My SOA - Some advice please

tew_piero

Hello all,

I appreciate this isn't as bad as most on here but just wanted some advice to see if I could have more at the end of each month.

A bit of background for you:

My girlfriend moved into a house with her ex and they added some debt onto the mortgage ( hence the debt being more than the house value!). They split up and now I've moved in with her and have taken on the morgage. I appreciate I haven't added how much we owe on cards or the APR but due to our Credit scores we can't switch cards or get a loan.

Any suggestions?

Thanks



Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1950
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1224
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3174
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 800
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 110
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 65
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 26.5
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 120
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 45
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
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..................... 25
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 25
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Charity................................. 6
Account Fee............................. 25
Total monthly expenses.................. 1605.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 120000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 124000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 150000...(800)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 150000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Abbey Loan.....................0.........163.......0
Blackhorse Loan................0.........63........0
Car To Craig...................0.........80........0
Mint Card......................0.........111.......0
Natwest Card...................0.........89........0
Barclay Card Oyster............0.........74........0
Tesco Loan.....................0.........299.......0
Student Loan...................0.........137.......0
Car Finance....................0.........107.......0
Ulster Card....................0.........83........0
Lloyds O/D ....................0.........50........0
Windows........................0.........115.......0
Vanquis Card...................0.........20........0
Halifax Card...................0.........20........0
Abbey Card.....................0.........50........0
Barclaycard....................0.........30........0
Total unsecured debts..........0.........1491......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,174
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,605.5
Available for debt repayments........... 1,568.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,491
Amount left after debt repayments....... 77.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 124,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -150,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. -26,000

Little_Vics

Hi

Just quickly these jump out:

Account fee - what are the benefits, and are you effectively paying for things twice?

Mobiles seem high

No contents insurance?

Do you need cable? We joined LoveFilm and got series from them (just finished ER) and it's a lot cheaper at £3.91 a month!

I'm sure others will have some thoughts.

Tixy

Hi tew

What is the financial agreement with your girlfriends ex? If they were is negative equity when he left has he agreed to repay 50% of this negative equity? Either by lump sum or through ongoing payments?

Whilst your SoA shows you are just making ends meet with a £77 surplus do you find that this is not actually the case? If so then I'd recommend you both keep spending diaries to see where the extra spends are happening - £50 on entertainment is not a huge amount, are you including occasional spends such as magazines, lottery tickets, meals out in this section? or anywhere on your SoA?

Is the mortgage interest only or repayment? What is the current APR? It may be worth considering going interest only for a short while to help you clear some of your debts.

Are you in contract with your mobiles? Ask to switch to a lower tariff (and lower you usage) or consider shopping around for better deals - also check out PAYG deals as there are some good deals around at the momenth.

Is internet included in with satellite? Is this also a package with the landline?

Consider getting rid of the premuim bank account - these usually do not give benefits that make the fees worth while - look at what you are actually using and how much it would cost just to purchase outright.

As there are no balances given for your debts its difficult to see the full picture - do any of the cards have small balances that could be cleared in a few months? If so you could then ask for a promotional balance transfer deal to move a high interest card to a low rate.

How much do your total unsecured debts come to? I am assuming it a pretty hefty figure based on your repayments, in which case you need to consider not just if you are managing from month to month but how you will ever be able to clear this level of debts. Unless one of you is likely to get a significant increase in your incomes you could be saddled with this debt for many many years.

It may be worth getting free professional debt advice from one of these people - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help

Good luck

tew_piero

Hi,

I need to point out that my SOA is based on starting next month ( we moved in together at the beginning of September and my gfds' mother paid the first month mortgage!). It is on interest only now at £800 per month.
The mobile bill is for two of us on contract and we hope to reduce it to £50 at the end of November.
The Satellite bill DOES include the Internet. We pay £36.50 per month on the landline, internet and Virgin ( a great deal in my opinion).
I will work on the unsecured total amount and post again but you are correct, they are very high ( combined total is around £45k!).

Oh and her ex paid more towards the mortgage than my girlfriend as she only paid the bills and therefore she's a little concerned about going back to him to say he needs to pay some towards the debt, which I understand.

I earn a decent salary and only need a big loan to consolidate things and I would be sorted. Only problem is, with many cards it's a problem getting this loan.

talana

I would just add for now that you need to find out the total outstanding on each debt and the apr's for us to be able to offer sensible advice on how to tackle them.