Doing something about it.

josephine82

Hey Kamaya

Well done on identifying the savings!
I would definitely get the 0% credit card if you can. You might as well transfer as much as you can to it.
Then set up a DD to pay the minimum payment. Then pay everything else you can to the other credit card.

I would still encourage you to post your SOA like the other suggested using the link that Tixy posted- you never know, we might be able to find some other savings for you too!

Good luck- don't be ashamed of the D word- at least you are working to pay it all back!

Dinah93

Well done, tyou really sound like you've started to get a handle on things.

Kamaya

Bad news. I've been dismissive & naive, and I'm pretty much back to square one. Well, potentially in a worse situation than I was before. And I didn't get the pay rise I was after. To be honest, I was pinning a lot of my hopes on that sorting out the debt.

Still have £7.5k on my card, and I've missed a couple of payments, so a 0% card is almost definitely out of the window. Plus now I'm more than £1k overdrawn on my account. I'm disappointed in myself, and embarrassed.

Firstly, I've arranged a meeting with a financial advisor from Barclays on Saturday. Basically, I'm paying £140 a month in interest on my c/card, and £120 a month on fines from Barclays for going into my 'personal reserve'. My plan is to ask for a loan to cover my c/card & my overdraft, as I feel that a loan with a reasonable interest rate will be less than the interest & fines put together. I've completed a SOA - which was something I was a bit embarrassed to do before - which I'll post shortly.

I'm more eager than ever to get this sorted, as my wife & I want to start making plans for a family. So I want to be completely financially secure beforehand.

Thanks for any advice offered, and I promise it will sink in this time!

Kamaya

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1167
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1250
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2417

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 646
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 172
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 86
Electricity............................. 80
Gas..................................... 31
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 37
Telephone (land line)................... 30
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 10
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 22
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 13
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1489


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 6000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 116000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 100000...(646)......6.1
Secured Debt.................. 9000.....(172)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 109000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
C/Card.........................7500......140.......0
Total unsecured debts..........7500......140.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,417
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,489
Available for debt repayments........... 928
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 140
Amount left after debt repayments....... 788

MFWannabe

Kamaya wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1167
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1250
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2417

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 646
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 172
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 86
Electricity............................. 80 - This is incredibly high!!! Check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper
Gas..................................... 31
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 37
Telephone (land line)................... 30
Mobile phone............................ 35 - Is this for 2 phones? Could you go payg?
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 10
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 22
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 13
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 - You need to put something in here
Haircuts................................ 0 - You need to put somthing in here
Entertainment........................... 0 - Is this really nothing?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1489


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 6000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 116000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 100000...(646)......6.1
Secured Debt.................. 9000.....(172)......0 - What is the APR on this? What is this for?
Total secured & HP debts...... 109000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
C/Card.........................7500......140.......0 - What is the APR on this?
Total unsecured debts..........7500......140.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,417
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,489
Available for debt repayments........... 928
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 140
Amount left after debt repayments....... 788

Hi
You say you have some missed payments so wouldn't be able to get a 0% card; but would your wife be able to get one? Then you'd be able to move some of the cc debt to 0%.
Please think very carefully about getting a loan; most people on here would advise against it as they have done this themselves then ran up the credit cards again!
Are all your debts listed? Are you using overdrafts at all? If so then you also need to put those on your soa.
Your soa says you have £788 left every month; i'm guessing you don't really as you could be putting at least £500 per month towards paying off your card.
You both need to keep spending diaries to see exactly where all your money is being spent.

Tixy

Many people have a false start or 2 before they really start to tackle things. Good that you have come back though, hopefully this time you can make some changes.
With missed payments you are right you won't get a 0% card.

So its probably time to be a bit brutal with yourself and your spending. I'll put some comments on, hoping some may help

Kamaya wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 2 are both essential?

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1167 any chance of overtime for either of you?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1250
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0 could you rent out a room to a lodger for a few months?
Total monthly income.................... 2417

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 646
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 172
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 86
Electricity............................. 80 this is really very high. Do you have arrears? check out for a cheaper provider and look for the online tariffs as they are usually quite a bit cheaper. limit use of energy hungry appliances like tumble driers, elec heaters etc. If you have an immersion heater for water make sure its not on permanently (a couple of hours a day should be easily sufficent).
Gas..................................... 31
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 37 metered or unmeasured? look into whether a meter would be cheaper.
Telephone (land line)................... 30 what calls are you making? look for a cheaper deal combined with intenet.
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 10 consider cutting back or getting a combination with phone & internet
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100 this is good if its all you do spend for 2 of you, but check you have budgeted enough.
Clothing................................ 20 not high but do try to keep to a minimum
Petrol/diesel........................... 80 look at the tips for keeping to a minimum, try to stick to only essential journeys
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 70 do you shop around at renewal time? have a read of the tips on here regarding minimising the cost and earning cash back etc.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10 is £120 enough for 2cars for a year? MOT, service, tyres etc
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20 check if this is competative
Buildings insurance..................... 22 again check its a good deal for B&C in your area (and again look aat earning cashback if you do switch)
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 13
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 need to budget for this
Haircuts................................ 0 probably need something here
Entertainment........................... 0 and a small budget here
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1489


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 6000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 116000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 100000...(646)......6.1
Secured Debt.................. 9000.....(172)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 109000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
C/Card.........................7500......140.......0
Remember to include your overdraft as a debt and the monthly cost of it
Total unsecured debts..........7500......140.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,417
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,489
Available for debt repayments........... 928
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 140
Amount left after debt repayments....... 788 Well you obviously are spending this and more if your debts are increasing. You really need to work out where this extra £788 is going, some I expect is on necessitys not budgeted for but some may also be on luxuries you do not need right now.

