SOA What more can I do.

andys15

I am addicted to this site, but themoreandmore I calculate my debt, it seems to make it take so much longer. I actually get excited when we approach the end of the month to work out how much I have lowered my debt. My grocerys include everything. My mobile is for 3 phones. My utilities is extra I save to cover winter. Water is coming down next month as they have said they have overcharged me, after incresing it 6 months ago by £16 pm. My plan is to live on £1000 pm which will include groceries,petrol,clothes,entertainmnet. Its a struggle keeping the other half happy though. AAAARRRRHHHH. I think a grand is good, she does not, and she is not high maintenance at all. Any suggestions. ps I want debt gone ASAP, she is happy with a 5 year plan.........



Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax................ 3562.35
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1673.85
Benefits................................ 134.8
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 5371
Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 1284
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 141
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 45
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 46.6
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 500
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 100
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10.34
Buildings insurance..................... 12
Contents insurance...................... 11.35
Life assurance ......................... 32
Other insurance......................... 26.25
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2580.66

Assets
Cash.................................... 15
House value (Gross)..................... 250000
Shares and bonds........................ 900
Car(s).................................. 7700
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 258615

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 222000...(1284).....5.34
Total secured & HP debts...... 222000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Dad............................9500......1000......0
Mil............................7250......0.........0
Tesco Loan.....................4609......534.4.....8
Tesco CC.......................66........10........16.9
Halifax CC.....................356.27....8.........12.9
Virgin CC......................605.89....25........0
Natwest CC.....................6550......155.......0
Furniture World................660.......60........0
Tesco Loan.....................9400......242.3.....7.9
Total unsecured debts..........38997.16..2034.7....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 5,371
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,580.66
Available for debt repayments........... 2,790.34
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 2,034.7
Amount left after debt repayments....... 755.64
[Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 258,615
Total HP & Secured debt................. -222,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -38,997.16
Net Assets.............................. -2,382.16

somethingcorporate

Hi Andy,

What have you accrued the 40k debt against? you have a very healthy income so with a few tweaks should easily be able to get back on top.

My immediate advice would be to sell the car and get a cheaper one, you could easily free up 5k to make a huge first dent in the debt.

Your groceries appears very high, check the old style board for ideas on batch cooking and making the most of what you have in the cupboards.

Good luck, you should be able to crush your debt in 2-3 years if you work really hard, even quicker with that income to be fair. You just need to address quite how you got into the debt (and what you have to show for it) first.

HTH.

redsquirrel80

Hi and well done for posting!

I think the first thing you really need to do is get your OH on board - it's not going to be easy if you're pulling in different directions. You're obviously enthusiastic about saving money so hopefully you can get that to rub off on her. Maybe put across the point that the sooner you're debt free the sooner you'll have all that money spare to do other things. It might be worth having a look at this http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx - to see how much you'll save by paying it off quicker, and showing her the results!

£1000 a month sounds pretty reasonable to me. As far as savings go, you seem to be on the right route with sorting out the water etc. I wonder if you could cut down the groceries a bit? I know you haven't added anything for clothing or entertainment, but maybe think about whether you do really need new clothes when you think you do, and what cheap ways you can find to entertain you all - Orange Wednesdays, restaurant voucher deals on here etc.

Lots of luck!

AllieBallie

Hello,

Firstly living off £1000 - this is more than what OH and I live off each month but we still manage to do everything we want to (expect maybe go on a tropical far away holiday every year!). I think there are 2 ways to look at it, either 'do you want to live of £1000 a month?' or the alternative: 'do you want to have a debt hanging over you instead?'....I know which one I'd choose and if i had £750 left over after alls been paid then I'd be shoving every penny of it into my debts to get rid of them fastest. Of course it's whatever suits you best but I have to admit that since you have the money spare, it seems daft to fritter it away when it could be used for better things! (this is just my opinion though )

Ok, so iv put some comments on the SOA for you:

andys15 wrote: »

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax................ 3562.35
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1673.85
Benefits................................ 134.8
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 5371
Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 1284
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 141 - is this over 10months or 12, if 10 then change to 12!
Electricity............................. 50 - this is really really high, shop around!
Gas..................................... 45 likewise for this, shop around and get a cheaper deal
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 46.6
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 35 - this is good for 3 mobiles well done
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 20 - you spend £60 on phone, internet and tv, it might be worth shopping around to get a better deal
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 - check out the old style moneysaving boards for good ideas on how to make your grocery budget go further - meal planning, batch cooking etc.
Clothing................................ 0 - no clothes ever, never ever all year?! what about your kids clothing?! something should go here!!
Petrol/diesel........................... 120 - this is quite high even for 2 cars
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 100
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10.34
Buildings insurance..................... 12
Contents insurance...................... 11.35
Life assurance ......................... 32
Other insurance......................... 26.25 - whats this for?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 - do you honestly spend nothing all year on presents?! something needs to go here otherwise christmas and birthdays will be a shock to the bank balance
Haircuts................................ 0 - something also needs to go here
Entertainment........................... 0 - there probably should be something here too
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 - same for this one, there really needs to be something here for when things break and need fixed or replaced.
Total monthly expenses.................. 2580.66

