MY Debt Free Journey

Annamarie_2

Hi Guys

New to this forum i am from Dublin and have an awful lot of debt :rolleyes:

so i have decided to get my act together and try to sort out our finances

Can some one post the link that you can put all your details in please

Thanks and looking forward to chatting to you thanks

Annamarie

Forris

Welcome to the forum!

This is the link you need http://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html

Good luck. We lok forward to seeing your SoA.

Annamarie_2

thank you very much

will start doing it now

Annamarie_2

[tt]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1800
Benefits................................ 330
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4230
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1045
Electricity............................. 80
Gas..................................... 80
Telephone (land line)................... 50
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 25
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 65
Groceries etc. ......................... 500
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 25
Car Insurance........................... 50
Childcare/nursery....................... 740
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 25
Buildings insurance..................... 29
Life assurance ......................... 32
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Entertainment........................... 100
Total monthly expenses.................. 3056

Assets
House value (Gross)..................... 400000
Total Assets............................ 400000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 288000...(1045).....3.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 288000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
halifax cc.....................4900......200.......9
mbna cc........................12900.....200.......11
loan1..........................9100......279.......6
loan 4.........................4000......169.......0
loan 3.........................6200......192.......0
loan2..........................7500......200.......9
Total unsecured debts..........44600.....1240......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,230
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,056
Available for debt repayments........... 1,174
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,240
Amount short for making debt repayments. -66
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 400,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -288,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -44,600
Net Assets.............................. 67,400
[/tt]



oh my god when i look at it it is awful

becky_rtw

Its not that awful - you only have 66 (is that pounds or euros?) decficit a month - you could easily shave that off by:
Cutting down the groceries budget - head on over to the old style board for tips on meal planning
Getting rid of the sky
Cutting down entertainment for a few months...

The experts will along in a moment to give some more ideas but do you realise your spending £170 a month on phones and tv - eeeekkk!!!

elaina79

Annamarie wrote: »

[tt]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1800
Benefits................................ 330
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4230
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1045
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0 - No council tax
Electricity............................. 80 - try switching to a cheaper supplier
Gas..................................... 80 - try switching to a cheaper supplier
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 50 - again try and find a cheaper deal
Mobile phone............................ 30 - try going with a PAYG
TV Licence.............................. 25
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 65 - either reduce your package or go with freeview for a while
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 - we are a family of 4 and this is about £400 per month. Try meal planning to reduce costs.
Clothing................................ 50 - do you need to spend this on clothes
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 25
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 740
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 25
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 29
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 32
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 100 - try and cut this down for a while
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 3056

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 400000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 400000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 288000...(1045).....3.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 288000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
halifax cc.....................4900......200.......9
mbna cc........................12900.....200.......11 - try and aim to pay this one off first as it has the highest APR
loan1..........................9100......279.......6
loan 4.........................4000......169.......0
loan 3.........................6200......192.......0
loan2..........................7500......200.......9
Total unsecured debts..........44600.....1240......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,230
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,056
Available for debt repayments........... 1,174
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,240
Amount short for making debt repayments. -66
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 400,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -288,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -44,600
Net Assets.............................. 67,400
[/tt]



oh my god when i look at it it is awful

Hi there.

I have added my comments in red above. Try taking one step at a time, as when you look at it all as a whole it can be very daunting. Try reducing your shopping budget to £400 by meal planning. If you go to the money saving old style board you will get lots of tips on how to do this. This will automatically give you an extra £100 per month to play with.
Good luck.

Karmacat

Annamarie, hi there, welcome to mse. Good for you for starting, and for knowing you needed to do an soa! Thats for starters. Okay, the negative balance at the end looks really frightening, I know, but you have plenty of wiggle room in that soa. My comments are in blue, okay?

Annamarie wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1800
Benefits................................ 330
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4230
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1045 Its big, of course: are you on the best rate? Martin recommends a broker who's "fee free, whole of market" - the situation may be different in Ireland, of course....
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 80 your electricity and your gas are both high-ish - have you checked to see if there are cheaper deals around?
Gas..................................... 80
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 50 a month? You should definitely be able to do better than that, it comes back to searching around for a better deal again (sorry to sound like a broken record).
Mobile phone............................ 30 are you locked in to a contract? Is this necessary for work? You'll probably have to cut down, I'm afraid, at least for a while.
TV Licence.............................. 25
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 65 just to show you how much wiggle room you've got - this one item alone is the sum of the deficit at the end! Can you cut down your package, go freeview or the Irish equivalent for a while?
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 This is absolutely massive, and believe me over the next few months you can literally halve this, if you want to. Check out the Old Style Moneysaving Board on here.
Clothing................................ 50 Are you sure this is the absolute minimum for a while? You have children, so its often needs must, but it *can* be cut back for the adults.
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 25Don't know anything about car expenses, sorry! But on the insurance etc, check the deal, and look at a cashback site for your insurance.
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 740 Woah! Thats big! Have you checked your entitlements? Tax breaks? Cheaper ways of doing it? How old are your kids? Do you need all of this care? Is there any mother you can swap with?
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 25
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 29 Does this include contents?
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 32
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 may have to be cut down for a few months till everything is under control.
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 100 Ditto on the cutting back until everything is under control.
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 3056

