Absolutely desperate here

sarahg1969

Removed......

sophie27

Hello!

What does your hubby do for a living? Asking due to high Car Maintenance and Other Travel Expenses.

There are lots of experts on here who will help with your SOA and ways to drive it down. The phone bill seems quite high? Nearly hundred a month.

Sophie x

krisskross

Do not fret too much. I am not at all good as this but someone better will be along soon. Just didn't want to read and run.

!st things that jump out at me are your food bill (:eek:), holiday and emergency savings. Think your emergency has arrived and you will have to stop that for a while.

poorandindenial

sarahg1969 wrote: »

font=courier new]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 3500
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 100
Total monthly income.................... 4800

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1350
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 182 (if you don't alreay pay over twelve months instead of ten then ask your council of you can do this as it mskes it more regular and manageable)
Electricity............................. 75
Gas..................................... 96 (gas and leccy are high - make sure you only have the heating on when you really need it, don't leave things on standby, use energy saving bulbs, turn of things when not in use etc etc)
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 95.5
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 38
Internet Services....................... 20 (phone, internet and TV come to £150+ ditch as much as possible and/or switch to an all inclusive £30 deal with Sky)
Groceries etc. ......................... 600 (this can be done for less, get over to the old style board and check out suggestions for meal planning and cheaper meals)
Clothing................................ 50 (trim this back if possible)
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 35
Car Insurance........................... 80
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 200
Car parking............................. 5
Other travel............................ 350 (is this for the kids, it is quite a bit on top of two cars)
Childcare/nursery....................... 120
Other child related expenses............ 200 (what is this for?)
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 40
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100 (this can be reduced)
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 250 (this may have to go until you are more on track)
Emergency fund.......................... 150 (you have no cash asset - are you actually spending this each month? if so then don't factor it in until you are in a better position to have an emergency fund)
Pension................................. 150
Total monthly expenses.................. 4583.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 240000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 242000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 180......(1350).....6.4
Total secured debts........... 180.......-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
car loan.......................2000......150.......7.9
credit card....................4000......150.......18.9
northern rock..................6000......232.......8.9
overdraft......................15000.....180.......10
Total unsecured debts..........27000.....712.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,800
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 4,583.5
Available for debt repayments........... 216.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 712
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -495.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 242,000
Total Secured debt...................... -180
Total Unsecured debt.................... -27,000
Net Assets.............................. 214,820

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.[/font]

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.[/font]


What do we do??!! We have let this drag on and on and we've now got to the end of the road, but I've never been in this position before, and I'm stumped, and very, very scared.

Hi there

A few suggestions from me, the numbers look scary at first but I think you can make headway by trimming back your SOA and if you also do an extra day then that should mean you are sorted.

I am sure lots of other useful people will be along in a bit - all the best and try not to worry too much - there IS a way to sort this out.

sunshine38_2

Hi there and Welcome

The first thing that jumps out at me is that you have four children and there's nothing listed for benefits received - do you not get child benefit?

Of course there are already lovely folk giving advice on the rest of your SOA but I just wondered, given the size of your overdraft, whether you could both look at opening new bank accounts and getting your salaries/any benefits paid into the new one, then set up your DDs/SOs as necessary and THEN contact your current bank to arrange monthly repayments of the overdraft? I know that will mean an additional regular outgoing but I think, with some shaving off in other areas, you would be able to manage something. If you are paying £180 in interest alone, you could make that a repayment figure and have your money safely in a bank account somewhere else where they cannot touch your money. Just an idea ...

Good luck!

Sunshine

~Beanie~

sarahg1969 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 3500
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 100
Total monthly income.................... 4800

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1350
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 182
Electricity............................. 75
Gas..................................... 96
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 95.5 - that is ridiculous, cut it down!!
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 38 - cancel it and watch Freeview
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 600 - Way too high unless you have about 1o kids
Clothing................................ 50 - cut it for a while
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 35 - Every month?
Car Insurance........................... 80 - Again, every month? What do you drive?
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 200 - Surely not monthly...
Car parking............................. 5
Other travel............................ 350 - What on earth is this for when you are paying so much in car expenses?
Childcare/nursery....................... 120
Other child related expenses............ 200 - What is this for?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 40
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100 - Cut this
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 100 - Cut this
Holiday................................. 250 - you can't afford this at the momont
Emergency fund.......................... 150 - as above
Pension................................. 150 - can this be suspended for a while?
Total monthly expenses.................. 4583.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 240000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 242000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 180......(1350).....6.4
Total secured debts........... 180.......-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
car loan.......................2000......150.......7.9
credit card....................4000......150.......18.9
northern rock..................6000......232.......8.9
overdraft......................15000.....180.......10
Total unsecured debts..........27000.....712.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,800
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 4,583.5
Available for debt repayments........... 216.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 712
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -495.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 242,000
Total Secured debt...................... -180
Total Unsecured debt.................... -27,000
Net Assets.............................. 214,820

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.[/font]

You are £500 odd short each month from what I can see.

