Debt free desperate wanabee newbee

booby21

Hi

Looking for help/advice/tips to get us out of credit card debt asap as totally stressing me out. Just gave birth 3 weeks ago and I have to try and manage finances as husband not good with figures etc. Where should I start? Should I do balance transfer etc? I am addicted to buying presents for birthdays/xmas in advance and bargain buys i.e. I spend outwith our means. I have tried to put as much as possible into the SOA below. We also have £1700 in overdrafts with our 3 bank of scotland accounts.

Please help.

Many thanks!:j

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 630
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1720
Benefits................................ 126.20
Other income............................ 130
Total monthly income.................... 2606.20
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 561
Council tax............................. 191
Electricity............................. 51
Gas..................................... 75
Telephone (land line)................... 0 (covered under Sky)
Mobile phone............................ 37 (both mine and husband's)
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60
Internet Services....................... 19.99 (Orange)
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 23.22
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Childcare/nursery....................... 107.28
(remainder in childcare vouchers taken from my salary before tax)
Buildings and contents insurance..................... 21.37
Other insurance......................... 12.50 (bank account BOS)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40
Haircuts................................ 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 1711.73
Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 250000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 8000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 258000
Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 123000...(561)......
Total secured & HP debts...... 123000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................1042.3....23.19.....0
BOS Mastercard.................2218.8....110.......23.5
Virgin.........................1275.69...25........0
Total unsecured debts..........4536.79...158.19....-
(Could not find APR on 2 statements)
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,606.2
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,711.73
Available for debt repayments........... 894.47
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 158.19
Amount left after debt repayments....... 736.28
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 258,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -123,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,536.79
Net Assets.............................. 130,463.21

oscar52

Something isnt right / doesnt add up.

Your SOA shows you still have a surplus of over £700 after making all your normal living expenses and debt repayments.

Your entire debt could be wiped out (bar mortgage) within a few months if that is correct.

ROSIEGLOW255

I think i would double check your figures, as as previous poster stated debt could be paid off very quickly judging by your soa. If figures are def correct, my guess is you're like me and money just runs away with you and by end of month you don't know where it's gone. For this reason i would suggest keeping a spending diary just to track exactly where money is going.

You say you are addicted to buying gifts etc, but only show £40 in this section, do you think you have underestimated this? Also is this soa what you actually spend or what you would like to spend?

I noticed your sky package is quite high, i know this include telephone but could you cut package down? Also could you reduce iternet costs by changing to sky?

Other potential saving would be on groceries, i think people usually recomend going to old style moneysaving board for tips/suggestions.

If you have a good credit rating if i were you i would probably go for a 0% balance transfer card just so that any money you throw at debt actually comes off it rather than going towards interest charges.

Sorry i seem to have rambled, but hope you get it sorted soon.

booby21

I think you are both right and I may have underestimated things and also do agree my money just seems to disappear. I know we are not in such a bad way as many people on here but it does still really stress me out. I did the SOA very quickly as don't have much time with 2 year old and newborn but will try keeping a diary etc. Thanks so much for taking the time to give advice, really appreciate it.:j Just need to find best BT now. Can I transfer my cards and my husband's to one new card?