Im new, my SOA, plan etc...

schrojen

Hello everyone,

here we go.New year and I am finally aiming to pay off my debt and sort out my finances !
Start with SOA below. Yes wages might look a lot, however bf lost job so am paying for everything at the mo, once he finds new one, any money from him will go towards debt repayments.

Worst are the CC, Ive basically amxed them as soon as I got them 5 yrs ago and mostly only been paying minimum, pls they are I think more than 20%apr interest which means I never really repay anything !Cant get 0% ones as not good credit due to having moved house every year really and not having repaid anything yet...
But its a start. Snowball says it will take me about 25 months, I would however like to clear all this year !!
So wish me good luck...


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3450 (thats from March as got raise
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3450

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 1400
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 158
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 70
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. abt 30 (Meter and no bill yet argh)
Telephone (land line)................... 40
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 38
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 500
Clothing................................ 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 50
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2651


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


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

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Barclaycard ...................3850......80.........24.9
Barclaycard 2..................1750......40.........same
Loan...........................500.......125........not sure but only 4 mts left
Overdraft......................800
Old bill for contacts 220..........
another
Total unsecured debts..........7120.........220.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3450
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2651
Available for debt repayments........... 799
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 220
Amount left after debt repayments....... 579

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 0


Right this looks fine however of course its all not quite that easy as spending money not mentioned on this...Plus I never seem to have any money...Oh I dont know, help!!!!!

moo2moo

£500 for food for 2 people?????? Nooooo. Thats enough to feed a family of six and then some. If you really try hard you can reduce that to £100. Even £200 would be a huge improvement. OH can utilise his free time learning to cook from scratch if he can't already cook.

£100 in clothes every month - you don't need it. Go without for six months. That'll free up £600

Keep a spending diary and work out where your money is going.

With the surplus you already have you could be debt free by Christmas this year, thats without your OH getting another job.

Naarwich

With your income I think that you're in a really good position to clear by the end of the year however it mean that both your and your OH will need to be disciplined in terms of reducing your expenditure. £500 for food per month is huge and can easily be cut in half. Same with clothes, go without for a few months and you can put that towards your debt. You could also cut out the TV costs however I suppose it depends on how keen you are to clear your debt and how quickly. Good luck though moving forwards!

schrojen

Hmmm, must do spending diary.Worst is when taking out cash. I dont even know where it goes.Food 500 includes lunches etc. but have now started making sandwiches and have hardly spend anything in the last 2 weeks.Got paid yesterday, paid all bills due, well the minimum anyway. But as I was overdrawn alreayd now only have 560 left which is for all food plus OH travel to interviews and weekend away which we have booked last year and hotel+tickets already paid for...argh.
Right, must make spending diary, starting tomoro!!!

natsplatnat

Okaly dokaly - WELCOME!!

I am just passing by really quick as I should be working, but.....

Groceries are HIGH!!!
Haircuts - gonna have to go - thats £600 a year! Colleges or home-hairdressers would be cheaper!
Car insurance could be seen as being high - I pay £16.50 a month
Clothing - seriously needs to be reduced!!
Check you are getting the best deal on gas and electric.
Saying that, you already show a decent surplus each month. I would suggest keeping a spending diary to see where that money goes!! Write down everything - that odd chocolate bar and occaisional magazine! I found it amazing how it all added up!

I reckon with a little thought, you'll have this cracked sooner than your snowball said!!!

Best of luck with your quest, Nats x

debrag

can I just say you must live in a lovely place/posh area to be paying £1400 a month. I have no other comments lol

Steel_2

Just swinging by to say good luck!! and good grief how much do you two spend on food??

Do you have pet food in with your groceries?

Don't forget you don't have to do just sandwiches for lunch You can ring the changes with wraps, pasta pots, soups and seasonal salads. I remember going to Absolutely Souper once for lunch and paid about £4 for a pint of soup, a slice of nice bread and a price of fruit. I felt like I'd be had over a barrel because I knew i could do the same thing at home for about a quid. You can replicate pretty much anything lunch-wise you see in the shop for peanuts at home. I tend to do big batches of soup at once and and freeze them.

Also do as much of your hair stuff at home as possible as try and stretch the time between visits. Even just a week each time would save you some money.

debttornado

Hello, I'm quite new too. Good luck.

It does sound like a spending diary might help. Things do start looking up once you get going. I only started last week and already feel much more positive.

schrojen

Thanks for everyones replies. We live in an absolutely gorgeous area just outside London, only moved there in July after 5 yrs in a grotty area...But 1400 quite normal for ppl in London if quite central or very nice. Thats my one expense that wont change...no chance of me ever buying, well unless I win the lottery, and even then a mortgage for a small place would prob cost more than this rent. Altho if we shd have kids I might consider moving to the countryside somewhere cheaper.But thats not planned. Car insurance is the lowest I could get but am gonna cancel it as car declared Sorn. Thats the other problem...car broken, no idea why but wont fix it as not worth it, been having lots of probs with it. So now less mobile, getting shopping delivered or going at lunchtime at the moment which I hate as I cant shop around as much easily. Spending diary starting now. Hair 50 pounds a mth isnt actually quite true. Im getting it done tonight, but I havent been since October and that was only abt 50 quid. Paying 96 tonight (thats with a 40% discount) but this is becos having ridiculous grey hairs coming through...im only 31 and feel awful about it.So sorting hair out today. Could maybe do it every 3-4 mth so then its abt 30 permonth.Will see how it turns out tonight, wish me luck !

catherine_h_2

schrojen wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3450 (thats from March as got raise
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3450

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 1400
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 158
Electricity............................. 50 Are you getting the best deal?? Check comparison sites
Gas..................................... 70 As Above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. abt 30 (Meter and no bill yet argh)
Telephone (land line)................... 40
Mobile phone............................ 60 Can these be reduced go payG?? If OH is at home he can use landline.
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 38
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 Can definitely be reduced!Buy shops own brand and batch cook meals
Clothing................................ 100 Can also cut back if not stop altogether!
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 50 Same as clothes budget!
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2651


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. broken! Is this as well as the one mentioned above? If so, can it be fixed & sold if not scrap it, can get cash for scrap metal!
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0


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

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Barclaycard ...................3850......80.........24.9 See below
Barclaycard 2..................1750......40.........same Can you get lower aprs? even 16% would help you out a bit
Loan...........................500.......125........not sure but only 4 mts left
Overdraft......................800
Old bill for contacts 220..........
another
Total unsecured debts..........7120.........220.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3450
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2651
Available for debt repayments........... 799
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 220
Amount left after debt repayments....... 579

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 0
quote]

Hi
I've posted my comments in red, hope it's not too harsh and I'm positive you'll be able to clear your debts in a year. You are in an enviable position(compared to me anyway:p ) I go with everyone else and say keep a spending diary so you know where the moneys going and then re-do your SOA so you know what goes where, you may be spending more than you think.
Good luck and I know you can do it

debrag

schrojen wrote: »

Thanks for everyones replies. We live in an absolutely gorgeous area just outside London, only moved there in July after 5 yrs in a grotty area...But 1400 quite normal for ppl in London if quite central or very nice. Thats my one expense that wont change...no chance of me ever buying, well unless I win the lottery, and even then a mortgage for a small place would prob cost more than this rent. A

yep I can't afford my own place seen lovely places in Blackheath for £900 though. I live near Canary Wharf at moment