SOA help needed please!

can-almost-see-the-light

Hi there

I have been a long time lurker on this board for over a year now and just love reading everyones diaries and progress etc. I am hoping you can help us to lower our monthly expenditure so we can become DFW a little faster!!!

A little background info first:

We are in debt because we have been stupid with money from the beginning! I really cannot put it down to anything else. We both earn good money and there is NO excuse!!

We had our first LBM about 3 years ago a week before our wedding. We were hoping to move from our flat to a house to start a family until it dawned on me that with the debt we had, I could not become a stay at home mum or drop down to part time work. I will not start a family until we are financially secure and can do either of these things!

We are in our thirties now so really need to get a move on! We did manage to pay back some debts and move to a lovely house but it did need stuff doing to it to make it habitable (it was an absolute bargain!). We obtained more credit (i know, i know!!!) but it is all done now!

December 2007 - second LBM! We sat down, wrote all our debts down and decided to debt bust until we became DF. I also discovered around this time that I had a crafting skill I never knew existed until then! I have since used it to my advantage to make additional income each month.

We are now half way there. 2008, we managed to pay back just over £16k (without the min payments) and we are hoping to pay the rest back by December 2009! My real achievement for 2008 though is learning to live within our means. I was a spendaholic and have now learned how to stop this terrible habit! YAY!!!!!!

SOA posted below - any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Monthly Income Details

Monthly income after tax................ 1650 - fixed each month
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2250 - varies between 2250 & 2500
2nd Job ............................ 300 - varies between 300 & 600

Total monthly income.................... 4200

Monthly Expense Details

Mortgage................................ 1297
Council tax............................. 98
Electricity and Gas ............................. 60
Water rates............................. 14.62
Telephone (land line) and broadband................... 30
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 11.63
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 40
Groceries & clothing .......................... 400
Petrol/diesel........................... 200 - 2 cars
Road tax................................ 25 - 2 cars
Car Insurance........................... 55 - 2 cars
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 75 - 2 cars (1 old)
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 17 - 2 cats
Buildings & contents insurance..................... 18.25
Life assurance x2 ......................... 67 (this is cheapest i could find)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 - saved and used mostly for xmas
Haircuts................................ 40
Entertainment........................... 35
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Breakdown cover......................... 8.59

Total monthly expenses.................. 2642.09

Unsecured Debts

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Tesco Credit Card..............6000......120.......0
RBS Credit Card................3340......70........16.9
Egg Credit Card................2283......50........16.9
Family.........................6500......221.......0
Accessory Credit Card..........1630......50........19.
Total unsecured debts..........19753.....511.......

Monthly Budget Summary

Total monthly income.................... 4,200
Expenses (including secured debts)...... 2,642.09
Available for debt repayments........... 1,557.91
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 511
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 1,046.91




Thanks x

hypno06

So, on paper you are in a decent surplus, but I suspect the reality is far from this.

Which means that over £1000 is going "somewhere"! So, from today, get yourself a spending diary, and write down every single penny that you spend, to find out where it is going.

It is only when you know where it is going, that you can tackle it properly.

Or is this £1000 what you are using for the additional debt repayments? In which case, it looks fine to me!

Numpty_Monkey

:hello:Hi
Why has it taken a year to post:eek::p

I'd go along with hypno on the where the money goes part
A spending diary is a good thing to keep

Have you used the snowball calc?
http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx?country=uk
Pay offf the highest APR's first , min on the rest, when the highest APR is paid, use the money to pay off the next highest:D

You could cut the grocery bill to half that
I'm not sure but you could probably get breakdown cover for less and get cashback
same as all insurence use Martins article about insurence

:A

can-almost-see-the-light

Thanks for the replies guys.

The surplus £1k + has been going on debt repayments so there is no need to keep a spending diary as such - we dont really spend until it comes to grocery shopping. We have spent the last year doing nothing but working ....

I really wanted reassurance that we are saving all we possibly can and not wasting money anywhere really .....

Thanks again x

mbs1

agree with above. food cut be cut,

also £500 a year on Haircuts!

But it looks as tho your surplus should bring that dfd closer and closer

can-almost-see-the-light

Just been looking on the old style boards and have things in mind now to cut that grocery bill!! Will try and write lists from now on and only buy essentials!! I really have had trouble cutting this down.

Haircuts ..... now you put it like that it does seem like a ridiculous amount of money .....

x

dancingfairy

Hi. Here are my comments for you:
Mortgage................................ 1297
Council tax............................. 98
Electricity and Gas ............................. 60
Water rates............................. 14.62
Telephone (land line) and broadband................... 30
Mobile phone............................ 50 how many is this for? if it's just the one it's rather high :eek:
TV Licence.............................. 11.63
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 40 would you be willing to sacrifice this to become debt free sooner? or could you lower the package?
Groceries & clothing .......................... 400 :eek: this seems mega huge - you should be nearer 250 for food (which is still very generous). And as for clothes - do you really need any clothes at the moment?
Petrol/diesel........................... 200 - 2 cars
Road tax................................ 25 - 2 cars
Car Insurance........................... 55 - 2 cars
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 75 - 2 cars (1 old)
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 17 - 2 cats
Buildings & contents insurance..................... 18.25
Life assurance x2 ......................... 67 (this is cheapest i could find)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 - saved and used mostly for xmas
Haircuts................................ 40 well this could be cut (excuse the pun ) could you just get a trim? get a mobile hairdresser - I think they are a lot cheaper as don't have the same overheads? try home colouring? try using curling tongs if wanting a permed look, etc? maybe try and find a model session at the hairdressers or check out the local college for trainees (supervised of course).
Entertainment........................... 35
Emergency fund.......................... 50 how much do you have in your emergency fund? do you need to keep topping it up this much or would this be better put towards your debt? this is a personal decision as obviously it depends on how much you already have put aside and your own circumstances and attitude to risk ie which is riskier - using it pay off your debts and then perhaps not getting new credit if there were unfoseen circumstances or hanging on to it when you could have used it to pay off your debt and be debt free quicker and pay less interest - it's a very tough decision.
Breakdown cover......................... 8.59

Well there's quite a lot for you to consider there - it really depends how much you are willing to sacrifice to move your debt free date closer - your SOA does not look horendous but it would be possible to survive (and live reasonably well as well) on a lot less.
Best of Luck
df

hypno06

Old style really is a fantastic place for getting costs down. And they are a friendly bunch

can-almost-see-the-light

Thanks dancing fairy and hypno - you have given us alot to think about. It hadnt really occured to me that £400 was alot for food etc per month - there is only the two of us so I can see now where it can be trimmed down.

And the hair thing ....... Can definately see that that has to go for the time being .....

Emergency fund ..... have approx £600 in there at the mo so that would easily cover a new washing machine etc if we needed it. Will put that on hold for now and put the extra towards my debts.

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped ..... x

beanielou

£400 is a lot for food esp for two.
You could try to cut it down gradually month by month.
That would help your Df date.

prudence41

Your telephone/broadband/mobile/satellite TV cost is a combined £120 per month. You might be able to make further savings by bundling some of these services with a single provider. There's plenty of help on the site for you to do the research and comparison.

Well done for posting as a DFW.