Assets
Cash.................................... 15
House value (Gross)..................... 250000
Shares and bonds........................ 900
Car(s).................................. 7700
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 258615

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 222000...(1284).....5.34
Total secured & HP debts...... 222000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Dad............................9500......1000......0
Mil............................7250......0.........0
Tesco Loan.....................4609......534.4.....8
Tesco CC.......................66........10........16.9
Halifax CC.....................356.27....8.........12.9
Virgin CC......................605.89....25........0
Natwest CC.....................6550......155.......0
Furniture World................660.......60........0
Tesco Loan.....................9400......242.3.....7.9
Total unsecured debts..........38997.16..2034.7....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 5,371
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,580.66
Available for debt repayments........... 2,790.34
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 2,034.7
Amount left after debt repayments....... 755.64 - do you have this spare at the end of the month? if not you need to do a spending diary and make a note of every single time you spend something from 10p to £100 - its amazing how money can be frittered away on magazines, coffees take aways etc.
[Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 258,615
Total HP & Secured debt................. -222,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -38,997.16
Net Assets.............................. -2,382.16

OK, think I've added everything I can think of, the spending diary is the best thing to start with - I've been doing one for a good few weeks now and its brilliant at telling me where im spending things, even just a coffee once a day in the staff cafe mounts up to £3 a week (£12 a month) which would be better off on my debts than in the cafe till!

Good luck and keep posting - its a good way to keep on track!

Sunnylooloo

andys15 wrote: »

I

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax................ 3562.35
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1673.85
Benefits................................ 134.8
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 5371
Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 1284
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 141 - is this over 10 or 12 months
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 45 After the winter payments have gone out see ifyou can change and do sothrough a cashback site!!
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 46.6
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 20 Can you get a deal? phone/internet?satellite? (not sure if you are in a contract at present)
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 this can probably come down - lots of good tips around!
Clothing................................ 0 really? 2 kids? wife?
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0 never pay any parking? not even when you go shopping? doctors? etc??
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0 no childcare
Other child related expenses............ 100
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10.34
Buildings insurance..................... 12
Contents insurance...................... 11.35
Life assurance ......................... 32
Other insurance......................... 26.25 what isthis for? can you shop around for your insurances
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0 you all have long hair?
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2580.66

Assets
Cash.................................... 15
House value (Gross)..................... 250000
Shares and bonds........................ 900
Car(s).................................. 7700
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 258615

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 222000...(1284).....5.34
Total secured & HP debts...... 222000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Dad............................9500......1000......0
Mil............................7250......0.........0
Tesco Loan.....................4609......534.4.....8
Tesco CC.......................66........10........16.9
Halifax CC.....................356.27....8.........12.9
Virgin CC......................605.89....25........0
Natwest CC.....................6550......155.......0
Furniture World................660.......60........0
Tesco Loan.....................9400......242.3.....7.9
Total unsecured debts..........38997.16..2034.7....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 5,371
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,580.66
Available for debt repayments........... 2,790.34
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 2,034.7
Amount left after debt repayments....... 755.64 do you really have this left or is this spent on presents/clothes/entertainment?
[Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 258,615
Total HP & Secured debt................. -222,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -38,997.16
Net Assets.............................. -2,382.16

Hi Andy

Just a few comments for you... hope they help abit! :eek:

good luck and well done for posting
LL

talana

Amount left after debt repayments....... 755.64

Can you account for that £755 at all. That's the first thing I'd be looking into.

Your plan to live on £1000pm excludes household bills such as council tax, utilities etc I take it?
Groceries looks like the one with biggest potential for cuts.

You have 4 debts there at £660 and below. If it were me, I'd look to clear them in double quick time too (even if that's not strictly following the most expensive first rule). That'll free up another £100 odd a month

Debtfreein2011

Hi!

We do have very similar SOAs don't we!

I would second redsquirrel80 in that you really need to get OH on board. it's taken me a long time to do this with mine, even now I do not think he probably is as into it as I am - but I feel I can tackle the debt at least with his help.

