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My SOA - please help if you can
ruthem215
Posts: 86 Forumite
Statement of Affairs
Monthly Income
Me - £830.00
Partner - £1200.00
TOTAL – 2030.00
Monthly Outgoings
Rent – £155.00
Council Tax – £90.00
Water Rates – FREE
Gas – £30.00
Electric – £30.00
Internet – £20.00
Sky – £36.00
Phone Line & calls– £16.00
Mobile Phones – £100.00
Petrol – £100.00
Car Insurance – £95.00
TV Licence – £11.95
Pet Insurance – £8.50
Groceries inc pet food – £170.00
Everything else – eating out, entertainment etc - £60.00
Debts & Monthly Repayments
Amounts Outstanding:
Amazon Credit Card - £1,598.22 (paying £100.00 per month) 19.9 – interest rate
HSBC Credit Card - £3,868.48 (paying £120.00 per month) 21.9 – interest rate
Halifax Credit Card - £1,700.00 – (paying £100.00 per month) 19.9 – interest rate
Halifax Overdraft - £200.00
Abbey Overdraft - £200.00
Car Finance - £4,000.00 – (paying £167.00 per month) 6.4% - interest rate
Tesco Loan - £2,100.00 – (paying £212.00 per month)
Total Debt Outstanding: £12,226.70
Total Debt Repayments per month: £699.00
Total Outgoings per month: £1,621.50
This says we have around £500 pounds spare which is just not true, we end up with no money at the end of the month, infact more like after two weeks of being paid, hense getting charged at the bank, so not really sure where its all going and how to keep track of it. We don’t go out anymore drinking or anything like that, we don’t spend much on ourselves so really puzzled with that, but either way need to ‘manage’ our money better.
We contacted a debt company and they basically said its showing up that we have the above amount spare – so they couldn’t help us. I think the case is after all the money has come out, we spend the rest on little odd things (we have a bad habit of never checking the bank account, until its too late – ALL GONE!) we just need to manage our money a lot better.
If its showing we have money spare that’s great, as we can use that spare money (which we are obviously wasting) on debt repayment. Just need some help and guidance as to where to start. Also we are both in category ‘very poor’ for credit score. Even though neither of us have been bankrupt, or ever missed a payment, I’m just putting this down to applying for credit cards in the past (so we can do balance transfers) and also we have all this credit available to us which we have used, which is going against us.
So the bottom line is we can’t get any more credit or loans etc to transfer balances etc. So were a bit stuck in that fact. Our current credit cards are the killers, with interest etc, and its just so frustrating not being able to pay them off sooner, and never having any spare money. Lots of life changes in the last two years have made us being in much worser debt that we should be. But we don't have a morgage and live in cheap MOD property so we do have an opportunity here to improve things, we just don't know where to start
Please help, thank you so much for reading, Ruth.
Monthly Income
Me - £830.00
Partner - £1200.00
TOTAL – 2030.00
Monthly Outgoings
Rent – £155.00
Council Tax – £90.00
Water Rates – FREE
Gas – £30.00
Electric – £30.00
Internet – £20.00
Sky – £36.00
Phone Line & calls– £16.00
Mobile Phones – £100.00
Petrol – £100.00
Car Insurance – £95.00
TV Licence – £11.95
Pet Insurance – £8.50
Groceries inc pet food – £170.00
Everything else – eating out, entertainment etc - £60.00
Debts & Monthly Repayments
Amounts Outstanding:
Amazon Credit Card - £1,598.22 (paying £100.00 per month) 19.9 – interest rate
HSBC Credit Card - £3,868.48 (paying £120.00 per month) 21.9 – interest rate
Halifax Credit Card - £1,700.00 – (paying £100.00 per month) 19.9 – interest rate
Halifax Overdraft - £200.00
Abbey Overdraft - £200.00
Car Finance - £4,000.00 – (paying £167.00 per month) 6.4% - interest rate
Tesco Loan - £2,100.00 – (paying £212.00 per month)
Total Debt Outstanding: £12,226.70
Total Debt Repayments per month: £699.00
Total Outgoings per month: £1,621.50
This says we have around £500 pounds spare which is just not true, we end up with no money at the end of the month, infact more like after two weeks of being paid, hense getting charged at the bank, so not really sure where its all going and how to keep track of it. We don’t go out anymore drinking or anything like that, we don’t spend much on ourselves so really puzzled with that, but either way need to ‘manage’ our money better.
