Soa

Jesthar

Hi marieclaire!

Please ignore the rudeness of certain individuals, we're not really like that around here! Sudden extra drains on the resources can throw the best of people, particularly if you've never had to worry about how much you spend before.

Now, let's have a look for you:

marieclaire wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... (just to confirm, no children in house?)
Number of cars owned....................
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1780
Partners monthly income after tax....... 800
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2580
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 520
Rent.................................... 400
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 145
Electricity............................. 80 - this is very high. Check to see about switching supplier, and also your useage patterns - remember, things like tumble driers and fan heaters eat money, and washing lines and jumpers are cheaper!
Gas..................................... 70 - this is also very high. Again, check to see about switching supplier, and also your useage patterns - reduce the thermostat and the time the heating is on, check your hot water settings etc.
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 45 - are you metered? If not, consider investigating getting one fitted, unless you use bachfuls of water a day!
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 51 - you could reduce the package you have, or ditch for Freeview
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 - :eek: sweetheart, this is a KILLER grocery bill! I'm single, live alone, and rarely spend more than about £80 in the supermarket in a month, including on non-grocery items and cat stuff. And I don't buy all basic brands or skimp on food, either. Trust me, if there are only 2 of you in the house, you can eat like kings for £200.
Clothing................................ 100 - this could go essentials only for a while untilyou get yourself sorted
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 17
Car Insurance........................... 45 - you might want to check around for a cheaper deal here
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50 - every month?
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 240
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 30 - this looks rather expensive - try shopping around for a cheaper deal
Contents insurance...................... 20 - again, this looks rather expensive - try shopping around for a cheaper deal
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 3
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25
Haircuts................................ 6
Entertainment........................... 25
Holiday................................. 10
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Other costs - union etc................. 60
Total monthly expenses.................. 2700

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

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Secured Debt.................. 27000....(520)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 27000.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
mbna credit card...............14200.....200.......19.9
barclay card...................7200......160.......29.9
Total unsecured debts..........21400.....360.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,580
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,700
Available for debt repayments........... -120
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 360
Amount short for making debt repayments. -480
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 750
Total HP & Secured debt................. -27,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -21,400
Net Assets.............................. -47,650

Hmm, things are pretty tight at the moment. However, you have some major savings which can be made, particularly on your groceries - if you head over to the Moneysaving Old Style boards you will find TONS of amazing advice on how to feed whole familes for pennies (I think the record is still under £30 plus the contents of the kitchen cupboards to feed a family of four for a whole MONTH! ) Meal planning, batch cooking and budgeting can work wonders here.

My personal favourite trick is my slow cooker, huge batches of stews, spag bol, sweet n sour etc. for about a fiver, plus it cooks cheap joints of meat to absolute perfection - I'm currently thinking of doing a half shoulder of lamb this week, which will give me meat for a whole week (carve and freeze), plus beautiful stock for mouthwatering gravy.

You also have plenty of other areas you can make cutbacks in - your clothing budget can be diverted for a while, for example. And you could also look at if you can switch the higher APR debt to a 0% deal if you haven't applied for any credit cards or mised any payments recently.

Look for all the tips and tricks on how to boost your income, too - eBay stuff you don't need, start buying online through cashback sites and also doing their daily clicks for free pennies etc. There are plenty of ways to make a little extra cash.

I'll be absolutely honest with you here - you are on the borderline of how you can deal with this debt. At the moment, if you do cut your spending, utilities etc., then the debt payments themselves are not that huge and you can cope - you are lucky in that you definitely have the means to shave £500+ off your monthly spend, which more than covers your current shortfall. However, you are going to have to keep it up for a while, and keep tight tabs on your spending for the duration, or you will find yourself needing to consider a Debt Management Plan or similar. We'll be here to cheer you on every step of the way, though!

*hugs*

~Jes

rubyslipper

Jesthar wrote: »

Hi marieclaire!

Please ignore the rudeness of certain individuals, we're not really like that around here! Sudden extra drains on the resources can throw the best of people, particularly if you've never had to worry about how much you spend before.

Now, let's have a look for you:



Hmm, things are pretty tight at the moment. However, you have some major savings which can be made, particularly on your groceries - if you head over to the Moneysaving Old Style boards you will find TONS of amazing advice on how to feed whole familes for pennies (I think the record is still under £30 plus the contents of the kitchen cupboards to feed a family of four for a whole MONTH! ) Meal planning, batch cooking and budgeting can work wonders here.

My personal favourite trick is my slow cooker, huge batches of stews, spag bol, sweet n sour etc. for about a fiver, plus it cooks cheap joints of meat to absolute perfection - I'm currently thinking of doing a half shoulder of lamb this week, which will give me meat for a whole week (carve and freeze), plus beautiful stock for mouthwatering gravy.

You also have plenty of other areas you can make cutbacks in - your clothing budget can be diverted for a while, for example. And you could also look at if you can switch the higher APR debt to a 0% deal if you haven't applied for any credit cards or mised any payments recently.

Look for all the tips and tricks on how to boost your income, too - eBay stuff you don't need, start buying online through cashback sites and also doing their daily clicks for free pennies etc. There are plenty of ways to make a little extra cash.

I'll be absolutely honest with you here - you are on the borderline of how you can deal with this debt. At the moment, if you do cut your spending, utilities etc., then the debt payments themselves are not that huge and you can cope - you are lucky in that you definitely have the means to shave £500+ off your monthly spend, which more than covers your current shortfall. However, you are going to have to keep it up for a while, and keep tight tabs on your spending for the duration, or you will find yourself needing to consider a Debt Management Plan or similar. We'll be here to cheer you on every step of the way, though!

