1st Step - Advice needed

janerak

Hi. I am new hear and have attached my SOA so that any pointers on wher I can save money or look at changing would be good. Financially after being made redundant and getting divorced i was on my knees. I found myself last week sat in front of a judge fighting for my house -Mortage co granted a suspended repo order, I am also back in court in two wks for a charging order against the house by barclaycard not sure what I need to do about this - Any help would be really appreciated. I have only recently started work again and now am in a position to sort this out once and for all.Like I say i am new here and really dont mind if people do give me a huge kick up the bum - Probably what i need. I have got my meeting with payplan tonight, also a lot of my catalogues have not been chasing me for my debts for ages so do i ignore them,offer to pay something or ask them for my credit agreement ???? I have taken the last 2 days off work to sort this out as I cant get on with my life as this seems to have taken over.I live on my own with my two small children. Thanks for reading. Kx

Wages/Salary 11783.40 Family Credit 316.88 Child Benefit 132.80 Maintenance 397.09 Total Income 2630.17
Food & Clothing 350.00 Mortgage/Rent 968.03 Council Tax 114.80 Electric & Gas 110.00 Water 28.32 Travel & Transport 355.00 Landline 40.00 Mobile 40.00 TV Licence 11.87 Insurance - House 30.99 Insurance - Car 34.00 Insurance - Life 20.89 Total Living Costs 2103.90
Creditors Name - Balances Barclay Card - 6000.00 Barclay Loan - 8163.89 Next - 769.81 ScotCall - Grattan 557.01 ScotCall - BT 549.44 ScotCall - Orange1246.69 Chancery ground rent - 425.00 Black Horse - Car Finance 6931.12 Ibuyeco Insurance 206.52 Council Tax 447.65 Gas 694.18 Electric 600.92 Total Owed £26592.23

Tixy

janerak wrote: »

Wages/Salary 11783.40
Family Credit 316.88
Child Benefit 132.80
Maintenance 397.09
Total Income 2630.17

Food & Clothing 350.00
Mortgage/Rent 968.03
Council Tax 114.80
Electric & Gas 110.00
Water 28.32
Travel & Transport 355.00
Landline 40.00
Mobile 40.00
TV Licence 11.87
Insurance - House 30.99
Insurance - Car 34.00
Insurance - Life 20.89
Total Living Costs 2103.90

Creditors Name - Balances
Barclay Card - 6000.00
Barclay Loan - 8163.89
Next - 769.81
ScotCall - Grattan 557.01
ScotCall - BT 549.44
ScotCall - Orange1246.69
Chancery ground rent - 425.00
Black Horse - Car Finance 6931.12
Ibuyeco Insurance 206.52
Council Tax 447.65
Gas 694.18
Electric 600.92
Total Owed £26592.23

Just made this easier to read - can you let us know how many adults & children are in your family? and how many cars? edit sorry just see you said you and 2 kids

Will look through your figures now.

dancingfairy

I think the first priority needs to be to sort the charging order out - if you get one it is not the end of the world - basically it is a charge on your house and when you sell the house it guarantees they will get their money back - companies tend to use them as a) security and also it seems to have the effect of frightening people (intenionally or otherwise).
There is a factsheet on National Debtlines website regarding charging orders- I will go and fish it out for you.
It's here:
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=15_charging_orders_in_the_county_court and should be really helpful - if you are still worried though you can give them a call.
Obviously having a charge against your property could cause problems with remortgaging etc or selling etc so if you can defend against it it is probably wise.
Oh and they can't just kick you out - they would need to get a judge to agree to a forced sale and these are very rare and with 2 children is very unlikely.
df

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Originally Posted by janerak
Wages/Salary 11783.40
Family Credit 316.88
Child Benefit 132.80
Maintenance 397.09
Total Income 2630.17

Food & Clothing 350.00 how much is food and how much is clothing?
Mortgage/Rent 968.03
Council Tax 114.80 Can this paid over 12 months instead of 10?
Electric & Gas 110.00 This is high - can you change suppliers? Turn things off when not in use - Grab an extra jumper?
Water 28.32 This is high - does it include arrers?
Travel & Transport 355.00 What does this include? Car tax? Insurance? Petrol? busses?
Landline 40.00 Can you lower this? Get a deal that incs BB?
Mobile 40.00 Can you go on PAYG? Lower calls?
TV Licence 11.87
Insurance - House 30.99 Is this both contents and building?
Insurance - Car 34.00 This is ok - Although I would have expected you to have included it in the £355 budget
Insurance - Life 20.89
Total Living Costs 2103.90

Creditors Name - Balances
Barclay Card - 6000.00
Barclay Loan - 8163.89
Next - 769.81
ScotCall - Grattan 557.01
ScotCall - BT 549.44
ScotCall - Orange1246.69
Chancery ground rent - 425.00
Black Horse - Car Finance 6931.12
Ibuyeco Insurance 206.52
Council Tax 447.65
Gas 694.18
Electric 600.92
Total Owed £26592.23

---

Hi hon,

Welcome!