We contacted a debt company and they basically said its showing up that we have the above amount spare – so they couldn’t help us. I think the case is after all the money has come out, we spend the rest on little odd things (we have a bad habit of never checking the bank account, until its too late – ALL GONE!) we just need to manage our money a lot better.
If its showing we have money spare that’s great, as we can use that spare money (which we are obviously wasting) on debt repayment. Just need some help and guidance as to where to start. Also we are both in category ‘very poor’ for credit score. Even though neither of us have been bankrupt, or ever missed a payment, I’m just putting this down to applying for credit cards in the past (so we can do balance transfers) and also we have all this credit available to us which we have used, which is going against us.
So the bottom line is we can’t get any more credit or loans etc to transfer balances etc. So were a bit stuck in that fact. Our current credit cards are the killers, with interest etc, and its just so frustrating not being able to pay them off sooner, and never having any spare money. Lots of life changes in the last two years have made us being in much worser debt that we should be. But we don't have a morgage and live in cheap MOD property so we do have an opportunity here to improve things, we just don't know where to start
Please help, thank you so much for reading, Ruth. 0
Comments
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hi ruthem215
Your bills dont seem to bad apart from the mobile bill £100 and the car insurance £95.
Is the mobile bill for 2 mobiles? what deals are you on at the moment? If your with 02 or Orange you can get the internet for about £5 a month.
car insurance. Is this for 2 cars or one? As £95 a month is alot to be paying if its one, im sure we can help get you a cheaper car insurance bill!;)
Maybe you could half the going out money to £30 a month?Make £5 a day JAN £121/175 FEB £283/175:jWeekly Grocery budget of £35! Jan £95.05/175 Feb £37.53/1750 -
Hi Ruthem
Welcome to DFW! I have put a couple of comments below in blueStatement of Affairs
Monthly Income
Me - £830.00
Partner - £1200.00
TOTAL – 2030.00
Monthly Outgoings
Rent – £155.00
Council Tax – £90.00
Water Rates – FREE
Gas – £30.00
Electric – £30.00
Internet – £20.00
Sky – £36.00
Phone Line & calls– £16.00 (you can get a combined package from sky for landline, internet and TV for £30, ditch all apart from the basic package, alternatively ditch the paid for TV altogether and get a freeview box)
Mobile Phones – £100.00 (this is huge, there will be ways of getting this down. Are these contract phones or PAYG, if contract you will probably be able to save by choosing the right PAYG option)
Petrol – £100.00
Car Insurance – £95.00
TV Licence – £11.95
Pet Insurance – £8.50
Groceries inc pet food – £170.00
Everything else – eating out, entertainment etc - £60.00
Debts & Monthly Repayments
Amounts Outstanding:
Amazon Credit Card - £1,598.22 (paying £100.00 per month) 19.9 – interest rate
HSBC Credit Card - £3,868.48 (paying £120.00 per month) 21.9 – interest rate
Halifax Credit Card - £1,700.00 – (paying £100.00 per month) 19.9 – interest rate
Halifax Overdraft - £200.00
Abbey Overdraft - £200.00
Car Finance - £4,000.00 – (paying £167.00 per month) 6.4% - interest rate
Tesco Loan - £2,100.00 – (paying £212.00 per month)
For a bit of extra motivation put these details into the snowball calculator at www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx This will give you your debt free deate and help you to see the best way of paying this off
Total Debt Outstanding: £12,226.70
Total Debt Repayments per month: £699.00
Total Outgoings per month: £1,621.50
This says we have around £500 pounds spare which is just not true, we end up with no money at the end of the month, infact more like after two weeks of being paid, hense getting charged at the bank, so not really sure where its all going and how to keep track of it. We don’t go out anymore drinking or anything like that, we don’t spend much on ourselves so really puzzled with that, but either way need to ‘manage’ our money better.
I know that feeling. You need to keep a spending diary so that you can see what exactly you are spending and where.
