My Soa Not Pretty Reading!

Fire_Fox

nirelandguy wrote: »

Didn't answer as I don't know to be honest, the missus know all them details. If i just had a decent paying job, Infact its not really the job as such more the area I live in, I've checked out Jobcentreplus website and a similar job in England earns approx £9 per hour, I'm on £5.65, quite a difference, its the same with all jobs around here, they all pay peanuts whether your educated or not, maybe why our little town came top in the unemployment blacklist for the entire UK,

Again you aren't answering the questions. The reality is you don't have a well paid job; so you need to cut back on your outgoings. I admire you for wanting to start your own business but I don't see how it can be profitable when you need to make £275 just to cover the costs of running a car, phone and internet.

fatbelly

nirelandguy wrote: »

How much would you get for a 2005 Vauxhall Meriva?

Private Good £3,475
Private Poor £2,985

In England/Wales we have Debt Relief Orders coming in in April (max car value £1000). I'm not sure whether N Ireland has any equivalent. But if it does, this might work for you (with a cheaper car) I notice CCCS runs DebtlineNI and the phone number is 0800 0274990. Might be worth a chat.

System

Well I've had a read through all this again, The landline won't really get much cheaper, Broadband again is only £15, £30 mobile will be going, TV is £10 for BT vision. Its so bloody frustrating because no matter what I do, its not gonna make a hell of alot of difference to be honest. You might save £10 -£20 a month but what good will that do to be fair,

EDIT** I have forgot one important thing here, We got child tax credit for 1 child stopped there 2 weeks ago, we phoned up to ask why, and the good people at tax credits said they did not have the child benefit number for 1 child so stopped it. We are in the process of appealing but haven't even received the forms yet 2 weeks later, tax credits are so slowwww.. But anyway prior to this we used to get around another £40 - £50, so that should put a different slant on my SOA?

sheba

Hey there so the figures:
Monthly income after tax................ 800
Partners monthly income after tax....... 320
Benefits................................ 466
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1586
are about £40-50 short of what they will/could be once the child tax credit thing is sorted out? Thats obviously going to make some difference?

If I were in your situation (and believe me I was 14 years ago) I would try not to get too disheartened by the figures you're trying to juggle and just concentrate on a few basic principles.

Wherever possible do not increase your debt!! basic principles of this would be:

Try to spend less -I know you have cut everything back- but try not to spend on catalogues- they're very exploitative of people in your situation- instead try to be gift neutral- there is a thread on here- use ebay/ charity shops/ freecycle to get toys (not sure how old your kids are?) clothing. No matter what the telly ads say kids do not need expensive plastic/electronic gifts and where they really want them- if its detrimental to your familys long term financial security I'm afraid they can't have them. I know this is heartbreaking to hear, as a father you want to give your kids everything they want and deserve but by cutting back on gifts (and therefore not increasing debt) you will give them happier parents and a better future. Easy to say and hard to hear I know but think about it.

Try to up your income by way of surveys and daily clicks- AND price up the validity of your wife working- wages etc in- versus petrol etc out. Sometimes working mothers find that they are working for nothing as by the time they paid out this and that and priced in the cost of buying ready meals/take outs cos to tired to cook- WORSE OFF. this may not be your case- but you need to know its not. If it is, your ladywife might consider childminding again- if not consider babysitting in the evenings.

concentrate on getting the extra debt cleared a little at a time till you are back within the rules of your DMP.

Fully price up the starting/running costs of setting up your business- although you hear the phrase 'you need to speculate to accumulate' bandied about this must always be a calculated risk and is not always economically viable- could you consider offering the same service but people bring their machine to you-lot less overheads to start with and then if it takes off then can branch out in to a home visitation service- just a thought.

You are paying back tax overpayments? Well at some point in the future those payments will stop and if you've managed to either, stop increasing your debt or, possibly decrease it a little then you'll then be in a better position to clear any outstanding debt and live within the rules of the DMP- and honestly it will get easier- it just takes some doing is all

Very Best Wishes to you

TotallyBroke

nirelandguy wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 800
Partners monthly income after tax....... 320
Benefits................................ 466
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1586
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 150
Rent.................................... 480
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 40
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 30 BT line rental is £10.50 per month so you are making a lot of calls. So therefore you do not need mobiles
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 10
Internet Services....................... 15 Get this included in with your line rental or BT vision. Getting all 3 with one provider can be a huge saving. Getting all 3 from Sky costs me less than £20 per month
Groceries etc. ......................... 240
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 22
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 30
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 260 What would it cost for both children to be with same care provider full time. Then your Oh could get a full time 30+ pw job. You would then get more childcare costs paid for, more wages and maybe wtc
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 25 Does one of you have a medical condition to warrant spending this each month
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20 You can't afford an emergency fund
Total monthly expenses.................. 1651