How many of you are there? Your grocery bill is very high.

Also car/travel expenses. What have you got, two Porches or something? You seem to be spending a hell of a lot each month! Can you downgrade your cars/s?

sarahg1969

Urgh. I made some mistakes in my panic to get it all down. Will clarify:

Phone - this is high and can't be cut down. Phone is used for business and comes out of joint a/c.
Sky - yes, think we will.
Clothing - just a guess, but haven't bought for a while. Just when we need to. Uniform is expensive.
£100 "other" is child benefit.
Road tax - yes, two cars road tax just over £200 a year each.
Car insurance - yes, and have just cut down.
Car maintenance - they have cost a fortune in repairs recently. Hopefully all sorted now.
Groceries - will have to cut down, but we're not extravagant (and I've one at uni who I buy for separately)
Other travel - £350. I put this in the wrong section because I couldn't see how to add another thing. It is a monthly cost out of joint account for online advertising - very high, and we do stop it occasionally, but it HAS to be done at least at some level.
Child expenses - £200 - very expensive hobbies, unfortunately, but we definitely need to cut down.
Presents - will cut down, but just a guesstimate, really.
Entertainment - have cut down recently.
Holiday - we don't save, but it's what I guessed was the average cost of our annual holiday. Nothing even remotely in the pipeline for 2009.
Emergency fund - it's not sitting there; it's just what I estimated for household breakdowns/unexpected expenses, etc
Pension - don't know. It should be really.

Cars are both old-ish and of no value, but do cost a lot to run, I guess. Would probably cost more to buy a smaller one (we do need one larger one realistically).

Thanks all for the helpful suggestions. The new bank account sounds a particularly good idea, and we'll definitely have to trim a lot of unnecessary stuff off. Will also look to change suppliers to get better deals.

chunkytfg

200 quid a month on car expenses? assuming you have 2 mot's a year which works out under a tenner a month then i'm guessing this is your yearly figure?

I do over 35,000 miles a year out of my own pocket(not company car) and pay about £30 a month in running costs!

That plus drop the emergancy find as it is obviouls y not being saved otherwise you would be showing cash assets and also holidays are out of the question until you are out of your hole and bingo you are some ~£500 a month better off.

Then sort out your other bits people have mentioned and away you go you're making ends meet and actually paying off the debt rather than just servicing the interest!

chunkytfg

sarahg1969 wrote: »

Urgh. I made some mistakes in my panic to get it all down. Will clarify:

Phone - this is high and can't be cut down. Phone is used for business and comes out of joint a/c.
Sky - yes, think we will.
Clothing - just a guess, but haven't bought for a while. Just when we need to. Uniform is expensive.
£100 "other" is child benefit.
Road tax - yes, two cars road tax just over £200 a year each.
Car insurance - yes, and have just cut down.
Car maintenance - they have cost a fortune in repairs recently. Hopefully all sorted now. So no longer costing 200 a month?
Groceries - will have to cut down, but we're not extravagant (and I've one at uni who I buy for separately) Cant he get a part time job and pay his own way?
Other travel - £350. I put this in the wrong section because I couldn't see how to add another thing. It is a monthly cost out of joint account for online advertising - very high, and we do stop it occasionally, but it HAS to be done at least at some level. Does this go thorugh the accounts? I.e no tax paid on it?
Child expenses - £200 - very expensive hobbies, unfortunately, but we definitely need to cut down. HOw old are they what are the hobbies?
Presents - will cut down, but just a guesstimate, really.
Entertainment - have cut down recently.
Holiday - we don't save, but it's what I guessed was the average cost of our annual holiday. Nothing even remotely in the pipeline for 2009. If nothing in the piepline then it doesnt get included in the SOA.
Emergency fund - it's not sitting there; it's just what I estimated for household breakdowns/unexpected expenses, etc . Unless you are actually planning on having £150 a month put aside and not used then scrap it out of the SOA as all it is doing is making the figure look worse than they actually are? Push comes to shove if you manage to pay off some of the CC's then the remaining room on them can be used to dire emergancies
Pension - don't know. It should be really.

