Finally my SOA HEEELLLLLPPPPP!

h8money

Hello you guys, I'm a bit embarrassed to be putting this on here! I know it'll make you gasp but i really need to know what to do to be able to afford to live each month with paying off as much as poss. For those that missed the last thread i'm the classic,get paid and still overdrawn moron! As of today this is my SOA....


Monthly Income

Basic £1200
Overtime £1/200 per month usually (it's not always there)
Rent from lodger £270 (as of next month)

I would say £1200 to be on the safe side as a basic every month.


Monthly Outgoings (ouch!)

Mortgage £ 451.98 (which is currently at interest only til March 2008)
Council Tax £ 74
Water £18 (all utility bills reviewed last week & prices adjusted)
Electric £12
Gas £30 (was at £63!!!)
TV Licence £11
Life Ins £28.47
Home & Contents Ins £12.05 (discounted through work scheme)
Food £100 (including the dog!)
Petrol £ 50 (already car share)
Car £150 (on a passport scheme)
Car Tax and Insurance free til FEB 2007.

TOTAL £937.50 (if my calculations are correct!)


Of Which Are DEBT!!!

HSBC loan 20,000 £269.62
TIME LEFT:7yrs (took over 8 yrs)
RATE:6.9 APR
SETTLEMENT: £18,532.81

Mint CC £11 (min payment)
BAL: £529.98
INT PER MONTH 0.323%
Low rate for life of transfer.

Northern Rock Loan,8,000 £ 103.59
TIME LEFT:8 yrs (took over 10 yrs)
RATE:9.9 APR

Halifax CC £ 40 (min payment)
BAL: £2169
INT: 0% for next 9 months

HSBC GOLD CC £ (unknown what min payment is at the moment)
BAL: £2334.79
INT:16.9 APR (EEK!)

TOTAL £484.21

GRAND TOTAL MONTHLY OUTGOINGS 1421.71
£221.71 short as it stands! It's just hit me why my overdraft is like it is! Oh and that's another expense.....

OVER DRAFT
LIMIT: £1000
For last 3 months at least i have gone over my limit (even by a pound!), they wont extend it and I am being charged £75 per month or this!!!

I am currently changing my current account to the Halifax from HSBC.

Am i paying my loans off the best way or would it be better to transfer them or consolidate (again!) or as i've read on this site use a credit card to transfer cash to my account and pay it off that way?

I will be transferring my HSBC credit card balance as it's not interest free. Whats the best card at the moment for my needs?

Also another thing that concerns me is at MArch 2008 it will be time to change the mortgage again so i would really like to be able to afford to not go interest free again. I get a payrise of £2000 in MArch 2007 so that will help a little and every year I get an annual increase (although be it a small one it all helps i guess) and will have the £270 from my lodger by that still would leave me with no spare cash what so ever to pay off my debts!

Now i have done my SOA I am gob smacked with the reality of the situation I really need some good advice and a winning lottery ticket! Or a rich husband ha ha (here's hoping!!)!

Any advice would be appreciated so i can sleep at night without dreading my finances. i know it is going to take time to resolve but i d not want to lose my house or my credit rating. i know whilst i'm paying the min payments on my cards they wont go down very sharpish but as it stands i cannot physically afford to pay anymore. my mum just offered to pay my overdraft off (£1000) but i said no, there's no point cos in a few months time it'll be back to square one and it's wasted money. i feel rotten telling her about this too cos they have helped me out before and that money was just lost in the pit and i still cant afford to make any sort of gesture to pay it back.

I H8MONEY !!!!! The one good thing is I now know how the situation is but I just need that help to get out of it. My IFA said to me when he sorted my mortgage in march, "you've got 2 years to get yourself out the !*!t before your mortgage goes up" .... i thought, hmmm, thanks.

I'll look forward to any help u can offer.......a big thankyou to anyone who looks at this! It's a nightmare!

h8money

ooh I forgot my phone bill which is £35 per month!

Sallys_Savings

Hi,......don't be embarassed .......theres plenty more people just like yourself on here.

first ........a huge hug......because I think you really need one right now.

second.......a big deep breathe in and slowly breathe out

I'm sorry but I'm not so clued up as many on here, so it would be best to let them come on and help you out with your situation..and that doesnt take long with this friendly crowd.

