My SOA - Gulp! Lightbulb moment!!

St0lli

Hi Pureaswhite! Thanks for the suggestions :j

I've sent letters to 3 of my credit cards to see if there is anything I can claim but as that cost £30 (to cover the costs of copy statements) I think I'll wait until I get paid to send off the others - now that is a change of mindset for me because before I would've just sent off the cheques and not worried about the consequences of having enough money in the bank. :money:

I've been ebaying away and made over £300 in a few weeks. Had a break last week because I seemed to run out of steam but I'll be back listing tomorrow :T

Good luck with your journey as well!

St0lli

My pack arrived yesterday from CCCS so I'm sat here completing the forms and wondering how I ever got myself into all this mess. Well I know how so I suppose I should be asking WHY did I let myself get into this mess. I need to ring them tomorrow to clarify a couple of things ie my egg card details and my loan details. I also overstated my salary by £20 per month.

Feeling very down today about it all....

kimdegsidash

Hey St0lli
Please don't let it get you down. It's so hard having to deal with all that paperwork, plus the thoughts buzzing round your head about what you need to do next, did you post the right bits, who's that phoning again(!) and all this while still trying to live a normal life!

I spent two hours on Friday just sorting piles of paperwork and opening mail that I had hidden from myself. Not made any actual progress in dealing with debts, but now everything is open and properly filed I now know where to find everything!

I am now going to remind you how well you've done so hope this makes you feel better: you have acknowledged your situation and stood up to the problem; you have sought professional advice, listened to advice from people on this board, and provided good advice to others; you have taken steps to increase your income and have made money on Ebay; you have taken steps to decrease outgoings; you have written to your creditors to explain your situation; you have drawn up a plan to get yourself out of debt; you have started the process of reclaiming credit card charges; and probably many other small things like having NSDs and thinking twice before spending on anything. Well done you!!!!!:T

Put your feet up today. Have a nice cuppa and watch a favourite movie/programme or read a good book and tell yourself you have done great. Tomorrow you will do it all again because you are strong. Don't let the b00000ds get you down.

Right, motivational speech over. Sending you a ((((big hug)))).

PS - did you get a valentine's card? My DH forgot!!

St0lli

Thanks Kim thats been a real boost (or a right kick up the backside) that I needed. You are right about the things already achieved that are easy to forget when you are in this for the longhaul.

I've almost completed everything for CCCS. Just need to sort out a couple of things and then I can send it off tomorrow. I've been sorting things to eBay again today so hopefully this time next week I should be a few more pounds better off :T

I almost bought one of those Terrmundi pots yesterday but it was £15 and I thought better of it - normally there would have been no hesitation so slowly my mind set is changing

I got a card but spent Valentines night on my own as OH has been working all weekend so its impossible for him to get here. A friend took me out for a champagne breakfast though which was very nice (all the nicer because it was free!) :rotfl:

Hope you've had a great weekend with you family and I hope your birthday was fab. Did you get any fab pressies?

St0lli

Oh and another bit of good news.... I entered my gas and electric meter readings into my online bill and I'm 11.50 in credit which is fantastic news!!! I know there are still cold months to come but I was dreading getting a high bill from Scottish Power for the Christmas period when we were home all day every day, so thats one less thing to worry about!

kimdegsidash

Yey!!:T Shame not £111.50 credit, but still better than nothing. At least it's gone the right way for you. Add it to your list of things to feel positive about.

This week was fab thanks, had mostly NSDs, lovely meals out and evenings in. Went for a posh curry on Saturday night - not very MSE though - the table bill was over £120 for 4 of us - ouch! We didn't realise that they only had a set menu on with a fixed price and the drinks really set us back some. But DH paid and I only spent £2.50 all night. I've let him off the valentines card . I got mostly cash for birthday presents - am going to buy a new suit for when I go back to work (in two weeks time - eek!). DH bought me a Nintendo DS so I can play games on the train into work - again not very MSE but he wanted to get me a surprise and I am chuffed with it.

Both my children have been a pain today - there are toys everywhere. So the plan is to get them both asleep by 8pm, tidy up and sit down to watch a good film. Neither of us could be bothered cooking today so spent £10 on takeaway pizzas - oops. But feel lovely and full, and no washing up! There's a positive side to everything:D .

