i think it's time

elantan

well how do i start ? ..ive been doing a very good ostrich impression for the last few years, spending money i don't have then borrowing to pay that off, i'm sure you all know the story, luckily in the past the husband had great wages... but those golden days are gone, and whilst they took some of the debt with them, we are still left with plenty so if you don't mind i'll purge myself


monthly incomes
Hubby £1,500 approx depending on overtime
me £ 800 approx depending on overtime
tax credits£100 including family allowance
Totalling £2,400 on average a month


this was the nasty bit for me i didn't realise we spent as much

Mortgage £570
council tax £200
car loan £217.44
bank loan £253.44
visa bill £ 50
student loan £ 97
T.v and internet£ 70
electricity/ gas £127
insurances £ 80
diesel £100
endowment £ 36
mobile £ 40
school/ work £ 60
singinglesson £ 20 for son
money for g/f £ 20 for son
Food £150
takeaway's £150
alcohol £ 40
ju-jit-su £ 90
isa's £ 50
totalling £2420.88 a month
so i'm running short every month and do you ever get that feeling you've missed something? i'm sure i have

now where i think i'm gonna have a problem is ...i'm going back to college full time in August so although i am earning £800 on average a month just now i deff wont be in August i'll drop atleast £300-400 a month then i'm gonna be in big trouble. I think my debts are as good as i'm gonna get them but if anyone can offer advice please please feel free they are as follows

car loan £6,763 paying 6.25%
bank loan £4,792 paying 6.7%
student loan£ 468 unsure of rate but about £5 a month in interest
b and q £ 700 13.97% starting from January 2007 0 % just now
egg £ 400 0% just now till September
overdraft £ 2,800 7.25% annually

totalling £16,042

now that's alot of money and i really pannicked when i saw that
i'm in a pickle i wont be able to pay them off come August help anyone. just to add more confusion to my already messed up finances i currently have no pension provision and i'm 35 so really need to get my butt in gear

sorry for going on so long, also sorry i aint got any smilies don't quite yet know how to work them

thanks for taking the time to read this and any help would be appreciated

Wonder_Girl

:eek: Take aways £150

You have come to the right place, lots of lovely nice people will be along shortly to help!

You have taken a brave step and this lot will have you sorted in no time

elantan

thanks for your quick response and i know i should cut out the takeaways i don't even like them it's the hubby i tried cutting him down and it was like major p.m.t .. no joking.. the house was in an uproar..i'm out working i don't ask for much ..etc..etc ..if you get the idea.... even tried to make them myslef he lasted two weeks that way.. i think i will deff cut them down ..we need to .. i'll try again and talk to him thanks for the advice though

sanfrancisco

If you are serious about getting debt free, you are lucky to have alot of things in your budget which could go. With your income actually reducing shortly, these are all the things that I would get rid of/change:

elantan wrote:

Mortgage £570 - could you move to interest only (ONLY DO THIS if you have truly had your lightbulb moment)
council tax £200 - this is high - why?
car loan £217.44 - sell the car - get a sub £500 one.
bank loan £253.44
visa bill £ 50
student loan £ 97 - could you defer?
T.v and internet£ 70 - this is high. Broadband is as low as £15 now, and you don't need sky, only £10 pm TV licence.
electricity/ gas £127 - high??? Try switching
insurances £ 80 - what are these? Could they be cancelled in the short term?
diesel £100
endowment £ 36
mobile £ 40 - PAYG
school/ work £ 60 - ???
singinglesson £ 20 for son - Stop this
money for g/f £ 20 for son - Stop this
Food £150
takeaway's £150 - Stop this
alcohol £ 40 - Stop this
ju-jit-su £ 90 -Stop this
isa's £ 50 - STop saving, you are paying out higher rates on your debt than you will be receiving on this.
totalling £2420.88 a month
so i'm running short every month and do you ever get that feeling you've missed something? i'm sure i have

You have not accounted for car breakdown/repair and birthdays / xmas.

Welcome aboad. Stick around. You will get out of this and get control back, it just takes time and effort. Good Luck.

liuhut

Just a thought, your endownment that you pay - do you need this to pay off the mortgage. If not could you not cash it in and put the money towards the debts - not sure if this is the best thing to do but it would help you short term.

lynzpower

Hello and welcome to DFW

Cutbacks are going to have to be made Im afraid to get your head back above water .This is going to be harsh, but dont worry, we are all making cutbacks, its not forever.

