first time SOA - would love your thoughts!

Little_Vics

Hi guys,Here's our SOA - would love your thoughts! The reason we're struggling is because we bought our house at a steal (£100K ish), and have gutted and rennovated it - hence the low mortgage and higher valuation on the property. We're now having to pay back for all the building work!Ta heapsLittle Vics & hubbyHousehold InformationNumber of adults in household........... 2Number of children in household......... 0Number of cars owned.................... 1Monthly Income DetailsMonthly income after tax................ 994.1Partners monthly income after tax....... 1170.05Benefits................................ 0 - not sure if we're entitled to anyOther income............................ 0Total monthly income.................... 2164.15Monthly Expense DetailsMortgage................................ 586Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0Rent.................................... 0Management charge (leasehold property).. 0Council tax............................. 97Electricity............................. 34Gas..................................... 35Oil..................................... 0Water rates............................. 29.8Telephone (land line)................... 12.5Mobile phone............................ 50TV Licence.............................. 12.12Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0Internet Services....................... 0Groceries etc. ......................... 200Clothing................................ 20Petrol/diesel........................... 50Road tax................................ 10.42Car Insurance........................... 29.42Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10Car parking............................. 0Other travel............................ 70Childcare/nursery....................... 0Other child related expenses............ 0Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0Buildings insurance..................... 24.19Contents insurance...................... 0 - included in buildings insuranceLife assurance ......................... 0 - included in mortgage, am struggling to find out the actual proportionOther insurance......................... 0Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10Haircuts................................ 10Entertainment........................... 40Holiday................................. 0Emergency fund.......................... 0Total monthly expenses.................. 1345.45AssetsCash.................................... 1029.15House value (Gross)..................... 145000Shares and bonds........................ 0Car(s).................................. 100Other assets............................ 0Total Assets............................ 146129.15Secured & HP Debts[/b]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APRMortgage...................... 97000....(586)......6.45Total secured & HP debts...... 97000.....-.........- Unsecured Description....................Debt......Monthly...APRBank loan (HSBC)...............14823.....329.4.....15.2HSBC credit card ..............5557.35...135.......0 (0% until June 10)MBNA credit card...............3800......25........0 (0% until Jan 10)Parental loan..................8000......200.......0 (0% - bless them!)Lloyds credit card.............1483......30........27.9Halifax credit card............680.......10........0 (0% until Jan 10)Total unsecured debts..........34343.35..729.4.....- Monthly Budget SummaryTotal monthly income.................... 2,164.15Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,345.45Available for debt repayments........... 818.7Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 729.4Amount left after debt repayments....... 89.3Personal Balance Sheet SummaryTotal assets (things you own)........... 146,129.15Total HP & Secured debt................. -97,000Total Unsecured debt.................... -34,343.35Net Assets.............................. 14,785.8</p>

Little_Vics

eew - formatting's gone wrong. ????

Jesthar

Fixed the formatting manually for you - gotta run,but others will comment

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi guys,

Here's our SOA - would love your thoughts! The reason we're struggling is because we bought our house at a steal (£100K ish), and have gutted and rennovated it - hence the low mortgage and higher valuation on the property. We're now having to pay back for all the building work!

Ta heaps

Little Vics & hubby

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 994.1
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1170.05
Benefits................................ 0 - not sure if we're entitled to any
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2164.15

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 586
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0R
ent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 97
Electricity............................. 34
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 29.8
Telephone (land line)................... 12.5
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 10.42
Car Insurance........................... 29.42
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 70
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 24.19
Contents insurance...................... 0 - included in buildings insurance
Life assurance ......................... 0 - included in mortgage, am struggling to find out the actual proportion
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1345.45

Assets
Cash.................................... 1029.15
House value (Gross)..................... 145000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 100
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 146129.15

Secured & HP Debts[/b]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 97000....(586)......6.45
Total secured & HP debts...... 97000.....-.........-

Unsecured Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Bank loan (HSBC)...............14823.....329.4.....15.2
HSBC credit card ..............5557.35...135.......0 (0% until June 10)
MBNA credit card...............3800......25........0 (0% until Jan 10)
Parental loan..................8000......200.......0 (0% - bless them!)
Lloyds credit card.............1483......30........27.9
Halifax credit card............680.......10........0 (0% until Jan 10)

Total unsecured debts..........34343.35..729.4.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,164.15
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,345.45
Available for debt repayments........... 818.7
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 729.4
Amount left after debt repayments....... 89.3

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 146,129.15
Total HP & Secured debt................. -97,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -34,343.35Net Assets.............................. 14,785.8</p>

Little_Vics

thanks Jesthar!

