My SOA: the start of a long, long road......

lifebegins

I first found this site in April, when I knew things were getting serious, and followed the great advice to apply for an Amex platinum then I promptly ignored my financial situation for another few months. Well in that time things have got worse so this is it...

Today I've registered and hope to start following the amazing example of you guys on this board. Redundancy led to some serious spending on the cc's and a re-mortgage. My OH wants us to sell our house to pay off the debts, but I love it and our children are so happy, so we've agreed to try our hardest to start paying it off and talk about whether we really need to sell later in the year.

Here's my SOA:

Income 4772
Child benefit 165

Total 4937



Outgoings without debts(except mortgage)

Mortgage 1177 (that's interest-only)
Food 450( 5 of us)
Council tax 217
TV licence 11
Gas 90 (they didn't read the new meter for 2 yrs!)
House insurance 35
Life insurance(me) 15
Life insurance (OH) 21
Worldvision(charity) 18
Pet insurance 10
Phone 23
Mobile 10
Water (non-meter) 63
Electricity 54
Petrol 180
Kid's hobbies 117
school fees 550 (I can hear the sharp intakes of breath: it's not a luxury for us but a necessity: 2 of our children are happy at the local school but the 3rd had major problems so we moved him to somewhere that can help and he is now so happy, a different child now, we couldn't take that away from him.)

Clothes/ holidays/ gifts/ going out: I've not added it up yet for the last year : will face tomorrow. What is "normal" per person?

Total 3041

Outgoings (debts)

Car loan 380 per month 48 months 6% finishes oct 2008
Other loan 152 per month 48 months 5.8% finishes Jan 2009
Overdraft 0 per month yet! 7500 outstanding 16%
MBNA 250 per month 9400 outstanding 0.9% until Sep 06 then ?16%
Halifax 270 per month 10720 outstanding 0% finished 15/7/06 now 16%
M and S 40 per month 1000 outstanding 15%
Amex 0 : need to transfer Halifax balance on to this asap 4.9% life of balance deal

Total 1092

Grand total outgoings 4133 (without clothes/ gifts/ going out/ holidays)

Total unsecured debt approx. 43000

I assume that our clothes/ going out/ gifts/ holidays category must be higher than what we have left as the overdraft has been getting bigger each month.

I'm starting a spending diary tomorrow, and just writing this all down makes facing it a bit easier.

Does anyone think this is do-able or am I being hopelessly optimistic? I'm going to aim to get a better job, but can't rely on this I suppose. I haven't yet dared to work out when my debt-free date might be.

Here's to the future...

Any advice gratefully received.

Iriahm

lifebegins wrote:

I first found this site in April, when I knew things were getting serious, and followed the great advice to apply for an Amex platinum then I promptly ignored my financial situation for another few months. Well in that time things have got worse so this is it...

Today I've registered and hope to start following the amazing example of you guys on this board. Redundancy led to some serious spending on the cc's and a re-mortgage. My OH wants us to sell our house to pay off the debts, but I love it and our children are so happy, so we've agreed to try our hardest to start paying it off and talk about whether we really need to sell later in the year.

Here's my SOA:

Income 4772
Child benefit 165

Total 4937

Outgoings without debts(except mortgage)

Mortgage 1177 (that's interest-only)
Food 450( 5 of us) you WILL be able to cut this, probably in half....see moneysaving old style board
Council tax 217
TV licence 11
Gas 90 (they didn't read the new meter for 2 yrs!) i told scottish power i simply couldn't afford repayments and they accepted less, worth asking
House insurance 35
Life insurance(me) 15 seems pretty high see https://www.moneysupermarket.com
Life insurance (OH) 21 ditto
Worldvision(charity) 18 its got to go!
Pet insurance 10
Phone 23
Mobile 10
Water (non-meter) 63 seems high, but we have endless supply in Scotland LOL!
Electricity 54 maybe change supplier?
Petrol 180 do you drive kids to school?
Kid's hobbies 117 got to be reduced, i dont have kids so others will help you here
school fees 550 (I can hear the sharp intakes of breath: it's not a luxury for us but a necessity: 2 of our children are happy at the local school but the 3rd had major problems so we moved him to somewhere that can help and he is now so happy, a different child now, we couldn't take that away from him.) I am all for good schooling, but to afford this you need to make MAJOR changes to the above!

Clothes/ holidays/ gifts/ going out: I've not added it up yet for the last year : will face tomorrow. What is "normal" per person? cookie jar savings for luxuries, really helps me

Total 3041

Outgoings (debts)

Car loan 380 per month 48 months 6% finishes oct 2008
Other loan 152 per month 48 months 5.8% finishes Jan 2009
Overdraft 0 per month yet! 7500 outstanding 16%
MBNA 250 per month 9400 outstanding 0.9% until Sep 06 then ?16%
Halifax 270 per month 10720 outstanding 0% finished 15/7/06 now 16%
M and S 40 per month 1000 outstanding 15%
Amex 0 : need to transfer Halifax balance on to this asap 4.9% life of balance deal

Total 1092

Grand total outgoings 4133 (without clothes/ gifts/ going out/ holidays)

Total unsecured debt approx. 43000

I assume that our clothes/ going out/ gifts/ holidays category must be higher than what we have left as the overdraft has been getting bigger each month.

