I'm new - Here is my SOA.....

Chell

Milk is only £1 for 4pints in most supermarkets now. I think Farmfoods is even cheaper. I have two kids under three who are both milk monsters.

jcr16

i used to have the milkman, i loved waking up in the morning , knowing fresh milk was on door step. but last jan 05 i had to cancel it. i just couldn't afford it anymore. my milkman charges 45p a pint. i felt so guilty , as it is his livley hood, he is getting up at 3am just to provide for his family. but thank god he was really nice, and said i fully understand, and please don't feel guilty. i buy 4 pints of whole mil a day from morrisons for just £1.thats is £7 a week. from the milkman it would cost £12.60. not much difference but over a year i am saving £291.20. thats what got me thinking. thats alot of money.

asile21

Monthly Incomings:

My salary – 300 (Average – as I earn a varied amount depending on how much I work)
Partners salary - £863
WTC/CTC – 490
Child benefit – 160
Other (Ebay & car boot sales) - 100

Total - £1913

Monthly Outgoings:

Rent - £252
Council Tax - £80
Gas - £20
Electric - £47
TV License - £10.99
NTL – Tv & Phone (lowest package) - £40 (average)
Internet - £8.50
Mobile phones - £50 (one is being cancelled at end of contract in June) Reducing to £25
Food - £170
Car Insurance - £30
Petrol & LPG - £120
Dog insurance - £15 (She is old so don’t want to cancel this as wouldn’t be able to afford vet bills if she gets ill.)
Nappies, dog food & other household items - £30
Milkman - £11
Water rates - £32
Cigarettes - £80 (Partner smokes lots & giving up is not a likely option for him – I only smoke a small amount, about a day)

Total: £996.49

My Capital one card – Balance £993.15 (limit £1800) Monthly APR 2.186 %
Minimum payment - £30

Partner Capital one card – Balance £705.12 (limit £1000) Monthly APR 2.186 %
Minimum payment - £35

Virgin card – Balance £1387 (limit £1500) Monthly APR 1.24 %
Minimum payment - £32

Littlewoods credit card (Barclaycard) – Balance £396.47 (limit £450) APR 29.9 %
Minimum payment - £19

Littlewoods flexible account – Balance £1104 (limit £1500) APR 32.9%
Minimum payment - £55

Studio (catalogue) – Balance £350 (Limit £1200) Can’t find statement so not sure of APR, but probably about the same as the one above.
Minimum payment - £18

Partner has a loan in his name only with Abbey which was for £10.000 about a year ago, don’t know the APR or how much left to pay. Payment is £333

MBNA loan - £3500 Started paying 2 Mths ago at £160 (APR 15.9%)

Update:
Haircuts 0 (cousin is a hairdresser)
MOT's £80 per year
Car maintenance £50 Per year approx as OH does it himself.
Pocket money for kids 0 - comes from grandparents
Lunches 0 - included in groceries above
Subscriptions - 0 - Don't have any.
Life insurance/contents insurance 0 - don't have any.
Holidays - paid for by my parents - save loose change for spending money.
Christmas/birthdays - £40 each on kids pressies so 40 x 3 x 2 - 240 per year ( we don't buy for each other)
other xmas pressies £100
(these are where most of the debts have come from - as well as things like new washing machine, bed, baby items when youngest was born)

jcr16

not sure how young your child is, but remember u can get sudo crem , bonjela, calpol and infacol all from your doc on presciption for free. i was buying the big sudocrem at £5 odd tub until i got told that the doc can give them to me. and now if and when i need it , i get a huge tub from doc.

asile21

CLAPTON wrote:

my first comment is that it is absolutely essential to include EVERYTHING you actually spend in your SoA...if you spend it, include it, otherwise you end up with a false sense of security that you have a greater surplus than you really do.

the cost of cars is often a major reason for debt, both in terms of money to buy but also in terms of running costs. you say your OH saved up for the car...but surely it was bought with debt?

your SoA says you have about £230 each month surplus to pay off your debts...is that what you find in actual practice??

some details on the SoA

car insurance is 30..is that for two cars , it seems very cheap
you need to include car tax, MOT costs, servicing, AA/RAC, occasional repairs
if you spend on presents/xmas these need including, do you spend anything going out or holidays, put something in for cloths as you must spend a little, is any money spent on lunches, haircuts magazines etc.
could you persuade OH to roll his own rather than buy cigarettes...much cheaper i'm told

you say you are trying to get money back from Abbey...are they your bankers?..if so you might consider opening another bank a/c in case they ask you to leave them

My OH, did save for the car - he used to work in a bar & got quite good tips which he saved up as well as buying and selling (and doing up) a few cars on the side. He saved for about two years and the car was bought with cash so he owns it outright.
We borrowed for other things - general spending - holiday spending money (which we now save before go instead of using vredit), new things - washing machine, tumble dryer, bed, kids toys etc - Trying to get back some by doing car boot sales and ebay with any unwanted stuff.

asile21

Thanks JCR
i didn't know that.
He is 13 months so teething is a problem at the moment - i always get calpol from docs but didn't realise i could get bonjela & sudo cream - think i'll be off to the docs tomorrow!!!

Annie_Fanny

Hello hello -

Well done on posting - looks like you are getting lots of good advice.

Has anyone mentioned the 'Snowball Calculator'? This will help you to pay the debt of quicker because it targets the highest APRs first - thus when you have paid off one debt you 'snowball' that extra payment into the next debt with the highest APR. I guess we often make the mistake of paying more money to a larger debt BUT if you have a small debt but with a massive APR then you need to hit that first. It will also be a huge motivational boost to get rid of some of the smaller 'irritants' i.e. Littlewoods credit card APR 29.9 % & Littlewoods flexible account APR 32.9%. I gasped when I saw the 32.9% APR - they should not be allowed to charge that - it's outrageous! See I am ranting now!! Anyway here is the link I was talking about...

http://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx

Good luck & keep posting...

Annie

asile21

Thanks
I have just looked at that and it appears i can be debt free by Jan 2009 - not as bad as i expected ( and thats only paying the same as i am now.)

I know what you mean about the littlewoods flexible account - i have had it for years and i have never looked at the interest till last week and i was gob-smacked.
I am transfering it now to my BOSD card at 6.95 apr, so shouold ave loads with that.
I will close it as soon as its clear so i never have to deal with them again - i have ginen them so much in interest it makes me sick now i know i can borrow cheaper.

I suppose we learn from our mistakes and i'll be a lot more careful in the future.

Thanks for your advice.
Elisa
p.s the snowball calculater has ,ade me see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that i can do this!!!

asile21

Sorry for all the spelling mistakes - i am getting tired - must be time for bed soon!!!

Annie_Fanny

Sleep well. Glad my advice helped a little!