Newbie - Here's my SOA

steerpiker

Hello all, I joined about 3 years ago - even went to the London launch party and kind of lost my way since! But I'm back and even though I have BOTH copies of Martin's book, I am still in debt. I filled in this SOA and started crying (very embarrasing as I was in work at the time) but I guess this is my lightbulb moment. Oh well, here goes.

I'm a picture editor, I live at home in London and I'm 41 next week.

Monthly Income

Net Monthly Salary £ 1,085.00
TOTAL MONTHLY INCOME £ 1,085.00



Essential Monthly Outgoings
Outgoings Amount
Mortgage/Rent £ 300.00
Telephone £ 8.20
Mobile Phone £ 8.00
Internet £ 12.99
Life Insurance £ 44.79 (Zurich Income benefit & Crtitical illness)
Groceries £ 176.00 (includes lunch)
Clothing £ 40.00 (2 catalogues, Oxendales & La Redoute)
Other Travel £ 113.00 (5 zones Oystercard)
Health - Yoga/Vitamins £ 40.00
Birthdays/Christmas £ 20.00 (shop in the sales)
Holidays £ 50.00 (Have a time share with my mum, put this money in a IF ISA)
Computer £ 50.00 (owe my mum £500 for this Dell Computer)
TOTAL MONTHLY OUTGOINGS £ 862.98
NET MONTHLY SURPLUS £ 222.02

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Monthly Debts
Debt Total Debt Min Payment Rate
Overdraft £ 0.00 £ 0.00 0.00 % converted it to a loan.

Co-Operative Card - £ 3,259.00; £ 65.00 a month; APR 3.90 %

Capital One Card - £ 2,041.00; £101.00 a month APR 5.90 %

Northern Rock loan - £ 23,734.20 (with PPI, original loan for £14K) £ 282.55 a month APR 7.90 %

Marbles Loan - £ 3,000.00; £199.87 a month APR 6.90 %

HSBC (Overdraft) - £ 2,800.00; (with PPI) £89.00 (from October)a month 16.00 % (25% off if stay till end of 60 month agreement)

TOTAL DEBT £ 34,634.20

The Northern Rock loan was for £14,000, interest at 7.9% made the total £18,135.60. The PPI is 5,598.60 with interest. The term of agreement is 84 months. I've checked and the Marbles one does not have PPI and I will stop the one on the HSBC loan, but I am reluctant to stop the one on the Northern Rock one as I have been made redundant twice before, so I would need some security for such a large sum. I have seen that the Post Office offers a Lifestyle Protection plan which covers everything and wonder what people think of that.

I know that my spending is the issue and am looking into it. Typical Virgo, I'm obsessed with my health and so I do spend a lot on vitamins and supplements. I shop at Waitrose as it's the nearest shop to me, Sainsbury's is the nearest one at work. I've had suggestions that I should change jobs & get a better paid one, but I like my job and the people I work with and part of the spending problem was that I was bullied at 2 of my previous jobs and had very low self-esteem. I had a long course of Life Coaching and Reiki to get it back. I'm also very lucky not to look my age - very useful when the average age of people you work with is 29! so I have been buying a lot of anti-age make-up & skin care (mainly from Boots).

I am selling as much as I can on Ebay (I have 15 years of Smash Hit & Record Mirror mags to sell for a start) and in October I start a Xmas job on Saturdays in my local Early Learning Centre.

chevalier

Welcome back. Here are some thoughts from me.

Essential Monthly Outgoings
Outgoings Amount
Mortgage/Rent £ 300.00
Telephone £ 8.20
Mobile Phone £ 8.00
Internet £ 12.99 Is this the cheapest you can get? When does your contract end?
Life Insurance £ 44.79 (Zurich Income benefit & Crtitical illness)If you have this do you why do you also need loan protection on the loans?
Groceries £ 176.00 (includes lunch)Is this just for you? If so then you can pare this down I think. Have a look on the old style board for ideas. If you plan your weeks meals this helps with impulse buys in the shop
Clothing £ 40.00 (2 catalogues, Oxendales & La Redoute)Do you really need new clothes every month. If you stopped buying clothes for a year that would be £480 off another debt.
Other Travel £ 113.00 (5 zones Oystercard)
Health - Yoga/Vitamins £ 40.00 Are you buying your vitamins in the cheapest place
Birthdays/Christmas £ 20.00 (shop in the sales)
Holidays £ 50.00 (Have a time share with my mum, put this money in a IF ISA)Sad to say but maybe you need to give the holiday a miss this year. Unless your ISA has a very good interest rate, you are paying more in interest on your loans etc, than you would get back from the ISA. By cashing this in you may be able to knock a chunk of your debt.
Computer £ 50.00 (owe my mum £500 for this Dell Computer)
TOTAL MONTHLY OUTGOINGS £ 862.98
NET MONTHLY SURPLUS £ 222.02

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Monthly Debts
Debt Total Debt Min Payment Rate
Overdraft £ 0.00 £ 0.00 0.00 % converted it to a loan.

Co-Operative Card - £ 3,259.00; £ 65.00 a month; APR 3.90 %

Capital One Card - £ 2,041.00; £101.00 a month APR 5.90 %

Northern Rock loan - £ 23,734.20 (with PPI, original loan for £14K) £ 282.55 a month APR 7.90 %

Marbles Loan - £ 3,000.00; £199.87 a month APR 6.90 % Can you balance transfer this to the co op card? Would save you 3% a month in interest on this part of your debt.