Cars are both old-ish and of no value, but do cost a lot to run, I guess. Would probably cost more to buy a smaller one (we do need one larger one realistically). What cars are they and how old?

Thanks all for the helpful suggestions. The new bank account sounds a particularly good idea, and we'll definitely have to trim a lot of unnecessary stuff off. Will also look to change suppliers to get better deals.

Hope that is of some help.

I reality you earn alot of money between you and i'm sure you are thinking how can we get in this mess when we earn so much? I know i did. Just be aware that no matter what your circumstances, be it a kid struggling to pay off a 250 quid loan to his parent right through to 100k a year CEO's if you are in trouble finacially then we wont judge and will only try and help.

smallfish_3

Morning Sarah, I hope you're feeling ok today. I noticed you've mentioned some amendments to your soa and thought it might help you to get a look at how this and other's suggestions change your budget. Not actually posted here before so bear with me if this copy&paste doesn't work, I honestly want to help and not confuse this thread but not sure how this will look once I've pressed send?!

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 3500
Benefits................................ 0 100
Other income............................ 100 0
Total monthly income.................... 4800

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1350 This looks like repayment, will your provider allow you to swap to interset only for the short term while you clear your debts?
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 182 if this is a 10mthly fig then changing it to 12 mthly reduces it to 152
Electricity............................. 75 you've said you've changed suppliers so this should reduce too.
Gas..................................... 96 ditto
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 95.5
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 38 0 with freeview (OK, I do acknowledge you have to pay about 50 for the box, try freecycle/ebay for a cheap one)
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 600 400 should be easy to manage with no brand/value and OS advice - I feed 4 on less than 200 pcm
Clothing................................ 50 25 - No new clothes except kids/underwear this year
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 35
Car Insurance........................... 80
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 200 Other's have queried this, I'm sure you're on to it but could be another big svaing here if youv'e covered the recent problems already and for the foreseeable future the cars should be ok (admittedly I use the word 'should' hesitantly re cars!)
Car parking............................. 5
Other travel............................ 350
Childcare/nursery....................... 120 Not sure what this is for unless your children range from university to preschool age which is eminently possible of course.
Other child related expenses............ 200 100? Without knowing waht your children do it's hard to guess how much this could be cut back but if they do more than 1 activity each p/wk then I think you're going to have to tell them to pick their fave and drop any others. If they only do 1 a week as it is, it may be a case of asking teachers to allow them a 'break' if poss while you get back on your feet therefore allowing your children to step back in once you've got money spare
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 40
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100 50 (some may suggest lower but I appreciate you have 4 children tho it sounds like at least some are old enough to appreciate there are lean years ahead, in general presents only for immediate family this year.
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 100 50 difficult to justify more with a 15k overdraft even if you have good salaries, I know cos my DH has this difficulty equating his income with his expenditure!
Holiday................................. 250 0 this year, as you suggested
Emergency fund.......................... 150 0, as you and others have clarified, THIS is your emergency
Pension................................. 150 ? You say, "don't know. It should be really." Does this mean you do make a mthly payment but don't know exactly how much or that you don't know if you're making one but should be? Either way is it possible to cancel/reduce payments right now? I know this might not seem sensible longterm advice but you're struggling to cover the present, you might have to sacrifice a little of your future for the time being. I'm sure a member with pension expertise will be along to contradict me if I'm wrong and happy to accept if I am, just a suggestion though

Total monthly expenses.................. 4583.5 3690

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 240000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 242000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 180......(1350).....6.4 should this be 180000? It doesn't make sense otherwise I'm afraid
Total secured debts........... 180.......-.........- 180000

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
car loan.......................2000......150.......7.9
credit card....................4000......150.......18.9
northern rock..................6000......232.......8.9
overdraft......................15000.....180...... .10
Total unsecured debts..........27000.....712.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,800
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 4,583.5 3690
Available for debt repayments........... 216.5 1110
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 712
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -495.5 +398 better already huh And that's jsut with a bit of cutting back.

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 242,000
Total Secured debt...................... -180 180000? I feel really mean now!
Total Unsecured debt.................... -27,000
Net Assets.............................. 214,820 30000 but that's still 30k up!

Well, if someone's beaten me to this while I've been typing, apologies for the repetition but just thought it might help. All the best!

Thefunkygibbons

In addition to comments above, make sure that the hubby is being very tough on payments terms

People should understand that cash is king right now and better to turn now work than do it and then not get paid