Help please - what's the best route???

anyhelpgratefullyreceived

Hi everyone,

I have completed a SOA which seems to be a good place to start. We are really lost in terms of how to approach our next steps. Does anyone have any advice or has experienced something similar. I am now self employed as both me and my husband have been made redundant this year and we now have mounting debts that we cannot get on top of....

Any help would be appreciated as we don't know where to turn. We have an appointment coming up with CCCS.

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.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1800
Partners monthly income after tax....... 3209
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 5009
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1275
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 512
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 108
Electricity............................. 48
Gas..................................... 120
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 31
Telephone (land line)................... 70
Mobile phone............................ 100
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 300
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 48
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 50
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 22
Buildings insurance..................... 30
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 30
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2866

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 195000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 198000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 195653...(1275).....5.9
Secured Debt.................. 38000....(431)......10.9
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 1000.....(81).......21.6
Total secured & HP debts...... 234653....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Bank loan unsecured............19000.....341.......7.8
Mortgageloan unsecure..........30000.....181.2.....5.9
Car loan.......................8000......254.......14
Overdraft......................6100......0.........11
Other fees.....................1472......0.........0
Money owed to a perso..........405.......0.........0
Mobile outstanding.............1000......100.......0
Storecard......................121.......5.........28.9
Creditcard.....................982.......20........19.9
Storecard......................900.......48........21.9
Creditcard.....................255.......6.........21.9
Creditcard.....................1740......35........19.9
Creditcard.....................5475......236.......19
Storecard......................314.......13........29.3
Creditcard.....................4048......80........22.9
Total unsecured debts..........79812.....1319.2....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 5,009
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,866
Available for debt repayments........... 2,143
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,319.2
Amount left after debt repayments....... 823.8
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 198,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -234,653
Total Unsecured debt.................... -79,812
Net Assets.............................. -116,465

milliemonster

anyhelpgratefullyreceived wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I have completed a SOA which seems to be a good place to start. We are really lost in terms of how to approach our next steps. Does anyone have any advice or has experienced something similar. I am now self employed as both me and my husband have been made redundant this year and we now have mounting debts that we cannot get on top of....

Any help would be appreciated as we don't know where to turn. We have an appointment coming up with CCCS.

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.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1800
Partners monthly income after tax....... 3209
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 5009
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1275
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 512
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 108
Electricity............................. 48
Gas..................................... 120 this is a lot!
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 31
Telephone (land line)................... 70 this and your mobile costs are a lot, if you are S/E and working from home can you not claim this as a business expense?
Mobile phone............................ 100 see above
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20 go freeview
Internet Services....................... 10 combine with your phone to get a cheaper package
Groceries etc. ......................... 0 you don't eat???
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 300 again, can some of this be claimed as a business expense?
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 48
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 50
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 22
Buildings insurance..................... 30 can you shop around for cheaper?
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30 reduce this
Haircuts................................ 30
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2866

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 195000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 198000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 195653...(1275).....5.9
Secured Debt.................. 38000....(431)......10.9
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 1000.....(81).......21.6
Total secured & HP debts...... 234653....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Bank loan unsecured............19000.....341.......7.8
Mortgageloan unsecure..........30000.....181.2.....5.9
Car loan.......................8000......254.......14
Overdraft......................6100......0.........11
Other fees.....................1472......0.........0
Money owed to a perso..........405.......0.........0
Mobile outstanding.............1000......100.......0
Storecard......................121.......5.........28.9
Creditcard.....................982.......20........19.9
Storecard......................900.......48........21.9
Creditcard.....................255.......6.........21.9
Creditcard.....................1740......35........19.9
Creditcard.....................5475......236.......19
Storecard......................314.......13........29.3
Creditcard.....................4048......80........22.9
Total unsecured debts..........79812.....1319.2....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 5,009
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,866
Available for debt repayments........... 2,143
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,319.2
Amount left after debt repayments....... 823.8
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 198,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -234,653
Total Unsecured debt.................... -79,812
Net Assets.............................. -116,465

You can make some adjustments to your budget and you have a healthy surplus to overpay your debts quite easily.

However you haven't included anything for groceries?????

talana

I am now self employed as both me and my husband have been made redundant this year and we now have mounting debts that we cannot get on top of....

This comment doesn't really seem to square with your SOA.
Yes your debts are rather hefty, but equally your income is huge, such that...........

Amount left after debt repayments....... 823.8

..... you appear to have a monthly surplus still after taking all your minimum debt payments into account.

So the first issue (along with the points made by milliemonster) is what's happening to this £823.80? You could knock of several of your debts in no time with that money.

