Don't know where to go from here!

lisaandsaffi

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 606.33
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1313.46 can your partner get any overtime? He is on salary pay
Benefits................................ 143.87
Other income............................ 187.02 can you do any other extra work - say an evening a week when your OH is home? I am looking into this but as he works shifts it is difficult
Total monthly income.................... 2250.68

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 338
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 90
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 77 this is really high - is your bill accurate or estimated? Turn down the heating, turn it off more often, don't heat the water for hours that you don't need. Have heating on less often. I use the heating for max 4 hrs a day but due to old boiler doesn't seem to make a difference
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 34.52
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 95 if daughter is old enough for a phone is she old enough to get a job to pay for it? If not she can't really need one. Double check that there is no way you and OH can drop tarrif - say you are in financial difficulties. She is 11 and I pay 10 a month for her which I started in January, also my contract started in Jan for £45 (an Iphone) and my husbands is £40 which ends in Dec. But I will certainly phone Vodafone.
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 33 get a freeview box and give this up - you can't afford it at the moment. Would I be allowed to cancel if I am under a 12 month contract?
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 use old style board for advice to reduce this. I am going to look now!
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 55 cut out non-essential journeys and drive fuel efficiently (see martin's advice) and use the petrol prices sites to find cheapest. Starting from last week I am only using my car for work etc. and my husband only uses his car for work. He does however use my car to pick his daughter up and return her on weekends.
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 50 use comparison sites at renewal time for this and other insurances. I currently paid £550 for two cars as my husband had a crash and lost his no claims and has a speeding ticket. I paid for it last year on my credit card and it is due for renewal in June so I estimated this but will certainly be looking for the cheapest deal.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20 are you saving this up for your car servicing? If not you are spending more in the month than you have tracked here. No I have always paid it on my credit card. I have just estimated this cost.
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 242.67
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15 can you reduce this? I pay £13 a month for contacts and I have estimated £2 a month for mine and my husbands dental care, currently £12 each for check up each year. Previously paid by C/C
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 28.83
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 11.82
Other insurance......................... 37.69
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100 sorry, you can't afford this. You need to cut to £10 per month. That is totally do-able. I totally agree!!
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 20 what are you buying? I estimated this, we don't really go out a lot but it includes if I take the kids swimming etc. which I can cut out.
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Weightwatchers.......................... 17.95 will cancel
Total monthly expenses.................. 1879.6

lisaandsaffi

I pay £23 for Sky, £5 multi room and £5 for disney so I will phone to reduce.

Unfortunately we don't have a shower but I have had numerous plumbers out and due to the shoddy work on installing the heating I have been told can't be rectified without replacing pipes, radiators, boiler etc.

I never thought about turning the temp down for hot water!! Thanks!

lisaandsaffi

Here is my updated SOA with the things I can change straight away (will speak to Vodafone and Sky, although have put down to cheapest package on their website plus £5 multiroom). Will also try and get someone else to look at my heating and other things you have all suggested.

The good news is it knocks over £200 a month off!! So even though I seem like I may not want to face up to things and cut down I do and I will start making these changes tomorrow. Thanks x

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 606.33
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1313.46
Benefits................................ 143.87
Other income............................ 187.02
Total monthly income.................... 2250.68

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 338
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 90
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 77
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 34.52
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 95
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 260
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 230
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 242.67
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 28.83
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 11.82
Other insurance......................... 32.7
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Weightwatchers.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1669.66


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 87000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 91000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 75790....(338)......2.59
Total secured & HP debts...... 75790.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Birmingham Midshires...........17637.....79........2.59
Barclayloan....................13252.....297.......15.84
Cahoot.........................8000......200.......19
Argoscard......................220.......8.........27.9
Overdraft......................1000......7.........19.3
Shan...........................400.......50........0
Asda Finance...................2361......71........16.9
Barclaycard....................4500......100.......21.9
Total unsecured debts..........47370.....812.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,250.68
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,669.66
Available for debt repayments........... 581.02
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 812
Amount short for making debt repayments. -230.98

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 91,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -75,790
Total Unsecured debt.................... -47,370
Net Assets.............................. -32,160

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

katsu

lisaandsaffi wrote: »

I never thought about turning the temp down for hot water!! Thanks!

Glad I could help

Until you can get the boiler fixed, adjusting your room thermostat is one of the few things you can do to reduce costs. If your radiators have individual control valves turn them down too for when the bath water is heating.

Heat the water tank for 20 mins - that would give me a whole tank. Experiment with having it on for a short time and see what is the most you need.

