My SOA - am i on the right track?

ChefBungle

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2460
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2460

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 958
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 323
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 19.5
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 60
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 21
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 4
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 7
Entertainment........................... 13.5
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1656

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

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 119000...(958)......5
Total secured & HP debts...... 119000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Virgin Mastercard..............11600.....140.......16.9
Egg Visa.......................6000......130.......21
Direct Line Loan...............6000......495.......5
Total unsecured debts..........23600.....765.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,460
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,656
Available for debt repayments........... 804
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 765
Amount left after debt repayments....... 39
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 160,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -119,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -23,600
Net Assets.............................. 17,400



Hi All,

Please see above for my SOA. I've filled it in as best I can, and I'm really just looking for advice in relation to the loan and credit card situation I'm in. A few points to clarify :

* The SOA is purely for myself. Although I live with my girlfriend, the £323 I pay her every month includes rent, council tax, utility bills, etc so that's why some of the household figures might appear to be missing.
* The monthly mortgage payment of £958 includes the mortgage payment, all insurances and child maintenance to my ex. I split up with her around May of this year - the house is on the market and as soon as it sells I will an extra £480 per month. But the housing market isn't really moving up here just yet so I have no idea when this will be.
* The mobile phone payment is for my blackberry which is in contract until next August, but I use this to get MS alerts so I kinda need it when out and about (I don't work in an office but am 'on the road').
* The £13.50 for entertainment is for a Cineworld unlimited cinema pass - my girlfriend and I go to the cinema 3/4 times a month with Orange Wednesdays and I sometimes go by myself if she's out with friends, etc so I want to retain this.

The main thing I'm looking for help on is what I should do in relation to the loan/credit card situation. My Virgin got ratejacked a couple of months ago and I managed to reject the increase, but my Egg card went up to 21% because I stupidly wasn't quick enough.

The Direct Line loan has 12 repayments left at £495 per month, so an outstanding balance of around £6k.

Both the loan and credit card balances came from my marriage, but I have been lumbered with paying them all off. Looooong story, but this isn't going to change.

Should I :

(a) keep the status quo and wait until the Direct Line loan finishes, and then throw the spare £495 at the Egg card and then the Virgin card? I estimate I will be debt free in around 3.5 years if I do this.
(b) get a new loan to incorporate all 3 debts and pay this back over 4 years - the monthly repayment would be less than the combined repayment cost, but would ultimately add 6 months until I was debt-free.

I'm keeping a close eye on my credit file, and I'm still not registered on the voters roll at my new address (despite having done all the right things as they suggest), so I think this is going to stand against me if I attempt to apply for a new loan. However, if I keep going with the status quo then I will be paying the minimum repayment on the two cards until the Direct Line loan finishes and I can start throwing money at them to reduce the balances, which annoys me a bit as they are getting a fixed income off me for the next 12 months with no real reduction in the balances.

I appreciate this is quite long-winded, but would appreciate any feedback just to see if I'm on the right track.....

catmiaow

Hello,

I would stick with the three payments, save as much cash as you can to put towards emergencies and perhaps if there are no emergencies you can pay a huge chunk off.

Taking out a loan for me meant I just ended up in more debt and didn't actually pay the original debt off, I just spent spent spent. Not to say that you would do this, but I think in the long term you will be better sticking but up to you.

If you are finding it a struggle you could possibly write to the companies concerned asking them to freeze APR as you are struggling to make beyond minimum payments - They can only say no.

It takes them ages to register new people on the voters roll and it could stand against you when applying for new credit so that's another reason to not apply for anything else for the time being.

Anyway good luck!

Anastasia

Good advice from catmiaow but I would struggle with the principle of paying such high rates on the cards. If it was me I would explore the possibility of getting a better credit card deal for the Virgin and the Egg card balances.

You are not on the electoral roll but would your previous address would be taken into account? You have a lot of debt but if you always pay on time that will help your application. You presumably know you credit score. Check these boards for other's experiences of applying for credit cards.

Otherwise option 1 sounds the best course ot action. 3.5 years sounds about right for that amount of debt and you can reduce that when you sell your house.

Good luck, Ana