My comments are in red

Are you able to complete another SOA which will be more detailed so we can properly go through everything with you?

The links at the top of the DFW page

Me xx

Tixy

Hi and welcome

Definately some cutbacks to be made.
Food & Clothing £350- groceries should be able to cut back to £200 per month fairly easily for all food/cleaning/toiletries etc. Clothing - just buy essentials only for yourself and only cheap items for kids (look on freecycle/ebay/cheap shops - or look to friends /family for handmedowns) - I'd have thought £40pm would be more than enough for this.

Mortgage/rent - does this include arrears? seems a high payment? how much is the mortgage balance and what apr are you paying?

Elec & Gas- £110 does this include arrears? If not should be able to reduce significantly. If does include arrears how much are arreas and how much 'normal use'

Council tax - are you getting the 25% discount?
Travel & transport - how does this breakdown into petrol? road tax? maintenance/servicing & mot? any other non car expenses? does this include repayment of your car finance? how much?

Landline & mobile - try to look for cheaper packages for both.

For insurances check you are getting the best deals using comparison sites and cashback sites.

You haven't included anything for entertainment? kids expenses/kids clubs etc, haircuts? presents? do you pay anything for any of these?

For the debts it would help to know the APRs and the monthly payments. Are you paying anything towards the council tax and ground rent and gas & elec arrears?

dancingfairy

Here is the link to the Soa calculator - it will insure you don't forget anything like christmas/birthdays/haircuts/ etc. Try and remember to include money for school uniforms/school trips etc as well.
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html
Then follow the instructions for MoneySavingExpert (MSE) to post it here although you might have to delete the bit at the bottom that says which website it came from as being a newbie you will not be able to post links to another website.
From your SOA there appears to be some cutbacks that can be made - as suggested above by people but until you complete a more thorough SOA it is difficult to see the full pitcure. When you have done a full SOA you may find it hepful to phone one ofthe debt charities Martin recommends ie CCCS or you local CAB or National Debtline etc (make sure it is a free chariy and not somewhere that will charge you). CCCCS have an online thingy as well where you can input your figures and it gives you a rough idea of what it suggests before you phone them if you want to give that a go.
Best of Luck
df

DGJsaver

mommyme wrote: »

Originally Posted by janerak
Wages/Salary 11783.40
Family Credit 316.88
Child Benefit 132.80
Maintenance 397.09
Total Income 2630.17

Food & Clothing 350.00 how much is food and how much is clothing?
Mortgage/Rent 968.03
Council Tax 114.80 Can this paid over 12 months instead of 10?
Electric & Gas 110.00 This is high - can you change suppliers? Turn things off when not in use - Grab an extra jumper?
Water 28.32 This is high - does it include arrers?
Travel & Transport 355.00 What does this include? Car tax? Insurance? Petrol? busses?
Landline 40.00 Can you lower this? Get a deal that incs BB?
Mobile 40.00 Can you go on PAYG? Lower calls?
TV Licence 11.87
Insurance - House 30.99 Is this both contents and building?
Insurance - Car 34.00 This is ok - Although I would have expected you to have included it in the £355 budget
Insurance - Life 20.89
Total Living Costs 2103.90

Creditors Name - Balances
Barclay Card - 6000.00
Barclay Loan - 8163.89
Next - 769.81
ScotCall - Grattan 557.01
ScotCall - BT 549.44
ScotCall - Orange1246.69
Chancery ground rent - 425.00
Black Horse - Car Finance 6931.12
Ibuyeco Insurance 206.52
Council Tax 447.65
Gas 694.18
Electric 600.92
Total Owed £26592.23

---

Hi hon,

Welcome!

My comments are in red

Are you able to complete another SOA which will be more detailed so we can properly go through everything with you?

The links at the top of the DFW page

Me xx

£28 a month on water high ? with 2 kids as well ?

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

DGJsaver wrote: »

£28 a month on water high ? with 2 kids as well ?