RAS

Hi

You need to go through your last few month bank statements and work out where the money is going. Then both you and OH need to keep spending diaries so you can see where the money is seeping out of your accounts. Coffees, lunch, the odd magazine, going out, clothes?

gfplux

I think you have put your old income in the SOA. However if this is your self employed income the advise you get will be different.

anyhelpgratefullyreceived

Thanks everyone for suggestions!!!!

Apologies. I forgot my groceries - £250. We also have high expenses due to my husband having to take clients out and the like. Our actual budget (when I use the one on MSE) is £-426 per month. The only expense we could cut down further is the satelite TV (we can't get normal TV using our arial).

We also have some mounting debts from parking fines that my husband has received whilst away with work.

The self employment figure is an estimate. I have just set up and got some retained business but it also looks like one of those payments £1,000 per month may be in jepordy.

The mobile phone is £100 per month that we owe to a contract that my husband took out when he was made redundant to keep him in some temp work and now they are chasing us for the full amount and it's going up monthly.

Thanks for all your suggestions. Has anyone explored DMP's and IVA's - is this something that is applicable? We are currently in arrears with our mortgage and whilst we may be able to get more money in I am worried we will continue to get further and further in debt.

Thanks again!

Tixy

Hi

In addition to what others have said I just wanted to add that in terms of self employment you should exclude all business costs (such as business mobiles, fuel and client entertainment) from this SoA and then you should include your net income at the top after business expenses and after an estimate for tax.

That will give a clearer picture of your true household costs. And will make sure you get tax relief on your business costs.

A DMP might be an option for you (not sure about IVAs they are not suitable for many, always seek advice from one of the free organisations (or 2) before deciding on an IVA as they have serious consequences if they fail - and are very costly).

Is the £38k secured debt secured on the property in addition to the mortgage which is now more than 100% LTV? Is this due to falling house value?

katsu

Your gas looks too high - is that really your monthly figure?

Have you got a water meter?

Jacks_xxx

Hiya sweetie pie, :wave:

Could you maybe go through last month's bank statement and give us those figures cos It feels like the ones you've given are a bit hypothetical, nd to be any use your SOA needs to be as close to real life as you can make it. You can add categories if you need to.

Love Jacks xxx

shadydaz

anyhelpgratefullyreceived wrote: »

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 195653...(1275).....5.9
Secured Debt.................. 38000....(431)......10.9
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 1000.....(81).......21.6
Total secured & HP debts...... 234653....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Bank loan unsecured............19000.....341.......7.8
Mortgageloan unsecure..........30000.....181.2.....5.9
Car loan.......................8000......254.......14
Overdraft......................6100......0.........11
Other fees.....................1472......0.........0
Money owed to a perso..........405.......0.........0
Mobile outstanding.............1000......100.......0
Storecard......................121.......5.........28.9
Creditcard.....................982.......20........19.9
Storecard......................900.......48........21.9
Creditcard.....................255.......6.........21.9
Creditcard.....................1740......35........19.9
Creditcard.....................5475......236.......19
Storecard......................314.......13........29.3
Creditcard.....................4048......80........22.9
Total unsecured debts..........79812.....1319.2....-

Hi and Welcome. Firstly well done for seeking help and realising the situation you are in. It is the first big step in recovering your finances and getting things on an even keel.

While I appreciate that you have some ammendments to make to your original SOA, if there is any spare wonga I would urge you to try and clear these small balances first (highlighted red) as they all have some of the highest interest rates you are currently paying. Bases on the philosiphy that i used when i started clearing our debts, it give ssmall but acheivable targets that mepower you and give you confidence that you are beginning to move in the right direction. Just clearing three small accounts may not free up a lot of money to pay off the larger ones, but it wil help you prove to yourself that you can take control of the situation and motivate you to clear the larger ones.

in terms of your living expenses; are you gas and elec with the same supplier? Gas is extremely high!!:eek: Are you paying off an outstanding balance on this? I am married with 4 dd's and our gas is £20 pcm. Water seems a bit high too? Check with your suppliers to see whether any of these accounts are in credit at the moment and you can either request refunds or offset the credit against lower DDs for a set period (IMO no longer than 6 omths) and reveiw payments then. This might free up some money for you...

Best of luck.

ShadyD

anyhelpgratefullyreceived

Hi everyone,
Thanks so much for all your help. I will repost a SOA that gives a fairer picture. Our gas and electricity is high as we are on a payment plan as we have got behind with our bills. I will need to adjust things and report back.
I cannot thank you all enough for your sound advice.
Shadydaz - clearing the small debts is a great idea. We are thinking that a DMP may be the best way to go so we can survive and clear our mortgage arrears.
It's great to just know that others are in the same position.
Thanks!