confussed, concerned and not sure what to do

bingbong_3

I hope I can get some advice and guidance as I desperately need someone else to look at my situation who has been there and done that etc..

My situation is that I am about to close my business down as not making enough money. I am going to get a job back in sales as this is what I used to do and was earning £40k. I don't think the new job will pay quite as much but I am hopeful that I can secure a job by the end of January at £30k.
My wife earns £25k.

My debts are as follows: -

£19500 loan to HSBC ( this is the settlement figure ) Loan has 3yrs 3mths to run @ £550 per month.
£6000 overdrawn with the same bank.

The loan is unsecured, and is a small business loan.

Personally we have a loan with First Direct (part of HSBC) which is £12,750. Unsecured.

Mortgage is around £125,000 through HSBC and we have kept all payments upto date.

I anticipate that when I get employment we will have a monthly net income of £3000 minimum combined.

I have an excellent credit rating and have never missed a payment and intend to honour all loans etc. I don't want to have to switch banks as First Direct have always been first class and I believe if you go down the IVA route it can mean you lose your bank account??

Our monthly outgoings including all bills and mortgage, food etc is £2350. This figure does not include the business loans of course.

This gives me a disposale income of £650 but does not give us any savings incase something happens to the house.

We do not have any credit card debt.

I am also trying to get a second job from Feb onwards which I hope will bring in a further £800 net into the house.

What would you suggest about my current situation - is there anything that can make life a little better to look at as at the moment it looks grim to me.

Please help if possible.

skintchick

Hi - I think you need to poast your SOA - details of all your outgoings, so we can see where you can save, etc.

£650 disposable sounds like an awful lot to me, so I reckon we should be able to help you, possibly without the IVA route.

We also need APRs on your debts.

Thanks

bingbong_3

HI

Thanks for the information. I have doen a break down of costs and this is as follows: -

Mortgage £845 per month ( HSBC )
Home Ins £42.61 per month ( Pru )
Council £112.00 per month
Water £24.24 pm
Gas £40.00 pm
Elec £26.00 pm
Mobiles £59.00 pm for two phones ( wife and mine )
Cleaner £112.20 pm
Healthcare £81.09 via Health Online and is the cheapest for cover we have.
Pet Insurance £22.60 via Directline for 2 mini schnauzers
Food £280 per month including dog food.
Eating Out/Takeaway £60 pm
Meals at work £64.95 pm
Wifes Car £309.82 pm including £238.15 Fuel as she does high mileage
Personal Loan £339.37 with First Direct at 5.8% APR. Approx 40 months left.
Student Loan £28.47 pm only about £150 left to pay
Love Film £14.99 pm
Wifes Hobbies £32 pm
Cinema £20.00 pm
Wifes University Fees £62.50 pm
Magazines £20.00 pm
Wifes Work Fees £17.34 pm
Life Insurance £49.47 pm
BT Bill £48.33 pm on average including broadband and phone.

Total £2711.98

Business Loan is £550 per month at 9.1% APR. The settlement figure for this is £19,500.
My business account is overdrawn by approx £5000.

I owe my Mother in Law £2900. We pay money to her when we can.
I owe my Dad £1600. Same as above.


Income into the house is £1500 net from wifes salary.
When I get a job ( I have 2 interviews this week ) I hope to bring in £1500 net per month also. This gives £3000 net per month.
I will have a job earning commission which will vary per month but may bring in an additional £1000 net. Also I plan on getting a commission only night job which could possibly see an extra £1000 before tax from March onwards.

I hasten to add that the last 2 comments are not in anyway guaranteed. Whilst I realise that it would be great to bring in £5000 net per month I think its best to work on the worst case scenario. I hope to gain employment by mid Jan at the latest.

In an ideal world I would like to keep my bank account as First Direct have been nothing but fantastic to me during the time I have banked with them.

Again your advice is appreciated.

Thanks and Regards,

Bing Bong!!

bonnie_2

sorry to be harsh but i can see straight away where you are going wrong.
1. health cover £81.09 why do you need this.
2. cleaner £112.20.
3.food £280, plus £64.95 meals at work, takeaways £60.i feed 4 between £30 and £50 a week.
4.love film £14.99 what on earth is this.
5.hobbies £32
6. cinema £20.00
7. home phone £48.33 and mobile £59.00 why do you need both at such high costs.
8. magazines £20.
making a total of £512.56 spent on luxurys. have you got any savings what would happen if anything went wrong.
i can see that you have a good salary but you are still overspending and need to cut the cloth to suit the means.

xlt_hunter

you beaten me bonnie as I was about to say the same thing £405 is alot to spend on food if there is only 2 people in the house?

bonnie_2

i know i had a chuckle myself thought it was a typo error at first.

bingbong_3

Hi

Thanks for your comments and I can see your point.
In response to your questions: -
Health Cover is because you cannot rely on the NHS. I do work daily for people with either terminal or serious illnesses and they have all spoken about their bad experiences with the NHS.

Cleaner - Good Point and this is something that could/should go.
Food - I have been honest, I am not sure how you can feed 4 people for avg £40 pw.
Is £1.66 ( food at work ) per person per day a lot to spend on food??
Also is 1 meal out per month or 3 takeaways a lot to spend £60 on?
Love Film is DVD rental.
Cinema is 1 night out per month. Hobbies is wife football and meditation.
Home phone includes broadband and line rental and the mobile is for 2 mobiles not one.
Magazines is really the maximum spent.

We don't smoke, drink or even own a TV. I realise I probably spend too much which is exactly why I am looking to be told this on this website. I want to change things and want to know if what we do is being unrealistic?

Thanks for your comment.

bingbong_3

what is a realistic budget to spend per month on food for 2 people and 2 dogs then?

bonnie_2

£100. plan your meals and write a shopping list. only buy what you need.
try to cook everything from scratch. dont know about dog food ,marraiges do cheap bags of food in bulk. you 2 should easily be able to eat for £25.00 a week.

bonnie_2

ps. you can always come round asda with me and ill show you. todays shopping come to £37 with 2 xmas presents which were £5.90 so it can be done. food you have at work ammounts to £780 a year.
try adding all your luxurys up into yearly figures and it gives you a shock.
i had my lightbulb moment 3 years ago and have now cleared my debt. hubby will have cleared is a in a year and a half by listening to the advice on here.
you always think you need all these things but you dont and when there gone it actually makes you feel better and you get more of a feeling of security, if that makes sense to you.

tomstickland

I've had a quick skim through the numbers and your situation appears rescuable. Take the advice above and cut back on expenditure to bump your expendable up from £600 to more like £1100 per month. You have around £26K of business debt, so that's 26 months of paying it back I can see.

You should be bringing in just over £3000 pcm between you once you have a job. Your mortgage is around £800. If you could wind in expenditure down to £700 then total outgoings would be around £1500 pcm, so you could put £1500 towards debt payment.