Feeling the pinch: anyone got a minute to scan my SOA?

Eels100

I've prided myself on avoiding debt since ridding myself of a horrendous HP-type car finance deal earlier this year. Aside from my mortgage and student loan (which comes out with tax anyway) I was virtually debt free - until today! I'd be really grateful for some help or pointers - I realise my situation pales into insignificance compared to most of the posters here, but I don't want this to snowball into something worse.

We bought a house back in May, and were slowly recovering from the financial kicking until OH found out his workplace was closing down. He hadn't been there long enough to get any redundancy pay. This was bad news but nothing we couldn't cope with, I'd done my sums before buying the house and with some help from the OS board I was happy we could cope in the short term.

So, here we are on the 2nd of the month, 4 weeks to my next payday, with £107 in the bank. Thankfully the fridge and cupboards are full! Then today - the car has needed £900 of repairs. I had no choice but to put the balance straight onto their own card which offers interest free for 120 days. Unfortunately this is followed by an APR of 29.9%!

Basically I just want to find a way to survive assuming OH doesn't get a job quickly. Jobs here are like gold dust, and we're very rural so there's a petrol cost to factor in too. I desperately want to avoid suffering that 29.9%! I also have just got my latest 0% card which has no balance (yet!).

Monthly Income
Net Monthly Salary £ 1,640.00
Partner's Monthly Salary £ 0.00
Benefits £ 0.00
TOTAL MONTHLY INCOME £ 1,640.00


Essential Monthly Outgoings
Mortgage/Rent £ 628.00
Council Tax £ 138.00
Electricity £ 95.00 (can be reduced, am overpaying by ~£30)
Telephone £ 12.00
Mobile Phone £ 40.00 (can be reduced but tied to contract)
TV Licence £ 11.00
Satellite TV £ 40.00 (contract but could be reduced to £15)
Internet £ 40.00 (tied to a contract)
Buildings Insurance £ 19.87
Income Protection £ 41.00
Life Insurance £ 10.00
Groceries £ 200.00
Clothing £ 20.00
Petrol £ 60.00
Car Tax £ 20.00
Car Insurance £ 50.00
Car MOT £ 10.00
Car Maintenance £ 15.00
Pets £ 50.00
Birthdays/Christmas £ 20.00
Monthly saving towards paying off interest-free overdraft next year:£100
TOTAL MONTHLY OUTGOINGS £ 1,519.87
NET MONTHLY SURPLUS £ 20.13

Monthly Debts
Debt Total Debt Min Payment Rate
Credit Card 1 £ 898.00 £~50 0.00 % for 3 months, then 29.9% :eek:
Credit Card 2 £ 40.00 £5 17.93 %
TOTAL DEBT £ 938.00

Honeybee_2

Is your mobile phone on a contract or PAYG?

Eels100

Contract. I am hoping I can get this switched to a cheaper plan (I use it for work calls) but they seem to have only one adviser answering their phones all weekend ...! It does have some time left to run. Have edited my OP to make it clearer.

moozie_2

Hello Eels and welcome! Let me see if I can add anything useful...

Eels100 wrote:

Monthly Income
Net Monthly Salary £ 1,640.00
Partner's Monthly Salary £ 0.00
Benefits £ 0.00 Would income support be an option? Not sure what the rules are with it.TOTAL MONTHLY INCOME £ 1,640.00


Essential Monthly Outgoings
Mortgage/Rent £ 628.00
Council Tax £ 138.00
Electricity £ 95.00 This seems exceptionally high. The quicker you reduce it, the better.Telephone £ 12.00
Mobile Phone £ 40.00 Good idea to lower this.
TV Licence £ 11.00
Satellite TV £ 40.00
Internet £ 40.00 This is very expensive, shop around.
Buildings Insurance £ 19.87
Income Protection £ 41.00 Would this pay out now your OH is unemployed?
Life Insurance £ 10.00
Groceries £ 200.00 For 2 people this is high. Look at the Old Style Board for ideas/advice.Clothing £ 20.00 I don't think you can afford this right now!Petrol £ 60.00
Car Tax £ 20.00
Car Insurance £ 50.00
Car MOT £ 10.00
Car Maintenance £ 15.00
Pets £ 50.00 What is this for? Looks a lot!
Birthdays/Christmas £ 20.00 I don't think you can afford this right now!
Monthly saving towards paying off interest-free overdraft next year:£100 When next year? CC1 is more imminent.
TOTAL MONTHLY OUTGOINGS £ 1,519.87
NET MONTHLY SURPLUS £ 20.13

Monthly Debts
Debt Total Debt Min Payment Rate
Credit Card 1 £ 898.00 £~50 0.00 % for 3 months, then 29.9% :eek:
Credit Card 2 £ 40.00 £5 17.93 % You should be able to pay this off straight awayTOTAL DEBT £ 938.00

Honeybee_2

Might make sense to drop the tariff to the cheapest one possible, then ask for a pro forma and pay the contract off.

