Can I afford to keep my house?

vw_campervan_mum

Thanks again for responses. Really does help to have this as a sounding board.

Sorry the_Cat - Sadly money for emergencies is always being spent! Always something comes up. That is what worries me on tight budget. Am saving as much as I can now and paying off cards as quick as I can. On friday I am paying off another CC which was not 0%. Then I can really start on this last CC. If we weren't splitting I would have card paid off in 10 months at present rate. Most things already as low as I can get them. £250 for food is a lot less than we were spending! Will try those grocery challenge ideas though for any more savings. Petrol seems my biggest single expense but work is 30 mile round trip. Live in country which is wonderful but expensive to get any where.

vw_campervan_mum

Well amazingly I have still got my house a year and a half down the line. Not easy though! Am just going to look thru SOA and see how it is now.
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet - as before any comments and advice gratefully accepted
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 81 + 41
Other income............................ 389
Total monthly income.................... 2611

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 450
Secured/HP loan repayments..............
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 28
Gas..................................... 90
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 22
Telephone (land line)................... 16
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services.(incl telephone calls)..20
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 17
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 40
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 12 +25
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance............... with contents
Contents insurance...................... 25
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 1413


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 190000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 191000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 155000....(540)......4.9
Secured Debt..................
Total secured & HP debts....155000

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
MBNA cc...................7125..........72 0 (til april 2012)
tesco cc...................4391..........45....... 0 (til nov 2012)
Total unsecured debts...11516......117........- 0


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,611
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1413
Available for debt repayments........... 1198
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 117
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1081

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 191,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. 155,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... 11,516
Net Assets.............................. 24,484

oldtractor

Very well done campervan mum. Maybe you could cut down on gas usage,presents,xmas,holidays? other than that I cant see anything else unless its to get a weekend job eg bar work for a while to help whittle away the debt.

shebrett

You seem to have almost £8,000 more credit card debt and £75,000 more mortgage since last year? But paid off the secured debt of £10,000?

MFWannabe

vw_campervan_mum wrote: »

Well amazingly I have still got my house a year and a half down the line. Not easy though! Am just going to look thru SOA and see how it is now.
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet - as before any comments and advice gratefully accepted
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2 - Is this correct; as you previously said you were splitting from boyfriend?
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 81 + 41
Other income............................ 389
Total monthly income.................... 2611

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 450 - Is this correct; as below it states mortgage payment as £540?
Secured/HP loan repayments..............
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 28
Gas..................................... 90 - this still seems very high
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 22
Telephone (land line)................... 16
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services.(incl telephone calls)..20
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 17
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 40 - what is this for?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 12 +25 - these seem very high; what are they for?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance............... with contents
Contents insurance...................... 25
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 - this is high; you could have this amount
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 1413


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000 - Is this correct as you are saying your mortgage is now £155,000?
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 111200


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 155000....(540)......4.9
Secured Debt..................
Total secured & HP debts....155000

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
MBNA cc...................7125..........72 0 (til april 2012)
tesco cc...................4391..........45....... 0 (til nov 2012)
Total unsecured debts...11516......117........- 0


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,611
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1413
Available for debt repayments........... 1198
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 117
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1081 - do you really have this left over each month? As you say you have no assets. If you do then you need to put this towards your MBNA card to get as much as possible paid off before 0% offer ends

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 190,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. 155,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... 11,516
Net Assets.............................. 23,484

Hi
I've made some comments above in your soa; which in places is very confusing. Also you seem to have increased your credit card debt? It may be on 0% but the one which is highest is due to end soon. Are you going to be able to get another to transfer this debt over to? Your soa says you have a really good amount left over each month but you have no cash assets? If you have not got this left over then you need to keep a spending diary to see exactly where every penny is going

vw_campervan_mum

Here are a few clarifying notes:-
1. I increased my wage by going back full-time and up to top of pay scale (I am a teacher). This is now frozen for 2 years.
2. The mortgage is on interest only until june 2013. I did this to tide me over while I wait for house to sell - it has been up for sale for 18 months. I have reduced price by £30k so it is now £30k less than I paid for it. Also needed breathing space to pay back debts - hope to do this by 2013.
3. Credit cards include money to bail son out of student debts; new cheap car (Ka) and buying ex OH out of house for £6k (money he should not have had as most of money in house was mine - just needed him to go).
I mostly stick to budget but have had some unexpected/treat expenditure (car, children, new beds, summer holiday). Have also had new windows put in to try and boost salesworthiness of house. If I stick to budget and pay off credit cards by 2013 I will take children on big summer holiday abroad for last time until I sell house. This will be my 50th birthday treat. If house is not sold by june 2013 then mortgage will probably go back up to about £1k per month and I will be stuck on very tight budget which will only be possible with maintenance for daughter. If house still not sold by summer 2016 I will not be able to afford it.

I realise I am stuck in a waiting game - mainly for house to sell so I can do huge downsize. I hope this comes before I lose nerve or ability to pay. I find it hard to keep positive but realise beating myself up about bad past choices (mainly trusting ex OH) is not helping.

vw_campervan_mum

Wow - quick replies! Thank you!
More clarifying:-
Old SOA was based on half of expenses while exOH was here - present is everything in my name.
House is for sale now at £190 - think my typing very sloppy (maths not much better lol).
Second adult is DS2 who has come home after giving up Uni course (he is not contributing to household yet as only found occasional bar work so far).
Medical/dental is contact lenses and private dentist - gave in to this after losing three NHS dentists in a row as they went private.
I give my daughter £40 pm pocket money which she has to use for all her expenses eg presents to friends, cinema, clothes. This is from child tax credits and stops me feeling quite so bad about blighting her life because of my stupid mistakes.
The £1k+ is amazingly what I have "on paper" left to pay debts. Unfortunately I don't always have it all for debts as I go over budget eg £500 for Xmas which is why I am going to save for next year!

Still have some reining in to do I know!

poppasmurf_bewdley

To VW Campervan Mum and any others who have a mobile phone.

I've recently gone on to GiffGaff, which is a sim-only phone company.

www.giffgaff.com

I've cut my monthly phone bill from £15pm with 02 to £5pm with them. I get 60 mins and 300 texts plus free unlimited calls to other Giffgaff numbers, plus free calls to 0800 numbers, plus I get a free minute of calltime for every minute someone phones my mobile.

So far this month, four of my friends and relatives have moved over to Giffgaff and none of them had ever heard of it before I told them about it.

I'm not connected to them in anyway except for being a satisfied customer.