had no idea about my debt! facing up to it as from today!

hadnoidea

well today after lurking on the boards I decided to fill out the SOA that I have been looking at for sometime. I guessed I was in around £30k of debt but its nearer £50k!!!!!!!! completely shocked but at the same time think I knew it deep down. no more spending and wasting money. I am going to face up to it. I have £1000 on its way to me which was going to be used for a holiday but its now going to pay off my debt - well make a start on it :-(

Its much worse as I have just return to work part time after my maternity leave so I am now 40% down on my previous salary..

WOW help erk!


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.................... 2

Monthly Income Details

Monthly income after tax. ............... 1270
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1650
Benefits... ............................. 120
Other income.................... ........ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3040
Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 523
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 152
Electricity............................. 45
Gas..................................... 45
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21
Internet Services....................... 7
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 90
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 30
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 30
Other insurance......................... 50
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1648

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 260000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 11000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 271000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 225000...(523)......2.75
Total secured & HP debts...... 225000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Next...........................130.......12........26.4
Mint...........................1000......50........22
Amex 1 00......................1422......35........18.36
littlewoods....................500.......27........22
AA Loan........................19000.....368.......11.7
Natwest Loan 2.................8000......181.......12.83
Natwest Barry .................3530......79........14.88
Overdraft......................5220......0.........0
AA Credit Card.................1114......20........16.94
Natwest Loan 1.................5033......222.5.....6.5
Natwest 2 Liz..................420.......9.........13.12
Natwest 1 Liz..................420.......9.........13.12
Amex 2.........................1612......40........18.36
Barclaycard....................2420......55........0
Total unsecured debts..........49821.....1107.5....

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,040
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,648
Available for debt repayments........... 1,392
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,107.5
Amount left after debt repayments....... 284.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 271,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -225,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -49,821
Net Assets.............................. -3,821

lottie_no1

It appears that you have a surplus after you have paid out on your debts etc, if you arent actually seeing this I would suggest that you keep a spending diary, write down everything that you buy and you will soon see where this is going.

Teenie_D

Hi

Well done for taking the first step and posting your SOA. :T

As I'm sure you know you will get great advice here. I can sympathise with you going back to work part time after having your baby the money reduction is a shock to the system!

Don't really know if I can help you with anything, your grocery shopping is good but your entertainment could be cut down, as well as your clothes shopping.

There will be more people who can help so good luck.

T x

LeeSouthEast

Welcome! Good first start, and great to see a surplus (on paper at least!).

Do keep a spending diary and find out where it goes

hadnoidea

Thanks for replying. Feels a little better knowing I am dealing with it.

Im hoping to cut down the clothes and entertainment to be honest I have been living beyond my means for so long. I have tried being extra strict and not spending on clothes and going out (the £100 is for both of us) but I have blown the budget and then I give up and spend double. So im going to try to cut down slowly (thats a massive decrease already). damm primark, i always try to tell myself it doesnt count cos its all so cheap!

I have started a spending diary online today so hoping that will show where the money goes. If im honest i think i spend £400 a month that I dont have... thats where the debt is coming from - well part of it. its scary that i can owe so much. I am so annoyed at myself we could have done so much with that money :-(

stymied

£150 for groceries etc is very good. It might be worth checking your spending diary after a month and see if you have achieved this or try joining the grocery challenge.

As a quick boost, have you bought any clothes in the last month that still have their tags on & could be taken back?

It's good that you now have such a clear picture. With your SOA you could pay off your Next card in under a month and cut it up which would be fab.

Is your overdraft within its limit or is it costing charges. What's the APR on that? If you are getting charges it would be worth getting this back within limit first.

Good luck!

too_much_debt

Hi. Do you have stuff you can sell on Ebay to make extra money? There is an Ebay/Ebid 10 a Day Challenge and it's really motivating me at the moment to get stuff listed and make extra money. There are quite a few of us doing it and lots of us are listing as much as we can each day, I did 11 new ones yesterday, some others did more than that.

TMD

Teenie_D

hadnoidea wrote: »

I have started a spending diary online today so hoping that will show where the money goes. If im honest i think i spend £400 a month that I dont have... thats where the debt is coming from - well part of it. its scary that i can owe so much. I am so annoyed at myself we could have done so much with that money :-(

Well done you are going in the right direction- we were the same, we 'should' have had a lot more money left at the end of the month than the bank account showed, but when you add up the little treats you dont need or even things like car parking charges you soon realise where the money goes.

I used to really enjoy going out for coffee especially when my wee one was little, just to get out the house, but now we vary rarely go out as I kinda grudge the money-never thought I would hear myself say that .

Keep up the good work and keep checking out the forums, it really keeps me motivated to keep going. x