Help.. I can only see one solution!

savingmummy

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Income from Employment (after tax). . . 2,864.00
Income from Self Employment (before tax). . . 300.00
Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . 250.00
Monthly Expense Details
In Your Home
Mobile Phone(s) . . . 75.00
TV Licence. . . 11.95

Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . 10.00
Garden Maintenance. . . 0.00
Internet. . . 30.00
Home Phone. . . 30.00
Oil . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . 60.00
Gas . . . 60.00
Water . . . 46.00
Council Tax . . . 182.00
Overdraft Cost. . . 40.00
Bank Account Fee. . . 0.00
Buildings & Contents Insurance. . . 2.00
Mortgage/Rent . . .1,189.00
Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . 0.00
Mortgage Life Insurance . . . 0.00
Mortgage Payment Protection . . . 57.00
Life Insurance . . . 46.36
Food and Household Shopping . . . 260.00
Drinks for Home . . . 20.00
Motoring & Public Transport
Petrol/Diesel . . . 40.00
Parking . . . 15.00
Car Tax . . . 12.00
Car Insurance . . . 21.67
Car Maintenance . . . 20.00
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . 0.00
Breakdown Cover . . . 0.00
Debt Repayments
Credit Card Repayments. . . . 520.00
Hire Purchase Repayments. . . 0.00
Personal Loan Repayments. . .378.00
Car Loan Repayments . . .0.00
FAmily Loan . . . 200.00
Savings & Investments
Pension Payments. . . 0.00
Buying Shares . . . 0.00
Investments . . . 0.00
Mini Cash ISAs. . . . 0.00
Lump Sum Saving . . . 0.00
Regular Saving. . . 0.00
Family
Pet Food. . . 8.00
School Trips. . . 20.00
School Meals. . . 0.00
Pocket Money. . . 0.00
Nappies/Baby Extras . . . 20.00
Laundry/Dry Cleaning. . . 0.00
Children's Travel . . .0.00
Baby Sitting. . . 0.00
Childcare/Play Groups . . . 260.00
Pet Insurance . . .0.00
Travel Insurance. . . 0.00
Entertainment
Satellite/Digital TV. . . 23.00
Family Days Out . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . 3.33
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . 0.00
Big Days Out. . . . 0.00
Shopping for Fun. . . . 0.00
Pet Costs . . . 0.00
Hobbies . . . 0.00
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc). . . 0.00
DVD Rental. . . 15.00
Drinking Out. . . 12.50
Eating Out. . . . 12.50
Clothes, Health & Beauty
Complimentary Therapies . . . 0.00
Optical Bills . . . 43.00
Haircuts. . . .25.00
Dentistry . . . 5.83
Beauty Treatments . . . 0.00
Healthcare Cashplans. . . 0.00
Dental Insurance. . . 0.00
Private Medical Insurance . . . 0.00
Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . 0.00
Work Clothes. . . 25.00
New Children's Clothes. . . 16.67
New Clothes . . . 16.67
Education & Courses
University Tuition Fees . . . 0.00
School Fees . . . 0.00
Your Courses. . . 0.00
Big One Offs
Funeral Expenses. . . 0.00
Wedding Expenses. . . 0.00
Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . 0.00
Birthdays . . .20.00
Winter Holiday. . . 0.00
Summer Holiday. . . 83.33
Christmas . . .41.67
Odds & Sods
Newspapers & Magazines. . . 4.50
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . 0.00
Regular Charity Donations . . . 0.00
Meals at work . . . 86.67
Smokes. . . 162.42
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . 0.00

Total monthly income. . . 3,414.00

Total monthly expenses. . . 4,231.07




These are changes i would make. Hair cuts a mth is high, shopping is high, lunches at work, mobiles can all be reduced. goodluck.

mah

Thanks for all your comments, following are a few clarifications, i'm not trying to justify, just making clear, for me as much as anything. Whatever I do it still doesn't add up to the short fall;

