What do I do now???

Lightbulbmoment_2

Ames wrote: »

I'm not the best at this but I've put a few comments in red. Have you shopped around for all the insurances? When they're due make sure you're getting the best deal and go through something like Quidco to get money back.

Your groceries are really high, you can easily cut them. Check out the old style board for tips on bulk cooking good meals.

You've got a few things missing, like presents. If you don't put something away every month then they'll just crop up and mess up your budget.

Hope that helps, someone better than me will be along soon.

The Electric and gas are together, we just got a new quote as we said we were going to a new company, we were actually paying more.

My daughter only 3 so no school trips for now.

The food and shopping I agree could be looked at, the problem is my husband works shifts and a lot of food goes off, I have tried lots of different ways to cut back. I will have a look at the old board to get some tips on that. Thanks.

fairybird30

Calm down, take a deep breath and fill in your soa again.

Once you have it more accurate it will be easier to see where your deficit is and for people to help.

There is nothing here that cant be sorted.

slig

Lightbulbmoment wrote: »

The rent is wrong, I didn't understand the sheet, Im in a bit of a mess, I probably didn read it properly, just desperate to get this sorted. Our mortgage is £1200.

Your right its a total mess! The mobile phone bill is for 2 people, the road tax is for 6 months, I have no idea what the MOT is on it, its an old car and what I know about cars you could write on a stamp.

Well you've made a good start, and when you're ready you can have another go at the SOA and put in the adjusted amounts.

An MOT costs about £50 each year, plus add on any other car costs. Eg say my old car tends to need fixing a couple of times a year, costing about £50 a time. So my yearly car maintenance costs would be £150, then divide this by 12 for the monthly cost. Thus mine would be £12.50 a month.

Why don't you have a look at some of the other threads in this forum? You will see that you're not alone, and it might inspire you to have another go at your SOA.

Verbatim

Just wanted to say welcome and agree with others who've said don't worry, it CAN be sorted. As slig says when you've got a mo have a look at other threads. There are so many people here who have started out desperate and convinced there's nothing that can be done who are now debt free or well on the way.

Lightbulbmoment_2

Ok I calmed myself down, grabbed a coffee and had a go again, I think I may have it this time.

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.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1800
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200
Benefits................................ 80
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3080
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1200
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 116
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 130
Electricity............................. 75
Gas..................................... 75
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 17
Mobile phone............................ 80 (this is for two mobile phones, mine and husband)
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 55 (Im going to cancel this tomorrow)
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 320
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 12
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 300
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 18
Life assurance ......................... 48
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 100
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2893

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 215000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 215000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 215000...(1200).....0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 0........(38).......0<
Next...........................829......(78).......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 215829....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................28354.....284.......0
Credit card....................69........69........0
Credit card....................4517......82........0
Credit Card....................7153......143.......0
Credit Card....................3787......86........0
Credit Card....................3000......25........0
Credit Card....................26........5.........0
Credit card....................4187......105.......0
Credit card....................1235......27........0
Total unsecured debts..........52328.....826.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,080
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,893
Available for debt repayments........... 187
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 826
Amount short for making debt repayments. -639
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 215,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -215,829
Total Unsecured debt.................... -52,328
Net Assets.............................. -53,157

fairybird30

Just a few pointers.

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.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1800
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200
Benefits................................ 80
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3080
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1200
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 116
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 130
Electricity............................. 75
Gas..................................... 75
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 17
Mobile phone............................ 80 (this is for two mobile phones, mine and husband) downgrade this even if you are in contract if you are in financial hardship they shoudl let you downgrade, aim to half this at least. TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 55 (Im going to cancel this tomorrow) good stuff, needs to go.
Internet Services....................... 0 Do you still want to get online?
Groceries etc. ......................... 320 needs to be cut to approx £200. check the old style board and plan meals, drop a brand etc.
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 150 can this be reduced, do you ever drive when you dont need to?
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 50 this is pretty high, make sure you are getting the best deal on renewal, if you get a new policy through a cashback site you can make £50- 100 if you are lucky.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 12
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 300 do you get childcare vouchers through your employer? these are a good tax break if they are available to you.
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15 again on renewal check for better deals and cashback, same with contents.
Contents insurance...................... 18
Life assurance ......................... 48 this is high, is this for both of you? do you haev the right level of cover? again check for a good deal with cashback on renewal.
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 100 this is loads, needs to be no more than £30 really between you. colour at home, just get a wet cut, IMO cut and blow drys are a waste of money, you usually liek it better when you do it yourself anyway!
Entertainment........................... 40 needs to go temporarily.
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2893

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 215000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 215000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 215000...(1200).....0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 0........(38).......0<
Next...........................829......(78)...... .0
Total secured & HP debts...... 215829....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Loan...........................28354.....284...... .0
Credit card....................69........69........0
Credit card....................4517......82........0
Credit Card....................7153......143.......0
Credit Card....................3787......86........0
Credit Card....................3000......25........0
Credit Card....................26........5.........0
Credit card....................4187......105.......0
Credit card....................1235......27........0
Total unsecured debts..........52328.....826.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,080
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,893
Available for debt repayments........... 187
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 826
Amount short for making debt repayments. -639
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 215,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -215,829
Total Unsecured debt.................... -52,328
Net Assets.............................. -53,157

I have put a few suggestions in blue, a debt management plan with a reputable non-profit making org like CCCS may be a good idea.

Lightbulbmoment_2

Thank you all, Im still conserned about all my credit cards and how to even begin to pay that off, but you have made me think about my bills in a completely different way. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

We have called our mortgage people and are having a meeting with them to reduce our payment temporarily, so we can get paying those CC.

Any other bits of advice is more than welcome.

fairybird30

by reducing your mortgage payment do you mean switiching to interest only?

Tixy

When paying off your credit cards pay off those with the highest interest rates first to save yourself interest - the only exception might be when you have tiny balances like the £25 and £69 ones. Once you have paid these off you could ask if they will do you any promotional balance transfers (at 0% or low life of balance transfer)-some do some don't depends on the provider.
If they will you could then balance transfer from your highest remaining APR card onto the cleared cards. If they won't let you do BT, or give you a better rate than you highest APR then ask for the account to be closed (and cut up the card).

Good luck

angelflower_2

hi

Well done on the steps so far. Can I just suggest it woudl be a mistake to take a holiday on the mortgage payments to meet credit card payments. You are essentially paying a secondary debt then before a primary.

Please look at the top of the post for a list of debt management charities which can help. Despite being in debt for years, I have only recently contacted CCCS and filled in their online calculator in which they will talk you though the next viable stages. I would suggest this is a much more productive use of time than meeting the mortgage company (at this stage anyway)

Good luck - please keep coming on to let us know how you are doing