Katie-Kat-Kins

Ok a few quick suggestions: -

Jesthar wrote: »

Fixed the formatting manually for you - gotta run,but others will comment

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi guys,

Here's our SOA - would love your thoughts! The reason we're struggling is because we bought our house at a steal (£100K ish), and have gutted and rennovated it - hence the low mortgage and higher valuation on the property. We're now having to pay back for all the building work!

Ta heaps

Little Vics & hubby

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 994.1
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1170.05
Benefits................................ 0 - not sure if we're entitled to any Check this! You might be pleasently surprised.
Other income............................ 0 Could you/OH maybe get a second job or additional income to help you target those debts. Maybe a lodger or doing avon if a second job doen't work for you. if not try selling some of your stuff on ebay, you'd be surprised what people will buy!
Total monthly income.................... 2164.15

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 586
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 97
Electricity............................. 34
Gas..................................... 35 Not a bad combined spend if that is based upon actual usage, if not you should really get some meter readings and have your bills updated, otherwise you could be building up an extra debt, or your utility company could be holding on to a load of your hard earned! It is worth taking regular meter readings anyway so you can keep on top of your usage.
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 29.8
Telephone (land line)................... 12.5
Mobile phone............................ 50 That is a bit high, if it is for two you can probably get it down to £40, if you are still within your contract phone your provider and ask whetehr they will drop you to their cheapest tarriff due to financial difficulties, if your contract has ended consider PAYG.
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 This isn't too bad but are you sure this is your actual spend? Either way there are great tips for cutting this on the old style board.
Clothing................................ 20 You could go essentials only for a few months to help you target your debts.
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 10.42
Car Insurance........................... 29.42
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 70 What is this? Could you reduce it?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15 What is this? Could you reduce it?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 24.19 Compare switch and save
Contents insurance...................... 0 - included in buildings insurance
Life assurance ......................... 0 - included in mortgage, am struggling to find out the actual proportion
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10 Could you make this spend free by using loyalty points, vouchers earned through survey sites etc?
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 40 Could you cut back here?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1345.45

Assets
Cash.................................... 1029.15 What is this? Why not use it to pay a chunk off your most expensive debt??
House value (Gross)..................... 145000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 100
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 146129.15

Secured & HP Debts[/b]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 97000....(586)......6.45
Total secured & HP debts...... 97000.....-.........-

Unsecured Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Bank loan (HSBC)...............14823.....329.4.....15.2 Does this loan allow over payments? If so this is your second priority debt.
HSBC credit card ..............5557.35...135.......0 (0% until June 10)What is the APR going to revert to when the 0% expires? Will you be able to switch it to another 0%
MBNA credit card...............3800......25........0 (0% until Jan 10) What is the APR going to revert to when the 0% expires? Will you be able to switch it to another 0%
Parental loan..................8000......200.......0 (0% - bless them!)
Lloyds credit card.............1483......30........27.9 This is costing you most so target all spare cash at getting rid of this.
Halifax credit card............680.......10........0 (0% until Jan 10) What is the APR going to revert to when the 0% expires? Will you be able to switch it to another 0%

Total unsecured debts..........34343.35..729.4.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,164.15
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,345.45
Available for debt repayments........... 818.7
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 729.4
Amount left after debt repayments....... 89.3 Ok so by the end of the month do you have this amount left?? If not then it is time to start a spending diary to find out where your surplus is going. Together with the potential savings above you could be upping your repayments by £100 a month!!!

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 146,129.15
Total HP & Secured debt................. -97,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -34,343.35Net Assets.............................. 14,785.8</p>

That isn't too bad, it is good that you are getting on top of things as it could get out of hand when your 0% deals expire though. Now is the time to make all the savings you can, live frugally for a few months and work hard to target all your spare cash at those debts. It is worth not going out as often for the sake of hitting those debts hard to reduce them before the 0% runs out, if you really try you can make a serious dent in them now!