Monthly Expense Details
In Your Home
Mobile Phone(s) . . . 75.00 Reduce this/change tariffs Both phones are still in contract for 12 months.
TV Licence. . . 11.95
Internet. . . 30.00
Home Phone. . . 30.00 £60 for phone & internet?!?! Look for deals that include both & you'll probs get sky/virgin in that too for less than the £83 you're paying now for tv/phone/internet! I currently have BT 3 and phone package which is out of contract. looking at Sky to combine BB/TV/PHONE. BB is esential for running the web business, when income from that picks up a bit more then this cost can be shifted to a business cost completly.
Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . 10.00
Garden Maintenance. . . 0.00
Household Maintenance . . . 0.00
Oil . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . 60.00 Looking to change
Gas . . . 60.00 Looking to change
Water . . . 46.00
Council Tax . . . 182.00
Overdraft Cost. . . 40.00 Checked statement and Should be £60/month
Bank Account Fee. . . 0.00
Buildings & Contents Insurance. . . 2.00 You sure?! £24p/a for contents & buildings insurance? should be £24... Typo....
Mortgage/Rent . . .1,189.00
Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . 0.00
Mortgage Life Insurance . . . 0.00
Mortgage Payment Protection . . . 57.00 Look around for another deal, use cashback sites where possible
Life Insurance . . . 46.36 As above
Food and Household Shopping . . . 260.00 This is good, but check the Old style board...plenty more tips there;)
Drinks for Home . . . 20.00 Can you not cut this out?!
Motoring & Public Transport Car is essential, we live in a fairly rural area.
Petrol/Diesel . . . 40.00
Parking . . . 15.00
Car Tax . . . 12.00
Car Insurance . . . 21.67
Car Maintenance . . . 20.00
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . 0.00
Breakdown Cover . . . 0.00
Debt Repayments
Credit Card Repayments. . . . 520.00
Hire Purchase Repayments. . . 0.00
Personal Loan Repayments. . .378.00
Car Loan Repayments . . .0.00
FAmily Loan . . . 200.00 This amount is tied to a high interest account, if i stop paying my mother loses out on the interest.
Savings & Investments
Pension Payments. . . 0.00
Buying Shares . . . 0.00
Investments . . . 0.00
Mini Cash ISAs. . . . 0.00
Lump Sum Saving . . . 0.00
Regular Saving. . . 0.00
Family
Pet Food. . . 8.00
School Trips. . . 20.00 £240p/a on school trips?! Wow!13 yr old has a one week trip away this year £200 one off
School Meals. . . 0.00
Pocket Money. . . 0.00
Nappies/Baby Extras . . . 20.00
Laundry/Dry Cleaning. . . 0.00
Children's Travel . . .0.00
Baby Sitting. . . 0.00
Childcare/Play Groups . . . 260.00 This is acually a good deal as we have an excellent child minder who fits in with my wife's shifts. Would be more than double for nursery places.
Pet Insurance . . .0.00
Travel Insurance. . . 0.00
Entertainment
Satellite/Digital TV. . . 23.00 mentioned with phone/internet
looking at tying in with phone and BB
Family Days Out . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . 3.33 Necessary?13 yr old goes 3 times a year
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . 0.00
Big Days Out. . . . 0.00
Shopping for Fun. . . . 0.00
Pet Costs . . . 0.00 I've not budgeted for anything re vets fees etc. i had a seperate savings account to cover this and found out at week end it's now empty, used to make payments...
Hobbies . . . 0.00 My hobbies actually bring in money.
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc). . . 0.00
DVD Rental. . . 15.00 Have a look at lovefilm for free trials & go through cashback site Have stopped this. make do with Film4
Drinking Out. . . 12.50 This need to stop for now I put this in but honistly can't remember the last time we had a night out. sam with eating out below.
Eating Out. . . . 12.50 as above...how about movie & picnic on living room floor..once kids are in bed;) Plenty of ways to keep the romance without spending too much:)
Clothes, Health & Beauty
Complimentary Therapies . . . 0.00
Optical Bills . . . 43.00 Can you get a payment plan for this?! we both wear contacts and this cost is on a payment plan mine is £18/month and wife's £25/month due to toric's
Haircuts. . . .25.00 Reduce this, go to local colleges or buy some clippers & do at home if family is mostly boys:) this is probably a 6 weekly cost rather than monthly no cost for the two youngest, mine is £5 and dughter and wife £10 each.
Dentistry . . . 5.83 again is a payment plan possible? I worked this out on one check up a year for me and my wife. if anything needs doing then it's more. a plan would be nice but it's another monthley expence
Beauty Treatments . . . 0.00
Healthcare Cashplans. . . 0.00
Dental Insurance. . . 0.00
Private Medical Insurance . . . 0.00
Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . 0.00
Work Clothes. . . 25.00 is this really essential every month?
not a monthly expence, but a new suit every year. pair shoes etc.
New Children's Clothes. . . 16.67 as above not a monthly expence, school uniforms and other clothes throughout the year for three kids, luckily youngest is on hand me downs.
New Clothes . . . 16.67 as above, also look on ebay etc for bargains;)
Education & Courses
University Tuition Fees . . . 0.00
School Fees . . . 0.00
Your Courses. . . 0.00
Big One Offs
Funeral Expenses. . . 0.00
Wedding Expenses. . . 0.00
Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . 0.00
Birthdays . . .20.00 Try & reduce the people you buy for to immediate family only
Winter Holiday. . . 0.00
Summer Holiday. . . 83.33 You really cannot afford this right now!Cancelled
Christmas . . .41.67 Same as with birthdays, reduce to immediate family only I put a cost in to conter Christmas, not just pressent. ie dinner, drinks, trip to see santa etc.
Odds & Sods
Newspapers & Magazines. . . 4.50 Give them up, newspapers can be read online Done
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . 0.00
Regular Charity Donations . . . 0.00
Meals at work . . . 86.67 take packed lunch or microwave meals(£1 from Iceland) Done
Smokes. . . 162.42 Try and quit smoking if you can/feel ready for it, this will probably be the biggest saving tbh Trying again for the umpteenth time. I find i'm a stress smoker. but yes i need to stop.
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . 0.00