2 kis and 2 adults in my house and we only pay £17.72 a month and im afraid we arent very water conscious

janerak

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1783.4
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 449.68
Other income............................ 397.09
Total monthly income.................... 2630.17

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 968
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 217.77
Management charge (leasehold property).. 10
Council tax............................. 114.8
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 28.32
Telephone (land line)................... 40
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 11.87
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 19.25
Car Insurance........................... 34
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 7.5
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 72
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 30.99
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 20.89
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 80
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2270.32

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 165950
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3500
Other assets............................ 12455
Total Assets............................ 181905

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 147000...(968)......7.68
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 6931.12..(217.7)....21.2
Total secured & HP debts...... 153931.1.-Unsecured Debts

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................6019.65...0.........19.9
Barclays Loan..................7804.16...288.8.....7.765
Scotcall - Next................769.81....0.........0
Electric.......................600.92....0.........0
Gas............................694.18....0.........0
Council Tax....................447.65....0.........0
Ibuyeco........................206.52....0.........0
Chancery Estates...............425.......0.........0
Scotcall - Orange..............1246.69...0.........0
Scotcall - BT..................549.44....0.........0
Scotcall - Grattan.............557.01....0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........19321.03..288.8.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,630.17
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,270.32
Available for debt repayments........... 359.85
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 288.8
Amount left after debt repayments....... 71.05

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 181,905
Total HP & Secured debt................. -153,931.12
Total Unsecured debt.................... -19,321.03
Net Assets.............................. 8,652.85



Wow that was a surprise I actually have assets !!! The gas and electric are on prepayment meters and Im on a water meter have checked and this does include arrears. Thanks so much for your advice so far hope this helps and easier to read.

dancingfairy

Brilliant to get the SOA done so quick. First impressions from me are that while there are some savings to be made - maybe a bit on groceries, mobile etc that overall you are not going to be able to make enough cutbacks to break even. I presume gas and electric you are paying off via the prepayment meters? or is this on top of that?
The most important debt you need to tackle first is the council tax - the others are less important at the moment.
I would suggest that you phone one of the debt charities with a view to maybe doing a debt management plan (DMP) - basically you pay your bills and then whatever is left is split between the people you owe money to. The company you owe most gets a bigger share then so on.
CCCS should be able to help you with this. I think this is probably your best option although they can talk you through other options as well.
df

Tixy

janerak wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1783.4
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 449.68
Other income............................ 397.09
Total monthly income.................... 2630.17

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 968 interest only or repayment?
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 217.77 is this your car?
Management charge (leasehold property).. 10
Council tax............................. 114.8
Electricity............................. 70 if includes arrears find out how much is being taken for arrears and how much for current -you may be able to spread arrears over longer
Gas..................................... 40 as above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 28.32
Telephone (land line)................... 40 as before try reducing (does it include internet)
Mobile phone............................ 40 switch to PAYG or ask if you can drop a tariff
TV Licence.............................. 11.87
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 definatley could drop by using meal planning, old style tips on batch cooking, drop a brand challenge etc
Clothing................................ 50 try reducing a little (only what you need not what you want;))
Petrol/diesel........................... 80 all journeys essential?
Road tax................................ 19.25
Car Insurance........................... 34
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 7.5
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 72 what does this relate to?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 30.99 look for a bit cheaper on comparison sites when you renew
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 20.89 check it covers you and also look to see if you can get same cover cheaper.
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 80 is this specific items (like kids clubs) or just general spends?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2270.32

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 165950
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3500
Other assets............................ 12455
Total Assets............................ 181905

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 147000...(968)......7.68
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 6931.12..(217.7)....21.2
Total secured & HP debts...... 153931.1.-Unsecured Debts

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................6019.65...0.........19.9
Barclays Loan..................7804.16...288.8.....7.765
Scotcall - Next................769.81....0.........0
Electric.......................600.92....0.........0
Gas............................694.18....0.........0
Council Tax....................447.65....0.........0
Ibuyeco........................206.52....0.........0
Chancery Estates...............425.......0.........0
Scotcall - Orange..............1246.69...0.........0
Scotcall - BT..................549.44....0.........0
Scotcall - Grattan.............557.01....0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........19321.03..288.8.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,630.17
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,270.32
Available for debt repayments........... 359.85
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 288.8
Amount left after debt repayments....... 71.05

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 181,905
Total HP & Secured debt................. -153,931.12
Total Unsecured debt.................... -19,321.03
Net Assets.............................. 8,652.85



Wow that was a surprise I actually have assets !!! The gas and electric are on prepayment meters and Im on a water meter have checked and this does include arrears. Thanks so much for your advice so far hope this helps and easier to read.

That SoA is much easier to read. A couple of other questions - is your car worth £3500 but the HP on the car still has nearly £7k outstanding? How long have you had the agreement? are you half way through? could you hand back the car and buy a cheaper car which is also cheaper to tax/run/insure? Do you drive efficently? this article may help you shave a bit off your fuel costs - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheaper-fuel. Is the car essential as its costing you a lot in running costs and HP repayments compared to the amount of miles you must be doing (based on petrol used)?

What is other travel? is this for your or for the children to get to school?

As DF says your council tax arrears are the most important item to tackle straight away. Have you had any contact with the council? is the debt still with the council or with baliffs? is it this year arrears (09-10) or older?

It does look like you might be a suitable candidate for a debt management plan - the recommended people are those listed here - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2077631

Good luck. Let us know how you get on.