I've finally done an SOA....oh god, help!!!

ellerose

How do I find out if I'm on the electoral roll? I know I'm paying a lot of interest at the moment, but have had so many applications rejected I don't want to do any more damage.

GeorgeUK

When was the last time you applied for credit? As i said, you can usually have about 3 in 6 months, but it is best if these are spread out.

http://www.192.com/search/people.cfm
This link should show you the electoral roll, but i'm not sure how often it is updated.

You need to register to be on the roll. If you haven't already done so, this should assist.
http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/

ellerose

I applied for an update on my graduate loan a couple of weeks ago, but that's it recently. Have given up trying as Experian said my credit score was poor!! Have filled in a form to register in my new place...I wonder if this will really make any difference? What other factors affect obtaining credit?

GeorgeUK

All companies have different and varying criteria, but the more severe things on a credit file that can affect your rating are:

CCJ
default
not being on the electoral roll (proof of residence)
missed payments

Depending on how many missed payments there are (usually reducing in severity over 2 years) will influence how it will affect your score.

Being on the electoral roll does seem to make quite a diference though.

The amount of credit you have, available and used, will also impact on your score when compared to your salary. This is why it's not worth getting your score from a CRA - they don't know what your salary is.

Having 15k available credit over 3 accounts and only using 9k means you are not near your limit, but reducing your amount of credit may not always be helpful. If you closed one account so that you only had 10k available with 9k used, you might seem to be more desperate for credit and may be limited in the amount of credit or the rates offerred as they may think they can get more out of you. Every company has their own way of calculating it though so there's no real way of determining what your score is. As long as you keep making payment on time and have everything else mentioned above in order, that's reallt about all your can do.

ellerose

Well I've never defaulted, missed a payment on anything or had a CCJ...let's see what registering on the electoral roll does!

EssexHebridean

ellerose 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.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1476
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1476
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 400
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 35 (due for renewal soon so that's getting sorted) I assume you'll be making a saving here?
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 45 (going!) Don't cut it to zero - you'll still need bits and bobs, but don't underestimate the power of charity shops!
Petrol/diesel........................... 45
Road tax................................ 10.42
Car Insurance........................... 59.32 (quotes for renewal next month are much less)
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 52
Car parking............................. 90 (renting a space in my apartment block)
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 6.5 (contact lenses, online through Quidco) As a lens wearer myself I hate to even suggest it, but you really need to go back to wearing glasses for all but very special occasions for a while.....
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 45 (on dating...I know I know, found cheaper ways to entertain ourselves now!!)Ah well, every cloud has a silver lining, eh?!
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 898.24

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 750
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 750

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Oasis Card.....................132.79....5.........28.9 This has to be prioritised - a small debt on a high interest rate. Get it gone!
Next Account...................483.3.....49........26.9Then this one......
Capital One....................671.18....20........17.9
Amex...........................445.53....12........4.9
HSBC CC........................6166.69...155.......15.9 Might be worth a call to them to see if they will move you onto a lower life-of-balance rate, or at least cut your interest rate for a period of time to give you some breathing space.
HSBC Graduate Loan.............3610.26...116.4.....0 Is this permenantly 0%?
Total unsecured debts..........11509.75..357.4.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,476
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 898.24
Available for debt repayments........... 577.76
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 357.4
Amount left after debt repayments....... 220.36
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 750
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -11,509.75
Net Assets.............................. -10,759.75
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

By the time you take into account savings made on your car insurance, clothing budget, mobile and lenses, you could easily be another £100 a month better off before long. Is your car insurance fully comp? If so, have you considered reducing to 3rd party F&T for a year? Bearing in mind the value you state for the car it's almost worth taking the risk.....you could also play about with the excess when you renew to see what differences it makes to the policy price...remember also to make sure you go through Quidco - it's possible to get some good cash back on insurances.

A spending diary is an excellent plan - also why not take out your bugetted amount of cash for the week on a set day and then that's all you have to spend - beware of putting little bits and pieces on a credit or debit card too - you don't feel the cash going out when you're not handing over hard currency!

Re the food shopping - head over to the Old Style boards for advice on how to make the most of your budget. Consider whether you currently pay out for food that you then end up throwing away - if so then that's something to crack down on. We currently spend £150 a month on food and cleaning materials etc for two of us - and that's buying meat from farmers markets and having an organic veg box once a fortnight too. I would honestly say we eat pretty well on that.

Well done on having your LBM and facing up to things, and best of luck for your future debt-busting.

ellerose

Thank you for all the advice, people have been so lovely!! Have also checked out my credit score and it's gone from 'very poor' to 'fair' within the space of 18 months, so that's cheered me up too.
The HSBC loan was 'front-loaded' with the interest so there's nothing else to add on, as it were.
I know that the contact lenses seem a luxury, but my eyes are still deteriorating a lot, so I was buying new specs fairly regularly and my prescription was so strong I had to get special lenses, so specs were pretty pricey as well!! But I've certainly bypassed the opticians and I get them online now, I think six quid is pretty good going compared to the £30 odd they were from the opticians.
Good idea about the car insurance, will look into the difference.

ellerose

Well, have posted off my electoral register form so hopefully that might make a positive difference......

whatatwit

Have you started that spending diary and registered for Quidco?

girltuesday_2

In terms of travel to work/car/parking etc, does your company offer any kind of car sharing scheme, or could you set one up yourself (if it's a small company)? We've successfully argued for one here, and quite a few of my colleagues have saved money (I'm lucky, I can walk to work)!

Or, is there a bus/train you could take part of the way and walk the rest? I did this in my last job when I was just starting my DFW journey - I looked at it as a way of saving on gym membership too!