With the high amount of equity in your property you could consider going interest only on your mortgage for a year to help you free up some cash but don't be tempted to remortgage and add your unsecured debt to the mortgage.

Best of luck!

Little_Vics

Hi,

That's all really helpful! To answer some of your questions:

Gas - that's pretty accurate. We have a wood burner so only use gas for cooking & hot water. I always give meter readings when we have a quarterly bill, but this is the monthly direct debit.

Mobiles & Groceries - we're working on it!! Food is a bit tricky because I have some allergies/intolerances, but it's our next big thing to tackle

Clothes - yup, hear what you're saying. Most of it is workwear for hubby (builder - he goes through trousers like there's no tomorrow!)

Travel - that's my monthly train pass to work. Hubby takes the car

Medical - that's my contact lenses

Buildings/Contents - we've just switched, but will compare again

Entertainment - yup, could cut back. Most of it is pub-money for the quiz we do every week.

Cash - that's just what we had in the bank when I did the SOA - before all the bills went out! Maybe it's misleading - sorry

Debts - unfortunately the loan doesn't allow overpayments. Most 0% deals will go up to about 17%, but we've got another empty credit card with £6K limit which we will tart onto when deals come up. Lloyds credit card is the main one - you're right!

I'll look into interest only payments on the mortgage - you're right that it may help for a year!

Ta!!

Jesthar

Right, back - you're welcome, and let's have a look:

Jesthar wrote: »

Fixed the formatting manually for you - gotta run,but others will comment

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi guys,

Here's our SOA - would love your thoughts! The reason we're struggling is because we bought our house at a steal (£100K ish), and have gutted and rennovated it - hence the low mortgage and higher valuation on the property. We're now having to pay back for all the building work!

Ta heaps

Little Vics & hubby

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 994.1
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1170.05
Benefits................................ 0 - not sure if we're entitled to any
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2164.15

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 586
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 97
Electricity............................. 34 - not bad, but still check tarrifs and your useage patterns to see if you can save a little more
Gas..................................... 35 - not bad, but still check tarrifs and your useage patterns to see if you can save a little more
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 29.8 - are you on a water meter? If so, there are plenty of little ways you can save a few pennies here - I have a pint milk carton full of water in my toilet cistern, for example. If not, consider getting one - you can switch back if it costs you more.
Telephone (land line)................... 12.5
Mobile phone............................ 50 - is this for two? Could possibly be lowered a little even ifit is
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 - chances are you can knock £50 off this without really noticing! I get annoyed if I spend more than about £80 in the supermarket amonth, including for kitty and non food items. Check out the Old Styule Moneysaving forum for some great ideas.
Clothing................................ 20 - not too bad, but you could go 'essentials only' for a while to get you started
Petrol/diesel........................... 50 - not too bad, perpaps see if there ar any unnecessary journeys you could cut or combine?
Road tax................................ 10.42
Car Insurance........................... 29.42 - don't forget to compare deals at renewal time, I got loads knocked off mine last year when I told my company I could get identical cover much cleaper elsewhere!
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 70 - don't know what this is, but any way to reduce it?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 24.19 - you might want to shop around for this, make sure you are getting the best deal
Contents insurance...................... 0 - included in buildings insurance
Life assurance ......................... 0 - included in mortgage, am struggling to find out the actual proportion
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 40 - not bad for two of you
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1345.45

Assets
Cash.................................... 1029.15
House value (Gross)..................... 145000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 100
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 146129.15

Secured & HP Debts[/b]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 97000....(586)......6.45
Total secured & HP debts...... 97000.....-.........-

Unsecured Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Bank loan (HSBC)...............14823.....329.4.....15.2 - second target unless the cards get higher interest rates if the 0% ends and you can't get another 0%/low rate deal
HSBC credit card ..............5557.35...135.......0 (0% until June 10)
MBNA credit card...............3800......25........0 (0% until Jan 10)
Parental loan..................8000......200.......0 (0% - bless them!)
Lloyds credit card.............1483......30........27.9 - first target for overpayment!
Halifax credit card............680.......10........0 (0% until Jan 10)

Total unsecured debts..........34343.35..729.4.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,164.15
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,345.45
Available for debt repayments........... 818.7
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 729.4
Amount left after debt repayments....... 89.3 - Yay! Surplus! On paper, anyway...

