What should I do?

Sav

How can I get out of debt?

gonzo127

personally i would not sell

main reasons

you have a tenant so should be covering the costs + possibility to make a little bit of profit

the 13k of debt is not massive in comparison to your income if you could get it paid of in 5 years,

if you currently still spend on the credit cards it would appear that you do not have a good budget in place to cover all your expenses, and if you sell pay of your debts, it is all to easy to carry on spending and get into more debt and then not have your safty blanket of the house to fall back on

the housing market still does not appear very good so might not get the best price for it,

add to the fact you do eventually want to get a house of your own when you find somewhere you want to move to, you could then sell this house to get the deposit together (if you havent managed to save enough up for one)

RAS

I would suggest a statement of Affairs and lets see if that debt free date can be brought forward.

Sav

Thanks for the advice, I will do a statement of affairs and post it.

RAS

must read first.

Sparkly_Princess

Firstly welcome to the gang!

Looking at your SOA the first thing that leaps out at me is what you spend on groceries per month. 250.00 for one person? You could definitely bring that down a lot if you shopped around and made meal plans x

ViolaLass

My thought is that it's mindboggling that you're spending £3600 a year on holidays and entertainment when you have £13k of debt.

Also, depending on where you are, your rent seems very high considering it's just you. Do you have a big place? Could you switch to a smaller/less fancy place and throw the extra money at the debt?

RAS

Sav wrote: »

Please see below SOA. I've probably missed some things off, and I have had to guess on some as it varies every month (which I guess is part of the problem).


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
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................ 2050
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 425 - rental income?
Total monthly income.................... 2475
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 464
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 750 - this is very very expensive. London?
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 90
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 45 - you need to cut this back
Mobile phone............................ 45 - and this
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 - for one that is very expensive. Aim for £150
Clothing................................ 30 - every month? Could you wear whats in the wardrobe for a few months?
Petrol/diesel........................... 20
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 34
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 18
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0 - surely you have landlord's insurance?
Contents insurance...................... 25
Life assurance ......................... 25
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40 - cut back
Haircuts................................ 35 - cut back
Entertainment........................... 150 - well, you know this needs cutting back
Holiday................................. 150 - and this is expensive. is it already booked?
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Sport................................... 35
Netbook Protection...................... 3.99
Mobile Internet......................... 20
Additions Account Charge................ 15 - get rid
Total monthly expenses.................. 2355.99

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 95000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 2000
Total Assets............................ 99000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 63335....(464)......5.49
Total secured & HP debts...... 63335.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Egg CC.........................1429......50........19.9
Visa...........................3535......86........0
Loan...........................5185......167.......5.9
Citi...........................2428......59........5
Total unsecured debts..........12577.....362.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,475
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,355.99
Available for debt repayments........... 119.01
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 362
Amount short for making debt repayments. -242.99
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 99,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -63,335
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,577
Net Assets.............................. 23,088

If you cut back for 6 months, you could clear the expensive egg card. Ten live a bit easier and start clearing the other debts.

What do you no longer use that you can seel on e-bay, amazon or at a car boot sale?

Sav

The insurance includes buildings and contents so I have put these together.

Sav

Sparkly_Princess wrote: »

Firstly welcome to the gang!

Looking at your SOA the first thing that leaps out at me is what you spend on groceries per month. 250.00 for one person? You could definitely bring that down a lot if you shopped around and made meal plans x

Thanks Sparkly Princess. The groceries includes eating out. So I guess I should have separated that out. I eat out quite a lot as I haven't mastered meal planning techniques yet. I work long hours so by the time I've finished it's easier to get something out. I def need to plan meals more.

Sav

ViolaLass wrote: »

My thought is that it's mindboggling that you're spending £3600 a year on holidays and entertainment when you have £13k of debt.

Also, depending on where you are, your rent seems very high considering it's just you. Do you have a big place? Could you switch to a smaller/less fancy place and throw the extra money at the debt?

The problem is I'm completely guessing on some of these expenses. All I know is, I struggle every month to keep afloat. I need to start putting money aside for holidays as they currently tend to go on my credit card. Then I will spend months paying these back as fast as possible. I think I need to keep a diary so I know exactly where it is going. I definitely think the smaller place idea is an option.