As my name suggests its time to face it :(

letsfaceit

Hello all and hope your all having a lovely holiday period,
As my screen name suggests Ive done alot of soul searching and decided to face up to this horrible spiraling debt which is dragging me right down.
Firstly, Whats the best order to get myself prepared for dealing with it? I imagine I'll have to use some sort of balance sheet/SOA? do I do this first.
Also 6 months ago I consolodated alot of my debt into a credit union loan which is over 5 years at around £450 per month. Would this be a secured or unsecured debt?
Hope you dont mine me ranting but Im spending alot more than Im bringing home and I want to get this weight off my mind so in the future I can support my young daughter etc. I have been very reckless with money and credit in the past and its really come to bite me in the backside I feel a total fool. I have quite a good job respectable job which I enjoy but once my outgoings to creditors are paid Im left with not much and sometimes yet again have to live off credit. Im sure many of you have been in the same situation so i thought Id ask the experts to help me along.
Thank you very much for reading the post and if you have any advice then please feel free to reply..........
Dave x

katsu

Good luck

Start with the SOA - you can find the template in a sticky thread. People will then advise you on how you can reduce your spending etc.

I imagine the credit union debt would be unsecured as I don't belive they secure the debts on anything. Secured debts are secured against your house or something like a car. Hope this helps.

doodledo_2

Hi Dave and welcome to the forum

As the OP has posted best place to start is with a full and frank SOA. Write every single thing down and be 100% truthful and then watch the advice come flooding in.

Good luck and keep posting

nekosuki

Hi Dave

This is the link which katsu mentioned - http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Will ask for creditors' balances and APR % and also will remind you of outgoings which may have slipped your mind (helpful for a forgetful so-and-so like me!)

The very knowledgeable and friendly guys on this board will be able to go through your SOA with a fine tootcomb and suggest ways of cutting down etc.

Good luck with it!:money:

Numpty_Monkey

Hi welcome aboard:hello:

Well you've done the first 2 most difficult steps already
1 Admitted to yourself
2 Joined here

The next step is the SOA, use this and post the results
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

The clever and good will go through it make suggestions give advice and spot things :eek::A

tealady

Hi and welcome.
Your SOA is definately the place to start so that the lovely peeps on here can help you budget for whats important and suggest a way forward.
There are loads of useful ideas on this site, so many that sometimes it is a bit hard to find your way around but the basics are spend less and/or earn more but each person has different needs so your SOA will help us point you in the right direction.

letsfaceit

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1672
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1672
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 246
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 54
Electricity............................. 10
Gas..................................... 32
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 67
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 214
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 25
Other insurance......................... 18
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 8
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1321

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 120000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 123000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 117000...(246)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 117000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Union...................17000.....401.......0
Virgin.........................4400......100.......0
CitiCard.......................4000......97........0
Student Loan...................5000......107.......0
Tesco Card.....................1800......50........0
Total unsecured debts..........32200.....755.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,672
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,321
Available for debt repayments........... 351
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 755
Amount short for making debt repayments. -404
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 123,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -117,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -32,200
Net Assets.............................. -26,200


Ive filed out the above as best I can.
Additional expenses are my Gym membership of £60 which is preparing me for an endurance triathalon with proper tuition so theres no option to change gym unfortunately.
My car tax/Insurance/House insurance have been paid in full.
I also pay £30.00 Health care through work
*I work in the emergency services so my monthly income is after Pension contributions and NI etc*

letsfaceit

God thats so depressing to look at!!!!

BeautyandtheBeast_3

hi are your cards all at 0% xx

brummiebabe

letsfaceit wrote: »

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1672
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1672
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 246Is this interest only? How long left on the mortgage?
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 54
Electricity............................. 10
Gas..................................... 32
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 50Any chance of reducing this? Even my iPhone is £35 p/m (my one indulgence:rotfl:)
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 67Reduce the package slightly? Shop around?
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 250This is a lot! Look at the Old Style Board for ideas - we spend £400 for a family of 5!! (And that's a lot...)
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 214
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 25
Other insurance......................... 18
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 8
Entertainment........................... 100Could this be cut slightly? Not saying cut it totally as that's unrealistic
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1321

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 120000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 123000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 117000...(246)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 117000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Union...................17000.....401.......0
Virgin.........................4400......100.......0
CitiCard.......................4000......97........0
Student Loan...................5000......107.......0
Tesco Card.....................1800......50........0
Total unsecured debts..........32200.....755.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,672
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,321
Available for debt repayments........... 351
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 755
Amount short for making debt repayments. -404
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 123,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -117,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -32,200
Net Assets.............................. -26,200


Ive filed out the above as best I can.
Additional expenses are my Gym membership of £60 which is preparing me for an endurance triathalon with proper tuition so theres no option to change gym unfortunately.
My car tax/Insurance/House insurance have been paid in full.But need adding as you'll need to have the funds available to pay them again when up for renewal - best to budget for it now!
I also pay £30.00 Health care through workWhat's this? Have you used it? Is it worth the money?
*I work in the emergency services so my monthly income is after Pension contributions and NI etc*

Hi there and welcome. I'm by no means the most experienced at this...I'm sure others will give some better advice, but thought I'd post my first thoughts;)

Best of luck x

letsfaceit

Thanks for the reply, Im actually mortified by it all!!!
My mortgage is intrest only yes, Im a relatively new 1st time buyer so about 28 years left and I just wanted to get on the property ladder at the time.

My mobile phone is an iphone one yes and £50 is a conservative estimate with my current usage (especially texts) - wish Id never taken it out but thats hindsight

I'll look at the Groceries definately as I do 'waste' alot of money on food luxuries if Im honest.

The satellite package is for my broadband and phone also and is with Sky including the Sports package. I would rather cut my entertainment down than lose my sports package as Im only going to be tempted to watch the football and boxing at the local and I watch alot of sports so keeps me in the house so to speak.

The health care package is with BUPA - and no Ive never used it and am looking at perhaps re-using this £30 elsewhere.

Not all my creditcards are 0%. The Virgin one is - for now. The CitiCard is 5% and Im not sure on the others Im just desperate to clear them ASAP as these are the mainthings which get me down.

Luckily I have an agreement with my parents that they will cover the car insurance and house insurance as they have made an investment into the house also and have been hit hard financially with the breakup of a relationship (contributor to household income). They have also offered to help with my debt problem but I really want to get it sorted myself and I dont think they appreciate or know the scale of the problem.