Total monthly income. . . 3,414.00 Joint income(£1863/£1100 plus £250 Child benefit and rest is additional income)

Total monthly expenses. . . 4,231.07 Joint expendature



Credit Cards
Argos£408.49 (no payments til September)
Virgin£11,662.32(1.8%/month)
LloydsTSB AE£5,187.02(1.7%/month)
Halifax Visa£4,642.63(11.9%APR)
Tesco ClubCard£2,619.74 (1.3%/month)
halifax MC£7,103.42(11.9%APR)
virgin£1,841.59 (1.8%/month)
Total£33,465.21

Mortgage ... £220,000.00


I have a £1000 rebate on tax to come and the tax office have finally sorted my code out, so £100 extra income from this month. but that only scratches the surface. Pay off Argos with this money & put the rest towards whichever has the highest apr argos doesn't need to start payments until September.as part of buy now pay later. i'll prob use rebate to pay off part of OD.

RAS

Hi

Even if stuff is in contract, you have to ring up and try and down grade. Do you want to lose the house for the sake of a mobile phone contract?

And re clothes, you are going to have to start looking at charity shops etc. You cannot afford anything new except knickers and shoes and then only in the sale.

Your mortgage is massive. What is the APR?

mah

RAS wrote: »

Hi

Even if stuff is in contract, you have to ring up and try and down grade. Do you want to lose the house for the sake of a mobile phone contract?

And re clothes, you are going to have to start looking at charity shops etc. You cannot afford anything new except knickers and shoes and then only in the sale.

