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Today was my lowest point...facing up to it - SOA

Today I cried in my bank :(

Having had my card refused even I was shocked. Turned out I had transferred some money into the wrong account but I still had to face the shame of now only having £180 for 3 weeks (Petrol and family to feed from that). I had to lie to my 6yo daughter as to why mummy was sad. However it has also made me realise that it has to stop here.

Have submitted a SOA for you, which is shocking. Can I just say that when I took on this debt my income was almost £1000pm higher. However the bonuses have dried up, interest free periods have come to an end, and I no longer can rob peter to pay paul.

I think that I will go down the DMP with CCCS, but unfortunately as my husband works for where some debts are held (in my name) I am still scared of going down that route. I plan on seeing the moneysense advisor this week at my bank but doubt they can help.

Any suggestions or stories/support will be gratefully appreciated. Will my credit be affected forever? Can I pay extra if my income improves? Will my husbands credit be affected as badly?


Monthly Income Details
Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,600.00
Income from Self Employment (before ta. . . .. . . . . . . . 0.00
State Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Pension / Annuity Payout. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . 135.00
Income From Savings & Investments . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Gifts From Family / Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Monthly Expense Details

In Your Home

Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.00
TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Home Phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00
Garden Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
Household Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.00
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.00
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00
Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.50
Home Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450.00
Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mortgage Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
Mortgage Payment Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180.00
Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00

Motoring & Public Transport

Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130.00
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.33
Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.83
Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.67
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Breakdown Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Debt Repayments

Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600.00
Hire Purchase Repayments. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233.00
Car Loan Repayments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Savings & Investments

Pension Payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Buying Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Mini Cash ISAs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Lump Sum Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Saving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Family

Pet Food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
School Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
School Meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
Pocket Money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
Nappies/Baby Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Laundry/Dry Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Children's Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Baby Sitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Childcare/Play Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
Pet Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Travel Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Entertainment

Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Family Days Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Cinema/Theatre Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Books/Music/Films/Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Big Days Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Shopping for Fun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Pet Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Hobbies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
IT/Computing (eg Anti-virus etc). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
DVD Rental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Drinking Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Eating Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00

Clothes, Health & Beauty

Complimentary Therapies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Optical Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
Beauty Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Healthcare Cashplans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Dental Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Private Medical Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Fitness/Sports/Gym. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Work Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
New Children's Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00

Education & Courses

University Tuition Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
School Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Your Courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

Big One Offs

Funeral Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Wedding Expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Sofa/Kitchen/TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.67
Winter Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Summer Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.67

Odds & Sods

Newspapers & Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 0.00
Regular Charity Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
Smokes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00
Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,735.00


Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 2,144.67


Breakdown of debt

£15450 MBNA
£8400 Halifax
£3300 RBS card
£1800 Egg
£1800 ASDA
£470 Sanander
£400 Next
£2500 Overdraft
Tackling them one step at a time...
1st Debt repaid by Feb 2011, then onto the big ones!

2010 Target...Ebay myself through Xmas.
Total Earned £53.60, Spent Nil.

:A
«13

Comments

  • Deep_In_Debt
    Deep_In_Debt Posts: 8,579 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Mortgage-free Glee!
    Hi

    First things that jump out is your electricity - do you switch everything off at the mains etc rather than leaving stand by? Can you shop around for a better deal/

    What is the 12.50 bank fee?
    Debt 30k in 2008.:eek::o Cleared all my debt in 2013 and loving being debt free :)
    Mortgage free since 2014 :)
  • Deep_In_Debt
    Deep_In_Debt Posts: 8,579 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Mortgage-free Glee!
    Do you also need garden maintenance?

    You've allowed nothing for water - is this included in the rent?
    Debt 30k in 2008.:eek::o Cleared all my debt in 2013 and loving being debt free :)
    Mortgage free since 2014 :)
  • mooomin
    mooomin Posts: 13,703 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker

    Monthly Income Details
    Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,600.00
    Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . 135.00

    Monthly Expense Details

    In Your Home

    Mobile Phone(s) . . 35.00 Can this be reduced? No internet costs?
    TV Licence. . . . 0.00 How do you pay this?
    Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00
    Garden Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.00 Do the garden yourselves?
    Household Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 What is this for?
    Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.00
    Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.00 This and gas seem high unless you have big house!
    Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.00 Think this should be included...
    Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00 Charges or daily fees?
    Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.50 Cancel this unless you use the benefits
    Home Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 This is essential, who pays this?
    Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .450.00
    Mortgage Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 If hubby works for financial servies can he get for less?
    Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180.00 How many people is this for?
    Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00

    Motoring & Public Transport

    Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130.00
    Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.33
    Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35.83
    Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16.67

    Debt Repayments

    Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600.00 For min payments?
    Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233.00

    Family

    Pet Food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00 Must be a small pet, my cats cost a fortune!
    School Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
    School Meals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
    Pocket Money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
    Childcare/Play Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00

    Entertainment

    Eating Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 25.00 This will have to stop I think...

