Newbie SOA.

nickydoo

Hello.

I have been lurking for a while and have just done my SOA which is copied below. Where am I going wrong? I really want to shift this debt but I also want my family to have some kind of life as well in the meantime. Any ideas how I can improve it?

I haven't included an amount for entertainment as in reality we just spend what is left over each month after paying everything. For presents and christmas I have included what we spent last year but we haven't actually been saving this although we probably should. I just need help really! I am finding all this a bit overwhelming. I have also put in 10 for contents but I haven't actually got so far as taking this out yet but I know I should!! Sorry I don't know what else you need to know.

Thanks

Nick

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................ 514.49
Partners monthly income after tax....... 910
Benefits................................ 991.29
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2415.78
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 352.08
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 115
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 31.62
Telephone (land line)................... 30
Mobile phone............................ 70
TV Licence.............................. 28.5
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 38
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 21.43
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 56
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10.25
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 150
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Course.................................. 127.5
Total monthly expenses.................. 1395.38

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 4000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclays.......................15396.1...352.9.....17.9
Abbey..........................3012.58...69.42.....14.9
Egg............................7448.29...198.7.....7.66
Littlewoods....................485.37....88........0
Argos..........................1236.2....60........27.9
RBS............................500.......5.........19.24
Dad............................2750......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........30828.54..774.02....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,415.78
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,395.38
Available for debt repayments........... 1,020.4
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 774.02
Amount left after debt repayments....... 246.38
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 4,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -30,828.54
Net Assets.............................. -26,828.54

RAS

A few queries and comments

nickydoo wrote: »

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................ 514.49
Partners monthly income after tax....... 910
Benefits................................ 991.29
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2415.78
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 352.08
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 115
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 31.62
Telephone (land line)................... 30
Mobile phone............................ 70 - this is massive, can you drop dowmnn a package or two?
TV Licence.............................. 28.5 - this will go down to £12 when you have paid the first year or so.
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 38 - get rid of this and go freeview
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 21.43
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 56
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10.25
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 150 - is this per month or per year?
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Course.................................. 127.5
Total monthly expenses.................. 1395.38

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 4000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclays.......................15396.1...352.9.....17.9
Abbey..........................3012.58...69.42.....14.9
Egg............................7448.29...198.7.....7.66
Littlewoods....................485.37....88........0
Argos..........................1236.2....60........27.9
RBS............................500.......5.........19.24
Dad............................2750......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........30828.54..774.02....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,415.78
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,395.38
Available for debt repayments........... 1,020.4
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 774.02
Amount left after debt repayments....... 246.38
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 4,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -30,828.54
Net Assets.............................. -26,828.54

What are your credit limits, can you shuffle the cards to get rid of the argos debt? This is your most expensive and even shifting it to 18% would help.

nickydoo

Thank you for that.

I hadn't thought about moving our debt around as i was looking at this as consolidation which i know is a no no. My limit on argos is 1500. Barclays/Egg and Abbey are loans. RBS is an overdraft on my wifes old account when she was working full time. I did have an Egg credit card but they wrote to me ages ago saying they were "closing the account" i guess my credit rating is rubbish. I haven't applied for any credit for at least a year so i don't know maybe it is worth a try??

70 mobiles - this is for 2 phones. contract ends in jan 2010. We have still got 100 cash back to claim on this aswell so i guess i cant change the contract until january.

Good news about the tv licence. We haven't been living here for very long. I love my Sky Sports that is the reason we have this. I know typical bloke thing but i think it does save money as i don't have to go to the pub to watch the cricket! And yes it is 150 a month for presents/christmas according to what we spent last year looking at my wifes spreadsheet! We have a big family and christmas cost us 1k last year. Is that a lot?

Nick

Ames

Yes the presents bill is a lot, it's huge. I think you need to explain to people that you'll only be buying for the kids this year, and even then it'll just be small presents.

I really think you need to stop the sky sports, you can always get live updates on the scores etc.

RAS

The presents budget is huge - you really do need to cut that massively. Most people here would think £30 was high.

I suspect that many of the people you are giving stuiff to would be very grateful if it was agreed that basically you did kids only and token presents for everyone else. There are whole threads on making stuff for very little and if your wife is at home she can bake and make stuff to give away.

RAS

Your debt is one year's income. That is around the level when it is manageable until something goes wrong, so you need to tackle it now.

Do you have PPI on any of those loans?

nickydoo

I know what you are saying about the sky sports but i really do think it does save on some cash when things like cricket are on as otherwise i would be going to the pub and spending more. We haven't long signed up. I think I will ask the wifey to monitor it and see if it does save us money if you see what i mean. If not i'll leave after the 12 months.

My wife says we spent 300 on our son and then 700 on the rest of the family. I don't think we bought anyone anything massive. We do have a big family. Maybe this year we will just restrict to close family only and get something small. Christmas is a big deal in our family. When my wife told me that figure a minute ago I thought !!!! how much? That is too much really. Maybe I shouldn't let the wife sort these things out anymore and no wonder our son has lots of toys and storage is a problem!!!! But to be fair he hasn't really had anything since and his birthday isn't until October. He will be 2.

Thanks again. Nick

RAS

Hi

At that age a cardboard box and the wrapping paper plus a game of peak aboo is quite enough. And no doubt he gets loads from doting grans and uncles and aunties. he will have grown out of it in 6 months anyway

I can see how you got into debt that way.

Can you set your wife up sorting the stuff and think about a car boot sale? Pay that off the argos account.

nickydoo

Sorry I was posting at the same time as you RAS.

I wouldn't even know how to find out if I have PPI.

I have just noticed that I have got our income the wrong way round in the SOA but i don't think it matters as the end result is still the same.

My wife is at home - i'll have a look and see if i can find the threads you suggested. She says she likes baking. She seems arty to me when she does stuff with our son so this might be something she can do.

Thanks again. Very helpful. This "light bulb moment" stuff is hard. It is scary that we have a years income in debt. But it is our fault. I am pleased you think it is managable. I am trying to tackle it - this website is really great.

RAS

Your credit agreements will list whether they included PPI.

Given the current employment situation, you need to read them and see if the PPI would pay out. if it would keep it ant the moment.

Also check for early redemption penalties.

If the PPI would not pay out reclaim it - front loaded PPI adds about 20% to the cost of a loan.

nickydoo

Thank you i'll look into this.