Right.. here goes!

Cat-astrophe_2

Hello everyone.

I have been a follower through these forums for a while now, picking up tips and (nearly) selling my soul (it wasn't worth much!)

I really feel like I am in dire straits (tho I haven't got a mullet) and have now summoned up the guts to ask for help.

Here's my SOA:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 400
Total monthly income.................... 1500

Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 500.7
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 243.43
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 114
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 22
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35.44
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 29
Internet Services....................... 19
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 40
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 11
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10.4
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 16
Contents insurance...................... 15
Life assurance ......................... 5.58
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1154.64


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000 (ish)
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 114000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 96807....(500.7)....4
Secured Debt.................. 12660....(243.4)....14
Total secured & HP debts...... 109467....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Advantage Gold ................6000......0.........18
Natwest cc.....................1173.37...30........16.9
Natwest plat cc................1971.77...45........16.9
Blackhorse loan................4794......141.5.....21
Natwest loan...................670.......50.86.....21
Flybe cc.......................1536.64...50........22.9
M&S cc.........................3703.44...92........15.9
Simlpy Be......................267.08....20........27
Tesco cc.......................1917.71...50........16.9
Next...........................736.25....70........26.49
Capital One cc.................3792.2....210.......39
Barclaycard cc.................1792.65...35........21.9
Total unsecured debts..........28355.11..794.36....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,500
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,154.64
Available for debt repayments........... 345.36
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 794.36
Amount short for making debt repayments. -449

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 114,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -109,467
Total Unsecured debt.................... -28,355.11
Net Assets.............................. -23,822.11

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

Basically, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in Nov 2009 and have been having trouble with work. The upshot is that I am now reduced to 4 days a week with no overtime money. I am trying to sell things on Ebay (trying being the operative word) and have reduced unecessary direct debits and standing orders.
My reduce money starts at the end of the month, so I have used my expected wage for the SOA.
I have thought about doing my own DMP, but don't know where to start.
I worry because my mother lives with me and I don't want to jeapordise the house as it would not just be me that is homeless... Jeez, I feel sick just thinking about it.
I'm sorry to ramble on, but any help/advice/kicking you could give would be appreciated.
BTW, my mum gets the majority of groceries, hence not included in SOA.
Thank you in anticipation

Cat-astrophe_2

In fact, after reading through this, I have realised that this SOA is not truly accurate. I have 2 professional fees that I pay monthly as well as a plumbing/electric insurance policy that works out about £12 per month. Therefore, all included, I have approx £250 per month to pay CCs. However, if I include the 2 unsecured loans, that would make it approx £400 per month to pay unsecured debts with... imagaine if I was debt free and had that every month? I'm so rubbish!! Ah well, once I'm out of this mess, I'm never going back into it!

linz

Hi, few things stuck out for me -

Can you get rid of sky and go freeview?

Lower your mobile tariff or go PAYG?

Water bill looks high - are you on a meter?

Also, your cost for internet is pretty steep. Have a look round this site, there are cheaper deals than what you pay.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/cheap-broadband?dd

More knowledgeable people will be along soon i'm sure -

Good luck!

Deep_In_Debt

Can you combine your Sky, telephone and internet package as one thing? You could get a better deal.

Also, I have contents and buildings insurance included in my monthly mortgage repayments for an extra £15pm for both...worth seeing if your mortgage company can do that.

Wilma33

Does your mother work? Is she paying you any kind of rent? Is that what the £400 "other income" is?

Cat-astrophe_2

Hello and thanks for your replies.
Linz - I have Virgin cable and just got them to drop £3 per month. However, I will look at Sky/Freeview and see what channels they have. However, I don't have a rooftop arial, so will that affect me getting a Freeview box? The mobile is actually 2 phones - I'd just renewed my contract with '3' when I won an iPhone (on O2). I explained this to '3', but they would not let me out of the 18 month contract. As for water bill, I am not on a meter. However, I have been told that once you change to a water meter, it cannot be reversed - is this true? I've been bargaining with BT and have just gone down to their lowest broadband. However, I will definately have a look at other options, so thank you for your advice here.
Deep In Debt - I have looked at bundling into Virgin and they said that they would have to come to the house and physically insert a new phone line if I swapped to them. This has made me not want to change everything to them. However, I will have a look at the other options available and see what might happen with Sky! Unfortunately, my mortgage is through First National (GE) and they do not offer such an insurance. I have looked at cheaper options, but the companies I have tried all seem around the same amount. Thank you for your advice here.
Wilma33 - Yep, my mum does work, but just a small cleaning job - the other income is from her for rent. Therefore, I cannot, and will not, ask for any more from her - she's 62 and should be slowing down. Thank you for your comments tho.
Ideally, I had spoken to my bank (Natwest) a few days ago and she advised to get all the credit cards on a DMP. I already have another current account, but with Barclay, so would swap everything and include the overdraft and insecured loans as well?? Does anyone have any advice on doing my own DMP, or would you recommend going through CCCS/CAB?
Many thanks for your help and advice. Am going to see how my eBay stuff is doing!

katsu

Djdonz wrote: »

Hello everyone.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0 are you entitled to any benefits in view of your new income and health problems. There is a website called entitled to. Go there - you may be able to accessa it via the Direct Gov website.
Other income............................ 400
Total monthly income.................... 1500

Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 500.7
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 243.43
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 114
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 22
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35.44 I have a meter and two adults out at work all day. We pay around £20 pcm. I believe if you have the meter installed and your bills go up you may be able to have it removed. Look on thew website for the water company for your area or call them to discuss.
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 40 If you can't get out of one contract try and reduce it to the lowest tarrif and sell one of your handsets - look at ebasy prices (be careful) or use the mobile phone cashback checker from the main site tabs (I thinkunder utilities and phones). After all, you can't need to use two phones at once.
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 29 cancel the cable TV. You don 't need more channels. Watch DVDs, read books or do other stuff. I'm afraid you can't afford thisd.
Internet Services....................... 19 you can get this cheaper. O2 do it for £7.50 and you have an 02 phone.
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 40 cut out any unnecessary journeys.
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 11
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10.4 can you get a pre-payment certificate or anything to reduce this?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 16 see below
Contents insurance...................... 15 check that these asre as cheap as possible. Sign up with somewhwere like Quidco and get a £1/£1.50 for using compare the meercat (or similar ) to get quotes and see if you can save.
Life assurance ......................... 5.58
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1154.64


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000 (ish)
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 114000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 96807....(500.7)....4
Secured Debt.................. 12660....(243.4)....14
Total secured & HP debts...... 109467....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Advantage Gold ................6000......0.........18
Natwest cc.....................1173.37...30........16.9
Natwest plat cc................1971.77...45........16.9
Blackhorse loan................4794......141.5.....21
Natwest loan...................670.......50.86.....21
Flybe cc.......................1536.64...50........22.9
M&S cc.........................3703.44...92........15.9
Simlpy Be......................267.08....20........27
Tesco cc.......................1917.71...50........16.9
Next...........................736.25....70........26.49
Capital One cc.................3792.2....210.......39
Barclaycard cc.................1792.65...35........21.9
Total unsecured debts..........28355.11..794.36....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,500
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,154.64
Available for debt repayments........... 345.36
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 794.36
Amount short for making debt repayments. -449

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 114,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -109,467
Total Unsecured debt.................... -28,355.11
Net Assets.............................. -23,822.11

Hello,

I like your sense of humour. Try and hang onto it. Some advice above.

You can get DMP advice from a range of charities like CCCS, CAB, Payplan (not a charity?) Christians Against Poverty. Their advice is free and may help you work out what to do. I think you do need help to tackle your situation so recommend you contact them.

Does your work or union have an employee assistance helpline you bcan call for conifdential advice or any benevolent funds who may help you?

All the best.

DVardysShadow

Djdonz wrote: »

I already have another current account, but with Barclay, so would swap everything and include the overdraft and insecured loans as well??

No, the idea of a new bank account is to separate your income [into your new account] from your debts [to the old bank with whom you have the loans. This is so that you do not get suddenly caught by the old banks emptying out your pay as soon as it goes in under the right of offset. You should default as necessary to keep the new account always in credit.

Looking at your SoA, it is rather desperate, in that you have non mortgage debt of £40000 and only £500/month available to pay it down - ie exclusive of interest, you are 80 months fully committed. This is scary, never mind your health issues, but this does not take into account how much you have paid off the loans.

For a more accurate view, it would be helpful to know how many more months you have left to run on each of your loans, secured and unsecured. If for example, your secured loan will be cleared soon, that will be £243 less to find.

Cat-astrophe_2

Hello and thank you for your replies and advice.
Katsu - RE benefits. I have applied for DLA, but as I was declined for a 'blue badge' then I do not hold out much hope for this. I have looked at Severn Trent Water website and if I fit a meter, I look to save £4.86 per year. As I would need a new stop tap (£29.38) then I don't think this is a viable option, but may look at that again to see if I can reduce it further. Regarding the mobiles, I have already Mazuma'd the other mobiles, so I now only have the 1 phone. My prescription charge is pre-pay - I get 2 scripts a month, saving £4.40. Unfortunately, my diesel use is for work. However, I am applying for another job (higher salary and company car) so am keeping fingers crossed for that!
RE - Broadband. I've just double checked and with BT it is actually £12.99 (discounted for 12 months). I changed this last month, so have another 11 months to go... I wish I had have thought about O2 - the offer is very good.
Unfortunately, I work for the NHS. My union does have a benevolent fund, but I would feel guilty aplpying for it, as it is meant for people in need, not because I was silly enough to get myself into this mess.
I have a day off tomorrow, so I will be in touch with CCCS.
DVardysShadow - My Natwest loan finishes 08/2011 (£50.86/month), Tesco loan finishes 05/2014 (£243.48/month) and Blackhorse loan finishes 08/2013 (£141.56/month), so nothing finishing soon enough!
Again, many thanks for your replies and advice and I will contact CCCS tomorrow - will have a go on their wesbite today in preparation.
Thank you!

DVardysShadow

Djdonz wrote: »

DVardysShadow - My Natwest loan finishes 08/2011 (£50.86/month), Tesco loan finishes 05/2014 (£243.48/month) and Blackhorse loan finishes 08/2013 (£141.56/month), so nothing finishing soon enough!
Again, many thanks for your replies and advice and I will contact CCCS tomorrow - will have a go on their wesbite today in preparation.
Thank you!

Tis unfortunate that you are not going to be free of any of the loans in time to make a difference. But it is always worth asking the question. CCCS and probably DMP looks to be the way to go. Now,as for your mother, I do think you should tell her of the situation, particularly if she is also at risk from you losing your home. This will be preferable to you not telling her, the worst happening and then her saying 'If only you had said, I could have done XXXX, but it's too late now.'

Cat-astrophe_2

Thanks DVardysShadow - just thinking about telling her makes me feel sick, but I do see what you're saying. I think I'll talk to CCCS, so that I have answers and then I will work up the courage to tell her everything, including what I plan to do.
Many thanks for your help and advice.