My SOA: The Ugly Truth

rubyslipper

Here's my SOA. The ugly, hideous truth. My recent relapse has seen me ramp up a debt of £1,000 on a previously cleared credit card, go way back into my overdraft and generally behave like an utter fool.

I can't believe how bad this has become. Seeing my spending laid out below has really shocked me, I mean check out my grocery spend!! !!!!!! is that about?? I'm ashamed and I'm broken. If anyone can offer any tips I'll listen to every last one.

I can't find my loan paperwork so I'm not sure of interest rate and I couldn't find it for the Mint card either. Hopefully this is a starting point, though:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2000.5
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2000.5
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 700
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 72
Electricity............................. 20
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 37.78
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 11.87
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 350
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 120
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1561.65

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Lloyds TSB loan................13034.....255.......0
Mint card......................1009......20........0
Total unsecured debts..........14043.....275.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,000.5
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,561.65
Available for debt repayments........... 438.85
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 275
Amount left after debt repayments....... 163.85
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -14,043
Net Assets.............................. -14,043
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

happyhaddock_2

Don't be so hard on yourself

catmiaow

Firstly well done for taking the step to post on here!

Your groceries are way too high for one person, we have less than half of that for two people and two cats. Do you really need a clothes budget at the moment? I would put that towards the debt and lastly is it possible you could rent a cheaper place?

rubyslipper

catmiaow wrote: »

Firstly well done for taking the step to post on here!

Your groceries are way too high for one person, we have less than half of that for two people and two cats. Do you really need a clothes budget at the moment? I would put that towards the debt and lastly is it possible you could rent a cheaper place?

Thank you for saying that, very kind.

Yes, groceries are RIDICULOUS. I have slipped back into the habit of wandering into Tesco Metro of an evening, buying whatever I fancy and not making lists and meal planning. Also my boyfriend tends to come and stay with me and I always end up buying nice food to make him and wine for us both. I can DEFINITELY improve on that.

My contract on this flat is up in July but I don't have a deposit to put down on another, cheaper place. There's a chance they're putting my rent up though so I might have to move somehow. I used to lodge with a girl who has said I could move back there temporarily if I need to although that's a last resort. I live in London and living on your own is very expensive here.

Thanks for your comments x

NellyM029

Yup don't be too hard on yourself. I think you can cut down on entertainment too. Your rent seems high unless in London?

rubyslipper

NellyM029 wrote: »

Yup don't be too hard on yourself. I think you can cut down on entertainment too. Your rent seems high unless in London?

Thank you. I just feel so utterly ashamed. I don't even have children, it's pure selfishness. Yes, I do live in London. I used to share a flat but at almost 32 years old I just couldn't bear living with people in a flatshare any more. When I moved I could afford it, just!

Definitely need to cut down on entertainment. I don't go out as much as I used to but when I do go out it's bottles of wine, entry fees and taxis.

Thanks for your comments x

emmilee

Compared to mine that actually looks quite healthy, and at least (unlike me) you're brave enough to actually address matters.

The 2 things that stood out for me were your groceries and your phones. I budget £450 for a family of 4 + dog (food, cleaning stuff, toiletries etc & a couple of takeaways a month) and I know that I need to cut back from there. Like you say, the key is to plan meals (and to batch cook & freeze).
Phone wise, can you not get a plan eith elandline or mobile that would allow you free calls to all (or almost all of) your dialled numbers? I've seen bad press about sky, but we swapped our phone, TV & broadband to sky and now pay about £27 pcm and I have an 02 phone contract for £15 a month that gives me free landline calls 24/7 plus loads of texts (500 or 1000, more than I can use at any rate) and 400 free any time any network minutes, I haven't lost any of the quality of the service that I previously had, in fact I have better service, and am paying less than 1/2 than I was for my previous services (broadband, sat TV, landline & mobile).
Good luck,
Emma x

rubyslipper

emmilee wrote: »

Compared to mine that actually looks quite healthy, and at least (unlike me) you're brave enough to actually address matters.

The 2 things that stood out for me were your groceries and your phones. I budget £450 for a family of 4 + dog (food, cleaning stuff, toiletries etc & a couple of takeaways a month) and I know that I need to cut back from there. Like you say, the key is to plan meals (and to batch cook & freeze).
Phone wise, can you not get a plan eith elandline or mobile that would allow you free calls to all (or almost all of) your dialled numbers? I've seen bad press about sky, but we swapped our phone, TV & broadband to sky and now pay about £27 pcm and I have an 02 phone contract for £15 a month that gives me free landline calls 24/7 plus loads of texts (500 or 1000, more than I can use at any rate) and 400 free any time any network minutes, I haven't lost any of the quality of the service that I previously had, in fact I have better service, and am paying less than 1/2 than I was for my previous services (broadband, sat TV, landline & mobile).
Good luck,
Emma x

Hi Emma

I really appreciate your comments, thank you. You put me to shame having to cope with a family when I can't even look after myself! Well done you for managing so far.

Phones wise, my mobile bill used to be £80 per month (!) so it's improved a lot. I have a blackberry and I use it to message my boyfriend on his so we're not constantly texting which saves money - I barely text anyone else. I rarely make phone calls but when I moved into my flat there was no phone line and the only thing in this area is BT so I had to get a BT line put in to get broadband - that landline charge covers unlimited internet which I use all the time.
My mobile contract is up in December so I plan to start researching ahead of time to see where I can save money. Not sure what to do about BT as it's all that I can get round here

Thanks & good luck x

NellyM029

Yeah, you should be proud to be now facing up to your debt and even more proud you didn't go as mental as me . Your in the right place to get help, there is plenty you could cut down on and a few frugle months will ensure you can clear the credit card xxx

rubyslipper

NellyM029 wrote: »

Yeah, you should be proud to be now facing up to your debt and even more proud you didn't go as mental as me . Your in the right place to get help, there is plenty you could cut down on and a few frugle months will ensure you can clear the credit card xxx

Thank you, love. I'm trying to be positive about my second LBM which I definitely had today! I agree my situation isn't totally hopeless. Learning to say no to things and just being grown up would help! xx

the_cat

Don't be so hard on yourself!

Cut the food budget down to £150 for the next 3 months and go without buying any new clothes ..... just for the 3 months. Use £100 of your surplus as well. Making £350 per month for overpayments......

You will then have paid back the Mint card totally and you will be back on track:T:T