What to do...!

Katie-Kat-Kins

A few suggestions: -

Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1000
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0 - Check whether you are entitled to a grant or bursary, speak to student services they may be able to help.
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1000
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 598
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 32 - Could you reduce this and your gas? Seems high for one person in a flat. Take regular meter readings so you keep track of what is going on and don't run up arrears or cerdits with your supplier, use the regular meter redings to help you cut your usage.
Gas..................................... 32
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 34
Telephone (land line)................... 17.5
Mobile phone............................ 35 - Quite high, can your reduce your tarriff?
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 18 - Can't you get this combined with your phone more cheaply?
Groceries etc. ......................... 150 - pretty good, check out the O/S board for suggestions to make this go further though.
Clothing................................ 50 - as a student you should be able to reduce this, wear what you have and only shop for essentials, you don't need to be well dressed at uni. Even if you just don't spend for a couple of months or half it for say six months it will help.
Petrol/diesel........................... 40 - I agree that it would be worth getting rid of the car and buying one in future if you really need to. If you saved your student loans as a previous poster suggested you could use that to buy a modern, small and efficient car.
Road tax................................ 120 - I don't think that is right for the per month cost.
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15 - What is this? Is it essential? Would a pre-payment certificate be better?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 33 That is high could you get a better deal?
Buildings insurance..................... 20 - Compare switch and save
Contents insurance...................... 20 - Compare switch and save
Life assurance ......................... 23 - Compare switch and save
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20 - could you save loyalty points/sell on ebay to make this a neutral item? £240 a year is quite high, your family will understand if their present is a little smaller while you are a student.
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1384.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 120000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 123000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 107000...(598)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 107000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................5000......25........0
credit card....................4500......70........15.9
overdraft......................2500......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........12000.....95........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,000
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,384.5
Available for debt repayments........... -384.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 95
Amount short for making debt repayments. -479.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 123,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -107,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,000
Net Assets.............................. 4,000

Obviously I dont pay road tax every month! Only include one twelfth the total cost then.

I should have mentioned im a mature student, im actually 30 this year! I dont have any students loans etc yet because I have another year before I finish my degree, I estimate Ill have about £16k when im done but dont start paying that back till im earning £15k or so. Take them out and save them, the interest rates are so good at the moment a student loan is better than any other debt, if you put it in an ISA you will actually be in profit!

I dont pay council tax because Im in full time education which saves me £90 a month! I have thought about a lodger, but it is difficult when you've lived on your own so long and have OCD!! Maybe worth a try.... it would be a good chunk of income and might even help you to "let go" of some of your OCD issues....
I dont use my car often because I like to cycle so ive cut back alot on petrol costs but am keeping it because once I finish my degree I will need a car for my new job. May well be worth ditching the car and buying a new one only when you actually need one, your new job might not come along straight away or might be accessible by public transport. In the meantime you are incurring standing charges and depreciation even whe your car isn't being used. If you saved your student loan you could use this to buy the new car, and you could get something cheap and efficient to run, the little 1L petrol engines now in the small hatchbacks are so much more economical than the older cars.

RAS

I should have mentioned im a mature student, im actually 30 this year! I dont have any students loans etc yet because I have another year before I finish my degree, I estimate Ill have about £16k when im done but dont start paying that back till im earning £15k or so. Take them out and save them, the interest rates are so good at the moment a student loan is better than any other debt, if you put it in an ISA you will actually be in profit!

More to the point you are paying 15.9% for credit card debt when you could be paying nothing for a student loan.

Take the student loan and reduce your credit card debt ASAP. Doing anything else is lunacy.

It will not reduce your over all debt but it will substantially reduce your monthly payments and the amount of interest you pay back over time.

Jesthar

Just a quick one, your groceries can be reduced pretty easily - I'm a single, live alone, and I spend about half that per month and still eat very well. Quite a few people around here feed families of 3 on £150/month, so there are definitely savings to be had there.

Dinah93

alikelly1912 wrote: »

Well here it is!

VNumber of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1 What kind of value has this got? Cars are not in short supply so it makes no sense to pay tax and insurance and watch it depreciate while you don't need it
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1000
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1000
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 598 Eeek over half your income. A lodger is nessisary
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 32 Quite high, look at switching
Gas..................................... 32 As above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 34
Telephone (land line)................... 17.5
Mobile phone............................ 35 Very, very high. Cut back on this, renegotiate the contract or go payg.
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 18 Again, high. Could save £10 a month
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 50 You don't need this every month
Petrol/diesel........................... 40
Road tax................................ 120 Erm, I think this should be £10
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 33
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 20 High, mine used to be £6
Life assurance ......................... 23
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1384.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 120000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 123000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 107000...(598)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 107000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................5000......25........0
credit card....................4500......70........15.9
overdraft......................2500......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........12000.....95........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,000
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,384.5
Available for debt repayments........... -384.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 95
Amount short for making debt repayments. -479.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 123,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -107,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,000
Net Assets.............................. 4,000

There are a few tweeks but honestly, the mortgage is crippling. There is a reason so few students own a house - you don't have the income to support one. You need to get a lodger, work more hours (not easy when studying), or swap onto interest only. Being realistic your monthly expenses is higher than your wage before debt payments are even taken into account, so I really think you need to be doing at least 2 of these 3, as well as the cuts suggested.