Can't go on much longer :-(

letmeoutofhere

i've done another SOA halving all the bills with just my income and, as yuo can see from below, it says i have a surplus of £130! where the bloody hell that goes every month i do not know!! :-( as has been stated in a previous post, a spending diary and a set out in-front-of-me budget every month will go a massive way to showing me where i'm going wrong and what i can pay off.

with regard to the sky tv i hear what everybody is saying - i will bite the bullet, ring them up (after speaking to the boss first obviously!) and trim down what we don't use (movies i think) and see if that helps

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................ 1100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1100

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 269
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 44
Electricity............................. 12
Gas..................................... 12
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 22
Telephone (land line)................... 7.5
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 26
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 140
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 23
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 6
Buildings insurance..................... 5
Contents insurance...................... 5
Life assurance ......................... 5
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 676.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 97500
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 250
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 97750


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 102000...(269)......6.4
Total secured & HP debts...... 102000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Lloyds Loan....................10500.....206.......4.5
barclays cc....................900.......25........0
halifax cc.....................1900......30........0
egg cc.........................1800......30........0
Total unsecured debts..........15100.....291.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,100
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 676.5
Available for debt repayments........... 423.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 291
Amount left after debt repayments....... 132.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 97,750
Total HP & Secured debt................. -102,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -15,100
Net Assets.............................. -19,350

Gargrave, thank you very much for your detailed reply, let me try and clear a couple of things up.
council tax is paid over 10 months
telephone is through sky, as is the line rental (fell out with bt but that's a whole other thread!)
mobile phone - i have a work one and (i'm sorry to admit) totally forgot to put the wife's mobile phone costs in (£30 ish)
buildings+contents insurance - i'm sure it's £15 for both, as of July
haircuts - i'm a skinhead! :-) bought a razor 3 years ago and they've done me proud!
other insurance - no idea, think i mistyped into that field
entertainment wise we don't really do things, due to having no money. maybe once a month we'll go out with the wife's parents for a cheap sunday lunch (£20 max with drinks) but (embarrassingly) she will normally pay so forgot to put this in

i came on here for advice and by god that is what i've got, i can't thank you all enough. if the advice is to sort out the sky tv package then i will be doing it. i feel a lot more positive about things now there are some things to think about (monthly spending planner, planning of the meals each week, trimming of the sky)

bank_of_slate

Hi
You can find out exactly where the 'surplus' goes by keeping a strict spending diary, it'll account for all the little spends E.G. magazines, newspaper, drink, sandwich, gum etc....
It's amazing how much these little amounts mount up!
...Linda xx

gargrave50

Let me out,

Thanks for clearing a few things up. We won't finish you off for forgetting your wife's mobile costs. I almost forgot I had a child when posting my SOA:cool:.

Have you thought about asking to pay the council tax over 12 months, it won't make a huge difference but might give you a bit of room to maneouvre.

My husband too is a skinhead (saved us a fortune and very attractive too!), but you might want to factor something in for the family unless your wife is considering using the razor too!:eek:

Hey mistyping into other insurance has just saved you £15 a month - bonus!:beer:

Definately budget something for entertainment. The debt free wannabe forum is filled with gurus for keeping these costs to a minimum, but if you are going to be at it long term to get rid of these debts then you need to make it realistic. Put something in - I would be soooo miserable without it.:D

Brilliant news about the Sky - try calling to reduce your package initially. Explain you need to reduce your outgoings "short term", you are likely to be able to retain your package and cut your costs for a set period. However, if you actually don't watch the sports or movies regularly enough to justify the cost, then think seriously about reducing the package long term. My husband and I have utilised several family email addresses to keep getting 30 day free trial of lovefilm, so get films for free. A bit immoral possibly but FREE:cool:.

dancingfairy

Are the credit cards all really at 0% or did you not know the aprs? if they are all 0% you might want to attack the barclaycard (smallest balance first) or maybe the one where the 0% ends first? if they aren't 0% is there any room for shuffling at all? ie put some of a higher debt card onto one at a lower rate for balance trasnfers? o.k might not save you a fortune but it all helps.
Any bits and bobs to ebay/car boot just to give you a quick boost?
Do you not buy any clothes or does your wife do that? that might explain where some of the surplus goes if you buy some bits.
df

gargrave50

Linda is a "guru" as above, if it works she'll suggest it. Get going with the spending diary. It does make entertaining reading after a week No more mysteries!

gargrave50

Good income increasing suggestions from df too.

bank_of_slate

Also, join www.seefilmfirst.com and look every day on the 'freebies-no spend required thread for codes to see new films for FREE!

I've been to loads of these free screenings with my hubby! And, they are often before films are released to the public!

And start to do paid surveys - look on the up your income board on this site, I do Toluna, One poll, Valued Opinions and Lightspeed panel surveys and have had well over £150 in vouchers in the last year!
...Linda xx

BeautyandtheBeast_3

Thanks for the film link!!!

josephine82

Yep, a spending diary is definitely the way to go. This will show you what is going on and where your money is going. Then if you can identify the bits you don't need then you can use this extra money to make payments off the credit cards. It is really hard to stop buying the little things here and there but they can make a huge difference.

Also things like looking through the cupboards and seeing exactly what you have got in there and in the freezer, and being really inventive with what you can cook, can save a lot of money. It depends what shop you have near you but the cheaper places like aldi and lidly can be good for some things- like their fruit and veg offers, cheap loo roll, etc.

I find shopping online for my monthly shop really helpful as it tots it all up for you and you can pick and choose the offers.

Don't get me wrong, I love sky and wouldn't give it up now I have had it- but you should be able to get the basic package with their phone line and internet for £27.50. more than enough channels I think. How about doing a love film trial for films? Or maybe swapping some DVDs with friends, especially if you have friends with kids? Or how about joining the library, usually free for books and very small amounts to get DVD's out.

Can you set youself up as a seller on eBay and try and get rid of any unwanted items? i.e kids clothes your daughter has grown out of, junk around the house etc etc. Its surprising what you can sell on Ebay.

let us know how you get on with a spending diary- mine really opened my eyes! Or alternatively you could go through a months statements and look at what you spent your money on.

Good luck!

letmeoutofhere

hi df

two of the cards are defo 0% (the 1900 and the 1800) but i have to admit i don't know what the 900 one is. i will dig out the paperwork when i get home to help prioritise the cards as you say. i am trying to think of ways to get a little extra money in but apart from getting a paper round i'm struggling to think at the moment - i will have a good think when i get home though

i've got a good few things to do when i get home - dig our the cc information, ring up to sort out the sky subscription, write down a spending diary, write down a budget each payday.

i am sooo happy that i finally accepted the fact i was in trouble and found all you brilliant people to offer advice.