Former Spice's SOA

Former_Spice

Well here goes. I have gone through Martins spreadsheet and come to the following.

Negatives
.
<br><br>I owe £34K on CC's plus 6.4K on Barclays Advance and I spend £700 a month more than I earn.

<br><br>On the other hand....

<br><br>A lof that debt is at low APR's.
<br>I have a tiny mortgage with £70K equity and only about £27K outstanding on it with 17 years to go,
<br>An unblemished credit history except for the minor problem of the £34K on CC's.
There is scope for for savings.

<br><br>Salary just short of £21K which is £1271 after tax, pension etc..

<br><br>Mortgage/Rent: £220.00
<br>Buildings & Contents Insurance: £14.17
<br>Recently searched around for the best quote on this and save over £100 a year.
Bank Account Fee:
<br>Overdraft Cost: £58.00
<br>This is the interest on the Advance account at around 11.9 APR. I also have a 5K overdraft facility which is £400 in credit on payday.

<br>Council Tax: £71.00
Over 10 months I think.
<br>Water Rates/Meter: £13.00
<br>Got a meter 4 months ago and have only used 9 units so far so even at less that half it was 'estimated' at they are still overcharging me (they haven't read the meter yet).
Gas £40.00
<br>Electricity £22.00
<br>Total £62 for both on Scottish Power fixed till Aug 09 offer in a two bed terrace.
Household Maintenance: £16.67
<br>Roughly based on what I have spent since moving here on tradesman divide up. With hindsight I think that's a bit low.
<br>Garden Maintenance £0.42
<br>Cleaning Products/Cleaner £5.00
<br>Home Phone £12.00
<br>Only need it for the Internet
Internet £23.00
<br>Used to be with Tiscali who were cheap but the service was :mad: :mad: so moved to a good ISP.
<br>TV Licence £12.00
<br>Mobile Phone £1.00
<br>PAYG hardly ever used.

<br><br>Food and Household Shopping £150.00
<br>That figure was a guess and may be a bit high. I used to be rubbish at food shopping, but now following Martin's advice. Using supermarkets not overpriced shops that I used to use :eek: Going down brands, mostly buying Asda's own brand and some smart price and always on the lookout for offers.
<br>Eating Out £10.00
<br>Once a month
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks
<br>Stopped doing that
<br>Drinks for Home £240.00
<br>The first of the BIG ones.
I KNOW, I KNOW, I KNOW and it was not bottles of champagne. Determined to get this way down, didn't drink yesterday which is a start, may go on the alcohol thread about this one.
<br>Drinking Out £10.00

<br><br>Breakdown Cover/Roadside Recovery £6.67
<br>Let them renew it automatically without comparing cover or thinking about whether I need it. DOH!
<br>Rail/Bus/Coach/Taxi
Car Maintenance £16.67
<br>Car Insurance £21.50
<br>Car Tax £15.00
<br>Parking
Petrol/Diesel £40.00
<br>Following Martins recent advice to get this down, along with using bike, foot for short journeys.

<br>This whole motoring section is the second of the BIG ones. I can't honestly say that I 'need' a car. Work is around a 40 minute walk or a ten minute bike ride mostly on a cycle path and I can use the net for just about all shopping.
I would miss having it, a big decision to make to live without a car and public transport is hardly cheap at 60p a mile to take a bus. Maybe that's just making excuses.

<br><br>Credit Card Repayments £740.00
<br>THE HUGE ONE!
<br>4.5k with MBNA at 0% till March.
30K between 7 cards at life of balance APR's mostly at 5.9 and 6.9%
<br>10.5K more available credit with MBNA between 2 cards, another 10K available credit with Cahoot which I use either for credit card shuffling or regular spending payed off in full.

<br>I have calculated that I am paying off close to 1.5% a month off the balance as most the of payments are going to clear the balance rather than high APR's or rip off late payment charges so the balances and minimum payments will go down to an affordable level AS LONG AS I MAKE THE PAYMENTS until then.

<br><br>DVD/Video Rental
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc)
<br>Hobbies £25.98
<br>Pet Costs
<br>Shopping for Fun
<br>Big Days Out
<br>Books/Music/Films/Computer Games £20.00
<br>Cinema/Theatre Trips £12.00
<br>Cineworld Unlimited pass
<br>Family Days Out
<br>Satellite/Digital TV Subscription £31.00
<br>Recently cut the movies and some of other channels that I didn't watch.

<br><br>So, in summary I have built up a financial stack of cards that is still balanced but has the potential to topple over spectacularly! Really need to avoid it falling over.

Any constructive advice would be appreciated.

GeorgeUK

Looks quite good - i'd suggest looking at the old style board to see if they can give you tips hat may save on the groceries.

Have you asked if you can pay the council tax over 12 months rather than 10?

With regards the cards, it appears you have this pretty much under control. Kusy make sure you pay the minimum to all debts and throw anything remaining at the debt with the highest interest.
Have a look at the snowball calculator to see when your debt free date may be.
https://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx