SOA looking grim :( Can I be debt free by July 2010?

cheekymonkey20

Need a bit of advise and encoragement to help me get in gear to sort out my finances.

I have included my current SOA and Debts so that all can see and help to advise on ways to help.

I hope to be debt free by July 2010 as I am due to remortgage on this month, and due to the current market am in negative equity, now things MIGHT change by then but i'm not hopefull. So wish to only have a mortgage as my only debt to better my situation.

SOA is:

Income - me - £15,500 per annum, £1035 per month after tax - company car tax = £33, and plus £13 mobile allowance and £14.99 internet allowance. Giving £1029.99 after tax

OH - £6.75 per hour, £180 per week after tax, gets paid weekly but works out £780 per calander month

(we have lost £8500 in income since perchasing our flat)

Mtg = £663.28 - interest only 33yrs 7mths remaining
Council Tax = £94.00
NHS card = £10.50 (have to get a lot on prescription p/mth)
Ground Rent & Mainenance = £71.87
TV License = £12.01
Electricity = £70.00
Mobiles = £120.00 (have looked to lower both my and OH cannot do so until April 08)
Contents = £7.41 (have shopped around for this each year and is cheapest)
BT = £40.00
Loan = £223.89 (67 months remaining at 6.4%)
Life Cover = £14.58
Water = £21.21
MBNA C/C = £25.00 which is minimum payment
Mint C/C = £16.00 again min payment
Sky = £19.00
Halifax = £30.00 (£14 is the min payment)
Capital One = £43.00 (min payment OH's debt)
Burton = £10.00 min payment again OH's debt
Food = £150.00
Bus = £65.00
Fags = £112.67 (£26 per week)

So thats a total of £1809.42 per month outgoings
And £1809.99 per month income

We are looking at changing the phone and b'band to sky which will have £10.50 line rental plus £10 for the both, reducing it by £19.50

I am also currently in the process of changing electricity supply to the cheapest on the market which is £62 per month saving £8.00

I am quiting smoking but OH doesn't want to quit which will save £56 per month

Also going to do the grocery challange and see if i can get my food bills less than £100 per month.

My debts are as follows:

MBNA - 15.9% - £842.45
Mint - 15.9% - £734.25 (4 months left as 0%)
Halifax - 15.9% - £707.66
Mum - £2485 - 0% she said i can pay her back when i have the money
NatWest Loan - £15000.63 as balance plus interest showing on online banking, about £12482.88 redemption figure, 67 months remaining.

I cant really refinance any of these at the moment as my credit score has took a very big battering over the last 12 months but it is getting better.... i have gone from being at a score of 353 in August this year - VERY POOR, to being now a score of 808 which is fair, the bad point i have is just

You have several credit agreements (excluding mortgages), and the outstanding balance is high

My OH wants to pay his cards off with the reclaiming bank charges thing, for which what he is claiming is more than 75% of his outstanding debt.


Any advice would be great as i really want to clear the debt by July 2010.

Thanks

ragstoricheswannabe

hiya and welcome to the dfw thread!!! have put some suggestions on your soa, sorry if i am repeating anything you were already thinking of.........



Mtg = £663.28 - interest only 33yrs 7mths remaining why interest only?? was this cheaper??
Council Tax = £94.00
NHS card = £10.50 (have to get a lot on prescription p/mth)
Ground Rent & Mainenance = £71.87
TV License = £12.01
Electricity = £70.00
Mobiles = £120.00 (have looked to lower both my and OH cannot do so until April 08)
Contents = £7.41 (have shopped around for this each year and is cheapest)
BT = £40.00 would agree with you changing this, i am with sky for broadband and pay a fiver a month for limited downloads.
Loan = £223.89 (67 months remaining at 6.4%)
Life Cover = £14.58
Water = £21.21
MBNA C/C = £25.00 which is minimum payment
Mint C/C = £16.00 again min payment would throw more a this to get it down before 0% runs out?
Sky = £19.00
Halifax = £30.00 (£14 is the min payment)
Capital One = £43.00 (min payment OH's debt)
Burton = £10.00 min payment again OH's debt
Food = £150.00 is this just for 2 of you?? check out the old style board for tips to reduce this, try the downshift challenge and meal plan so you only need to buy things for the week. also never shop without a shopping list and stick to it.
Bus = £65.00
Fags = £112.67 (£26 per week) !!!!!!!! that is alot when you add it up over the year, good luck with trying to quit, there is a stop smoking thread on here, check that out for help and support. you will need it if your oh isnt stopping, make him smoke outside instead of in the house, in this weather he may cut down????????

as i said, sorry if i have repeated anything. more people may have more to add.

try selling stuff on ebay/amazon/car boot sale and possibly join up to survey sites and cashback sites etc to get extra money.

hope this helps a little, not that experienced so may not have the best advice to give. good luck with it all,

rags
xxx

cheekymonkey20

Thanks...

the mortgage was capital and interest but changed it to interest only because it was 100 quid cheeper.

I do want to pay more off the debt. Worked out by using the snowballing calculator, and with what im currently paying it would take me 67 months to pay everything off (bar the mortgage) but for me thats too long a time.

