Preparing A State Of Affairs

up_the_creek_5

Hello

Would like some advice on what to put in an SOA.

Is it acceptable to include things like socialising, holidays, birthdays/christmas etc?

Also i have a gym membership which i consider to be a major part of my social life also i have several health problems including high cholesterol & high blood pressure (which is currently sky high due to worrying about debt). Do i include this in my budget (i suppose i could get a letter off my GP who advised me to do regular exercise in the first place).

I also have a second gym membership payment that goes through my a/c but the membership is for my niece. As i get discounted membership rates because of my trade union & her parents re-imburse me the money every month. Is this acceptable on a SOA.

My current debt is spread over 10 credit cards & 4 loans. However, one of my credit cards (Capital One) only has a small balance outstanding compared to the others. This card is not linked to any of the others & i was thinking of leaving it off the SOA & keeping it, would my other creditors or the court (if it gets that far) be able to find out.

Finally, i have a twelve year old car that i really do need for work & family reasons. I am worried my creditors might force me to sell it. I am currently selling some shares i was given by a previous employer which have just come out of trust. The sum raised is about the same as my car is worth. I was thinking of telling my creditors i have sold it. Would they or a court be able to find out if still had it,would they have the legal right to get vechile ownership details from the DVLA.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

postingalwaysposting

up_the_creek wrote:

Hello

Would like some advice on what to put in an SOA.

I also have a second gym membership payment that goes through my a/c but the membership is for my niece. As i get discounted membership rates because of my trade union & her parents re-imburse me the money every month. Is this acceptable on a SOA.

hi up the creek, with this one i would but it as an outgoing because it is, but put in your income the money recouped by her parents, it shouldnt be seen as a offical outgoing then

up_the_creek_5

Hello

Thanks for the advice. However, her gym membership is re-imbursed to me in cash, i do not pay it back into my a/c but just use it for oher expenses. Therefore, i do not have any actual proof that i recieve this money. Would this be a problem

CLAPTON

for what purpose are you writing an SoA?

southernscouser

If it's just a budget for yourself I would still include it. It's good to know exactly what comes out of your bank and when.

Have a look at this thread for an idea on preparing a SOA. Include everything you can think of. Clothes, dentist, MOT, birthdays, Christams, pet food, school outings! Whatever you will spend money on include it!

up_the_creek_5

Hello

I am preparing a SOA because i am over £80 grand in un -secured debt & want to sort it out. This debt is on my mind all the time & my health is suffering. I am dreading what is going to happen re: harrassment from creditors & debt collection agencies.

Also with regards to southernscouser's advice i don't really know what to put as i don't buy clothes every month.

I have done a very rough draft on paper & am worried that their could be as little as £100 per month left to offer creditors. I s it true that the minimum offer a creditor will accept is 25p in the pound.

Thanks

moozie_2

Hello there and welcome

The best thing to do would be to contact any of the free charities offering debt advice: CCCS, national debtline, payplan and CAB.

They will be able to give you an idea of what to include in your SOA and how much should/could be allocated per heading.

The hardest part is getting everything down on paper :grouphug:

CLAPTON

the reason i asked the purpose of the SoA is as follows

a. if you are doing it to gain control of your finances then you must put everything you actually spend on it...and by everything i mean the average for the next 12 months
so that will include say your car tax, annual insurances, xmas spending, holidays etc ...you divide the totals by 12 to get a monthly average: for things like clothes make your best estimate of what you are likely to spend over the next 12 months and again divide by 12

Its very important you do this as otherwise you end up with too low a budget but can't then pay the yearly or one off bills without putting them on credit cards
so I would suggest you start a spending diary and write down everything you spend to capture your actual regular spending and sit down and try to work out all the annual and one offs and some emergency fund allowance and and then divide it by 12 . (the budget planner at the top of this page may help you think of all these things.)


b. the second type of SoA you may need (but only after doing the first one above) is if you are contemplating doing a DMP or IVA etc. Here, there are some things that wont be acceptable but on the other hand they may allow other items in excess of what you actually spend.



but first do your real SoA warts and all and post it here and i'm sure people will be able to give some advice. in any event if you go to CCCS or Payplan the first thing you need to do is the SoA.