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 400000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 400000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 288000...(1045).....3.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 288000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
halifax cc.....................4900......200.......9
mbna cc........................12900.....200.......11
loan1..........................9100......279.......6
loan 4.........................4000......169.......0
loan 3.........................6200......192.......0
loan2..........................7500......200.......9
Total unsecured debts..........44600.....1240......-

Okay, the interest rates you're paying aren't bad at all.... but the biggest is at the highest APR. Go to https://www.whatsthecost.com and find the link on the left hand side (I think) to find the famous "snowball" to let you see the advantages of paying off first the debt with the highest interest rate - you'll be amazed!

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,230
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,056
Available for debt repayments........... 1,174
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,240
Amount short for making debt repayments. -66
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 400,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -288,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -44,600
Net Assets.............................. 67,400

oh my god when i look at it it is awful

There are ways of upping your income slightly too - selling stuff on amazon and ebay, mystery shopping, all sorts of things you wouldn't know about unless you needed them! There's a board on the forum, and there's an article Martin's written - something like Boost Your Income/ Up Your Income, that sort of thing.

This is as bad as it gets - it'll get better from here!

Annamarie_2

Hi Guys

Thank you so much for all your comments they are really helpful

I am in dublin so we dont pay concil tax

the competition in ireland is very bad with gas and electricity but i am changing next week for my electric and saving 24%

the amount i put in for clothes and entertaiment is a very rough guide i have 2 sons aged 2 and 6 who grow very fast but i do buy them very cheap clothes

my mobile is pay as you go so i could really reduce this

The sky is a huge problem in our house my hubby says because we dont go out very often that this is our little luxuary mind you we have it in 2 rooms really need to sort this out.

My mortgage has actually come down from 1400 to just over 1000 because of the ecb cutes so this is good and alot lower then we are used to paying

regarding the childcare the is actually very cheap believe it or not up until christmas we were paying nearly 1500 a month on childcare but now my sil minds them so thats a big drop

Karmacat

Hi Annamarie - I was just about to hop off, then noticed you'd posted again, so just came back.

Okay, your achievements so far:
- halved childcare costs since Christmas.
- cutting fuel costs by 25%.
- mortgage cut by approx. one third.

This is a very big deal!!!!! So you're on the right track, thats the main thing. You've pointed out the potential savings you've already got in mind:
- use the mobile less.
- if you keep the same sky package (and I *knew* about what your OH would say ) then get it cut down to one room, at least.

Mind you, if thats the reasoning for keeping sky, your entertainment budget is way too high. Can I suggest you keep a spending diary? It needs every single penny you spend to go into it, so its always better to do it in a cheap notebook - you'll be surprised how much you spend on some things that you thought were only pence. Thats the way it usually works anyway.

As far as balancing your budget is concerned, the fuel costs coming down will help, add that to mobile and slight sky saving, and you're nearly there. To help overpay, you can look at landline payments you're making - I do think £50 a month is high - entertainment, and groceries.

Good luck, and keep posting!

Annamarie_2

thanks for that Karmacat

i am going to start making chages today an i am going to keep a diary here and hopefully can be debt free one day

thanks

Karmacat

No problem (I just came back on as you were posting, how weird is that )

Anyway .... yep, do the diary.... work out your debt free date. People have come back from way worse than that, honestly. Not me - you can see that at worst, my debt was my loan, £10.6k (oh, plus the euro mortgage for a French apartment, which has been the source of my problems), but very, very good friends of mine on here have had debt of £65k, £85k, up to near £100k. The situation is recoverable: Martin says, there's never been a debt problem that couldn't be solved. You're cutting down your outgoings, and when you've done what you can, you'll find some ways of making a bit extra, to make overpayments or provide for birthdays/Christmases, whatever - e.g. at the moment, I've been writing reviews online, and I earned a £50 Virgin voucher. Believe it or not, the only remotely relevant thing to spend it on is wine! And I "need" one nice bottle of red wine every month, I get driven round to friends who provide board games and food, and my contribution is the wine - and that is now free for about 8 months! So, you see, things can work in very odd ways. All that extra stuff comes gradually, but it will come, if you want to check it out.