Where to go, what to do?

DavePot

Hi Folks I'm here after a recommendation from a good friend of mine.

Any advice would be most welcome. I've produced my SOA below, where do you think I can save, need to start paying more off the unsecured debts? I currently live on £30 a week for me and my 5 year old which is a struggle. My mobile phone will be cancelled in October (the earliest I can cancel) but can't see anywhere I can save. I currently make token payments on the huge unsecured debts and have got them to freeze interest and charges. One things the c/card companies keep doing is passing the debt on. I come to an arrangement and then a month or 2 later a different company is chasingg the debt and I have to go through it all again. Some companies and not very accepting of my offers but I can't do anything about it.Any advice?Thanks in advance
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet


Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1

Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1690
Partners monthly income after tax.......0
Benefits................................ 40
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1730
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 930
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 95
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 95
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 25
Internet Services....................... 14
Groceries etc. .........................120
Clothing................................0
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 10
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0

Total monthly expenses.................. 1562
Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 128000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4400
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 132400
Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 158000...(930)......5.8
Total secured & HP debts...... 158000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................15000.....25........0
Loan...........................8000......20........0
Loan...........................6000......16........0
Prev bank a/c o/d..............3410......20........0
C/Card.........................3960......24........0
C/Card.........................2410......15........0
C/Card.........................2640......20........0
C/Card.........................2950......20........0
Total unsecured debts..........44370.....160.......-
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,730
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,562
Available for debt repayments........... 168
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 160
Amount left after debt repayments....... 8
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 132,400
Total HP & Secured debt................. -158,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -44,370Net Assets.............................. -69,970

DavePot

Don't know why its posted like that, I didn't type it like it, I'll try and tidy it up
Sorted now, I need computer lessons!

curlytop12

NOT SURE WHY OU'VE HAD A LOT OF VIEWS BUT NO REPLIES,
i am only a beginner myself but i'd say gas and electric and contents and building insurance all seem high,maybe worth a look into?
theres 1 adult /1 child in a two bed house worth £110,000 here and we pay
gas £30
elec £20
contents and building ins combined £15 (with swinton)
good luck getting some more advice.
p.s is your house value correct, £30,000 less than mortgage amount?

barbiedoll

Hi Davepot

Have you checked out all the agreements on your credit cards, some of them may be unenforceable? Also, have you got PPI on the cards or loans, which you may be able to claim back? There are template letters on here if you want to request the Consumer Credit Agreements (CCA) on your cards/loans. If they were taken out before 2007 you may find that they are unenforceable, which means that although you will still owe the money, they can't get a court order to make you pay. There's more info on here....

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2532927

With regards to your SOA, I agree, your gas and electric are very high, have a look on the comparison websites and if you change suppliers, use a cashback site to get a few quid back too. You need to put away something for clothing expenses, 5 yr olds grow quickly! The worst thing is your mortgage payment, is there any chance of going interest only for a year or so, to bring the payments down a little? Other than that, there's not much leeway, do make sure that you're claiming all the benefits that you're entitled to as well, child benefit should be around £80 per month for one child. And what about tax credits, do you claim these?

Little_Vics

Hi - didn't want to read and run.

I'd look at your gas bill as it seems quite high. Do you also need cable TV? Do you think you could cut down on car use too?

Am sure more people will be along to give some advice soon. xx

HappyMJ

Nobody's probably offered advice because it looks pretty good. Have you thought bankruptcy or is this low level of income compared to your debts temporary?

The only reason I say it is because it looks like you are working. You owe 7.6 times your salary on your mortgage. And a further 2.2 times your salary on unsecured debt. It's impossible to be able to manage 9.8 times your salary of debt at any interest rate. With some reasonable adjustments to your SOA you could spend all of what you earn on living, have all your debts written off and have a clean credit record in 6 years.