Let me see where we can make some savings

monthly incomes
Hubby £1,500 approx depending on overtime
me £ 800 approx depending on overtime
tax credits£100 including family allowance
Totalling £2,400 on average a month


this was the nasty bit for me i didn't realise we spent as much

Mortgage £570
council tax £200
car loan £217.44
bank loan £253.44
visa bill £ 50
student loan £ 97
T.v and internet£ 70 ( this just has to go IM afraid, theres at least 50 quid there that can be spent on debt payments)
electricity/ gas £127 ( woah this is high are you paying off arrears? Whatever, make sure everythings off at the walll etc adn check this out https://www.saveenergy.co.uk for other ingenious ways to cut your bills back, this can be halved )
insurances £ 80 ( what are these for?)
diesel £100 ( ok, can you reduce the journeys that you make, walk places etc )
endowment £ 36 ( is this for an IO mortgage?)
mobile £ 40 ( ask for your tarriff to be reduced or go PAYG if you can)
school/ work £ 60 ( whats this???)
singinglesson £ 20 for son (erm)
money for g/f £ 20 for son ( is this maintanence payment?)
Food £150 (for how many)
takeaway's £150 ( no way, this is silly waste of money)
alcohol £ 40 ( as above, stop spending it and use towards your debts)
ju-jit-su £ 90 ( this could be stopped to)
isa's £ 50 ( whats this for? How much is in the isas, its one thing to have a little emergency pot, but another to be regualrly saving with no real purpose, as your interest on your debts is hgigher than the return on an ISA)
totalling £2420.88 a month ( or with my savings 1945) leaving 455.

However, you might want to think seriously about whether you really CAN afford to give up work. Any savings you make now will be cancelled out by you stopping work, I suspect.

Also Im sorry to have to tell you that you havent included any repairs, MOT, parking or other car allowances. You havent incuded presents, clothes, dentist prescriptions or other things that periodically crop up, and you also havent included your TV licence or your landline costs.

Sorry to be the bearer

Have a big hug from me love xxxxxxx

welcome though you really are in the right place

CLAPTON

in addition to sanfrancisco points

what is the endowment for ....... is it mortgage related ..if not what is it worth if you cash it in to help repay debts and save 36 a month as well.

how much is the ISA worth...can it be used to pay off debts?

i would suggest you keep a spending diary to determine what you actually spend

oops_a_daisy

Hi elantan - welcome to the DFWannabees. Well done on posting your SOA, cant add anything to what sanfrancisco has said already other than from what you have put in your SOA you can make big savings but your family needs to be on board too - do you have their support ? All the best and good luck

elantan

thanks again for the advice some of which i will deff use.
have recently changed mortgage to 5 year fixed rate saving me £60 a month so i can't change again for 5 years unfortunatley .....i know the council tax is high but we don't get any discounts and it does include water charges we pay both in the one in Scotland
the car is a great idea as soon as i get it back i will look into it..was recently in a smash (still off work due to it) (and so looking forward to ssp NOT)
but when i get it back fixed it will be an option it's the one that will take the longest to clear so it deff makes sense to get it sorted.. the t.v believe it or not is actually £90 a month but our nephew that lives with us gives me £20 a month for it ..i can't really take it down much more as i have a teenage son who has the phone surgically attatched to his ear so i pay £25 a month but that lets him call all land lines and wont give me a bigger bill, i pay an extra £1.50 to bar mobiles from being called (that was a painful lesson learned) my son and husband watch a lot of t.v but i will tackle this one as i think we can atleast go down a few packages, we also have the 10meg broadband (hence the reason the nephew gives us £20 a month) i married a man who doesn't like sports at all he likes p.c's i'm a p.c widow
the singing lesson i agree with and the money for my son to see his g/f ..he agreed to take pieces to school instead of money so that he could get the £10 a week for both but i think we will have to reasses the situation ...i havn't accounted for car breakdown/birthdays'/xmas etc and that really worries me thanks again for the advice though.. the little cogs in my brain are starting to spin now .....thought i'd had my lightbulb moment but now i'm thinking it was on dim

lynzpower

So your nephew who lives with you? How old is he? What else does he contribute?

cupid_s

two general points. when you're a full time student you get 30% (or might be 25%) off council tax. Thankfully as both me and hubby are students we pay no council tax atm but i know it's gonna hit hard as soon as we graduate.

But anyway this will cut at least £50 a month back - though £2400 per year in council tax seems overly high to me (but what do i know?) Also is it just your husbands student loan you're paying back? Because if you have a loan too obviously that wont be paid back while you're studying so the cost of that may go down.

Also would you be entitled to more tax credits, or extra help from the government if you're at college full time? You might be so check this out.

When you sit down and work out what you actually spend it always is so much more than you think. How much i think we should spend per year and how much we do spend per year differ by about £4k