Dodgy debts - is my debt a MAJOR problem?

[Deleted User]

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2125
Partners monthly income after tax....... 855
Benefits................................ 111
Other income............................ 165
Total monthly income.................... 3256
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 585
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 130
Electricity............................. 60
Gas..................................... 57
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 38
Telephone (land line)................... 13
Mobile phone............................ 34
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 47
Internet Services....................... 8
Groceries etc. ......................... 700
Clothing................................ 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 350
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 50
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..................... 12
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 150
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2398

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 230000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 7000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 237000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 135000...(585)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 135000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
sainsburys.....................8600......195.......6.9
amazon.........................6000......61........7.9
m+s............................3650......92........3.9
loan...........................3000......97........0
tescos.........................2845......87........0
Total unsecured debts..........24095.....532.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,256
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,398
Available for debt repayments........... 858
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 532
Amount left after debt repayments....... 326
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 237,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -135,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -24,095
Net Assets.............................. 77,905
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Any suggestions on money saving?

So far I've thought of:-

1. Reduce Sky package.
2. Try and lower grocery bill.

doodledo_2

Hi Paul just seen your thread

Things which jump out to me are:

1) - groceries are huge :eek::eek: reckon this could be easily reduced by 2/3rds.
2) Petrol and insurance are both very high per month. Do you have a high powered/sports car? Could this be changed to something more economical?
3) £150 on entertainment is high if you are really trying to bash the debts and could be reduced.

Really looking at your SOA the quickest way to free up a huge chunk of cash to throw at your debts is the grocery bill. I reckon this could very easily be reduced to £200 a month.

Good luck.

mrcow

Slashing your groceries to a realistic level (say £250 per month) and entertainment to say £50 per month.....would save you £550 per month.

Try chucking that into the snowball calculator and seeing what it does to your dfd.

To cut the entertainment budget.....it's completely do-able by using 2 for 1s, free evenings out eg. tesco vouchers, free cinema & visiting friends etc. & cheaper & free nights in (eg. meal deals/ free dvd rentals)

[Deleted User]

doodledo wrote: »

Hi Paul just seen your thread

Things which jump out to me are:

1) - groceries are huge :eek::eek: reckon this could be easily reduced by 2/3rds.
2) Petrol and insurance are both very high per month. Do you have a high powered/sports car? Could this be changed to something more economical?
3) £150 on entertainment is high if you are really trying to bash the debts and could be reduced.

Really looking at your SOA the quickest way to free up a huge chunk of cash to throw at your debts is the grocery bill. I reckon this could very easily be reduced to £200 a month.

Good luck.

1) Got a 5 year old who eats loads. We dont buy anything extravagant but it always seems to add up to this amount.

2) Kia Sedona Diesel people carrier. Not the most economical but not that bad. Fiat Punto - very economical. Insurance is roughly £300 per year per car (wife had a few bumps).

3) £150 - thats between both of us.

mrcow

I've got a seven year old, a three year old and a two year old. I spend £60 per week on groceries including nappies, wipes and SMA.

If your five year old is eating more food than my three combined, then you seriously need to be having a rethink on what you are feeding them!

Burlesque_Babe

wow - £700 per month on groceries??!!!!!!!!!!! :eek::eek::eek::eek: That really should be no more than £200 for 2 adults and 1 child so I'm wondering if you've made a mistake in inputting.

No, the amount of debt you have isn't 'normal'. It is perhaps in today's society where many, many people have got into debt, but it does seem to be a UK 'quirk' where living on credit is seen as the thing to do and living within means is seen as a bit 'odd'. Strange old society we've created for ourselves really.

Looking through your budget - I would see big savings in

Groceries etc. ......................... 700 (£200)
Clothing................................ 100 (£30)
Electricity............................. 60 )
Gas..................................... 57 )(£60)
Mobile phone............................ 34 (£10)
Telephone (land line)................... 13 )
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 47)
Internet Services....................... 8) (£35 approx)
Entertainment........................... 150 (ideally £0 for a while!!)

with suggested amounts per month in red next to it.

Food - I'm going to go on the amount you've inputted for now, but guess it is an error. However, if it isnt' :eek: then serious changes need to be made. Only use a list for what is required, meal plan by the week, batch cook and freeze. Use leftovers and cook everything from scratch. Use Aldi/Lidl/local markets.

Clothing - only shop at Asda/Tesco/ebay when it's really necessary. If that is the normal spend to date, utilise the clothes in the wardrobe for the next 6 months and just buy underwear when needed.

