I am very in debt and very confused, all help welcome

kat17000

No, no sort codes or card numbers.

kat17000

Decided to get it done now, a few rough estimates but mainly spot on

[tt]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1162
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1162

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 240
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 340
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 11
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 65
TV Licence.............................. 5
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 140
Road tax................................ 11
Car Insurance........................... 65
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 62
Car parking............................. 50
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 40
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 150
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1479


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 7000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 7000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Secured Debt.................. 0........(240)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 0.........-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit card....................5500......120.......22
Credit card....................2300......60........19
Credit Card....................3200......100.......22
Credit card....................1000......20........22
Credit Card....................500.......5.........35
Total unsecured debts..........12500.....305.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,162
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,479
Available for debt repayments........... -317
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 305
Amount short for making debt repayments. -622

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 7,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,500
Net Assets.............................. -5,500

Does not make for very pretty reading, I have tried selling the car but no luck and I do 80 miles a day so need a car!

Pollycat

Hi Kat
Just a couple of queries on your SOA:
you've no utility bills (gas/elec/water) - are you living at home?

Mobile phone is very high, I assume it's contract. Can you get it reduced or move to PAYG?

If there's just you, £200 on groceries is MUCH TOO MUCH.
Can you cook at home? Do you have a freezer? Do you take packed lunches or do you buy it out? Do you spend a lot on take-away coffees etc?
Try the OldStyle board for tips on reducing your groceries.

£1200 per year on clothes needs to be cut in your circumstances.
Do you have any clothes/shoes/bags that you can sell on eBay to raise money to pay off some of your debts?

Nearly £800 pa on car insurance is high, I'm guessing you're quite young but can't you get it cheaper?
Car maintenance is high too - what are you including in that?

Raychee

I can't believe I'm about to do this - my first try at looking at an SOA! Remember I'm a novice, and there's some amazing people who will come along and do 100% better than me!

kat17000 wrote: »

Decided to get it done now, a few rough estimates but mainly spot on

[tt]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1162
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1162

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 240
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 340
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 11
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 65 this seems really high - can you change your tarrif? What does it include?
TV Licence.............................. 5
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 Ouch! This more than I spend on 2 of us in a month, including alcohol! CAn you cut down? How many does this feed?
Clothing................................ 100 Now I'm sure you don't NEED to spend this much a month! Check your wardrobe, ebay stuff you don't wear anymore.
Petrol/diesel........................... 140
Road tax................................ 11
Car Insurance........................... 65 A month? What are you driving? What age are you? People will tell you to check out insurance using Quidco, so that you get a better deal AND get cashback!
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 62 That's £744 a year - does your car cost that much?
Car parking............................. 50
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 40
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 150 While it's important to have entertainment, this is loads! You should be able to cut this by at least half.
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1479


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 7000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 7000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Secured Debt.................. 0........(240)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 0.........-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit card....................5500......120.......22
Credit card....................2300......60........19
Credit Card....................3200......100.......22
Credit card....................1000......20........22
Credit Card....................500.......5.........35
Total unsecured debts..........12500.....305.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,162
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,479
Available for debt repayments........... -317
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 305
Amount short for making debt repayments. -622

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 7,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,500
Net Assets.............................. -5,500

Does not make for very pretty reading, I have tried selling the car but no luck and I do 80 miles a day so need a car!

Can you move any of your cards to 0%? Check what you can cut down on - even my untrained eye can see overspends!

Good luck, and thanks for posting.

Pollycat

Kat
Another thing that's occurred to me:

You have £240 per month secured loan in your SOA.
Is it really a secured loan? If so, what property is it secured against?

Baggiebird1nil

Kat whatever you do DO NOT deal with Debt Matters. If you look at the IVA board you will see that they are in some kind of admin trouble!!
Could you get a second job in a bar so that you are having a social life and making money instead of spending it.
You might be better sitting down in a quiet room and think things through before you do anything rash.

All the best

kat17000

Thanks again (sorry about the constant thanks, but really Thanks!) I did realise after looking at it that there are some obvious things I can cut down on, but I also have some explanations!
The phone is high but my Mother lives in Australia I pay my provider a monthly fee to reduce my international call rate and my phone bill has already decreased hugely because of this, also it's an iphone and I cant get change my contract for another year.
My car insurance is highish, its come down but I had a car crash which meant my premium went up and I lost my no claims.
I get through alot of tyres, and they come in at £100 plus each (no I am not a racing driver but so far my mileage hits 20,000 a year through work etc and they are low profiles, I tried to sell my car (1.4 so very economical) but had no interest, plus I have had 3 big crashes in it 2 of which I paid for to avoid losing no claims. My service costs £250. I worked it out on the amount of tyres I went through this year (3 punctures all non repairable) and the same the year before.
I think one of my worst vices is food shopping, I prefer organic and freerange and cook everything (which should be more economical but I think my dining is a little extravagant) I dont eat take out I just love buying quality ingredients. I realise this is not an excuse and I should just deal with it!
All my bills are included in my rent
Think I got the secured loan mixed up, it's my personal loan...sorry, blonde moment!

