed limits, you may no longer qualify for this benefit.

Phasing in ESA

If you are currently receiving IB, IS or SDA you may be entitled to less ESA under the new system than what you get at the moment. For example people now on IB who have partners or children (or both) are paid additional allowances for them but this will not happen with ESA. So when you move to the new benefit, you will get an extra payment called ‘transitional benefit’ which will bring your ESA up to the same level as your current payment. No existing claimants should be worse off because of the change to ESA.

The disability premium is not paid with ESA but some other premiums, such as the Severe Disability Premium, are available to people on Income-related ESA if you qualify for them. People in the Support group on Income-related ESA will also qualify for the Enhanced Disability Premium.

Different rates apply to couples. People who own their own home might receive help with mortgage costs in certain circumstances.

You can find the ESA regulations by visiting the government website at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080794_en_1#Legislation-Preamble

You can also get more information on ESA on the DirectGov website: ttp://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Illorinjured/DG_171894

This section gives information about the out of work benefit called Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). It will explain who the benefit is aimed at, how the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are reassessing people receiving the old-style sickness benefits for ESA, the different types of ESA, how you will be assessed, how to challenge a decision you do not agree with and how you may claim the benefit on behalf of someone else.
•ESA is paid to people who have ‘limited capability for work’.
•To start a claim for ESA you need a note from your GP to confirm that you are not fit for work.
•You are then asked to take part in a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) so the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can decide whether you are eligible for ESA.
•If you are eligible for ESA you will be placed into either the ‘Work Related Activity Group’ or the ‘Support Group’.
•If you are in the Work Related Activity Group you have to attend meetings with a personal adviser to discuss and prepare for an eventual return to work.
•If you are placed in the Support Group you don’t have to prepare for a return to work but you can if you want to.
•If the DWP decide that you don’t qualify for ESA then you will be expected to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA).
•If you disagree with any of the decisions the DWP make you have the right to ask them to look at the decision again or lodge an official appeal.

“BIPOLAR SYMPTOMS”

So much information about the symptoms of bipolar disorder (manic depressive illness) is confusing, misleading, or contradictory.
Symptoms of bipolar often get misinterpreted, leaving the real problems of bipolar disorder unaddressed.
There is still a shortage of accurate and reliable information about bipolar disorder symptoms, despite much interest.
There is no point working hard to overcome clinical depression if the REAL problem is bipolar disorder!
Traditionally bipolar disorder symptoms were framed in terms of mood swings.
However, today bipolar disorder symptoms are often framed in much broader terms.
One of the biggest difficulties is in distinguishing bipolar from major depression.
As well as confusing bipolar and severe depression, another common misdiagnosis is to mistake borderline personality disorder for bipolar disorder.
Also, bipolar symptoms are easy to confuse with other disorders such as ADHD, or physical problems such as thyroid disorder.
Discover the real symptoms of bipolar disorder. Don’t be one of the misinformed crowd who confuses bipolar with other illnesses and personality problems.
In some ways “bipolar” was easier to understand back when it was commonly known as “manic-depressive illness”.
This is because bipolar is all about mood swings. These are mood changes that are more extreme and pronounced then the usual ups and downs we all experience from day to day.

Symptoms of bipolar disorder: from National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

How extreme do these mood swings have to be? Psychiatrists use their professional handbook, the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” (DSM) in order to diagnose if mood swings are serious enough to be symptoms of bipolar disorder.

In America there is a precise, clinicalbipolar disorder definition.We will follow these official, professional definitions below:

Bipolar depression symptoms
Depression involves feelings of sadness and emptiness or a loss of pleasure or interest in things. These feelings last most of the day, on most days for at least 2 weeks. These symptoms are severe enough to impact negatively on work, relationships and everyday life.

Learn about medication for treating bipolar depression symptoms

bipolar symptoms of depression

Bipolar depression symptomsinclude:
1. Feeling sadness or emptiness.
2. Losing interest or pleasure in one’s usual enjoyments.
3. Changes in appetite (up OR down), and/or substantial and unplanned loss of weigh or weight gain.
4. Insomnia.
5. Excessive tiredness or sleepiness, and/or lack of energy.
6. Restlessness and agitation.
7. Reduced sex drive.
8. Lack of motivation.
9. Feeing worthless.
10. Feeling guilty about things you are not responsible for.
11. Indecision.
12. “Fuzzy” thinking, problems concentrating, or memory loss.
13. Thoughts of self harm or suicide.
14. Hallucinations.
15. Delusions.