Electric/gas - very high combined. Look to switch to a cheaper provider and I think you could easily half your outgoings. Also turn anything not used off, be vigilant with lights, don't leave stuff on standby etc

Mobile - if you can, swap to a PAYG and just use in emergencies. Otherwise ask to go to cheapest tariff until contract is up

telephone/internet/cable - these need to be either bundled from 1 provider or buy a Freeview box as combined they are a high total

Entertainment - sorry, but nights out need to become nights in

Well over £700 per month in savings there if the groceries figure is correct .

pippitypip_2

paul,

Please don't take this the wrong way - it's meant as advice not preaching but if you don't change your attitude soon, you could end up like those of us in DMPs, worrying, sleepless nights, bankruptcy etc because unfortunately you can't always tells what's just around the corner and just by making small changes you could make a huge difference to your debts now.

I used to buy whatever and whenever I fancied (not yachts lol but takeaways etc, new cheap shoes) - everything mounted up (plus gambling a whole other story), then you lose your job unexpectedly or everything goes wrong at once which is more likely the case.

You have the opportunity to "insure" against the type of situation many of us write about on these boards - so if you tightened your belts not only would you pay off your debts but trust me, you would also appreciate everything you do have so much more.

I think all of us who are learning realise the "old" way now shocks us more than you can imagine! My single person food budget is now £30 a MONTH (to be fair this isn't easy and if I could I would honestly up it a bit) however I shudder looking back at my old £50 a week spends.

Even doing things like making sure all of your purchases are via cashback websites would bring in extra money for chucking at your debts for the nice snowball effect (debts going down quicker).

Anyway best of luck
pippitypip

[Deleted User]

mrcow wrote: »

I've got a seven year old, a three year old and a two year old. I spend £60 per week on groceries including nappies, wipes and SMA.

If your five year old is eating more food than my three combined, then you seriously need to be having a rethink on what you are feeding them!

How do u do it? Where do u shop? What sort of food do you buy?

GeorgeUK

Mortgage................................ 585
Repayment or interest only?

Council tax............................. 130
If paying over 10 months, can you ask to pay it over 12?
Also check that you are in the correct band.

Electricity............................. 60
Gas..................................... 57
Check the comparison sites to see if you are getting the best deal (uswitch, moneysupermarket)

Mobile phone............................ 34
PAYG?

Telephone (land line)................... 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 47
Internet Services....................... 8
Are these combined in a package?

Groceries etc. ......................... 700
Really? I take it you aren't using shops own brand. Make a meal plan before going into the shops and try to stick to a budget and shopping list. I think you should be able to halve this without too much trouble.

Clothing................................ 100
Every month? Can this be reduced to every other month?

Petrol/diesel........................... 350
Can you use alternative transport to get this down a bit?

Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 50
Buildings insurance..................... 12
Contents insurance...................... 12
Again, i'd check the comparison sites to see you are getting the best deal.

Entertainment........................... 150
Possibly cut back a little on this.

I think if you can stick to a budget for a while, you'll soon see quite a difference in the amount of debt you have.

Also, it is usually advised to pay the minimum to all debts and throw anything remaining at the debt with the highest interest rate.

[Deleted User]

Burlesque_Babe wrote: »

Food - I'm going to go on the amount you've inputted for now, but guess it is an error. However, if it isnt' :eek: then serious changes need to be made. Only use a list for what is required, meal plan by the week, batch cook and freeze. Use leftovers and cook everything from scratch. Use Aldi/Lidl/local markets.

Clothing - only shop at Asda/Tesco/ebay when it's really necessary. If that is the normal spend to date, utilise the clothes in the wardrobe for the next 6 months and just buy underwear when needed.

Electric/gas - very high combined. Look to switch to a cheaper provider and I think you could easily half your outgoings. Also turn anything not used off, be vigilant with lights, don't leave stuff on standby etc

Mobile - if you can, swap to a PAYG and just use in emergencies. Otherwise ask to go to cheapest tariff until contract is up

telephone/internet/cable - these need to be either bundled from 1 provider or buy a Freeview box as combined they are a high total

Entertainment - sorry, but nights out need to become nights in

Well over £700 per month in savings there if the groceries figure is correct .

Food - Please tell me how u get it so cheap for food etc !!!

Gas/Elec - this is the cheapest provider. House is 4 bed detached.

Mobile - stuck in 18 month contracts now.