my soa

badger555

Hi,over the last couple of years i have got myself into 30k worth of debt,never before have i been in anything like this mess.I am self employed and am currently living back at my parents which although cheap isn't ideal (i am 34 and need to get a place of my own).

With me being self employed my income can vary quite a lot so i have put what i think is an average.I have juggled with the ideas of dmp/bankruptcy/iva/debt consolidation but i really don't have a clue what is best.The big problem for me is becuase i am living at my parents place at the moment i don't want any 'backlash' getting attached to their house.They are not aware of me having any debt whatsoever and i would like to keep it that way.

As you will see i havn't added the apr's of the c/cards in as i havnt got a clue what they are and im not sure where to find the info.What i do know is that the 3 highest monthly amounts on the creditcards i am paying the minium off every month,about 98% of the miniumum is interest! My debt had gradually grown over the last 2 years but i have managed to keep a 'cap' of around 30k on it since about april,it just got to a point where i though enough was enough although i do generally end up spending as much as i pay off every month.


Monthly Income Details

Monthly income after tax................ 1200 but varies
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1200
Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 100
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 16
Car Insurance........................... 65
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 80
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 150
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 601

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
abbey c/card...................13445.....226.6..... 0
barclaycard....................3835......88........ 0
abbey zero.....................4243......95.49..... 0
abbey o/draft..................1100......0......... 0
paypal c/card..................2680.43...80.39..... 0
1st direct c/card..............4971......148.7..... 0

Candy0107

badger555 wrote: »

Monthly Income Details

Monthly income after tax................ 1200 but varies
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1200
Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 100
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 25 - can you get a lower tarrif or go PAYG?
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 16
Car Insurance........................... 65 - can you change your insurance company?
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 80
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 150 - can you lower this?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 601

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
abbey c/card...................13445.....226.6..... 0
barclaycard....................3835......88........ 0
abbey zero.....................4243......95.49..... 0
abbey o/draft..................1100......0......... 0
paypal c/card..................2680.43...80.39..... 0
1st direct c/card..............4971......148.7..... 0

Hi, welcome to the board, I am almost in the same situation as you, I am 30 and live with my hubby and my mum - we moved home due to finances.

Personally, I found that a DMP through CCCS was great and my debts have gone from £21k - £12k and I do not feel that I am missing out on anything.

Candy xxx

hettiecarro

Hi

Well done for recognising your problem.

Looking at your SOA a couple of things spring to mind.

1stly - entertainment. - I know it's not easy living with parents , but this needs to go at the moment - you simply can't afford it.

Council Tax - do you really not pay anything? Who pays it for you?

Groceries - you are not contributing anything?

I know these seem quite harsh comments, but if you look at this in the cold light of day, you are not paying your own living expenses at all.

The only option you have is to speak to one of the debt charities like CCCS, but you should be prepared to stay at home for the foreseeable future.

Is there any chance of getting employment rather than being self employed?

Are all your returns and NI etc up to date?

Go through your SOA again with a fine toothcomb - putting EVERYTHING down.

The Apr's for your credit cards are on your statements somewhere - pop those on as well.

Others will come along soon and give further comments/advice.

getmore4less

This does not ballance so you are increasing your debt.

Any way you can get rid of the car that would make a big difference.

insurance £780 is high
Is the car maintanence realy £960py
£1800 on fuel.

Entertainment is also on the high side.

With variable earning you need to build up a buffer for cash flow purposes.

What is the min/max earning a month.

badger555

hi,thanks for the replys.ok well at present I am only paying the £100 as my parents know i am struggling but don't have a clue to what extent my debt is,council tax is included in that as are the groceries.As for the car insurance, i realise it sounds steep but it is actually trade insurance for my business (basically buying/selling/repairing cars/parts mainly through ebay/net) and i need to be covered on any car(that £65 also includes breakdown cover).As for getting employment rather than self employment for my own sanity i need to stay as i am to be honest,the 8-5 routine really gets me down,doing what i do now i have never been happier.I will be doing my 1st tax return in the next few weeks(has to be in by october 31st i believe),my NI is all upto date.With the mobile tariff i have i am getting 800 minutes and unlimited texts,up until a few months back i was paying £45 for for less so was rather happy with this deal,i do tend to use most of the 800 minutes.I must say i would find it really hard to lower the entertainment amount,compared to previous years £150 is peanuts.