Obviously it's easy to say, but if your other half could realise if you both made a conscious effort to pay off the debt, then once it's gone, there is no reason to scrimp and save after that as you have enough disposable income that you should be able to have a nice social life etc.

With regards to your SOA - your gas and electricity seem quite high. Have you thought about switching these recently? You get cashback on a lot of sites as well as the lower tariff. This would only reduce it by a small amount but I tend to think of things on an annual period so if you save £15 a month on these, which is realistic I think, through better tariffs and reduced usage, then that's £180 a year - a weekend away without the kids somewhere nice! (Or, of course, more money to pay off the debts ))

The only other thing which stands out is your grocery bill - I only have one child at the moment and he is young so not really eating properly, but £500 seems a LOT each month. We were spending this and more until recently, but it really is simple to reduce this (downshift a brand, RESIST buying what you do not need - better still, shop online.)

Also, to help with winning over your other half, there are always vouchers for dinners out in nice restaurants so decide you will say, treat yourself to dinner once a month but then make sure you use a voucher for it. You will then look forward to this treat, and it will not cost you too much in the scheme of things.

Your APRs are all fairly low with the exception of the two small balances so not worth switching to o%.

I think that's all for the moment.

Hope I've helped a little.

andys15

Thanks for all your replies. Gas and electricity are not that expensive. This month my gas bill was £17,and my elecricity bill was £32. I have a bank account which I pay the amounts quoted on my Soa into. This currently has £225 in and will cover the months when my Gas bill is £95 p/m. I used Quidco for this. I am chuffed about the mobiles. £60 internet/phone/broadband, again I have a bankl account for this, sometimes it is £45, other times £62. I have £19 in this account. Clothes, entertainment etc etc, I cannot put a figure on, but my idea is to take £1000 in cash each month to buy clothes, food, petrol, haircuts(mine is free, wifes very much not free). I have just retuned from holiday(v expensive but not added to debt,although some might see it as I could have repaid debt)

My biggest problem I face on a daily basis. I currently pay over £2000 a month towards debt, in less than 2 years I will be debt free and loaded. In that time one child will be approaching 16, do i pay less debt now and enjoy life more now, or keep on the track I am on. Both scenarios will probably lead to regret......

Debtfreein2011

At the risk of getting shot down in flames on this board, I would suggest you pay a little less than £2,000 a month now and enjoy life a little more. So long as you have a good plan and can be disciplined on the amount you do spend, then I think it would do you both good to have a bit of a life rather than living on the breadline. This would mean you pay the debt off over a longer period but IMO it would be worth it. You won't stick to the other way I don't think... As I said, make sure you use vouchers for cinema/meals out and just be frugal. No need to flash the cash, just be a bit more sensible about where you buy things from and were you go out.

andys15

I do have 9 bank accounts, all online with Natwest. Payday is tommorow, and these bank accounts added up have £724 in. Some might say, pay the CC, but the small amount of interest I pay, I wont as I enjoy the fact that nothing phases me anymore in terms of bills. Last month my car broke down, I had no roadside cover, so it cost £145 to be towed. It was a right off and Ihad to buy a new car. £700.50 of ebay. I also had one dog in the vet £183 and 1 unexpected trip to Plmouth £100. This I suppose shows the importance of an emergency fund. What ever I have left over on the £1000 cash,I will pay towards debt, considering I already pay over £2000 anyway.

redsquirrel80

andys15 wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies. Gas and electricity are not that expensive. This month my gas bill was £17,and my elecricity bill was £32. I have a bank account which I pay the amounts quoted on my Soa into. This currently has £225 in and will cover the months when my Gas bill is £95 p/m. I used Quidco for this. I am chuffed about the mobiles. £60 internet/phone/broadband, again I have a bankl account for this, sometimes it is £45, other times £62. I have £19 in this account. Clothes, entertainment etc etc, I cannot put a figure on, but my idea is to take £1000 in cash each month to buy clothes, food, petrol, haircuts(mine is free, wifes very much not free). I have just retuned from holiday(v expensive but not added to debt,although some might see it as I could have repaid debt)

My biggest problem I face on a daily basis. I currently pay over £2000 a month towards debt, in less than 2 years I will be debt free and loaded. In that time one child will be approaching 16, do i pay less debt now and enjoy life more now, or keep on the track I am on. Both scenarios will probably lead to regret......

There's no right answer there I'm afraid, you need to find the balance that works for you. The extra money in a couple of years could be useful if 16 year old is thinking about leaving home/ going to Uni etc though!