New SOA - Held and advice needed

parsamonious

brief history, myself and wife have sank into financial dificulty, no excuses, simply spending more than we earn. We've tried to borrow ourselves out of it but just gone further under, we're at the point that although we both have good jobs and earn well we simply don't earn enough to cover all our debts. We've sold the toys to cover monthly payments. Recently been to CAB who advise IVA and have an appointment with them. However reading this site it seems that we may have an alternative with CCCS. I've filled out their forms and reckon with CCCS and huge efforts to reduce our monthly expenditure we would possibly be able to avoid IVA. I'd really appreciate any thoughts, (already accept that the Sky will have to go, we get broadband phone & telephone package) We moved house just before the down turn in house prices (not in negative equity yet, but not really concerned as we don't plan to move for decades)



Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1570
Partners monthly income after tax....... 3262
Benefits................................ 72
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4904

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1198
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 195
Electricity............................. 29
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25.55
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 11.61
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 48
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 80
Petrol/diesel........................... 250
Road tax................................ 30
Car Insurance........................... 34
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 525
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 16
Life assurance ......................... 25
Other insurance......................... 185
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 80
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 100
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 3523.16

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 265000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 6000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 271000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 260000...(1198).....0
Total secured debts........... 260000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................11000.....258.......0
Loan...........................10500.....239.......0
Loan...........................4600......203.......0
Credit Card....................17500.....410.......0
Store Card.....................445.......42........0
Credit Card....................8862......222.......18.9
Loan...........................24500.....370.......0
Overdraft......................1000......50........0
Credit Card....................250.......7.........17.9
Credit Card....................12750.....241.......0
Total unsecured debts..........91407.....2042......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,904
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 3,523.16
Available for debt repayments........... 1,380.84
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 2,042
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -661.16

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 271,000
Total Secured debt...................... -260,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -91,407
Net Assets.............................. -80,407

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

======== Enter any other useful information below ========
two adults one child living in house, two cars (nothing flash)which we both need for work

scaredy_cat

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1570
Partners monthly income after tax....... 3262
Benefits................................ 72
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4904

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1198
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 195 - can you pay over 12 mths ?
Electricity............................. 29 - check to see if you can switch joint elec/gas to a cheaper supplier
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25.55
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 60 - rather high - how many phones is this for? switch to payg?
TV Licence.............................. 11.61
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 48
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 - very high - aim to get to about £250 , check the money saving old style boeards.
Clothing................................ 80 - this will have to go for a few months
Petrol/diesel........................... 250
Road tax................................ 30
Car Insurance........................... 34
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 525 - what are these?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 20 - check if you can get joined building/contents ins cheaper
Contents insurance...................... 16
Life assurance ......................... 25
Other insurance......................... 185 - rather high? what are they for
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 80 - per month!!!! this will have to go
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 100 - this will have to go
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 3523.16


Hi just a few commments, i've been a bit brutal i'm afraid, but IVA is not the way to go really! You'll need to tighten your belts and forgo a few luxuries for a while.

misspoppy

Hi

welcome to the boards. Just a few things for you to concider the food looks quite high as does your mobile and gas bill, is there any way you could look at these? Also whats the other insurance that costs £185 thats big monthly bill.

scaredy_cat

also, i've been making my shopping lists on http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/ and this site shows you the offers, tells you which store is cheaper and how much you can save if you swap brands.

I'm trying to stick to essentials and stay within my £25 pw budget!

savingholmes

scaredy_cat wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1570
Partners monthly income after tax....... 3262
Benefits................................ 72
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4904

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1198
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 195 - can you pay over 12 mths ?
Electricity............................. 29 - check to see if you can switch joint elec/gas to a cheaper supplier thro quidco or similar cash back site
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25.55
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 60 - rather high - how many phones is this for? switch to payg? Even if you are in a contract if you tell them you are struggling to pay they may willingly downgrade you - I understand you may also be able to sell your phone with its contract For 2 mobile we pay between £10 and £25 per month PAYG
TV Licence.............................. 11.61
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 48 - You may be able to downgrade to £20 with internet and phone still thrown in - ring and ask. Otherwise the cheapest Iv'e found for internet and phone is Talk Talk for £17 (go thro quidco or similar and you may get up to £50 cash back)
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 - very high - aim to get to about £250 , check the money saving old style boeards. Meal planning is the key and downshifting brands wherever possible - not achieved £250 myself yet tho:o
Clothing................................ 80 - this will have to go for a few months - I agree - I've probably spent £120 on myself in the whole year, not much on kids and about £20 on OH! Try Matalan or Primark for clothes, or if you must go designer - SALES only!
Petrol/diesel........................... 250 Is car sharing a possibility - can you get more people to come to you - is working from home occasionally a possibility
Road tax................................ 30
Car Insurance........................... 34 - when its time to renew go thro a cashback site
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 525 - what are these? Can either of you change your hours, get help to reduce costs
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20 - can you prepay and get cheaper, can you join a cashback club and claim the costs back - can you get your doctor to give 2-3 months prescriptions at once to lower the costs
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20 - look at this thro a cash back site - you may be able to get cheaper
Buildings insurance..................... 20 - check if you can get joined building/contents ins cheaper
Contents insurance...................... 16 I got mine down from £54 to £24 (joint) from the same company when I rang up - I did cancel some unnecessary items tho - if you change supplier go thro a cashback site!
Life assurance ......................... 25
Other insurance......................... 185 - rather high? what are they for (I agree what is this?)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30 - use the £10 a day challenge to get extra income to fund this - Look at the finished baskets thread for ideas...
Haircuts................................ 80 - per month!!!! this will have to go I'm more like £20-30 per month for a family of 4 which many on here feel is too high!
Entertainment........................... 40 You need something
Holiday................................. 100 - this will have to go - see if you can win any holidays thro survey sites - try mini-breaks but make sure you only use a set budget. on the amount of debt you're in one level you can't afford this on another it will take a long time to repay and we all need a break sometimes - just find a cheaper way of having one...
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 3523.16


Hi just a few commments, i've been a bit brutal i'm afraid, but IVA is not the way to go really! You'll need to tighten your belts and forgo a few luxuries for a while.

I don't know much about IVAs apart from they shouldn't be your first resort. You do have lots of areas in there that you can cut back on first before thinking of going down that route.

If you look at your credit cards - if you can move any to one of the MBNA banks then your minimum payment would be more like £25 per month which might be easier to pay. I think Halifax have also reduced their minimum repayments.

A dmp would be a better option probably than an iva anyway. You could pm CCCS_Sarah for advice on that... alternatively you can do their debt remedy on line...

fatbelly

We are normally quite negative about IVAs on this board, but this may be one of those rare cases where it is appropriate.

Have you read Martin's guide here?

You have 91k of unsecured debt, £1400 of available income per month and a house about to slide into negative equity.

I can see why the CAB mentioned an IVA. And they have nothing to gain from that suggestion (unlike CCCS/Payplan). Another impartial source of advice would be National Debtline. They do a factsheet here

parsamonious

Thanks for your responses folks.

We will look at the areas identified by you all to cut back on spending but feel that it's just tinkering around at the dges of the problem really. Ultimately we need to decide whether or not we go down the IVA route. I think we'll call the National Debtline to get their opinion to see how it compares to CBA.

Can't help but feel it's just putting off the inevitable though.

Thanks again.