Truly shocked....SOA etc so here we go!

MrsPiglet

Hello friendly people

Finally decided to get my head around what we owe and how much we spend each month. I am truly shocked! I was guessing we owed about £20,000 but it's a lot worse than that How on earth will we pay all this back

A lot of our SOA is guesswork as I don't really know how much we spend on going out or clothes each month but I was keen to at least make a start with budgeting today. I am sure I have left things off that should be included as we don't have any cash left to play with each month.

All the debts are as per the last statements and I checked the APRs with the companies. They are all up to date with payments. We don't use the cards and haven't done for a while but the overdrafts flactuate during the month. I have set up a new basic account and will start using that this month.

Over the last few weeks, we have cut down things like house cleaner, puppy sitter for when we are at work (although looking to re-introduce that), dry cleaning and ironing service and have hardly gone out.

I have used the energy comparison sites suggested on here and changed gas and electricity providers today. We will get a small refund on both as we are in credit.

We have Virgin for TV/BB/telephone and commited til the end of October. We will review it then.

We are both on contract for mobiles and can't change it til next year.

I think that's all I have for now. Any suggestions would be appreciated as I can't see how we can get out of this mess

Sorry for the long intro, too much going on in my head!

Many thanks to anyone that reads all this.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2500
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2800
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 5300
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 850
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 117
Electricity............................. 85
Gas..................................... 79
Water rates............................. 33.41
Telephone (land line)................... 40
Mobile phone............................ 95
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 49 includes internet
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 includes food for 2 pups
Clothing................................ 200
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 30
Car Insurance........................... 65
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 25
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 21
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 49 for 2 pups
Buildings insurance..................... 15.32
Contents insurance...................... 14.11
Life assurance ......................... 6.49
Other insurance......................... 14.97
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 45
Entertainment........................... 150
Holiday................................. 60
Emergency fund.......................... 30
Total monthly expenses.................. 2426.42

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 180000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 182000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(850)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 0.........-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Argos card.....................799.84....2.04......0 until January
Virgin credit card.............9101.13...172.......26.9
Barclaycard....................3955.13...79.1......20.9
A&L overdraft..................1000......0.........0
Halifax overdraft..............3000......0.........0 costs about £30 monthly
Halifax credit card............4314.36...52.68.....15.9
Tesco credit card..............5634.95...102.......17.9
Metropolitan ..................5100......200.......0
Halifax credit card............2071.26...30.09.....15.9
Total unsecured debts..........34976.67..637.91....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 5,300
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,466.42
Available for debt repayments........... 2,873.58
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 637.91
Amount left after debt repayments....... 2,235.67
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 182,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -34,976.67
Net Assets.............................. 147,023.33

looktothefuture

Hi Mrs Piglet...

MrsPiglet wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2500
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2800
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 5300
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 850
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 117
Electricity............................. 85 V high - could you switch?
Gas..................................... 79 V high - could you switch?
Water rates............................. 33.41
Telephone (land line)................... 40
Mobile phone............................ 95 V high - I know you can't change but you could stop using it as much
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 49 includes internet
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 includes food for 2 pups - List your pups food seperately and see if you can bring down your food bill by doing the drop a brand challenge and checking out the moneysaving old style board.
Clothing................................ 200 - Got to go! Sell the clothes that you don't use/want/fit!
Petrol/diesel........................... 100 - Could you cut down on your petrol use? Perhaps use public transport for local travel?
Road tax................................ 30 - This is not a monthly payment - Divide by 12 to get your monthly figure
Car Insurance........................... 65 - Could you switch - seems very high
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30 - This is not a monthly payment - Divide by 12 to get your monthly figure
Car parking............................. 25
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 21
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 49 for 2 pups
Buildings insurance..................... 15.32
Contents insurance...................... 14.11
Life assurance ......................... 6.49
Other insurance......................... 14.97 - What's this?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 45 - Cut down frequency of cut or change to a cheaper salon?
Entertainment........................... 150 - You really can't afford this right now - cut it down to £50... use vouchers/discount cards/nights indoors etc instead
Holiday................................. 60 - Put this figure toward your debt
Emergency fund.......................... 30 - You are in an emergency - put this toward your debt
Total monthly expenses.................. 2426.42

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 180000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 182000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(850)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 0.........-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Argos card.....................799.84....2.04......0 until January
Virgin credit card.............9101.13...172.......26.9
Barclaycard....................3955.13...79.1......20.9
A&L overdraft..................1000......0.........0
Halifax overdraft..............3000......0.........0 costs about £30 monthly
Halifax credit card............4314.36...52.68.....15.9
Tesco credit card..............5634.95...102.......17.9
Metropolitan ..................5100......200.......0
Halifax credit card............2071.26...30.09.....15.9
Total unsecured debts..........34976.67..637.91....-

Pay off your highest APR first

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 5,300
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,466.42
Available for debt repayments........... 2,873.58
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 637.91
Amount left after debt repayments....... 2,235.67
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 182,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -34,976.67
Net Assets.............................. 147,023.33

You have quite a bit of leeway when it comes to amount left after debt payments - start immediatly increasing your debt payments from minimum.