Although i have read on here that a debt consolidation loan is not recommended can anyone give me a rough idea of how roughly how much the total i would pay back over say 5 years on 30k?

badger555

getmore4less wrote: »

This does not ballance so you are increasing your debt.

Any way you can get rid of the car that would make a big difference.

insurance £780 is high
Is the car maintanence realy £960py
£1800 on fuel.

Entertainment is also on the high side.

With variable earning you need to build up a buffer for cash flow purposes.

What is the min/max earning a month.

hi,the insurance is due to my business,its actually a trade policy that covers me for any car.My car is essentially my work vehicle(large estate capable of towing big loads).I should think the maintenance is about right as it does get a lot of use ie towing other cars etc which does cause major wear and tear.I have just worked out £1800 is £34 per week,infact i should think it would be higher than that.

Tixy

Hi Badger

You've missed the bottom off your SoA - are all your debts showing on the list?
If so
Income £1200
Expenses £601
Left for repayments £599
Debt repayments £639.18
Overspend £40.18

Although your living expenses are low because of the high level of debt you need to service you need to cut back on your expenditure just to ensure that your debt doesn't increase.

Is there any chance you can increase your income? I know being self employed is not easy at the moment, but even if you have to do a lower level of work you would still have more money coming in. Is the £1200 you have included after tax, National Insurance and business expenditure?

Could you consider supplementing your income with a part-time second job - evening work such as bar work would give you more income and may reduce your entertainment spend.

Regarding your vehicle expenses - is the vehicle also used for work? Is that why the petrol & insurance are so high? If so you should really treat these (or a proportion of these as business expenditure and then show your income after these costs on your personal SoA)

How likely is it that your income from self-employment will increase soon? If it is currently depressed because of the recession and could increase as the economy improves you may be able to manage until that time - if it is likely to stay at current levels then a more serious solution is needed.

What are you spending the £150 entertainment on? Is it all on nights out to pubs etc or is there any other specific cost in there (such as gym membership etc).

In answer to your question as to what you can do I'd suggest you need to talk to one of the free debt advice organistions such as CCCS. Debt consolidation is not going to be an option - you would be very unlikley to find anyone who will lend you anything like what you owe at a good rate - and consolidation is rarely recommended on this board anyway.
Which leaves you with the options of DMP, IVA or Bankruptcy. Talk to a professional advisor for their opinions as all have long term consequences.

getmore4less

You need to seperate out the car cost business and personal.

Since most of the car costs are business related this means your average income is lower

lets say £1000 equivilent to a salary of £14600.

how many hours do you work?

Can't you fit in a part time job along side the self employment?

the_cat

badger555 wrote: »

With the mobile tariff i have i am getting 800 minutes and unlimited texts,up until a few months back i was paying £45 for for less so was rather happy with this deal,i do tend to use most of the 800 minutes.I must say i would find it really hard to lower the entertainment amount,compared to previous years £150 is peanuts.

OK, I'm going to be cruel to be kind here (sorry!)

It doesn't matter if you have a deal you are happy with for the mobile or how hard you might find lowering the entertainment budget. You can't afford it and it has to go, like it or not

It is this sort of attitude which got you into this mess, and only changing your mindset will get you out of it

TotallyBroke

If the car is a company car and the costs associated with it are business then the business should be paying this. These costs should be coming out of business accounts before you get paid.
It is better for you if you keep business and personal accounts seperate.

Do not consolidate as you will end up having a loan and then running the debts back up.
As for going out, try going out and meeting friends an hour later than normal, so say go at 9pm instead of 8. Don't get into rounds just buy your own. Make sure you eat before you go then you won't want the dreaded kebab on the way home. Don't go out every night of the weekend. Do Friday one week Saturday the next. Stick to late night pubs rather than paying to get into clubs.
Or try and get some bar experience and work the clubs. You get the same buzz of the music, money in your pocket and the wo/men flirting.

badger555

ah ok,i thought the soa seemed a bit easy.The income i quoted is after all tax/ni etc is taken out.

The hours i work vary really,I would be the 1st to admit that i could do more hours but i think that is part of being self employed for a lot of people I know.Not having anyone breathing down your neck all the time makes it easy to have the afternoon off etc something i need to address.I should think i do about 35-40 hours per week