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

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 0........(150)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 0.........-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
PAYPLAN........................5000......70........0
TAX CREDIT OVER PAYME..........2000......60........0
OVERDRAFT......................400.......15........0 Is there an arrangement to pay this each month. Start using it to get rid of catalogue debts
CATALOGUES.....................550.......30........0
CREDIT CARDS...................800.......40........0 How many of these do you have can you balance transfer onto any of them what are the apr's on them
Total unsecured debts..........8750......215.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,586
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,651
Available for debt repayments........... -65
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 215
Amount short for making debt repayments. -280
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,750
Net Assets.............................. -8,750
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

Hope some of my comments help

caramia1812

nirelandguy wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 800
Partners monthly income after tax....... 320
Benefits................................ 466
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1586
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 150
Rent.................................... 480
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 40
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 30 I pay this for my phone and internet
Mobile phone............................ 30 too expensive - get cheaper contract IF the phone is necessary
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 10 try to get a package deal
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 240
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 15 all this for a car you paid £220 for? sorry misunderstood your response!
Car Insurance........................... 22
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 30
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 260 excessive esp if one of you is alreaday at home
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 25
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 30 ?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 1651

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

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 0........(150)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 0.........-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
PAYPLAN........................5000......70........0
TAX CREDIT OVER PAYME..........2000......60........0
OVERDRAFT......................400.......15........0
CATALOGUES.....................550.......30........0
CREDIT CARDS...................800.......40........0
Total unsecured debts..........8750......215.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,586
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,651
Available for debt repayments........... -65
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 215
Amount short for making debt repayments. -280
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,750
Net Assets.............................. -8,750
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

Man, I can't rememember when I last had a takeaway/night out or had the pleasure of driving to work in the morning but. You have absolutely loads you can shive off here

Storm

Thinking back to your original post - you're currently paying back the tax credit overpayments at £60 a month - I think it's worth ringing them up, explain that you're on a DMP and that this rate is causing you severe hardship. If you can get this reduced it ill ease things somewhat.

Re: your comment about saving £10/£20 here & there.

Yes, individually these things don't seem much, but think of this scenario:

You get tax credits to agree a reduction of £20 a month for the over payment
You manage to shave £10 a week off the food bill
You save £30 a month by cancelling the mobile
You make £10 a month from online surveys, ebaying stuff
You save £5 a month by switching broadband supplier

= £105 per month!

These are only suggestions, but the old saying "look after the pennies & pounds will look after themselves" does apply (as does Mr Tesco's catchphrase) If you're looking for motivation, I'd recommend having a read through ehallett threads - she does mystery shops, online surveys, ebays stuff, AQA - all of it quite small in themselves, but added together it all mounts up.

Is your wife on board with the money saving? It helps if you can tackle this head on together, so you don't feel like you're alone. A small thing that can start you off is having a sweep of the house for small change & get it counted & paid into the bank - if you've not done this before you'll be amazed at how much you'll find in the sofa, at the bottom of handbags & just lying around

Storm

p.s. I'm hoping you were online at 5.45 because you get up at that time anyway, and not because you couldn't sleep

trina2010

Ok, now ive read all 3 pages of this post. im assuming that you posted this to get advice from people on how to go about turning your debt around and get help??

But so far I havent seen one bit of will to actually do it. you seem to have a completely defeatest attitude. Thats the first thing you need to change before anything else.

Theres a wealth of advice in this thread and you need to start paying attention, 10-20 pounds a month is not "nothing", every penny is a step in the right direction.

Sell the car, you dont need an 05 car, buy a cheap one to get you from A to B.
Broadband for 15 pounds a month is not cheap, look for a combination deal, phone-internet-tv package and i guarantee that will save you money.
Forget the computer repair business, theres no way you could compete with any bigger firms, not with such large overheads, youd need to work day and night flat out to get anywhere near making money - assuming you can build a good reputation at all.


I know this is harsh but I think its what you need from what ive seen so far, I can sympathise, I know pay in Northern Ireland is crap, I lived there for 19 years, moved to Scotland 4 years ago and havent looked back since. So yes I understand all about the pay and public transport issues etc (Ulsterbus are rubbish) but no one can help you until you start helping yourself!

hypno06

More straight talking - for which I make no apologies.....

You posted several similar threads in August last year and you were offered very good advice, not dissimilar to the advice you are receiving here. You chose not to take that advice then, and you are coming up with similar comments this time too.

If you WANT things to change, then they WILL, but only if YOU put in the effort to do so.

It may not be easy, or fun, or what your neighbours are doing, but it is NECESSARY if you are to get in control of this situation and get out of the rut you find yourself in.

So, go back and read the August threads again, read the advice given to you here - and decide whether you wish to make those changes in your life that will allow you to control your finances, or whether you want to be writing another version of the same thread in 6 months time.

It seems that although your lightbulb flickers from time to time, you have not yet had your full LBM, and until that happens, sadly, you will not make any real progress.

System

I thank you all for your help, But as is mentioned above until I have this LBM I won't get anywhere, and its gettting to the point where I MUST change rather than I SHOULD change which is the issue here I reckon.