New face!

Moneylover_3

Hi everyone!

Ive been lurking for a while and tonight (after realising how skint i was :rotfl:) thought id bite the bullet and post!

Yous all seem so motivated and i need some help... im sick of my debt!

Im not in a dire situation.... i fortuntly have a very good income and the ability to do quite a bit of overtime. But im terrible with money... leading to me only ever paying minimum payments etc and getting no where in paying off my debts.

So... id very much appreciate some pearls of your wisdom?

bellrooster

just wanted to say 'hi'

not got much advice as i'm new!! but after being here for only a few days I've had loads of fantastic advice - good luck!

Miss_Piggy_2

Hi and welcome to the board!

First thing any of us will ask you to do is post a SOA - some nice peep will wander along shortly and post the link for you (I can never remember them!!). That way we can all take a look and make suggestions where money can be saved.

Everyone on here is very helpful and non-judgmental so don't be afraid to ask questions.

Miss P
xx

halight

Hi mate and welcome, some great people on here that will help you GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR DEBT

Ames

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

There's the SOA calculator link. Welcome to the board!

Numpty_Monkey

Hi Moneylover:hello:
Heres the link Miss Piggy suguested
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html
and Ammes beat me to:p

Also if you can get the APRs of all current debts that helps:o


This idea is scarey:eek: but works , keep a spending diary, a little note book and write down everything you buy , the papers,magazines, drinks, snacks everything it will gived you a good idea of where any spare money is going:beer:

welcome aboard you'll love it here :T

poorandindenial

SOA = statement of affairs (www.makesenseofcards.com)

Welcome to the board :wave:

I, like you, am in a relatively well paid job, but the debt was amsolutely negating that and I was skint (I am still skint but I know that the end will come and then I will have a lovely quality of life while still using the monesaving hints and tips I have learnt on here)

Biggest motivation for me is the snowball calculator

www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

It will tell you how long before you are debt free. Scare yourself by marking your minimum payments as inflexible (my first one came out as over 100 years - I will be debt free in two) then put in as much as you can afford to repay (this will go up after we have ripped yor SOA to pieces - in the nicest possible way) and see what different repayment amounts does to the length of time before you are debt free and also the amount of interest you pay. It will make sense when you go on the site.

Oh final tip - keep a spending diary, it really shows up where the leaking money goes (lunch at work, magazines, random tat)

Once again welcome and GOOD LUCK

Moneylover_3

Ok... here yous go...

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2000
Partners monthly income after tax....... 900
Benefits................................ 120
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3020

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 430
Secured loan repayments................. 225
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 115
Electricity............................. 78.5
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 100
Childcare/nursery....................... 380
Other child related expenses............ 70
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 25
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 25
Other insurance......................... 10
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 2054.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 85000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 85000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 65000....(430)......0
Secured Debt.................. 16000....(225)......0
Total secured debts........... 81000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................3500......77........0
Egg............................1200......25........0
Next...........................2000......180.......0
Car............................6000......195.......0
Kitchen........................7000......142.......0
Total unsecured debts..........19700.....619.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,020
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 2,054.5
Available for debt repayments........... 965.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 619
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 346.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 85,000
Total Secured debt...................... -81,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -19,700
Net Assets.............................. -15,700

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

======== Enter any other useful information below ========

e.g. the number of adults & children in the household, the number

of cars included in the SOA or anything else that may be useful.

Sorry i havent got the APRS in but i wanted to get this done before bed.
I have tried applying for some 0% CC for balance transfers and been knocked back btw.

I think the first thing i have to do is have a serious chat with my partner... hes worse than me for wasting money,
and i seriously dont know what he does with some of it every month!!

Any advice would be very appreciated and ill try and answer all your questions honestly... just want to sort this now!!

Thanks in advance!

poorandindenial

Moneylover wrote: »

Ok... here yous go...

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2000
Partners monthly income after tax....... 900
Benefits................................ 120
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3020

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 430
Secured loan repayments................. 225
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 115
Electricity............................. 78.5 (Does this include arrears?? It is very high, make sure you are doing all the usual stuff like not leving things on standby, using energy saving lightbulbs etc etc)
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 40 (how many is htis for, is it contract or PAYG - PAYG often works out cheaper, might be worth looking into)
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 20 (phone internet and telly is coming in at £50, Sky do a combi package for about £30 which invludes off peak calls)
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 (how many is this for, it isn't huge but you could possibly trim here and there)
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 100 (what is this for)
Childcare/nursery....................... 380
Other child related expenses............ 70 (what does this cover)
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 25
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 25 (check the various insurances to see if they are still best value for moeny, if not the switch through quidco for cashback)
Other insurance......................... 10
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 2054.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 85000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 85000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 65000....(430)......0
Secured Debt.................. 16000....(225)......0
Total secured debts........... 81000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................3500......77........0
Egg............................1200......25........0
Next...........................2000......180.......0
Car............................6000......195.......0
Kitchen........................7000......142.......0
Total unsecured debts..........19700.....619.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,020
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 2,054.5
Available for debt repayments........... 965.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 619
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 346.5 (excellent, when you have got together your APRs then it is time to see what your debt free date looks like if this is thrown at the debts www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx)

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 85,000
Total Secured debt...................... -81,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -19,700
Net Assets.............................. -15,700

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

======== Enter any other useful information below ========

e.g. the number of adults & children in the household, the number

of cars included in the SOA or anything else that may be useful.

Sorry i havent got the APRS in but i wanted to get this done before bed.
I have tried applying for some 0% CC for balance transfers and been knocked back btw.

I think the first thing i have to do is have a serious chat with my partner... hes worse than me for wasting money,
and i seriously dont know what he does with some of it every month!!

