Struggling debt free wanna be's

gfplux

Hello Nikkei,
I think you probably realise that your SOA needs re-doing.
I can probably guess you did not do one last time you were on the board a year ago when you thought you had £9000 of debt.
Try not to guess at the figures, dig out the paperwork! It is in fact one of the most important things you will ever do to start on the road to recovery. If you want a lot of help on this forum, posting your SOA is the first and most important step. After it is done it is very easy to keep it up to date sometimes monthly but AT LEAST EVERY YEAR In my opinion everyone should have an up to date SOA even if you have little or no debt. It is a great tool to manage your life with.
Have you started the spending diary?

Nikkei

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the responses you've given, to answer a few of your questions-

Mobile Phones - We're both locked into contracts at the moment, One expires in December so I'm going to take on a Pay as you go phone as I rarely use mine, the other one is locked in until 2010 at some point and that will continue at a lower tariff as we get our broadband for free by keeping this contract.

Satellite/Cable - Again we get free telephone line rental with this service and we also tried to get by with regular tv and it made things miserable so for now I would like to keep this service

Food shopping - we have a local farm that do veg/fruit boxes for £5 and these get us through the week in addition to our supermarket shop - we are trying to cut this down to a smaller budget if possible

Pet Insurance - we've only just got a quote for this and this cover both of our dogs, it is with tescos so I need to check what points we get back and if there is cash back aswell. I need to take this policy out asap as unfortunately we've not been having much luck with our furry friends this year :-(

Life assurance - This is the cheapest we can get as I suffered from Pancreatitis a few years back so to cover me is expensive.

Gifts - I agree I do have a tendancy to spoil the people I love and care about, will reduce this down to £35 a month.

Emergency fund - this covers everything else like days out, clothes, hair dye, any take out (we don't usually have take out) postage for swaps so I don't spend money on buying makeup.

Spends diary - Yes we have started one this month so far we're within budget the only exception being vet bills to get medicine for our older dog and cremation fees as she passed away last week that was an additional £150 on top of budget

Thanks again hope this additional info helps!

Nikkei and Ian

Lottebear

I would stop the charity stuff and give with time of you feel you need to, with your situation the charity must start at home.

Happytogetdebtfree

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 970
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1800
Benefits................................ 100
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2870

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 850
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 360
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 45 Cancel these you can get pay as you go also you can get free internet via sky because i do
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 120
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 12
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 12
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 13
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 200 no point having and emergency fund use that to clear some debts
Total monthly expenses.................. 2095


Assets
Cash.................................... 2125 is this what you have saved :? if so then use it to clear a debt or contribute to a debt because the amount of intrest you poay on debts is more than you earn in savings
House value (Gross)..................... 130000
Shares and bonds........................ 500 draw out if you can and pay towards debts
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 134125


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 140000...(850)......5.9
Secured Debt.................. 25000....(330)......8.9
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 1200.....(30).......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 166200....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Virgin Money...................6117.19...90........14.9
M & S Money....................3672......25........0
Mint...........................2556......60........14.9
Tesco..........................268.49....50........0 you could pay this with savings
Debenhams......................1451......130.......14.9 you could pay this with savings
Asda...........................3900......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........17964.68..355.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,870
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,095
Available for debt repayments........... 775
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 355
Amount left after debt repayments....... 420

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 134,125
Total HP & Secured debt................. -166,200
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,964.68
Net Assets.............................. -48,839.68


if you have that cash in savings pay the cards and close the accounts then use the excess per month to overopay on other cards eventually you will have a nice surplus that can be put away... if you work hard you could make some real clearings before xmas with them savings
all the best x

Buddingblonde

Here are my thoughts

Nikkei wrote: »

Gifts - I agree I do have a tendancy to spoil the people I love and care about, will reduce this down to £35 a month. You cannot afford to do this - if you want to spoil and treat loved ones give them the gift of time. It means so much more than gifts. Walk a dog, do some gardening, just pop in and spend time having a cuppa, watch a child - it is sooo much more genuine.

Emergency fund - this covers everything else like days out, clothes, hair dye, any take out (we don't usually have take out) postage for swaps so I don't spend money on buying makeup. These are not emergencies - emergencies are things like having to cremate your pet or the car breaking down not luxury items that you cannot afford.

WASHER

Nikkei wrote: »

Hey Guys

Ok here is the SOA - I've put spends in the household emergencies as I couldn't quote figure where it belonged spends is anything we spend in addition to the budget in the SOA ie Clothes, emergency items, haircuts, taking son out for a treat etc.

Anyway here goes!!!!