Only one bit of advise though..any chance of a second job to help you along?...Theres a thread on mortgage free wannabes called "a bit on the side" ...and no its not what you think ..its a thread about extra jobs and giving different ideas.

Obviously theres lots more threads on here that I'm sure would help..one that I use is the money saving old style and vouchers for shopping.

Sorry I can't help you much.

Good luck *hugs* I'm sure someone will be coming along any minute.

Ember999

I don't see many areas where you can make savings. May I ask why you have two huge loans? one of £8,000 and one of £20,000? that's a lot of loans! Did you take them out whilst you were with a partner and he has now gone or have you taken them to sort out your house that needed modernising or something? I think it's great that you have taken in a lodger, it will help no end with the money situation but at this point, I can't see how you can raise extra money to clear debts of that size without getting yourself a rich husband - good idea by the way

Ember xx

Sea78

Hi,

A few things - you can cover your outgoings if you include your lodgers income...but you do need to cut back.

A few areas it might be worth looking at are the life ins - this seems a lot? Might be worth looking at other policies?
Have a look at the OS board - might heklp with the food bill, as this seems quite high for just one.

I know loads more people will be on who might be able to help more. Well done for posting your SOA.

Sea xx

all_hours

Could you transfer any of the HSBC card onto your Mint card?

The_Tax_Mans_Cash_Machine

getting yourself a rich husband - good idea by the way




Is you fit?

james32_uk

Well done! You've done to tough bit and had the 'lightbulb moment'. It's the first and biggest step to sorting your debt out so hang in there!

There's no obvious way of getting your outgoings down to meet yoru income so I strongly suggest a call to a non-profit making organisation such as CCCS or Payplan. They will talk you through all your options.

Good luck!

h8money

[QUOTE=

Only one bit of advise though..any chance of a second job to help you along?...[/QUOTE]


Unfortunately not, I work shifts with my job so I'm never off on the same day and with working nights as well I cant see how it would be possible but thanks for the suggestion !;)

CLAPTON

on the goods news front, your income including lodger and some overtime seems to cover your outgoing at round £1,570.
can you increase your income further? can you do more overtime or get a part time job.

because your SoA is a bit light, it probably leaves out a lot of things. I would suggest you keep a spending diary to see what else you actually spend each month...haircuts, work lunches/snacks, internet costs, going out, magazines, any health related (dental etc). Also you need to include for the yearly costs...you say you have already paid car tax/insurance but you still need to include next years total as you're going to have to save up each month so you can pay it in February...do you have the car serviced or is that included (i wont know what a passport scheme is). similarly for other yearly spends ..they must be included too (divide by 12 to get a monthly figure) because you are going to have to save up for them otherwise they will simply be added to your cc bills....do you buy presents at xmas, any holidays, any spending on the house etc...

although this may be a bit depressing its essential to get a realistic idea of what you will actually spend over the next 12 months. when you've done that you will in a better position to make the hard decisions.

until you have done that its not clear whether or not you are covering your spending.
best possiblities are increase income,
can you get rid of the car...you're paying out 150 per month
do you have things you can sell...what did the 30k go on

If you're not breaking even you may ned to consider selling the property...how much equity is there?

h8money

I hadn't got to the yearly total yet but i understand where your'e coming from. I am aware of these things and i can definately say i will be over my income after doing that. with the overtime and the lodger! I work an irregular shift pattern so there is no way I could get another job, sometimes i only get 1 or 2 days off in the week and most of the time that's off a night shift. I dont pay anything on the car servicing wise it's got a 3yr warranty. The loans were mainly for consolidation, the smaller one was an old car loan which worked out cheaper than paying the car company. when these were taken i was on a lot more money a year, average 33k so it was all affordable. Now that's not the case i;m on around 24k so that's why things have become a struggle.

There is no way i would sell my house because of this. i have got equity but i have just re mortgaged in march and the equity there is wont be enough to pay off my debts. and there is no where else i could live etc. This lower salary is not forever, in around 5yrs i will be on similar money to what i was on before.

I really cannot see how i can get out of this. but i know the more and more it gets left the worse it's gona get (as i have found out this year).

Anyone know the winning lottery numbers for saturday???