Thanks Baggiebird for the heads up on Debt matters, that was a close call!

But working things out on paper, even when I cut all the stuff out that I can clearly cut down on, I still struggle with my Credit cards and I am very worried about mounting interest and not seeing how I will clear them.

Really sorry about spelling and Grammer in a hurry as have to leave work!

Thanks again you guys are all fab

kat17000

Thanks again (sorry about the constant thanks, but really Thanks!) I did realise after looking at it that there are some obvious things I can cut down on, but I also have some explanations!
The phone is high but my Mother lives in Australia I pay my provider a monthly fee to reduce my international call rate and my phone bill has already decreased hugely because off this, also it's an iphone and I cant change my contract for another year.
My car insurance is highish, its come down but I had a car crash which meant my premium went up and I lost my no claims.
I get through alot of tyres, and they come in at £100 plus each (no I am not a racing driver but so far my mileage hits 20,000 a year through work etc and they are low profiles, I tried to sell my car (1.4 so very economical) but had no interest, plus I have had 3 big crashes in it 2 of which I paid for to avoid losing no claims. My service costs £250. I worked it out on the amount of tyres I went through this year (3 punctures all non repairable) and the same the year before.
I think one of my worst vices is food shopping, I prefer organic and freerange and cook everything (which should be more economical but I think my dining is a little extravagant) I dont eat take out I just love buying quality ingredients. I realise this is not an excuse and I should just deal with it!
All my bills are included in my rent
Think I got the secured loan mixed up, it's my personal loan...sorry, blonde moment!

Thanks Baggiebird for the heads up on Debt matters, that was a close call!

But working things out on paper, even when I cut all the stuff out that I can clearly cut down on, I still struggle with my Credit cards and I am very worried about mounting interest and not seeing how I will clear them.

Really sorry about spelling and Grammer in a hurry as have to leave work!

Thanks again you guys are all fab

Pollycat

kat17000 wrote: »

The phone is high but my Mother lives in Australia I pay my provider a monthly fee to reduce my international call rate and my phone bill has already decreased hugely because of this, also it's an iphone and I cant get change my contract for another year.

Hi Kat
How are you today?

I've been thinking about your mobile bill and calling your Mum in Australia.
Take a look at this link:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/cheap-overseas-calls#tomobiles

to see if you can reduce the cost.

I call my friend in Canada for .05p per minute (half a penny per minute) but that's from my landline.

If your Mum has a computer, could you talk via MSN or something? I know it's not the same but it would be cheaper.

Pippilongstocking

Hi Kat
I hope you are good well done on posting your SOA.

I get what you are saying about quality food and organic ingredients - do you buy everything from a supermarket?

I have 4 living in my house and generally buy local/free range - my shopping for the month for us (all toileteries, cleaning products, etc and 3 pets) is about 200-250 - which I know I need to work on as its too high.

If you are buying organic/good quality ingredients in supermarkets they are expensive. you are only lining their pockets not really much else. Of you need to buy organic - maybe beans on toast and some other dishes that don't cost much - cut out the organic meats etc etc etc even in the short term until you retrain yourself?

You do alot of driving so can you find out where your local farm shop/local farmers markets/ producers are? You can probably massively cut your bills without compromising too much on the quality (you might even get better quality) of the ingredients you are getting and still pay less. Shop seasonally if you can and make the most of anything you find that you might normally buy.

Be better to keep your principles and to support local farmers etc than to line a supermarkets pockets with their premium 'organic' brand.

Skype for phone?

Others told me immediately that entertainment had to go (even only in the short term), clothing we spend (a family) probably no more than 100-150 a year on clothes - we shop in charity shops etc which are ace and also when we buy anything new etc - its generally in the sales. If you cut just these out you will immmediately have an extra £250
Coupled with a cut in your shopping even for a little while you will have the deficit you need to service your debts. you need £315? so cut shopping down even only by £65 quid a month and you can pay your debts.

Good luck with it all. xx