Big Debts Help!

shadydaz

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2450
Partners monthly income after tax....... 200
Benefits................................ 173
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2823

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 800
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 140
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 90
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 47
Telephone (land line)................... 19
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 35
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 180
Road tax................................ 18
Car Insurance........................... 31
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................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 9
Contents insurance...................... 4
Life assurance ......................... 40
Other insurance......................... 50
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1990


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 160000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 165000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 124000...(800)......5.5
Secured Debt.................. 21500....(140)......5.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 145500....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Used savings to pay off NEXT
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
N Rock.........................1400......256.......11.9
Tesco CC.......................470.......11........NaN
M&S CC.........................1380......35........3.9
Virgin CC......................1340......30........NaN
Santander CC...................5840......135.......0
BC CC2.........................3465......80........18.9
BC CC1.........................390.......10........0
Black Horse....................2000......75........NaN
Total unsecured debts..........16285.....632.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,823
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,990
Available for debt repayments........... 833
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 632
Amount left after debt repayments....... 201

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 165,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -145,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -16,285
Net Assets.............................. 3,215

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

shadydaz

Hi Mansun.

I hope you don't mind, I have had a tinkle with your SOA and if you can make somewhere IRO of the savings that seem to be what all the helpful people are pointing out then VOILA. £200 a month extra to help crack down some of the other debts. I have used your saving to pay off the NEXT ACCOUNT (hypothetically of course) which is one less account to juggle. (NEXT are the bain of my life, they loved giving my wife credit...all gone now two accounts cleared three times at over £2000) and of course in 6 months time it will be even healthier looking when N ROCK is cleared. that is nearly £500 extra to throw at the debt every month ON TOP of the MIN payments and you will be only 6 months in, reveiw time I think you said.

gargrave50

Hi Mansun,

Welcome, I've just read your thread with interest.

It can be hard for a family to adjust to a budget, and its not all plain sailing. However, honestly this is the best advice you will get.

I assume you bank with HSBC as you talk about finding out from the bank what your policies cover you for. As I am sure other posters have made you aware of by now, your bank are unlikely to offer the best value. Check out the cover, shop around - and make sure once you find the cheapest to check out your trusty cashback sites.

I would suspect that you don't need to buy more for the children's Christmas! Aunties, Uncles, Grandparents and other family and friends are incredibly generous and you will only run out of room. When they are in nappies its probably the only time you can get away with buying less!

Paying off Next would be a wise move - huge interest rate and one down. Now set your next target.

Good luck, I've subscribed to your thread to hear how you progress!

Mansun

Thanks shadydaz and gargrave50. The great advice just keeps flooding in.

My biggest challenge is going to be reducing the grocery spend but we will be having a real good crack at it.

Haven't quite got enough in savings to pay off Next but I will allocate my £100+ cashback to that debt when it becomes available in the coming weeks and hopefully clear it.

shadydaz

Make sure the account is closed once you do get the money to clear it. I think it would be worth throwing the £400 at it now. Next complicate these accounts and where you think you are paying interest free for a while then up to 14%APR and it can get as high as 29%APR depending on purchase dates.

Good luck, I will keep in touch.

Kazipoo

Apart from the advice you have already had, do you think you could reduce your sky package to the six mix? It includes everything apart from Skymovies and Skysports and its at least a tenner cheaper every month. Also, your petrol costs are very high, my hubby has a bike and I have a car, he does 20 miles every day work run and I do probably the same with the school run and errands, but we still probably use less than half of what you do. I assume you have a fair distance for work?

With regard to grocery shopping, I know its hard, I can easily spend £150 a week if I'm not careful, but realisitically I can get a full weeks shopping for around £40 and there are 6 of us, and the kids are big eaters.

Mansun

Here's an update of what I've done so far. Firstly, I've reduced my mortgage payment back to its minimum as I forgot that I was making £30 overpayments. I've made arrangements to pay a large chunk from the Next account using savings. I've stopped the CTF payments. I've reduced my Sky package down to the minimum allowed. I've researched life assurance policies and think I can save about £100 per month over my current arrangement although I'm still working on this. I've started a daily diary to monitor my spending and even thought I was heading for a NSD today until wifey told me that she bought Lottery tickets (you've got to be in it to win it). I even convinced wifey to do a grocery shop at Aldi. Stopped anymore Christmas shopping until we know what else we really need. Cancelled our expensive new years eve plans and informed family that Christmas will be a quiet affair this year and that we expect them to contribute to the food and drink budget.

Still to do... Stock take in the kitchen and see what meals we can get from everything in the cupboards and freezer. Do an internet shop together with wifey and drop a brand where possible. Clear out the garage and house and sell whatever we can on ebay (I think there will be a lot).