I want to be able to pay things off quicker, but my SOA is looking quite grim for cut backs.

I cant really do much about the broadband and mobiles until April but at that point it is going to be reduced so will have a saving there.

I am putting away £150 to the shopping account every month, but i know with my shopping habbits, month one will be a BIG shop getting bog roll and frozen foods, cleaning stuff etc, and the next month will just be frozen goods and then the next will be just the basic foods such as bread n milk, I find i do a big shop every 3 months, it probs goes like Month 1 - £150, Month 2 £100, Month 3 £50 to be honest. But i want to put those savings asside for Xmas next year, otherwise with our current SOA we wont have any money for that and end up putting it on Credit Cards which I dont want to do.

Feeling really down about the whole situation because with what we have coming in its only barely enough to cover the bills.

Ohh and i now have those nicorette inhalors, so i can smoke without actually smoking.

HelzBelz

As you're already paying for an NHS Prescription card could you ask your doctor for prescription stop smoking medication/tablets so you don't have to but the expensive over the counter nicotine replacements?

Might be a good idea to see the doctor about giving up smoking anyway if you're already on medication as you never know what effect the nicotine replacement meds might have on your standard med

~Beanie~

Well if you can't cut back further with your outgoings then you need to try and increase your income.

Can either of you get a second job? Mystery shopping maybe? Do you have anything you can sell on EBay or at a car boot sale?

I know that jobs are not easy to come by but has your OH tried looking for a better paid one?

Well done on quitting smoking, that will free up over £50 per month to reduce your debt faster! OH may not have any choice, they can't really AFFORD to smoke.

ragstoricheswannabe

thats a good idea helzbelz!!!!!

i felt exactly the same cheeky when i started out but it does get better and i have learnt to be more organised. we have very little spare income at the mo as my wage dropped right off the scale as on mat leave but have learnt how to cook cheap meals, clean using lemons, bicarb and white vinegar and star drops and use the shopbots to get things cheapest.

i would join the cashback sites and survey sites and after xmas i am going to have a massive clear out and stick it all on ebay!!! one mans rubbish is another mans treasure and all that!!!!!:D

with xmas, we have told people what we need for the house as ideas for xmas pressies, me and my fella agreed to only spend £40 quid on each other including a pressie from the kiddies and we have asked people to get certain things for ds1 that i know he wants but cant fit into my budget and money for ds2 as he is only 3 months and doesnt need much yet but will in the next few months. most of my family and friends are glad not to have to do the thinking for our pressies!!!!! i have done all my xmas shopping for about £250!!!!

another thing is find out if your supermarket will take the value of coupons even if you havent bought the product...... if it will have at a look at the coupons on here somewhere and collect from magazines and stuff!!!

cheekymonkey20

The only hope i have is with my job and bonuses, if i get 15 sales a week i get £10 per sale, - goes up the more i do... worked out i need 21 a week to pay everything off by June 2010. But i dont want to be relying on that to be honest because what if i dont get that... i'll be gutted then and no closer to clearing the debt. I know it will all be gone in June 2014 paying minimum payments, but that doesnt leave us in a good situation at all when we come to remortgage being in negative equity at the moment.

I do use the cash back sites when and were i can awaiting £94.84 from quidco. now using butchers and shops like aldi for food, and poundland for my cleaning stuf now, bodycare for my toiletrees, so hopefully i can use £20 per week on food etc per week, which means that i can save £760 a year on shopping,

My father in law told me that if i cancel my sky subscription because it is a digi box we would stil recieve all the freeview channels, is this right?

if the above is true about the sky, then another £20, meaning £20.50 spent on the bband n phone too...

So cutting the elec down to £62 which is the cheapest in my area...(and trying to reduce the amount we spend by being more energy efficient too- wanna get it to £50 per month)
Packing in smoking
Reducing the phone bill by £25 (£20 of the £120 i estimated for overspending, which i sometimes do by that much, i'll just make use of the txt service instead its a little bit longer but cheaper), and i can reduce the tarrif by £5 per month after april.
Reducing the shopping bills by £760 per year (£63.34 per month)

I could throw another £181.16 off our debts each month.

oreo7504

Completely right about the sky channel, I cancelled my sky & now have the free channels you get a few different ones from freeview & some that are on freeview but are not on freesat (I think that's what it's called when you cancel your sky). You also still get your programme planner.

cheekymonkey20

good news for me... lookin through my paperwork y'day my mortgage is fixed till 31/08/10, not 30/06/10 which was when i thought... YAY 2 extra months to do it!
little happier now, 20 months to clear debt not 18 lol

slummymummyof3

Scottish Power were doing £87.50 cashback on gas and electricity switches - I think the offer ends tonight at midnight???? Check to see if they work out cheaper for you and thenclear the cookies on your computer before using the cashback sites.

racer256

A small suggestion, pop over to the referrals baord for daily clicks. I am on Quidco, Moneybackmadness, senior cashback, cash back kings and pigsback. I make £20-30 per month on clicks, takes 3-6 months to get anything. Try focusing on getting people to sign up to these sites and you can get a bonus.

I have put all of my books on Amazon, you can list for 60 days and if it doesn't sell there's no fees! Best of Luck.