*hugs*

~Jes

Well done Jes! A concise, supportive and non-judgmental response. Just the sort of thing MSE is all about! :T
Marieclaire - good luck with this and please don't be upset by the negativity. After all, we can't all be perfect can we? I bumped your other thread this morning without realising you'd done this so perhaps you'll find some support on that one too.

Chin up x

Tixy

Just what I was thinking Ruby. Jesthar pretty much raised the same points I would have done and put it so well.

Good luck Marieclaire - hopefully with some of the suggestions you can start to make reductions to your spending and that drowning feeling will stop.

Your change in circumstance is likely to mean some costs are difficult to predict. Are your gas & elec direct debit estimates before a first bill? If so a bit of advice would be to make sure that the bills are always based on actual readings so if the first bill they send is an estimate read it yourself and call them with it. If it appears you are overpaying ask them to reduce the DDs (you have to ask - utility companies are good at taking too much). Actual readings save you building up a big debt to them or paying them too much.

Is there any part time/casual work you could do during the school holidays to boost your income? This could help go straight off the debt.

Good luck

aj2703

Other child related expenses............ 240 see this is child support for your OH's children. Assume this can't be altered.


I thought the csa was doing set amounts now..?? 15% of earnings for one child 20% for two. If that is the case and hubby's earnings are 800 the maximum csa payments should be £160 a month not 240.

kindofagilr

Maybe the hubby feels he needs to give more to the ex? we don't know their situation?

aj2703

No in any way, shape or form saying i do. Just pointing out what i thought the payments were nowadays....:D If he wasn't aware he was paying too much he might be able to get the payments reduced.

Primula

Hi there
Hope you haven't been scared off by the not so nice posts. 99.9% of people on here are just lovely. You have been given some fab advice in other posts though so I have nothing to add really, definitely have a look at the Old Style Board and definitely meal plan and you will save hundreds!
P

marieclaire_2

Thankyou for the kind replies in amongst the ruder ones - I was trying to be as upfront as possible and honest.
Just to make it a little clearer - my husband and I have been living with my Nan for 5 years, she has just died and now the house is my Dad's he wants rent and all the bills paying.
I really can't tell him the extent of my debt but just making minimum payments means we will be paying the credit cards forever and ever and leaves so little left over at the end of the month.

marieclaire_2

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4 (at weekends)
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1780
Partners monthly income after tax....... 880
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2660
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 500
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 145
Electricity............................. 75 (based on current when 3 people living there and an old lady in house all day with TV, radio etc. This will hopefully reduce)
Gas..................................... 75 (as electric)
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 45 (seems to be a set fee?)
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 70 (yes I know! My hubbie is tied in for 6months and mine for 15 months - ending contract is incredibly expensive and when renewed this was main phone, we couldn't have known Nan would die)
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 23 (again I know but includes internet which I have to have for work)
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 240
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 150 ( kids round trip is 110 miles a week and work is 17 miles there and back 5 days)
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 45 (hubbie is a learner this was the best deal)
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 240 (arrangement with the ex)
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 5
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 10 (higher as we first time insurers)
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 8
Other insurance......................... 8
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 5
Haircuts................................ 6
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Medical fees............................ 52 (can't be cut)
Choir fees.............................. 15 (yes again I know but my life NEEDS this)
Union fees.............................. 15
Total monthly expenses.................. 1814

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
mbna cards.....................15200.....250.......19.9
barclaycard....................6690......160.......15.9
graduate loan..................20000.....322.5.....6.9
loan...........................6000......280.......11.9
Total unsecured debts..........47890.....1012.5....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,660
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,814
Available for debt repayments........... 846
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,012.5
Amount short for making debt repayments. -166.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 750
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -47,890
Net Assets.............................. -47,140

Tixy

Hi Marieclaire. Glad you came back - most of us are really nice honest.

Hopefully you may be able to make some cutbacks to your outgoings from the various suggestions.

If you can't manage to make your minimum payments - even after cutbacks then you could consider a debt management plan with one of the debt charities (do not go with a fee paying one). This could take some of the pressure off you regarding the debts and you will pay an agreed amount split pro-rata between your debts. Some creditors will freeze interest and others will not. This is likely to have a detrimental effect on your credit rating and often creditors put a default on your credit record 6months into a DMP.

The other thing to consider is that whoever organises your DMP (CCCS or Payplan for example) will also point out similar points regarding grocery and clothes spends. The income & expenditure info is also sent to creditors as part of the DMP and they will be much less likely to accept reduced payments if they see so much being spent.

Would it be possible/practical to get in a lodger to the house to help pay bills? Also have you looked at how else you can up your income - do you have unwanted clothes, cds, books, anything to sell on ebay? or at a carboot?
You could try doing mystery shopping, paid online surveys and reviews. The up your income board is full of ideas.

Good luck and keep posting and asking for advice.

EDIT - just seen your revised SOA - this looks much better. I'm sure elec will go down. If water is a fixed fee then you are on unmeasured. I think you are likely to save if you go to a meter (free to install), usually if less people than bedrooms a meter is a good idea. Look at this link to see if you could save http://www.uswitch.com/water/

With your husband being only 6months from end of contract it is worth him callig to see if he can reduce to a lower tariff for the remainder - several companies will do this towards the end of a contract.

Sorry to hear about your Nan.