Your mortgage is massive. What is the APR?

4.79% Standard Rate

RAS

mah wrote: »

4.79% Standard Rate

In which case your monthly payment seems a bit high - not that I am good at doing the sums.

Can you check?

gonzo127

for a suit ok maybe not the best quality but have you looked in tesco and asda at their range of suites, tesco do a suit for £25 which doesnt look to bad (i own it for the few times i need a full suit)

smoking have you contacted the NHS stop smoking service? if not try them as they do have a high success rate

for phone boradband check out www.samknows.com in the broadband checked, you need your telephone number and postcode which will then tell you what companies (LLU or cable) are at your exchange hopefully you will get Sky or virgin however if not it is still not a lost cause and people can still probably (99% sure we can) help you save some money here

mobiles - what do you have to lose with phoning them to at least ask to downgrade yes you will have to deal with the call centre muppets but it really could be worth it!

contacts - might not be a popular idea but have you thought about going back to glasses for the time being, my local tesco are currently doing a pair of glasses with free eye test and free lenses for £10 (its a sales however they are usualy still only £20)

family loan, could you talk to your mother and just explain that there has been a blip in your finances and you would like to just take a 6 month payment break if you could - and then add a bit extra on at the end to cover missed interest? might be worth speaking to her about it as i am sure if your mum is anything like mine they would be happy to help if at all possible

**confuzzled**

mah wrote: »