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 970
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1800
Benefits................................ 100
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2870

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 850 - Interest or repayment
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 360
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20 - This is low? Is it metered? Are you sure thats correct?
Telephone (land line)................... 0 - Do you not have a landland, how are you receiving broadband? Dongle perhaps?
Mobile phone............................ 45 - far too high
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21 - its luxury, you cannot afford it
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 120 - This is low, well done if this is your actual spend, I doubt it is really.
Clothing................................ 0 - You must buy some clothes, you son is growing
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 12
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 12 - Is this pocket money - you cannot afford it
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 13
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 20 - DO NOT CANCEL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, THIS IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN A MOBILE PHONE
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 - too high, reduce today to £25
Haircuts................................ 0 -
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 200 - This is your emergency, until debts are repaid no luxuries, you cannot afford them.
Total monthly expenses.................. 2095


Assets
Cash.................................... 2125
House value (Gross)..................... 130000
Shares and bonds........................ 500
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 134125


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 140000...(850)......5.9
Secured Debt.................. 25000....(330)......8.9
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 1200.....(30).......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 166200....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Virgin Money...................6117.19...90........14.9
M & S Money....................3672......25........0
Mint...........................2556......60........14.9
Tesco..........................268.49....50........0
Debenhams......................1451......130.......14.9
Asda...........................3900......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........17964.68..355.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,870
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,095
Available for debt repayments........... 775
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 355
Amount left after debt repayments....... 420

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 134,125
Total HP & Secured debt................. -166,200
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,964.68
Net Assets.............................. -48,839.68

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/font]

Thanks for all of your advice so far guys we really appreciate it!

Many Thanks
Nikkei and Ian

I'm going to say it straight and to the point, you say last year you were 9K in debt, now you are 17K in debt, that means you are overspending by £600 per month:eek:, I've added comments in above, I'm not gonna beat around the bush, you need to take action and today. Its not going to be easy, you are going to have to do without any luxuries.

You have got to ask yourself "how did we get into this situation", if the answer is I don't know, you must start a spending diary, you need to reduce your spending today, otherwise in 12 months time your debt will have increased by another 8K probably.

I wish you well, and please do not take my comments personally, they are intended to get your flickering lightbulb to 100W.

Edit: This SOA is slightly different to the first post, where have you put the charity donations and lottery? These must go immediately.

You must be truth to yourself with the SOA, otherwise what we say probably won't help you in real terms.

ZarZar1990

I'd probably say similar to what's already been said.

Charity- Cancel, start donating again when you can afford it, you won't get any bad 'karma' for looking after yourself and your family and then start donating again when you're out of debt, you've done more than most already.

Overflow of toys- Ask your son to dig out toys he does not want any more, half for donation, half for car boot, that way doing your thing for charity and teaching the son to earn money (me and a friend made a fair bit doing a car boot)

Food- Be creative! Look in the recipe threads, and look for cheaper alternatives/cooking from scratch, the one thing I've learnt is, whilst in a supermarket 60p more may not look like much more, but if you go for the cheaper option every single time you will end up making a saving, I'm not saying eat nothing but smart price, but at least try the own brands before turning your nose up at them. I used to turn my nose up at own brand stuff, until I realised it wasn't actually that bad.

Sky- Do you realise you can get a good freeview box with around 100 free channels? re-evaluate what you actually watch on sky and see what you can get for free on freeview, that would cut your outgoings down a significant amount

Anyways, good luck my dear
xx

QueenBeruthiel

Rethink the "Birthdays and Christmas" money, OP. Some posters say they earn enough from surveys to pay for Christmas and I reckon I should have enough from Quidco and in loyalty points to cover most Xmas spending. Be creative! I'm sure that - for example - your mum would appreciate something like a home-made cake, home-made pourrpiri (sp?) and a bunch of flowers rather than some expensive perfume she will never use.

Use your savings to get rid of some of the debts.

Zulu_Dawn

The expense details you have put in cannot be realistic otherwise you wouldn't have a problem.

To clarify, your SOA shows an £800 per month underspend. Even assuming £100 per month interest on your cards, that means your position should be improving by £700. Instead your position has deteriorated by £600 per month. That means that you have for a year been spending an additional £1,300 per month above your SOA. To understand what is going wrong, you need to understand where that £1,300 has been going and stop it.

The costs in your SOA look to be way too light to me. I fail to understand how a family can live on groceries for less than £30 per week. Similarly a clothing budget of nil makes no sense either. To run a cheap old car for £120 a year is also pretty impressive when an MOT by itself is £54.

I reiterate the comments regarding spending diary. You need to clearly understand where your money is going so you can understand more realistically what needs to change. By doing a diary for just a month, I think yuo will see that your SOA is either wildly inaccurate or wildly optimistic. You should then be able to get to grips with how to deal with the future.

Best wishes,

ZD

staceydaisy

Sort your sons toys out and have a bash on ebay or a car boot. Use this money towards your debts and if you feel guilty selling your sons toys you can always pay back when in a better position therefore making the money you owe to your son interest free and also saving on the interest you would have been paying to the debts