Bipolar symptoms of mania
The word “manic” is often thrown around quite casually, but for genuine bipolar symptoms, mania must have some very definite characteristics. Specifically, to meet a diagnosis of mania, the mood changes must last for at least a week, or be so severe that hospitalization is required. These bipolar disorder symptoms cause significant disturbance to work, relationships and daily life.
Symptoms of bipolar mania include:

Bipolar symptoms of mania
1. Exaggerated high opinion of oneself.
2. Beliefs that one has great talents or gifts that extend beyond reality.
3. Hallucinations.
4. Reduced need for sleep.
5. Talking more than usual.
6. Pressure to keep talking.
7. Skipping from one idea to the next so there is a fragmented flow of thought.
8. Racing thoughts.
9. Easily distracted but some short periods of very focused attention.
10. Feeling restless and agitated, for example finding it hard to sit still.
11. Increase in goal directed activities, related to social, work, school, or sexual pursuits.
12. Excessive engagement in pleasurable activities without thought to their distressing consequences, such as big spending sprees,gambling, sexual indiscretions,poor business investments.

Symptoms of hypomania
Hypomania is a milder form of mania, and may result in a diagnosis of Bipolar Type II or “soft” bipolar.
The symptoms of bipolar mania and hypomania are the same – what is different is the DURATION and INTENSITY of the bipolar symptoms.
In hypomania, the symptoms must last for at least 4 days and are not serious enough to require hospitalization.
See this description of major bipolar disorder symptoms from a leading bipolar research institute.
And remember, bipolar symptoms are all about mood swings – there must have been BOTH depression AND mania/hypomania.

SEXUAL ISSUES are amongst the most common, but least discussed symptoms:
“A very common symptom in maniacal conditions is erotic excitement. This varies from mere coquetry, an extended application of the command “love one another”, an undue attention to the opposite sex, up to extreme salacity, when the mind is wholly occupied by urgent sexual appetite, and all restraint abandoned.” – DANIEL HACK TUKE (1827-1895)
Sometimes we need to consider outward manifestation of bipolar as well as a sufferer’s own subjective, internal states.
Regardless of what someone may report their mental and emotional state to be, valuable insight into their symptoms can be gained if you know some basic information about Bipolar Behavior.(HINT: PLEASE do read about this and do not base your image of bipolar symptoms on what you have read about Charlie Sheen.)

Cognitive bipolar symptoms

Bipolar symptoms may include cognitive problems.

This is a tricky area because sometimes cognitive problems such as “fuzzy thinking” or memory loss are due to the side effects of bipolar medications.
Also, many people with bipolar disorder are very gifted and often believe that mania, or at least hypomania, enhances their abilities.
However, there is also evidence to suggest that with bipolar, cognitive problems can be a pretty typical symptom.
This may be anything from being easily distracted, to mental fogginess, memory problems, or becoming easily confused.
The evidence about cognitive bipolar symptoms can be conflicting. For example, one study observed poor performance in all groups of bipolar people when compared to “healthy” subjects with tasks such as verbal recall and executive functioning.
Other research has shown that once stable, folks with bipolar do not show cognitive impairment.
Also, rather than having harmful cognitive effects, some bipolar medications such as lithium have neuro-protective properties and can help the brain regenerate grey matter and protect against problems such as memory loss.

Physical effects and symptoms of bipolar
Sometimes bipolar symptoms are caused, aggravated, or exacerbated by other underlying medical conditions such as thyroid problems.
Also, people with bipolar disorder are twice as likely to die prematurely from medical conditions such as heart disease and stroke than are members of the general population.
Even scarier, they are three times more likely to develop diabetes, and some diabetes symptoms look like bipolar. Discover how to overcome these with symptoms with THE BIPOLAR DIET.