I'm starting a spending diary tomorrow, and just writing this all down makes facing it a bit easier.

Does anyone think this is do-able or am I being hopelessly optimistic? I'm going to aim to get a better job, but can't rely on this I suppose. I haven't yet dared to work out when my debt-free date might be.

Here's to the future...

Any advice gratefully received.

I hope that i haven't been too harsh, but the straightforwardness of the guys here really woke me up. My mum used to live on £50 a week and that covered all our school stuff, clothes, hobbies etc for 3 of us. she is a fab budgeter.

keep posting as it will keep you focused, and good luck!

Mrs_Arkwright

Hello

A couple of things I can see where you might be able to save a few quid -

Life insurance - I've just transferred ours to a joint policy with Virgin Money for £22 per month.

Charity - when you're skint, charity begins at home. Ditch this.

Kids hobbies - needs must, you may need to consider ditching these for a bit.

Do you have any scope for transferring any of your credit card balances on to the lower interest rate ones?

Good luck, you will get some great advice and support here from the old pros

LookingAhead

Hi there and welcome!

Others will be along soon to help you with the best ways to batter down your debt. You're going to need to "snowball" and throw money at one debt (the most expensive) till it's cleared and then move on to the next most expensive one etc.

Have to say though, it wasn't the school fees that made me gasp - it was the food bill!

Have you checked out the Old Style board for ideas on feeding families? You have to tackle this, I am sure you will be able to get that down and make useful savings.

Birthdays, going out, holidays etc....well, this will all need to be revamped. Look for cheap or free ways to entertain the children, look for inexpensive but different/thoughtful gifts....are you 'handy'? Can you make things? Could come in useful for gifts.

Holidays....well.....I know everyone needs a break but when you are tackling debt, you need to be smart and get the best deals possible and be honest about what you can really afford. Do you have more than one holiday a year? If so, you may need to rethink that.

Have you discoevred QuidCo yet? For all the things you do have to spend money on, why not get something back where possible?

Good luck and keep coming back & posting your progress/asking questions. We love to see people's debts go down! :T

LookingAhead

Have to say this (because I sponsor a child through World Vision myself) - I wouldn't give that up. I keep it because it helps keep things in perspective for me.

I will not give that up for the world, I would rather cut £18 off my own food bill as whatever I feel I am "suffering" doesn't even come close to what he would be if I stopped sponsoring him.

£18 shaved off my outgoings is not a lot yet it gives a little 'un an education, clean water & basic medical care.

Sultana

I sorry to point this out but you have forgotten all your motoring costs except the petrol. Are you running one car or two?

lifebegins

Thanks for the welcomes and the ideas, it's good to feel I'm not alone with this.

My first plan is to tackle the food bill, I thought my bill was pretty average (obviously not?) but I'm relieved it can be done for much less.

I'll try some other quotes for life insurance, but at 40 (and my OH is 44) we're more expensive than you twenty-somethings out there.

I have to say I agree with LookingAhead on worldvision: I feel like we all 'know' the little boy we sponsor and would be abandoning him: something else will have to go instead.

I'm actually looking forward to going through your suggestions and adding up any savings now. Will keep you posted , and try to add my "numbers" to my signature when I work out how.

lifebegins

Sultana,
We now just have one car. You're right. I guess running costs are tax 160, maintenance 200 last year. Car loan included above. So that's another 30 a month on my outgoings, oh dear.

LookingAhead

lifebegins wrote:

I have to say I agree with LookingAhead on worldvision: I feel like we all 'know' the little boy we sponsor and would be abandoning him: something else will have to go instead.

Exactly how I feel. I am sure if you analyse your food bill and commit to making more meals at home (which IS cheaper - and easy too if you make batches & freeze them) then you will easily shave off the £18 and probably enough to cover the £30 a month car expenses too.

Do you enjoy cooking?

lifebegins

I do enjoy cooking when I've time but weekday evenings always seem so hectic with homework, after-school activities etc.
I know that's no excuse and batch cooking/freezing is a great idea (and much healthier I'm sure).
I'll get myself organised and dig out some suitable recipes.

regularsaver1

Blimin hell - I was just looking at your council tax - that looks high, obviously not changable, but do you live in a real expensive area

as you have an interest only mortgage, do you have a repayment plan in place that can be used to cxlear any of your debts

i noticed you only posted your income, what about yout OH's?