Please Advice a highly worried and stressed debt-free Wannabe

Alomress

I barely managed to pay all my bills at the end of January and over the last 2 weeks have been mulling over what to do at end of February, but suddenly realised there are 2 more weeks left in February - I am very worried now.

I have thought of not paying my old debts (more than 6 years) anymore, but obviously that would impact adversely on my credit rating. I am also thinking of taking in a lodger, but that won't help me with February's bills. I also thought, perhaps request reduced mortgage and loan repayments, but this will mean higher repayments in the long run and may not be approved ....

I have used the budget planner spreadsheet; and as I already knew, it shows that I am overspending by about £445. I can't see where I can cut cost anymore and know that when the next council tax and water bills come, my overspends will even be higher.

Any suggestions on how to proceed will be greatly appreciated.

Worried & Stressed Debt-free Wannabe

GeorgeUK

Could you post up your statement of affairs for us to have a look at? You may ahve overlooked something or there may be a cheaperalternative that we can suggest.

Numpty_Monkey

Hi Almoress
I agree with George
post your SOA and let the good and clever people help
use this link
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Alomress

Below is my SOA.

Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax................ 2234
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 167
Other income............................ 175
Total monthly income.................... 2576

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1080
Secured loan repayments................. 343
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 25
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 86
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 25
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 25
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 180
Other travel............................ 183
child related expenses............ 170
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 24
Buildings insurance..................... 29
Education ...................... 61.5
Life assurance ......................... 15
Other insurance......................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 2443.5[/b]


Secured & HP Debts[/b]
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 200000...(1080).....6.49
Secured Debt.................. 15000....(343)......0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 0........(25).......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 215000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Personal Loan..................7000......182.......29.9
Other..........................0.........200.......0
Credit Card....................6500......160.......0
Total unsecured debts..........13500.....542.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,576
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,443.5
Available for debt repayments........... 132.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 542
Amount short for making debt repayments. -409.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 175,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -215,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -13,500
Net Assets.............................. -53,500

Alomress

Looking at the SOA, perhaps I should cancel my mobile phone contract and take out a pay as u go with a monthly budget.

Deep_In_Debt

Hi

What is the other travel and child expenses and education?

Also, can you get rid of Sky - you can get Freeview through the box.

Deep_In_Debt

You may be able to take a mortgage break, I know in the long term might not help, but in the short term it may leave extra money to throw at your debts and reduce them so I guess it's as long as it's broad.

Also, could you go to interest only on your mortgage for a while? Might be worth speaking to your mortgage company and see what they can do.

Have you checked your gas and electric? Go through Quidco.

Groceries - how many is this for?

GeorgeUK

Mortgage................................ 1080
interest only or repayment?

Council tax............................. 86
If paying over 10 months, can you ask to pay it over 12?

Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Have a look at the price comparison sites to see if you are getting a good deal. (uswitch, moneysupermarket)

Mobile phone............................ 35
PAYG?

Telephone (land line)................... 25
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 25
Internet Services....................... 0
Are these combined in a package? Could you just use freeview instead of satellite?

Groceries etc. ......................... 180
How many is this for? Have a look at the old style board for meal plan ideas. Have you moved down a brand? (Shops own)

Buildings insurance..................... 29
Life assurance ......................... 15
Other insurance......................... 20
Again, check the comparison sites to see if you are getting the best deal.

That is an awful APR rate for the loan. Hopefully we'll be able to do something about that pretty soon and get you paying less interest.

The "other" debt at £0 - what is this for? Is it a private debt that you owe a family member? Just wondered how much and if there was any interest.

Any idea what the APR is for your credit card?

Alomress

Thx all; I didn't expect such quick responses.
Other travel is my monthly travel card cost
Child Expense:
School Dinner - £75
Kids Endowments - £40
Kids Pocket Money - £55 - (£30 of this is for kids monthly emergency cost)
Freeview - good idea; I work on cancelling sky
My morgage is interest only and the terms are that you can only take a mortgage break if you have built up a credit - urs truly hasn't, so can't take advantage!!!
Will carry out the comparison excercise suggested; thx.
Groceries; 1 adult 1 teenager and 1 kid
APR of 29.9% - this is better than the one on the £15K secured loan, but I've got to dig out the paperwork to figure out the exact rate for that one.
No family or friend loans - the 'other' debt is a combination of 3 or 4 debts that I've been servicing for over 10years now, I believe interest is no longer being charged (but I am not too sure), but my monthly repayment for these total £200.
I will dig out my last credit card statement to figure out what the APR is - I tried moving my balance to Virgin about 3 weeks ago, but haven't had a response (not even a negative one) from them!

It is really bad isn't it????

Seeing it all written down and the the Personal Balance Sheet - I feel totally overwhelmed!!!

ILW

Why not look at selling up and moving to a smaller house?

pebbles88

Hiya,

I cant offer much advice, but regarding your mobile phone, depending on who your provider is, even if you are in a contract you may be able to reduce it. I know orange can be quite flexible on this, and vodafone allow you to drop down once so long is up, even if its a 18 month contract. it might be worth asking.


grocery wise, i spend no more than £100 per month for me and DH, that includes his packed lunch. its been hard reducing it, but we had no choice, and plus the old style board on here is FANTASTIC!! so much knowledge.

good luck
HTH