Your SOA doesn't factor in anything for car maintenance, birthdays and christmas, car tax, clothes, haircuts, prescriptions, etc etc. Check the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com for anything else that you might have missed off.
To minimise my spending I take out a set amount of cash every Thursday and that is all I allow myself, if I overspend at the weekend it is pasta and pesto for me until I 'pay' myself again.
We contacted a debt company and they basically said its showing up that we have the above amount spare – so they couldn’t help us. I think the case is after all the money has come out, we spend the rest on little odd things (we have a bad habit of never checking the bank account, until its too late – ALL GONE!) we just need to manage our money a lot better.
If its showing we have money spare that’s great, as we can use that spare money (which we are obviously wasting) on debt repayment. Just need some help and guidance as to where to start. Also we are both in category ‘very poor’ for credit score. Even though neither of us have been bankrupt, or ever missed a payment, I’m just putting this down to applying for credit cards in the past (so we can do balance transfers) and also we have all this credit available to us which we have used, which is going against us.
So the bottom line is we can’t get any more credit or loans etc to transfer balances etc. So were a bit stuck in that fact. Our current credit cards are the killers, with interest etc, and its just so frustrating not being able to pay them off sooner, and never having any spare money. Lots of life changes in the last two years have made us being in much worser debt that we should be. But we don't have a morgage and live in cheap MOD property so we do have an opportunity here to improve things, we just don't know where to start Please help, thank you so much for reading, Ruth.£34,547 (Dec 07); Current debt: £zilch (Debt free December 2010)
Sealed Pot #389 (2010=£133)0 -
You need to both RELIGIOUSLY keep a spending diary. Even 45p on a newspaper, write it down. You cant do anything until you KNOW where the money goes. you'd be surprised how a sandwich and crisps adds up over month...0
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Two things:
Put the debts in the snowball calculator - www.whatsthecost.com and see what your projected debt free date is and play around with the amounts to see how, with a bit of focus, you can bring that date forward.
Start a spending diary - you can only work out where things are going wrong when you are completely aware of the facts. So every single penny for the next couple of months needs to be logged in and out - tedious, maybe, but essential to find that "missing" £500. You can do a spending diary in a notebook, or online at www.spendingdiary.com if you prefer whizzy ways of doing things!
Welcome aboard!Successful women can still have their feet on the ground. They just wear better shoes. (Maud Van de Venne)Life begins at the end of your comfort zone (Neale Donald Walsch)0 -
Your rent is very low~is that rght?I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.
Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.
***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb. ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.0 -
Thaks for all your helpful replies!! Yes the mobile phone bills this is for two bills, approx £50 each. The rent is correct - we live in MOD property (Forces married quarters) so really cheap. I have started the spending diary and finding it very useful!! Also the website where you can put your debts in and see how long it will take to pay it off, its quite scary if you pay the minimum it will take me around 123 years to pay it off! Obviously I'm not paying the minimum but even so, the end date is still years and years off with what we can afford to pay each month. Were both considering taking on extra jobs. :eek:
Oh and the car insurance is yes just for one car, but as my husband is 24 and only passed his test a year ago its very expensive, it is due for renewal shortly and should be slightly cheaper as he turns 25. The £95 a month belieive it or not was the cheapest we could get, we searched loads of quotes at the time.
The sky package sounds like a great idea, but can you only do this when your sky contract is due for renewal???, we were considering getting a cheaper package anyway, just trying to persuade the other half to cancel sports!
0 -
Hi and welcome to the forum.
Only thing which jumps out at me is the car insurance. If its up for renewal soon make sure you trawl the net for the best deal, fingers crossed it should come down now he is over 25 and has a years no claims bonus.
Don't forget to see if you can get any good deals on the insurance through quidco.com and earn yourselves some cashback.
