I'm going to do it

Iateallthepies

Hey some of you might remember that I signed on here maybe 3 /4 weeks ago telling you that I did not know where the money ment each month and I got some very helpful comments back from you all offering advise and suggesting that I complete and post an expenditure chart. Well would you beleive that my pc suffered a big and total crash the next day and I could not afford to get it looked at until now.
I have been able to log on occasionally at work but not to download the chart. I hereby swear that if you guys and gals give me another chance I will complete the chart, face my "fears" and, most importantly, start to clear my debt.

magni

Weclome back and good luck:D

Iateallthepies

OK here it is
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1574
Partners monthly income after tax....... 480
Benefits................................ 400
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2454

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 400
Secured loan repayments................. 120
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 190
Electricity............................. 45
Gas..................................... 45
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 25
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 500
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 500
Road tax................................ 37
Car Insurance........................... 60
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 45
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100
Haircuts................................ 100
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2302

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 200000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 201000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 75000....(400)......0
Secured Debt.................. 0........(120)......0
Total secured debts........... 75000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
overdraft......................2900......0.........0
loan...........................3000......120.......0
Total unsecured debts..........5900......120.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,454
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 2,302
Available for debt repayments........... 152
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 120
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 32

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 201,000
Total Secured debt...................... -75,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,900
Net Assets.............................. 120,100

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. Not accurate down to the penny but pretty close. Just one bank charge a month and I am over my limit. Time to pull my head out of the sand (polite version) and start dealing with debt. Help and encouragement gratefully received!

Dizzie77

Well that's the first step pies....It's a bit like an addiction you know, the hardest step is to admit that there is a problem and seek help.

There is lots of help and support on these boards.

And don't ever feel that a question is too stupid to ask....!!!

:beer:

katie2407

just had a quick look at your SOA

How many in your house £500 for groceries is a lot
£500 for petrol how many cars
haircuts £100 a month is too expensive

hula-hoops

How many people in your household? £500 on groceries is a huge amount but if there are 12 of you it might be realistic.

£500 a month on motoring is something you just cannot afford. We have never had a car (neither me or my DH has a driving licence) and we manage to get everywhere by bike, on foot or public transport and it costs us the grand total of £54 a month.

doodledo_2

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Well done posting your SOA it's a brilliant first step.

A few things jump out at me:

£500 on groceries is huge, how many people is this for? Unless you have a huge family I am pretty sure some major savings could be made here?

£100 every month for haircuts, again this is a lot how many is this for?

£500 Petrol is really high, is this because of the type of car or the mileage you do? Is this work related?

Car Insurance is high - is this a high performance car? Just looking everything relating to your car is quite high, is this the type of car?

Contents insurance is high I just renewed mine at £22 a month and it had unlimited cover. Maybe need to hunt around when renewal due.

You need to add in the amount of your unsecured loan even if only a guess as showing as nil but a £120 payment.

Your unsecured debts are at a manageable level and I am pretty sure with some tweeking of your outgoings you could soon start shifting these.

Good luck.

CAFCGirl

Hello :j
Added in some comments below....

Iateallthepies wrote: »

OK here it is
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1574
Partners monthly income after tax....... 480
Benefits................................ 400
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2454

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 400
Secured loan repayments................. 120
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 190 What band is your house in, as this seems really high to me? Does this include arrears?
Electricity............................. 45Is this DD? Can you limit your usage to make extra savings
Gas..................................... 45 Same as above really
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 25
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 :eek: Sweet jesus! How many are you feeding? This can be cut right back!
Clothing................................ 50 Do you have children? If so I can understand this with uniforms etc, but is there any way of cutting back on non school/non work clothes for a while
Petrol/diesel........................... 500Nearly wet myself there! Where are you driving to? Is it a daily commute? My only suggestion with that would be to get a cashback credit card and pay for all your petrol with that, and then pay off the balance every month and earn money back on what you spend.
Road tax................................ 37
Car Insurance........................... 60Very high are you sure you're getting the best deal? When is this up for renewal?
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 45Same as with the car insurance, thats pretty darn high
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100Cut this back to £50 a month, save it in a seperate account somewhere so when the big pressie season comes round, you're not trying to pay it all out of one months salary
Haircuts................................ 100 Grow your hair
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2302

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 200000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 201000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 75000....(400)......0
Secured Debt.................. 0........(120)......0
Total secured debts........... 75000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
overdraft......................2900......0.........0
loan...........................3000......120.......0
Total unsecured debts..........5900......120.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,454
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 2,302
Available for debt repayments........... 152
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 120
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 32

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 201,000
Total Secured debt...................... -75,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,900
Net Assets.............................. 120,100

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. Not accurate down to the penny but pretty close. Just one bank charge a month and I am over my limit. Time to pull my head out of the sand (polite version) and start dealing with debt. Help and encouragement gratefully received!

By making some of the savings I've outlined, you could easily clear your overdraft and loan within the next year.
A lot of it is simply learning new habits and altering behaviour slightly. You're probably just in the habit of spending a lot on groceries and end up feeling like you've never got anything to eat!
Use up what you have got, make a trip over to the OS Style board, meal plan and a little bit of organisation on that aspect I think could easily save you £250. Forget branded goods, buy supermarket own brand (not necessarily value stuff), as a lot of this stuff is made by the brand names anyway and just sold under different names/packaging.

Your car which you only valued at £1,000 is costing you £720 a year in insurance anyway, is it really worth it? Can you get rid of the car and go with public transport for a bit? The petrol is really really high, try to limit your usage.

Your partners salary is down as almost £500 which I'm presuming is part time? Is there any way this could be increased.... if you do have children there was nothing listed for child expenses, but perhaps your partner is studying part time?

Few questions from me:rotfl: Hope I haven't overloaded.

Well done and congratulations on posting your SOA up, thats one of the toughest hurdles to overcome, and you'll find an absolute wealth of support and knowledge on the boards and I look forward to hearing about how you get on

Iateallthepies

Some explanations

Firstly thanks everyone for the effort you are putting in to helping somenoe you have never met and dont know.

We have three kids and two cars. OPne is a Chrysler Grand Voyager with a 3.3 litre petrol engine which my wife drives to ferry the children (ours and a friends) to and from school then on to work. Checking back the haircut figure is a little high and is nearer half this amount the food estimate however is pretty near the mark and this is something I am desperate to get under control. The council tax band does include arrears (which I am disputing as payments were made on my behalf when I was unemployed and then claimed back as my wife worked part time.)

I love the idea re a credit card to pay fuel and then pay off in full and am applying for a Virgin card straight away as can then put (some of) my overdraft on it for up to 16 months interest free. I am determined that 2009 will be the year I make a change for the better.

Thanks again.

Bunnyinthelights

Change the car. A 3.3? Is that really necessary?

Get a mobile hairdresser to come to the house to do your hair-or do it yourself-sorry, but I think £600 a year on hair is way too high, and Im a high maintenance kinda girl!

CAFCGirl

Just a thought, if your wife is taking your friends kids to work, do they give you anything toward it.
I know your wife is going that way anyway but your friend is making a saving but not having to take their kids so a little something toward it would be nice i'd have thought.

What is your other car? Do agree a 3.3 is rather large for a daily commute and the school run....

You really need to get that food bill down, as thats astronomically high for a family of 5... how old are your kids?

Are you and your wife joint in your attempts to pay down the debts? Can your wife start working full time?
How much do you owe in council tax arrears and where are you with disputing this.

I'd say now is the time to get pretty strict with yourself and the family before the debts spiral as youre literally spending everything you own...
And plus a this stage your unsecured debts could be paid off in a reasonably short time if you knuckled down to it.