Monthly Expense Details
In Your Home
Mobile Phone(s) . . . 75.00 Both phones are still in contract for 12 months.Call anyway, don't ask don't get:)
TV Licence. . . 11.95
Internet. . . 30.00
Home Phone. . . 30.00 I currently have BT 3 and phone package which is out of contract. looking at Sky to combine BB/TV/PHONE. BB is esential for running the web business, when income from that picks up a bit more then this cost can be shifted to a business cost completly.
Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . 10.00
Garden Maintenance. . . 0.00
Household Maintenance . . . 0.00
Oil . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . 60.00 Looking to change
Gas . . . 60.00 Looking to change
Water . . . 46.00
Council Tax . . . 182.00
Overdraft Cost. . . 40.00 Checked statement and Should be £60/month
Bank Account Fee. . . 0.00
Buildings & Contents Insurance. . . 2.00 should be £24... Typo.... Phew! Thought I was being jipped by my insurers for a sec lol:rotfl:
Mortgage/Rent . . .1,189.00
Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . 0.00
Mortgage Life Insurance . . . 0.00
Mortgage Payment Protection . . . 57.00 Look around for another deal, use cashback sites where possible
Life Insurance . . . 46.36 As above
Food and Household Shopping . . . 260.00 This is good, but check the Old style board...plenty more tips there;)
Drinks for Home . . . 20.00 Can you not cut this out?!
Motoring & Public Transport Car is essential, we live in a fairly rural area.
Petrol/Diesel . . . 40.00
Parking . . . 15.00
Car Tax . . . 12.00
Car Insurance . . . 21.67
Car Maintenance . . . 20.00
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . 0.00
Breakdown Cover . . . 0.00
Debt Repayments
Credit Card Repayments. . . . 520.00
Hire Purchase Repayments. . . 0.00
Personal Loan Repayments. . .378.00
Car Loan Repayments . . .0.00
FAmily Loan . . . 200.00 This amount is tied to a high interest account, if i stop paying my mother loses out on the interest.
Savings & Investments
Pension Payments. . . 0.00
Buying Shares . . . 0.00
Investments . . . 0.00
Mini Cash ISAs. . . . 0.00
Lump Sum Saving . . . 0.00
Regular Saving. . . 0.00
Family
Pet Food. . . 8.00
School Trips. . . 20.00 13 yr old has a one week trip away this year £200 one off
School Meals. . . 0.00
Pocket Money. . . 0.00
Nappies/Baby Extras . . . 20.00
Laundry/Dry Cleaning. . . 0.00
Children's Travel . . .0.00
Baby Sitting. . . 0.00
Childcare/Play Groups . . . 260.00 This is acually a good deal as we have an excellent child minder who fits in with my wife's shifts. Would be more than double for nursery places.
Pet Insurance . . .0.00
Travel Insurance. . . 0.00
Entertainment
Satellite/Digital TV. . . 23.00 looking at tying in with phone and BB
Family Days Out . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . 3.33 13 yr old goes 3 times a year
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . 0.00
Big Days Out. . . . 0.00
Shopping for Fun. . . . 0.00
Pet Costs . . . 0.00 I've not budgeted for anything re vets fees etc. i had a seperate savings account to cover this and found out at week end it's now empty, used to make payments... time to start budgeting if a/c is empty.
Hobbies . . . 0.00 My hobbies actually bring in money. Bonus:cool:
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc). . . 0.00
DVD Rental. . . 15.00 Have stopped this. make do with Film4
Drinking Out. . . 12.50 I put this in but honistly can't remember the last time we had a night out. sam with eating out below.
Eating Out. . . . 12.50
Clothes, Health & Beauty
Complimentary Therapies . . . 0.00
Optical Bills . . . 43.00 we both wear contacts and this cost is on a payment plan mine is £18/month and wife's £25/month due to toric's
Haircuts. . . .25.00 this is probably a 6 weekly cost rather than monthly no cost for the two youngest, mine is £5 and dughter and wife £10 each.
Dentistry . . . 5.83 I worked this out on one check up a year for me and my wife. if anything needs doing then it's more. a plan would be nice but it's another monthly expense
Beauty Treatments . . . 0.00
Healthcare Cashplans. . . 0.00
Dental Insurance. . . 0.00
Private Medical Insurance . . . 0.00
Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . 0.00
Work Clothes. . . 25.00 not a monthly expence, but a new suit every year. pair shoes etc. Do you really need a new suit every year?! I begrudge buying work clothes so tend to make do as long as poss, current work suits are 3yrs old:o Although I do look after them and I always buy the really decent quality ones from M&S/Debs/Next(whichever has offers on;)):)
New Children's Clothes. . . 16.67 not a monthly expence, school uniforms and other clothes throughout the year for three kids, luckily youngest is on hand me downs.
New Clothes . . . 16.67
Education & Courses
University Tuition Fees . . . 0.00
School Fees . . . 0.00
Your Courses. . . 0.00
Big One Offs
Funeral Expenses. . . 0.00
Wedding Expenses. . . 0.00
Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . 0.00
Birthdays . . .20.00
Winter Holiday. . . 0.00
Summer Holiday. . . 83.33 Cancelled
Christmas . . .41.67 I put a cost in to conter Christmas, not just pressent. ie dinner, drinks, trip to see santa etc.
Odds & Sods
Newspapers & Magazines. . . 4.50 Give them up, newspapers can be read online Done
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . 0.00
Regular Charity Donations . . . 0.00
Meals at work . . . 86.67 take packed lunch or microwave meals(£1 from Iceland) Done
Smokes. . . 162.42 Try and quit smoking if you can/feel ready for it, this will probably be the biggest saving tbh Trying again for the umpteenth time. I find i'm a stress smoker. but yes i need to stop.
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . 0.00

Total monthly income. . . 3,414.00 Joint income(£1863/£1100 plus £250 Child benefit and rest is additional income)

Total monthly expenses. . . 4,231.07 Joint expendature



Credit Cards
Argos£408.49 (no payments til September)
Virgin£11,662.32(1.8%/month)
LloydsTSB AE£5,187.02(1.7%/month)
Halifax Visa£4,642.63(11.9%APR)
Tesco ClubCard£2,619.74 (1.3%/month)
halifax MC£7,103.42(11.9%APR)
virgin£1,841.59 (1.8%/month)
Total£33,465.21

Mortgage ... £220,000.00


I have a £1000 rebate on tax to come and the tax office have finally sorted my code out, so £100 extra income from this month. but that only scratches the surface. Pay off Argos with this money & put the rest towards whichever has the highest apr argos doesn't need to start payments until September.as part of buy now pay later. i'll prob use rebate to pay off part of OD.makes sense:) have you checked the snowball calc yet?!