katsu

DavePot wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet


Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1

Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1690
Partners monthly income after tax.......0
Benefits................................ 40 check the entitled to website to see if you can get any other benefits. Alos, can the other parent make a contribution?
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1730
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 930 this is a really high proportion of your income. Any chance you can think of downsizing or extending your mortgage term to reduce your repayments?
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 95 you are getting single person's discount?
Electricity............................. 40 I have a dual fuel deal and use around £20pcm of electric. I have a computer on when we are home but no TV. Fit energy saving bulbs etc and try and reduce consumption
Gas..................................... 95 :eek: this can definitely be reduced. Ensure you are not on estimated bills, reduce usage, lag the hot water tank, check for a better deal and sign up to a new supplier via a cashback site like Quidco or Top Cashback.
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30 check if you can get a better deal by getting a meter fitted.
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 40 Tesco have a sim only deal for £30 with unlimited minutes so shop around when you can and remember you can do this via a cashback site too!
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 25 drop this for now
Internet Services....................... 14 you can get this cheaper - £7.50 if your mobile is with 02, £5 for mobile BB from Orange etc.
Groceries etc. .........................120
Clothing................................0
Petrol/diesel........................... 50 making any short journeys you can walk or cut out?
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10 are you saving the money for this and road tax each month? If not then a spending diary will help you work out where you are spending the money!
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 20 use a cashback site at renewal time
Life assurance ......................... 10
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 I bet you do buy these! Try doing surveys for vouchers, getting bargains in sales for the little one and setting a small budget for this.
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0 never?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0

Total monthly expenses.................. 1562
Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 128000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4400
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 132400
Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 158000...(930)......5.8
Total secured & HP debts...... 158000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................15000.....25........0
Loan...........................8000......20........0
Loan...........................6000......16........0
Prev bank a/c o/d..............3410......20........0
C/Card.........................3960......24........0 have you stopped spending on all these as you are in a DMP? I assume so.
C/Card.........................2410......15........0
C/Card.........................2640......20........0
C/Card.........................2950......20........0
Total unsecured debts..........44370.....160.......-
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,730
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,562
Available for debt repayments........... 168
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 160
Amount left after debt repayments....... 8
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 132,400
Total HP & Secured debt................. -158,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -44,370Net Assets.............................. -69,970

You've got some hard work ahead of you but you can still make some savings. Have a look at the comments above and see what you think.

podperson

Have you checked you're getting all the benefits you're entitled to as seems rather low. Have you checked tax credits, child benefit, council tax benefit?
Gas bill seems very high, I pay around £60 a month for gas and electric with 3 of us in the house. Also can you look at a package for phone, internet and sky if you're not on already, I have a basic one with Virgin for £30 a month including my calls and think Sky/bt do something similar which would save you £20 a month. Could also shop round for buildings and contents as seems a little high.
Also budget something for entertainment/presents. It doesn't have to be a large amount but since you are looking at a long-term budget needs to be something you feel you can stick to.

isy1011

It looks like quite a tight SOA to be honest. Well done for posting.

I havent spotted any outgoing that looks extravagent.

Not sure if you have accounted for everything e.g. no presents, no haircuts, no entertainment at all, no emergency fund.

Can you maximise your income in any way? lodger? part time work? I took in foreign language students once as a way of earning £80 week extra.

Herbie_Hancock_I_wish

HI buddy, I am just bumping your post up. C`est moi from GC.

DavePot

Thanks for all the replies...
Just to clear a few things up. Its right I have £30k negative equity, bought my house when the market peaked. May gas is high due to catching up on arrears, that should drop to 40-50 once I've caught up but will still search to see if cheaper is available. Will look up on my electric and will defo check my house insurances.
No PPI on the unsecured debts and most were taken out since 2007, to fund a very messy split from my ex. She also gets the bulk of the child benefit, tax credits so nothing I can do there. But because she gets that she has to buy his clothes which is why I budgeted 0 there. I honesty don't buy any clothes for myself.
I will speak to my mortgage company about maybe going interest only, see how much that would save me.
I don't necessarily need cable TV Little Vics but as I never go out its a treat for me...maybe I should go without?
Happy MJ, is there any way of going bankrupt without losing my house? I didn't think there was which is why I ruled it out?
Thanks for the very detailed reply Katsu, plenty to think about there. I have 3 months of overpayments left on my gas and then that should become 'normal'. And yes I do buy presents, not many but I do so should budget for this, especially considering whats around the corner. But it is true I never go out. As you can see by my SOA I got no chance of this, its difficult enough on £30 a week.You've given plenty to go on for now so thank you all very much. There is hope...