Any advice would be very appreciated and ill try and answer all your questions honestly... just want to sort this now!!

Thanks in advance!

Spending diaries are definitley in order, they really will help you (and your OH) see where the money has gone and change your spending patterns.

Get a good night's sleep tonight and then tomorrow look up those APRs and think about how you want to tackle it. You aren't in terribe shape so you should be able to pull things back quite quickly (and there is nothing like the feeling of clearing a debt)

Pulling together your SOA is often one of the worst steps as you are confronted with the stark reality so well done for doing that and for posting it up.

All the best.

savingholmes

Moneylover wrote: »

Ok... here yous go...

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2000
Partners monthly income after tax....... 900
Benefits................................ 120
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3020

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 430
Secured loan repayments................. 225 Try to avoid any more secured debt as you risk your house if you ever defaulted on this whereas with credit cards you don't in the same way
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 115 Is this over 10 months or 12 - if it is over 10 you could ask them to stretch it over a longer period - or make sure you pay off more debt in Feb, Mar
Electricity............................. 78.5 Check if you can get a better deal thro a cashbacksite like quidco - this does seem reasonable to me. However you could try switching things off more, stop leaving things on standby
Gas..................................... 40 Try and turn your heating down if it is already on - wear jumpers - you get used to it
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0 Surely you do pay some? I would expect this to be £20-30?
Telephone (land line)................... 10 Look at Sky or Talk Talk and try and combine your telephone and broadband - if you feel you need sky - try and downgrade your package but include calls and internet. Again I think quidco pay £50 if you move to TalkTalk via them
Mobile phone............................ 40 Could you go pay as you go and reduce this - if you tell them you are struggling to pay sometimes they work with you to downgrade your package to what you can afford
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20 (see telephone comment above) Could you just move to freeview - its cheaper for me to buy my favourite programme on e-bay disk sets than it is to have a package like this but then I'm not into sport etc...
Internet Services....................... 20 (see telephone comment)
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 how many people is this for? Try the downshift challenge to cut your bills - perhaps look at mysupermarket.com via ipoints or something similar it will recommend areas where you can possibly downshift saving you money and giving you points to convert into vouchers at the same time. You could also look at the old style board for more ideas on how to make meals cheaply, do cleaning cheaply etc.
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 80 this doesn't sound a lot - but does that mean that you could use public transport more and do without a car altogether?
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 100 Are you getting the best deals on this, buying advance tickets etc?
Childcare/nursery....................... 380 Can you get childvouchers for this through work as you would save on National Insurance and possibly tax if you can. Also is there any way you can get free childcare perhaps by buddy arrangements with other parents?
Other child related expenses............ 70 What sort of thing does this include is there anything you can cut here?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 25 Hope this is buildings and contents - if not check your rate thro a cashback site and get paid to get the best deal!
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 25
Other insurance......................... 10
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 2054.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 85000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 85000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 65000....(430)......0
Secured Debt.................. 16000....(225)......0
Total secured debts........... 81000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................3500......77........0
Egg............................1200......25........0
Next...........................2000......180.......0
Car............................6000......195.......0
Kitchen........................7000......142.......0
Total unsecured debts..........19700.....619.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,020
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 2,054.5
Available for debt repayments........... 965.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 619
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 346.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 85,000
Total Secured debt...................... -81,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -19,700
Net Assets.............................. -15,700

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

======== Enter any other useful information below ========

e.g. the number of adults & children in the household, the number

of cars included in the SOA or anything else that may be useful.

Sorry i havent got the APRS in but i wanted to get this done before bed.
I have tried applying for some 0% CC for balance transfers and been knocked back btw.

I think the first thing i have to do is have a serious chat with my partner... hes worse than me for wasting money,
and i seriously dont know what he does with some of it every month!!

Any advice would be very appreciated and ill try and answer all your questions honestly... just want to sort this now!!

Thanks in advance!

Hi and welcome to the board. I've put some comments above - some are from what I've learned just since July. I also suggest you look at upping your income through the £10 a day challenge or something similar. You could then use this money to either a) pay off your debts or b) to fund gifts and holidays rather than that coming out of your main income or debt repayment number.

APRS will help - you can then do the snowball calculator already mentioned and work out for yourself where you need to prioritise your debt repayment.

Moneylover_3

Thanks everyone...

My council tax is over 10 months so i will try payingoff more debt in feb/mar!

I know my gas/elec are rediculous but i have switched a few times and never found it to be any cheaper. Ill admit we arnt as energy efficient as we could be... especially my partner. We'll be having a firm talk about this and ill be trying my best to cut down!!

We dont pay water rates here in Glasgow.

I will look into switching phone/internet/cable etc. Only last year i called Virgin threatning to go to Sky and they cut my bills but i will try again. The mobile bill is for 2 phones so i didnt think that was too bad but will be cut back on.

The grocery bill is for 4 people... me, my partner, our 6 and 2 year old. Im quite good at cutting down on this when i need to... so will be putting in some extra effort.

Travel - its not possible for me to use public transport for work. I stay 25 mins drive from my work and i also drop my son off at his childminders first and that at 6.15 in the morning. The other travel is my partner train ticket/buses/taxis... our public transport is shockingly bad here!!

Other child expenses are my daughters dancing which is £9 a week and her Girls Brigade which is just £1 a week. This also includes £10 a month for each childs trust funds.

My home insurance is building and contents!!

I have no way of getting free childcare. I will look into the choldcare vouchers this weekend though. I do get them at work but when i did enquire about it, it didnt seem worth the hassle and i was lead to believe i wouldnt gain because my children are not in full time childcare. Will check it out though.

What kind of things can i do for the £10 a day challenge?? That sounds intersesting and i love a chanllenge!!