Can I just say well done, with cancelling various things you've saved yourself £174.50:j:j Do you get groceries delivered?!? This would save a bit more on petrol. how about your 13yr old getting a paper round or help older people in village with odd jobs for pocket money, will help with those little expenses like the cinema and will also give him some more responsibility/independence

What have you done with the money you saved for the holiday if it's now been cancelled?!?!
How much is the overdraft?!?! I can't see it on SOA. I know it's costs you £60p/m but how much is it to begin with?! Whats the apr?!

I also 2nd the glasses idea instead of contacts...you can't be THAT vain:p:rotfl: Although I'm biased...can't stand the thought of something touching my eyeballs_pale_

mah

gonzo127 wrote: »

for a suit ok maybe not the best quality but have you looked in tesco and asda at their range of suites, tesco do a suit for £25 which doesnt look to bad (i own it for the few times i need a full suit)

smoking have you contacted the NHS stop smoking service? if not try them as they do have a high success rate

for phone boradband check out xxx in the broadband checked, you need your telephone number and postcode which will then tell you what companies (LLU or cable) are at your exchange hopefully you will get Sky or virgin however if not it is still not a lost cause and people can still probably (99% sure we can) help you save some money here

mobiles - what do you have to lose with phoning them to at least ask to downgrade yes you will have to deal with the call centre muppets but it really could be worth it!

contacts - might not be a popular idea but have you thought about going back to glasses for the time being, my local tesco are currently doing a pair of glasses with free eye test and free lenses for £10 (its a sales however they are usualy still only £20)

family loan, could you talk to your mother and just explain that there has been a blip in your finances and you would like to just take a 6 month payment break if you could - and then add a bit extra on at the end to cover missed interest? might be worth speaking to her about it as i am sure if your mum is anything like mine they would be happy to help if at all possible

Even with this and all the other suggestions i still can't get the savings to cover the short fall and the debt gets bigger.

I can't work out how we've not gone into arrears in the past. other than borrowing to pay.

If i spend this evening changing Phone, Utilities, BB, Sky, etc and then find i still can't cover the cost of outgoings. As i already know i won't. Then whats the next step.

As i see it i have about £800 shortfall a month, from the soa there is about £500 where i can make a saving, if i manage to reduce that by 40% (being hopeful) then I have saved £200 which still leaves me with a £600 shortfall this month. which will be £700 next month and £900 the month after and so on...

I can do all the saving and i can get the deals. it's just not enough. where do i go from here?

I can only see one option still and it's not what i want to do.

bigmommamuppet

Hi mah,

This time last year I was in the same position as you i.e. looking at a £600 shortfall each month and debts continuing to rise.

That's when I decided a enough was enough and I wanted to start living so I filled in the CCCS debt remedy on line and I haven't looked back.

Our debts are reducing, our credit rating is shot to bits (but who cares) and my kids have a decent existence and still get to go their clubs etc without me having to worry about where to find the money.

In all honesty I think you need to speak to CAB, Payplan or CCCS and see what they advise. Cutting back to the bear min is fine for a short term plan but trying to life like that for a number of years can be very sole destroying.

Good Luck

Becks

**confuzzled**

mah wrote: »

I can do all the saving and i can get the deals. it's just not enough. where do i go from here?

I can only see one option still and it's not what i want to do.

What do you think you're option is????

A DMP might be the way to go but you're best off phoning the debt charities who will be able to advise you further based on your SOA I can highly recommend CCCS:) Payplan are also highly regarded on here too:)