HSBC (Overdraft) - £ 2,800.00; (with PPI) £89.00 (from October)a month 16.00 % (25% off if stay till end of 60 month agreement)So does this mean that they only charge you 12% if you stay? That is still a too high interest rate. Better to balance transfer this, if you can, to a lower interest provider. Remember they don't have any loyalty to you. They only want to squeeze as much money out of you as they can.

TOTAL DEBT £ 34,634.20

Best of luck. I hopt that this has helped
chev

calleyw

When you say you live at home in London do you mean that you live at with your parents????

If you are living with your parents then why are spending so much on food. And even if you are not living at home but on your own. That is still an awful lot o money on good. I budget £100 a month for two and spend between £70-£100 just one food. So £80 a month should be more than enough for one.

If you have no dependents I am wondering why you are paying out £44.79 a month on life insurance.

Clothes drop it down to £15 a month. Because if you have been spending £40 a month then you should have a lot of clothes.

Why are you spending money on vitamins if you are eating properly then you really should not need them. Only if you are ill or run down.

Holiday has to go if you really want to know the debt on the head.

Also cut back on brithdays and christmas as well to £10 as you really can't afford it.

Do you keep a spending diary. It might help to see where you are spending.

With the above cuts you would save just over £200 a month.

Even with the above savings you are still going to have shortfall.

Which will mean either further cut backs or more income another second job. You need the money now and not november. So you need to look for a second job now.

All the best.


Yours


Calley

steerpiker

Thanks for your help. The spending diary will definately help.

Do you think I should stop the PPI on the Northern Rock loan, or wait until I get the other loans down/finished?

Re: the HSBC loan, I did try the top 3 loans on offer in Money Supermarket, but I got turned down so I had to take that one.

Re: Marbles - I did try to move it, but my limit on my Co-Op card is £3,000 but they wouldn't extend it. At least I only have that loan for 14 months.

Zurich Insurance - In their info, it says it only covers for illness, not unemployment, but I'll give them a ring and see what they say.

Clothes - Am paying off clothes I've already ordered, but I can reduce the amount I pay each month.

Food: I'm on a wheat & dairy free diet and cook seperately from my Mum as I come home at different times, so that's why the grocery bill's so high, but I'm going to see what the cheap alteratives are. Most of the supermarkets cater for food allergies now anyway.

I haven't got the creditors contacting me for unpaid payments, so do you think I need to contact the CCS?

Jobs - I'm going to find out about Mystery Shopping. I've seen a couple of threads on this board.

tesuhoha

I am like you and am obsessed by supplements and health products. One thing to bear in mind is that Holland and Barrett quite frequently have a better than half price sale and that is a good time to stock up. There is one on at the moment. I never buy them at any other time.

steerpiker

tesuhoha wrote:

I am like you and am obsessed by supplements and health products. One thing to bear in mind is that Holland and Barrett quite frequently have a better than half price sale and that is a good time to stock up. There is one on at the moment. I never buy them at any other time.

Thanks Tesuhoha. I always stuck to Solgar products in the past as I wondered how good the Holland & Barrett supplements were because they were so cheap, but I did buy some Peppermint capsules recently as I was getting bad indigestion and I'm really impressed. The staff know their stuff too.

calleyw

steerpiker wrote:

Food: I'm on a wheat & dairy free diet and cook seperately from my Mum as I come home at different times, so that's why the grocery bill's so high, but I'm going to see what the cheap alteratives are. Most of the supermarkets cater for food allergies now anyway.

Yes it will cost a bit more but should not be costing a £165 a month.

I would have thought that will a wheat and diary free diet that you would basic food stuffs like fresh/frozen fruit and veg and plain meat and fish. And then only need to buy special items like pasta and bread etc.

But still fail to see why it would cost £165 a month. Sees like a good reason to dump biscuits and cakes etc.

Also if you went via CCCS or Payplan they would not allow that amount for food per month for one person. So they would not accept that.

All the best though.


Yours


Calley

Gemmzie

calleyw wrote:

Yes it will cost a bit more but should not be costing a £165 a month.

I would have thought that will a wheat and diary free diet that you would basic food stuffs like fresh/frozen fruit and veg and plain meat and fish. And then only need to buy special items like pasta and bread etc.

But still fail to see why it would cost £165 a month. Sees like a good reason to dump biscuits and cakes etc.

You'd be amazed. It's about £3 for a standard fruit cake :eek:

Wheat free / diary free is a nightmare - you have my sympathy. I think the government should help towards it, they can for Diabetic diet control and that's far easier!

calleyw

Gemmzie wrote:

You'd be amazed. It's about £3 for a standard fruit cake :eek:

Like I said good reason to give up eating cakes etc. Which is what I would do if I was on a wheat/dairy free diet.

And as most people don't eat cake every day £3 once a week does not equate to £165 a month. An extra say £10 a week for items that others take for granted should cover it like a packet of pasta (which should last a couple of weeks)and couple of loaves of bread.

If you are eating basics like salads and meat/fish and veg and fruit a £100 a month should cover it for one person. As last time I looked neither fruit/veg/meat and fish don't contain wheat/dairy.

Yours


Calley

Smashing

Is your wheat/dairy free diet on medical advice? You can receive some products on prescription. If not, look into naturally wheat free products rather than buying speciality foods. Go to your local library and get a good allergy free cookbook and make your own to freeze if you can't do without.

Callanish

Hi Steerpiker

Have you looked over on the Old Style Board? There's some great information managing a wheat-free diet on a budget. Sorry, I'm quite new to this, so I don't know how to link to any of the threads... but you'll find them easily by doing a search.

You're really lucky to be doing a job you enjoy and find rewarding, and I wish you the best of luck with your efforts in becoming debt-free!

Callie