Suggest you keep a spending diary to identify where the £788 has been going and then see what you can do to cut back and start paying more off the debts.

Good luck

Kamaya

Hi all, I have now switched energy company to Eon which save us £170 per year, and they've given me 1000 clubcard points & if we stay with them a year we'll get £100 cash back. I'm tempted to amend the monthly payments though, as to my delight I've found out that we're in credit with our current energy supplier by £400!

Overtime - no chance for either of us.

Mobile phones - Mine is a £25 a month contract, but as I'm an employee I get it for £12.50. My wife's contract is just over £20, but she needs that for work. I've identified that I can save around £10 a month by stopping using mobile internet.

Cars - yes, both are essential. Where we live isn't on a bus route, and we work in completely opposite directions so cannot car share.

House - Only a 2 bedroom house, so won't be renting out the other room.

Water - yes, that's on a meter.

Telephone - The bundle we have is BT basic bband & phone line which is £30 a month. We don't use the landline at all, due to all the free minutes we have with our mobile deals, but have to keep it for the bband. Not a cable area, so phoneline bband is only option for us.

Satellite - This £10 is a monthly top-up tv freeview package, so not able to merge with any other offer.

Groceries - Upon reviewing this, I've underestimated it. I'd say we spend around £150-175 a month. We always shop in Tesco to accumulate clubcard points to pay for our Christmas shop, and we always buy value or discount range products where possible.

Clothing - nominal amount entered here, as I don't buy clothes much. My birthday is in July, so I tend to have new clothes at Christmas & birthday.

Car - Possibly not enough, maybe around £25 a month all in. My car is £35 a year to tax, and my wife's is £110. Couple of budget tyres etc. Haven't been able to afford a service in the last year, so no cost here.

Pet insurance - it isn't competitive at all, and will look at getting a multi-pet discount with tesco.

Buildings insurance - I've checked, and it's fairly competitive give or take a pound or two.

Presents - Probably £125 a year?

Haircuts - my wife cuts my hair!

Entertainment - not a lot, maybe £30 a month?

Thanks for your help all.

Kamaya

Any further advice greatly appreciated...

pennypusher

Clearly there is something that doesn't add up here. If you had the £788 left over each month you would be able to pay off your debts. A spending diary is a good idea where you both write down what you spend, that will help you identify where all your money is going each month because at the moment I don't think you know. You could also check back over your past Bank Statements and that will help show you as well.

A loan is not a good idea because firstly you need to be able to control your spending otherwise you will find you end up with a loan and are still spending on credit cards because you are still overspending.

Good luck - it's really easy to find out what you are spending so you should soon be able to sort it out.

MrsSmith93

Kamaya wrote: »

Hi all, I have now switched energy company to Eon which save us £170 per year, and they've given me 1000 clubcard points & if we stay with them a year we'll get £100 cash back. I'm tempted to amend the monthly payments though, as to my delight I've found out that we're in credit with our current energy supplier by £400!

Overtime - no chance for either of us.

Mobile phones - Mine is a £25 a month contract, but as I'm an employee I get it for £12.50. My wife's contract is just over £20, but she needs that for work. I've identified that I can save around £10 a month by stopping using mobile internet.

Cars - yes, both are essential. Where we live isn't on a bus route, and we work in completely opposite directions so cannot car share.

House - Only a 2 bedroom house, so won't be renting out the other room.

Water - yes, that's on a meter.

Telephone - The bundle we have is BT basic bband & phone line which is £30 a month. We don't use the landline at all, due to all the free minutes we have with our mobile deals, but have to keep it for the bband. Not a cable area, so phoneline bband is only option for us.

Satellite - This £10 is a monthly top-up tv freeview package, so not able to merge with any other offer.

Groceries - Upon reviewing this, I've underestimated it. I'd say we spend around £150-175 a month. We always shop in Tesco to accumulate clubcard points to pay for our Christmas shop, and we always buy value or discount range products where possible.

Clothing - nominal amount entered here, as I don't buy clothes much. My birthday is in July, so I tend to have new clothes at Christmas & birthday.

Car - Possibly not enough, maybe around £25 a month all in. My car is £35 a year to tax, and my wife's is £110. Couple of budget tyres etc. Haven't been able to afford a service in the last year, so no cost here.

Pet insurance - it isn't competitive at all, and will look at getting a multi-pet discount with tesco.

Buildings insurance - I've checked, and it's fairly competitive give or take a pound or two.

Presents - Probably £125 a year?

Haircuts - my wife cuts my hair!

Entertainment - not a lot, maybe £30 a month?

Thanks for your help all.

But who cuts your wife's hair?