    Clothes, Health & Beauty

    Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
    Work Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 Can you make do with what you have at the moment?
    New Children's Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 Cut this down, look at Freecycle, charity shops etc
    New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 Cut this one out.

    Big One Offs

    Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.67
    Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.67 Cut this now, only buy for kids and tell anyone else not to buy for you, this will stop you feeling guilty!

    Odds & Sods

    Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 Make your own!

    Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,735.00


    Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 2,144.67


    Breakdown of debt

    £15450 MBNA
    £8400 Halifax
    £3300 RBS card
    £1800 Egg
    £1800 ASDA
    £470 Sanander
    £400 Next
    £2500 Overdraft

    Hi and welcome to DFW :hello:

    You have done the right thing by coming here and we will be here to help/support you.

    Can you look at my comments above and don't take anything personally, it's just the first things that came into my mind. Can you also post the minimum payments for your cards and let us know the interest rates too? Do you have any room to balance transfer the high APR ones to a lower rate?

    Take care.
  • MFWannabe
    MFWannabe Posts: 2,480 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 28 August 2010 at 9:40PM
    Hi
    Welcome to the board; you've taken the first step and there's lots of people on here who will give you some very good advise.
    Please can you fill in the soa that is on this site; sorry i don't know how to insert a link to this; but i'm sure someone will be along shortly to help
    MFW 2025 #50: £1989.73/£6000

    12/08/25: Mortgage: £62,500.00
    12/06/25: Mortgage: £65,000.00
    07/03/25: Mortgage: £67,000.00
    18/01/25: Mortgage: £68,500.14
    27/12/24: Mortgage: £69,278.38 

    27/12/24: Debt: £0 🥳😁
    27/12/24: Savings: £12,000

    12/08/25: Savings: £12,000



  • debtfreein5
    debtfreein5 Posts: 26 Forumite
    edited 28 August 2010 at 9:44PM
    Gas and electricity is actually a dual fuel at £122. Have recently checked our tariff which seems to still be the best. £12.50 is for my bank fee (RBS royalties) but this also covers me for breakdown cover, travel and phone insurance and household emergency cover. not yet looked at whether I can look for alternatives.

    All the debts are in my name and because of husbands job (works for bank) I want to keep our finances separate.

    All the other outgoings not included are covered by my husband (as well as the rest of our mortgage.

    Cant switch cards anymore (i think due to amount of my debt)

    Min Payments

    MBNA - £289
    Halifax £130
    RBS £75
    ASDA £55
    Egg £50
    Sant £12
    Next £30 (clothing in budget)
    Tackling them one step at a time...
    1st Debt repaid by Feb 2011, then onto the big ones!

    2010 Target...Ebay myself through Xmas.
    Total Earned £53.60, Spent Nil.

    :A
  • Keeping_Positive
    Keeping_Positive Posts: 4,750 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker PPI Party Pooper
    edited 28 August 2010 at 9:42PM
    Hello

    Welcome to the board. Im sure your husband shouldnt be penalised for your debt so please try CCCS as the monthly repayments are very high. Have a look at some of the challenges on here from upping income to saving on costs it does make a difference when you are focused.

    There is a thread for long term debt free wanabees that is realyy good and supportive. Having to focus for a longer time can be hard. Ill put a link in in a bit.

    Heres the link https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/581094
    :j
    May 2013 new beginnings:j
  • Marisco
    Marisco Posts: 42,036 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Hi DF, here's the link for the SOA in the format that everyone here likes;)

    http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html
  • All the debts are in my name and because of husbands job (works for bank)

    Any chance he could get a low APR loan? I work for a bank and have access to these if needed. It would cover it all but may help if you have some high APRs.
    :j
    May 2013 new beginnings:j
  • MFWannabe
    MFWannabe Posts: 2,480 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    thanks Marisco

    debtfree; could you please fill in this soa that Marisco has posted? You need to put in all incoming and outgoings (including your husbands)
    You can't do this on your own; you need your husbands support. I know you said above that you want to keep your finances seperate but you need to face this together; can i ask is he aware of how bad it is and how bad you are feeling?
    MFW 2025 #50: £1989.73/£6000

    12/08/25: Mortgage: £62,500.00
    12/06/25: Mortgage: £65,000.00
    07/03/25: Mortgage: £67,000.00
    18/01/25: Mortgage: £68,500.14
    27/12/24: Mortgage: £69,278.38 

    27/12/24: Debt: £0 🥳😁
    27/12/24: Savings: £12,000

    12/08/25: Savings: £12,000



  • Hi Freez

    Yes hubby does know. Will look at doing another SOA in the morning.

    Thank you
    Tackling them one step at a time...
    1st Debt repaid by Feb 2011, then onto the big ones!

    2010 Target...Ebay myself through Xmas.
    Total Earned £53.60, Spent Nil.

    :A
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