Is there anything you can do to bring some extra money in which you can throw at your debts, anything to ebay? mystery shopping etc?Proud to be dealing with my debts - DFW No: 712
03/09/09 - DEBT FREE AT LAST
Racing Hypno to Save - £10/£50000 -
It's usually cheaper to stick a wife/female friend/mum as an extra driver on the insurance for most men regardless of whether they actually drive it- it makes you a different risk group regardless of age, less likely to be out impressing dolly-birds...Thaks for all your helpful replies!! Yes the mobile phone bills this is for two bills, approx £50 each. The rent is correct - we live in MOD property (Forces married quarters) so really cheap. I have started the spending diary and finding it very useful!! Also the website where you can put your debts in and see how long it will take to pay it off, its quite scary if you pay the minimum it will take me around 123 years to pay it off! Obviously I'm not paying the minimum but even so, the end date is still years and years off with what we can afford to pay each month. Were both considering taking on extra jobs. :eek:
Oh and the car insurance is yes just for one car, but as my husband is 24 and only passed his test a year ago its very expensive, it is due for renewal shortly and should be slightly cheaper as he turns 25. The £95 a month belieive it or not was the cheapest we could get, we searched loads of quotes at the time.
The sky package sounds like a great idea, but can you only do this when your sky contract is due for renewal???, we were considering getting a cheaper package anyway, just trying to persuade the other half to cancel sports!0 -
Statement of Affairs
Monthly Income
Me - £830.00
Partner - £1200.00
TOTAL – 2030.00
Monthly Outgoings
Rent – £155.00
Council Tax – £90.00
Water Rates – FREE
Gas – £30.00
Electric – £30.00
Internet – £20.00
Sky – £36.00
Phone Line & calls– £16.00
Mobile Phones – £100.00
Petrol – £100.00
Car Insurance – £95.00
TV Licence – £11.95
Pet Insurance – £8.50
Groceries inc pet food – £170.00
Everything else – eating out, entertainment etc - £60.00
Debts & Monthly Repayments
Amounts Outstanding:
Amazon Credit Card - £1,598.22 (paying £100.00 per month) 19.9 – interest rate
HSBC Credit Card - £3,868.48 (paying £120.00 per month) 21.9 – interest rate
Halifax Credit Card - £1,700.00 – (paying £100.00 per month) 19.9 – interest rate
Halifax Overdraft - £200.00
Abbey Overdraft - £200.00
Car Finance - £4,000.00 – (paying £167.00 per month) 6.4% - interest rate
Tesco Loan - £2,100.00 – (paying £212.00 per month)
Total Debt Outstanding: £12,226.70
Total Debt Repayments per month: £699.00
Total Outgoings per month: £1,621.50
This says we have around £500 pounds spare which is just not true, we end up with no money at the end of the month, infact more like after two weeks of being paid, hense getting charged at the bank, so not really sure where its all going and how to keep track of it. We don’t go out anymore drinking or anything like that, we don’t spend much on ourselves so really puzzled with that, but either way need to ‘manage’ our money better.
We contacted a debt company and they basically said its showing up that we have the above amount spare – so they couldn’t help us. I think the case is after all the money has come out, we spend the rest on little odd things (we have a bad habit of never checking the bank account, until its too late – ALL GONE!) we just need to manage our money a lot better.
If its showing we have money spare that’s great, as we can use that spare money (which we are obviously wasting) on debt repayment. Just need some help and guidance as to where to start. Also we are both in category ‘very poor’ for credit score. Even though neither of us have been bankrupt, or ever missed a payment, I’m just putting this down to applying for credit cards in the past (so we can do balance transfers) and also we have all this credit available to us which we have used, which is going against us.
So the bottom line is we can’t get any more credit or loans etc to transfer balances etc. So were a bit stuck in that fact. Our current credit cards are the killers, with interest etc, and its just so frustrating not being able to pay them off sooner, and never having any spare money. Lots of life changes in the last two years have made us being in much worser debt that we should be. But we don't have a morgage and live in cheap MOD property so we do have an opportunity here to improve things, we just don't know where to start Please help, thank you so much for reading, Ruth.
You've got low expenses, presumably hubbie packs of to somewhere awful like Iraq every so often so can't spend while on tour, reasonable incomes etc., no home improvement costs etc, do you know where you collected the large credit card bills... figuring out where the money went can be useful.0 -
I have the same problem with spending money. It all disappears! I've gone through my bank statements to check what goes where on a monthly basis, but I seem to take out a lot of cash that I just fritter away. Maybe you could look at past credit card statements to check where the money was spent? If you know where it went, you'll be able to curb it. That's what I'm hoping to do anyway 0
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