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 146,129.15
Total HP & Secured debt................. -97,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -34,343.35Net Assets.............................. 14,785.8</p>

Well, the good news is that whilst you don't have a huge amount of slack in your budget, on paper at least you have a small surplus you can put to overpaying your debts.

Might be that you can't seem to find it, though! I sugest that you start a full spending diary - put in absolutely everything (I use a spreadsheet of my own design), and see where the pennies slip away. Once you know where the extra cash is wasted, you can start taking control of that and have extra money to pay off your debts.

You're probably already aware that this is going to take a while to pay off! However there are things you can do to help yourselves by generating some extra cash. Got stuff lying around you never use? Sell it on eBay (look for a free listing day), or do a car boot. Buy things online? Try going through cashback sites to get some money back, and you can also do 'daily free clicks' on cashback sites to earn a little extra cash - ony pennies, but it soon adds up! I only do a couple of sites sporadically, and I've still had over £100 paid out this year, with more due Some people do a lot more sites (takes dedication!) and generate a lot more! You can do paid online surveys, too.

Anyway, as Kat said, now is the time to be really hitting your debts hard. At the moment you are OK, but if you had a big hit or you couldn't get more 0% deals for your cards you might struggle a bit. You're already doing pretty well, though, just need to make sure all the spare cas is being found and being used for overpayments.

~Jes

Katie-Kat-Kins

Little_Vics wrote: »

Hi,

That's all really helpful! To answer some of your questions:

Gas - that's pretty accurate. We have a wood burner so only use gas for cooking & hot water. I always give meter readings when we have a quarterly bill, but this is the monthly direct debit. Luck you! I'd love a woodburner, and it would help with our bills, we're all electric so heating is really expensive:(

Mobiles & Groceries - we're working on it!! Food is a bit tricky because I have some allergies/intolerances, but it's our next big thing to tackle Ok the old style board is your friend with the food, I know special gluten free food can be really expensive but cooking from scratch will help as you know what has gone into everything. The guys on there are great, go over and have a look! Get on the phone to the mobile companies, try to cut your usage to reduce your spend too.

Clothes - yup, hear what you're saying. Most of it is workwear for hubby (builder - he goes through trousers like there's no tomorrow!) Ok so learn to patch his trousers, buy from charity shops and cheap places like asda and primark. Tell him to be more careful or he'll have to go to work with his !!!!! hanging out!!

Travel - that's my monthly train pass to work. Hubby takes the car Fair enough, but do check there aren't any better deals out there. Also could you get the train a shorter distance to cut the cost? Hubby could drop you at a stationn closer to your destination perhaps?

Medical - that's my contact lenses On the health beauty and fashion board there is a thread on getting the cheapest contacts. Or if you have specs as well why not only use the contacts for special occasions to cut the cost. You can get new specs from £60 from asda and they are really nice, my hubby found they had the best choice last time.

Buildings/Contents - we've just switched, but will compare again Great

Entertainment - yup, could cut back. Most of it is pub-money for the quiz we do every week. Could you drink blackcurrant cordial at the pub to cut the cost it is normally about 50p a pint! You need a bit of fun and have a bit of a surplus so I'm not going to say don't go.

Cash - that's just what we had in the bank when I did the SOA - before all the bills went out! Maybe it's misleading - sorry Ok thats fine.

Debts - unfortunately the loan doesn't allow overpayments. Most 0% deals will go up to about 17%, but we've got another empty credit card with £6K limit which we will tart onto when deals come up. Lloyds credit card is the main one - you're right! Well leave the loan to run its course and focus on the cards. Lloyds for now, use the snowball calculator to work out the best way to pay and get debt free as quickly as possible.

I'll look into interest only payments on the mortgage - you're right that it may help for a year! Would perhaps help you get the credit cards down during the interest free period.

Ta!!

Good luck - think you'll be fine!