Below is my revised SOA: -

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2450
Partners monthly income after tax....... 200
Benefits................................ 172.8
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2822.8
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 770
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 137.89
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 90
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 46.5
Telephone (land line)................... 19
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 18
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 - Working on it!!
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 185 - Working on it!!
Road tax................................ 18.33
Car Insurance........................... 30.83
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20.83
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 9
Buildings insurance..................... 9
Contents insurance...................... 5
Life assurance ......................... 160 - Working on it!!
Other insurance......................... 50
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2296.39

Assets
Cash.................................... 300
House value (Gross)..................... 160000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 165300

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 124000...(770)......5.5
Secured Debt.................. 21000....(137.9)....5.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 145000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Next...........................131.83....10........20.9
Tesco..........................464.7.....11........16.2
Barclay 1......................392.09....9.........0
Black Horse....................2000......75........14
N Rock.........................1417......256.3.....11.9
Barclay 2......................3464.79...77........14.9
Abbey..........................5840......130.......0
Virgin.........................1322.33...30........14.9
M&S............................1380......35........3.9
Total unsecured debts..........16412.74..633.3.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,822.8
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,296.39
Available for debt repayments........... 526.41
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 633.3
Amount short for making debt repayments. -106.89
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 165,300
Total HP & Secured debt................. -145,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -16,412.74
Net Assets.............................. 3,887.26
Created using the SOA calculator.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

With the planned £100 reduction in life assurance and attempts to reduce grocery budget by £200, this should definately free up a lot more cash to start hammering those debts.

Another question I have is that I have an offer with the Virgin card to transfer balances at 6.9% for the life of the balance (with a 2.5% fee). I think it would be good to transfer some of my other balances over at this decent rate but not sure if I should try to clear the current balance first?? Any tips for me? I have a £10k limit on the card.

All in all, a fairly successful few days. Thanks again to everyone for their advice...keep it coming!:beer:

shadydaz

Hi Mansun,

Great work, well done!!!!!:T
Have you had a look into your GAS and ELECTRIC? This seems to be quite high too for four people:eek:
Me+darling wife+4 mini usses.
GAS is £19 pcm
ELEC is £33 pcm
H2O is £13.33 pcm
TOTAL = £ 65.33

LESS than your elec on tis own!!!!!!

shop around, check your bills aren't based on over estimated usage and shop around for the best deals, you can get discount if supplier provides both gas and elec. Turn all swithches and lights off when not in use etc. Transfer to a water meter and you will only pay for what you use.

Good luck digging out sellables.

Mansun

I'm just going through the process of switching gas and electric and I'm hoping my monthly payments won't be quite so high when my first bill comes through. I don't think they will come down by much though based on previous experience.

And I already have a water meter...

I've often wondered if any of the meters were faulty or if there was some kind of leak on the water side as my bills have always been high for all 3.

Maybe we just use more than most and need to try and cut back...?

gargrave50

Mansun wrote: »

Here's an update of what I've done so far. Firstly, I've reduced my mortgage payment back to its minimum as I forgot that I was making £30 overpayments. I've made arrangements to pay a large chunk from the Next account using savings. I've stopped the CTF payments. I've reduced my Sky package down to the minimum allowed. I've researched life assurance policies and think I can save about £100 per month over my current arrangement although I'm still working on this. I've started a daily diary to monitor my spending and even thought I was heading for a NSD today until wifey told me that she bought Lottery tickets (you've got to be in it to win it). I even convinced wifey to do a grocery shop at Aldi. Stopped anymore Christmas shopping until we know what else we really need. Cancelled our expensive new years eve plans and informed family that Christmas will be a quiet affair this year and that we expect them to contribute to the food and drink budget.

Still to do... Stock take in the kitchen and see what meals we can get from everything in the cupboards and freezer. Do an internet shop together with wifey and drop a brand where possible. Clear out the garage and house and sell whatever we can on ebay (I think there will be a lot).

Below is my revised SOA: -

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2450
Partners monthly income after tax....... 200
Benefits................................ 172.8
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2822.8
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 770
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 137.89
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 90
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 46.5
Telephone (land line)................... 19
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 18
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 - Working on it!!
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 185 - Working on it!!
Road tax................................ 18.33
Car Insurance........................... 30.83
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20.83
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 9
Buildings insurance..................... 9
Contents insurance...................... 5
Life assurance ......................... 160 - Working on it!!
Other insurance......................... 50
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2296.39

Assets
Cash.................................... 300
House value (Gross)..................... 160000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 165300

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 124000...(770)......5.5
Secured Debt.................. 21000....(137.9)....5.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 145000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Next...........................131.83....10........20.9
Tesco..........................464.7.....11........16.2
Barclay 1......................392.09....9.........0
Black Horse....................2000......75........14
N Rock.........................1417......256.3.....11.9
Barclay 2......................3464.79...77........14.9
Abbey..........................5840......130.......0
Virgin.........................1322.33...30........14.9
M&S............................1380......35........3.9
Total unsecured debts..........16412.74..633.3.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,822.8
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,296.39
Available for debt repayments........... 526.41
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 633.3
Amount short for making debt repayments. -106.89
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 165,300
Total HP & Secured debt................. -145,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -16,412.74
Net Assets.............................. 3,887.26
Created using the SOA calculator.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

With the planned £100 reduction in life assurance and attempts to reduce grocery budget by £200, this should definately free up a lot more cash to start hammering those debts.

Another question I have is that I have an offer with the Virgin card to transfer balances at 6.9% for the life of the balance (with a 2.5% fee). I think it would be good to transfer some of my other balances over at this decent rate but not sure if I should try to clear the current balance first?? Any tips for me? I have a £10k limit on the card.

All in all, a fairly successful few days. Thanks again to everyone for their advice...keep it coming!:beer:

Wow Mansun - what a change in just a week:T.

Well done, your momentum can fast lose its pace so keep at it and keep posting.

What a turnaround - just by reviewing your outgoings and taking some of the fabulous FREE advice from a fresh eye you stand to save hundreds a month. If you hadn't addressed this - how much longer would you have paid this inflated expenditure, while all the time getting further into debt.