I'm on a great PAYG deal with O2, my bills on contract were astronomical but I now pay £15 per month, get 150 x net off peak minutes, 400 texts and £3 for any daytime calls that I make.

newleaf

Tesco mobile run on the O2 network and their 'Value' SIM card is very cheap for calls and texts - just no roaming, but it's fine for using in this country.
http://www.tescomobile.com/simCards.aspx

WelshWoofer

If only on a temporary basis could your husband claim any sort of benefits?
I'm not an expert but I'm sure someone will be able to help you think about this area. I guess it would help to try to cancel the Sky TV altogther too.
Good luck
R

Callisto

Essential Monthly Outgoings
Mortgage/Rent £ 628.00
Council Tax £ 138.00
Electricity £ 95.00 - Can you stop overpaying this for now?
Telephone £ 12.00
Mobile Phone £ 40.00 - Switch to PAYG once contract finishes, I use mine for mainly texting and the occasional call and £10 per month top up is more than enough.
TV Licence £ 11.00
Satellite TV £ 40.00 - Do you really need Sky? We used to have it and I don't miss it at all now we have freeview instead!
Internet £ 40.00 - Is this for broadband? If so, it's shockingly high, can you not reduce this to the lowest speed broadband package?
Buildings Insurance £ 19.87
Income Protection £ 41.00 - Do you really need this? Check the small print as some are really strict on criteria for paying out!
Life Insurance £ 10.00
Groceries £ 200.00 - Is this just for two people? If so this can be reduced by at least £50 a month and probably more, check out the OS board for ideas.
Clothing £ 20.00 - Can you reduce this slightly for the time being until your oh finds a new job?
Petrol £ 60.00
Car Tax £ 20.00
Car Insurance £ 50.00 - Is this the cheapest one?
Car MOT £ 10.00
Car Maintenance £ 15.00
Pets £ 50.00 - What exactly is this amount for?
Birthdays/Christmas £ 20.00 - Well done for saving for this in advance!
Monthly saving towards paying off interest-free overdraft next year:£100

Hope my comments have helped!

WelshWoofer

Coud you cash in the life insurance? You probably won't get back all of what you've paid in but should get something that may help tide you over?

Eels100

moozie wrote:

Hello Eels and welcome! Let me see if I can add anything useful...

Thanks moozie!
OK, OH is looking into JSA until something comes up. Unfortunately the IP policy applies to me only :rolleyes: . We're trying to cut back on our spending for groceries, and I am lucky that with a very well stocked cupboard we should be ok for all but essential for the month to come. Even if we do have to survive on chickpeas 5 nights a week. They're good for you, right? Yes, clothes are not critical right now! I don't have a strict budget as regards most of this stuff so can do some juggling. The pets are 2 big hungry dogs and 2 small hungry cats. Everything I buy for them is cost price but perhaps I could cut back a little bit ... <sniff>.

The overdraft is up next July, so I guess if it comes to it I could plunder my ISA for what little is already in there, but it's only £200 I think.

Thanks, will cosider that - it's one of those things which is mentally sacred, you know?!

david_hellier

According to my calculations you have £83-11 per week to spend on anything, including food, birthdays, pets, going out etc.

If you get rid of sat tv, pets and internet this rises to £101.57. You need to write this in a book on a Monday and make a note of what you spend and taking it away. My figures also include the £100 od payoff, so ignore your bank balance if you use this system, stick to your book. If you have any left at the end of the week carry it forward in your book to the next Monday. I see no water or gas?

The figures are as follows:


income weekly monthly
self 1640.00
partner







total 0.00 1640.00
378.46 divided by 4.33

378.46 total weekly income

spend weekly monthly
rent/mortgage 628.00
council tax 138.00
elec 95.00
gas 0.00
water 0.00
secured loans 0.00
TV licence 11.00
fines 0.00
sat tv 0.00
internet 0.00
petrol 60.00
od payoff 100.00
phone 12.00
mobile 40.00
build ins 19.87
income prot 41.00
life 10.00
car tax 20.00
mot 10.00
car maint 15.00










total 0.00 1199.87
276.89 divided by 4.33

276.89 total weekly spend

Start= income - spend = 101.57 per week