If you are just doing the washing up - boil a kettle (I used to do this for a small bowl of washing up) as it is less water to heat.

Check the temperature on the hot water tank - turn it down a bit and save some money. 60 is hot enough.

Can you get your & DD's hair cut at a college and use clippers for boys? Maybe shave a bit off the £10 that way?

Consider selling the iphone handset and using a cheap handset on your contract - someone may be able to advise on this.

katsu

also - replace contacts with glasses for now, to save a bit more there.

DarkConvict

I concur with pretty much all the statements here so i am not going to re-quote the SOA. There is loads of places you can make savings, take it in stages but there is £100's a month you can recoup.

Not sure if anyone has said it yet but taking out a £45 a month contract for an Iphone was certainly an "i want i want i want" moment, you have been caught in the buzz of something that is going to cost you can arm and leg for the next 12-24 months.

Consider taking out a central heating insurance for one year (or just a checkup), this should include a checkup and maintenance of the boiler. This clean out might save you more than it costs to do it.

slummymummyof3

If the boiler is not in great shape the op is unlikely to get central heating insurance.

Have you tried doing your shopping at Aldi or Lidl - you will save a considerable amount doing that.

Have you got any unwanted items you could ebay or sell at a carboot sale?

I suggest you start a spending diary to record all of your outgoings (for both of you) to ensure that your SOA is accurate.

Desperate_to_be_debt_free

I was going to suggest a massive de-clutter of the house and get out to a car boot sale or e-bay. I cleared my DD's wardrobe out 2 weeks ago and sold every item for 0.99p there were about 52 items and every penny helped to go towards my debt. I also did a few car boot sales last year and made quite a bit of money. Kids usually have hoards of stuff that they no longer play with or want or actually fit them. Have a good old sort out and see what you can find.

With regards to your SOA, there's not much I can add to what others have said. I would definitely either shop online where you can track your spending or start shopping in Lidl/Aldi, also by meal planning you can save loads of money. Take packed lunch where possible and I find that if I only take a small amount of money to work with me (£1) I tend not to spend it yet if I take a puse full I spend it all (not quite sure how that works).

Have you incurred any additional charges on your loans and credit cards that can be re-claimed? that may help to bring the balances down. Have you considered contacting any of the free debt management companies. I'm with CCCS and currently repay £151 per month for £54K worth of debt.

Good luck and keep updating us on progress, the support on here is fab.

lisaandsaffi

Thankyou all! With regards to my boiler as i have a very old system i have a 1 to 5 dial underneath my fire, it was on 5 so ive turned it down to 2. My timer makes the heating/water come on twice a day using 4 markers surrounding a clock. I have moved each one so that it comes on for an hour in the morn and hour in afternoon, that is the closest i can get them together. As i cant change the fact that it comes on twice a day i switched the dial to come on in the afternoon before i went to bed so it didnt come on this morn as i was in work and wouldnt need it, have to remember to do this manually every day though!

In feb our heating died we had no money to fix it so my mother in law paid for someone to come and see it. Apparently some valve had gone making the flames yellow which was burning pure gas and had been for a long time so hopefully i should see the return for this in my next bill.

I have cancelled the ww and will phone sky when i get home. I think i have an aldi or liel by me, there was 2 but one shut, not sure which. The hairdressing bill if for my husband as i cut my own and my daughters hair, but hes trying to arrange to get this cut by a friend.

I have sorted a lot of the kids toys out and am going to try and sell them along with my wedding dress etc from our wedding. I dont really own anything else worth selling!

As mentioned before a lot on my SOA are estimates as my husbands previous job was earning a lot less money (£7000 less) and i paid for everything on a credit card - clothes, presents, car tax, car insurance, food etc. The actual amounts were a lot higher, thus how much i owe!

When he started his new job i thought we would have more money but as the cards reached their limit it all came crashing down on us. So i tried to sort it out by havibg 2 accounts one for bills and whatevers left from the month i put into another account for petrol, school dinners and my daughters dancing (£10 a month that she has been doing for 5 years). After all was taken into account i am using the rest for food but when working out for next month it totals about £10 a week! I never carry any money neither does my husband and we bith take lunch to work (him sandwiches me soup). The only time we take money out or spend anything else is if the kids have trips or activities in school (my eldest is away next week with the school that cost £100!).

Thank you all so much i currently feel so stupid for letting it get to this and i have no idea how to start but you've all given me ideas and its great to know im not alone :-)

Jesthar

Only one extra thought - do you have to have school dinners, or are packed lunches a possibility? Should work out a lot cheaper, and probably healthier too.

~Jes