St0lli

Sounds like you had a fab week! The DS lite was a lovely gift and very thoughtful. I'm sure you will have great fun with it on your commute to work. Hope the kids have been better behaved today. It does get better believe me! Hardly see my son nowadays as he seems to spend ages in his bedroom or out playing sports.

Haven't done much today, need to finish off the letters to my creditors along with token payments which means another trek to the post office. Think I need to get 8 £1 and 3 £5 postal orders. I've not bought a postal order before so I'm not sure how much that will cost me. Also I need to clarify with CCCS what I have to do about my bank loan and overdraft - not quite sure how the logistics of them paying that works?
The other day I had the bank loan agreement in my grubby little mitts but now I can't find it anywhere. Whats really frustrating is that everything is neatly filed away so I'm not sure what I've done with it now. Means more hassle with getting a copy etc.

Have you sent off token payments yet? When will you start your snowballing?

kimdegsidash

Never got to watch the film - we both fell asleep!

I've had one reply letter so far - from La Redoute (who I owe the least money to) and they basically said, no, they won't accept £1 and I must pay at least £14 immediately. Oh well, they'll have to wait.

The frustrating thing about postal orders, I think, is that there is a fee for each one, so you may find it costs more than you were expecting! I wonder if Royal Mail's website has info?

IKWYM about the paperwork! It all depends on what your thinking was at the time of filing - and if you're anything like me you end up with two or more piles for each lender as you got confused and started a new one half way through. It'll turn up somewhere - might take a few hours of going through everything again!

My snowballing will start from the end of March when I get my first full wage. Mixed feelings today as it is officially my first day back at work, but taking two weeks paid leave. Will have half full pay half maternity pay at end of Feb, so will use the extra income to buy a travel ticket for the next month - £158!! Glad to be earning money again, but that impending start date is looming! I won't be home until about 5.00pm each day and will have left the house by 6.30am. A long day due to 1hour travel time each way.

Even though on paper my earnings should cover everything, including minimum debt repayments, we never had any money left before and managed to get into awful debt, so I am using this site as motivation to clear the debt, to stop me overspending, keep a spending diary and to keep track of my snowball. All good tips from the wonderful people on this forum.

Have you got a shiny new SOA that looks better now?

St0lli

I think this site will prove all the inspiation and motivation we need. I think for me its never taking my eye off the ball and keeping focused or I would just slip straight back into my old ways. Its a blessing I'm not allowed any more debt because otherwise I would soon be thinking 'Oh I'm sure just this once won't hurt' and the once soons becomes twice, three times etc.
I'll definitely have a go at putting my new SOA up here. Its the one that I've agreed with CCCS so there are still some areas I can save a few pounds if I'm very careful (mostly on the shoping bill I think)

It must be very hard for you having to think about going back to work. I used to have an hour journey to my last job so I know how tiring that is as well. Look on the bright side... you'll be too tired the first weekend to spend any money!!! lol

St0lli

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2230
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 115
Other income............................ 400
Total monthly income.................... 2745

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1195
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 109
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 43.5
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 46.44
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21
Internet Services....................... 19
Groceries etc. ......................... 255
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 12
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 30
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 30
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 15
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 2054.94


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 235000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 8000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 243000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 192000...(1195).....7.39
Total secured & HP debts...... 192000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Halifax Visa CC................5900......62........29.95
Citi Card CC...................6892......192.......21.9
Egg Card CC....................1060......27........17.9
John Lewis CC..................1376......68........16.9
John Lewis CC..................1376......68........16.9
LLoyds TSB CC..................11500.....217.......24.94
Halifax Loan...................6732......151.......6.9
MBNA CC .......................11723.....278.......34.9
Barclaycard CC.................9300......183.......17.9
M&S Money CC...................1889......47........23.9
Capital One CC.................7400......216.......17.28
Egg Money CC...................2678......61.6......16.9
Total unsecured debts..........67826.....1570.6....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,745
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,054.94
Available for debt repayments........... 690.06
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,570.6
Amount short for making debt repayments. -880.54

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 243,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -192,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -67,826
Net Assets.............................. -16,826

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

Here we go... This is my SOA which has been agreed with CCCS. It's still very :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:!!!!!!!!! Hopefully I'll be able to make some savings along the way to put away in the far and distant hope that I can one day make F&FS.