Good luck!

the_cat

MrsPiglet wrote: »

Hello friendly people

Finally decided to get my head around what we owe and how much we spend each month. I am truly shocked! I was guessing we owed about £20,000 but it's a lot worse than that How on earth will we pay all this back

A lot of our SOA is guesswork as I don't really know how much we spend on going out or clothes each month but I was keen to at least make a start with budgeting today. I am sure I have left things off that should be included as we don't have any cash left to play with each month.

All the debts are as per the last statements and I checked the APRs with the companies. They are all up to date with payments. We don't use the cards and haven't done for a while but the overdrafts flactuate during the month. I have set up a new basic account and will start using that this month.

Over the last few weeks, we have cut down things like house cleaner, puppy sitter for when we are at work (although looking to re-introduce that), dry cleaning and ironing service and have hardly gone out.

I have used the energy comparison sites suggested on here and changed gas and electricity providers today. We will get a small refund on both as we are in credit.

We have Virgin for TV/BB/telephone and commited til the end of October. We will review it then.

We are both on contract for mobiles and can't change it til next year.

I think that's all I have for now. Any suggestions would be appreciated as I can't see how we can get out of this mess

Sorry for the long intro, too much going on in my head!

Many thanks to anyone that reads all this.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2500
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2800
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 5300
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 850
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 117
Electricity............................. 85 very large for 2 adults out all day. try comparison sites to check
Gas..................................... 79 ditto
Water rates............................. 33.41 meter or rates?
Telephone (land line)................... 40 Ok if you cant get mobile packages reduced at least make sure you use all your minutes up and save here instead!
Mobile phone............................ 95 HUGE!Try to switch packages if you can
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 49 includes internet Luxury, not essential.
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 includes food for 2 pups Room to manouver IMO. I feed 4 adults for this
Clothing................................ 200 HOW MUCH!:eek:
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 30
Car Insurance........................... 65 seems quite high for such low value cars. try shopping around
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 25
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 21
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 49 for 2 pups
Buildings insurance..................... 15.32
Contents insurance...................... 14.11
Life assurance ......................... 6.49
Other insurance......................... 14.97
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 45 EVERY month?
Entertainment........................... 150 ?????
Holiday................................. 60
Emergency fund.......................... 30
Total monthly expenses.................. 2426.42

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 180000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 182000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(850)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 0.........-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Argos card.....................799.84....2.04......0 until January
Virgin credit card.............9101.13...172.......26.9
Barclaycard....................3955.13...79.1......20.9
A&L overdraft..................1000......0.........0
Halifax overdraft..............3000......0.........0 costs about £30 monthly
Halifax credit card............4314.36...52.68.....15.9
Tesco credit card..............5634.95...102.......17.9
Metropolitan ..................5100......200.......0
Halifax credit card............2071.26...30.09.....15.9
Total unsecured debts..........34976.67..637.91....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 5,300
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,466.42
Available for debt repayments........... 2,873.58
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 637.91
Amount left after debt repayments....... 2,235.67
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 182,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -34,976.67
Net Assets.............................. 147,023.33

You have the luxury of choosing how much to cut back from this initial budget as there is a lot of slack. Try putting your details into a snowball calculator. You would probably be able to pay your debts off within about 18 months if you sacrificed a bit, so not a massive mountain to climb!
Good luck

the_cat

PS

Do you actually have over £2200 left at the end of each month?

Nope, thought not, or you wouldn't need to be posting!!:D
Start a spending diary and note EVERY tiny spend until you know what you are spending. Then you can do something about it

looktothefuture

I'm assuming the OP has seriously under budgeted for luxuries and there is alot of leeway in terms of the money left over to pay off her debts but I know with DFW's help, she can do it pretty easily!

MrsPiglet

Hello and thank you for all your help

I can see how it seems like we have a lot of cash left over each month but we simply haven't. We have not budgeted before (I realise this sounds stupid) and every month is a struggle not to exceed our overdraft limits. We have also never looked at our debts together or pooled our money so this is a huge change which will hopefully help.

A few things to add. We are a household of 2 with two adult kids that have meals with us us every week.

Insurance, tax etc is for two very old cars (both over 10) and one of us just passed their test so insurance is very high.

The water cost is £20 and then £13.41 for sewage. Can't change those, called them today.

Can't change mobile tariffs either and £40 is for calls abroad. Looking into reducing that somehow. Family don't have PCs so can't use skype

A lot of the costs are estimates, I am sorry. I will keep track of everything in the coming weeks and do a proper budget.

Thanks very much.

MrsTinks

Insurance for the pups is huge too... £25 per month per dog? ouch! If they are not a problem pedigree then you need to look around for a better deal! Try Axa pet insurance.
You need to work out where the £2200 that's missing is going... get out the card statements and a calendar - try to remember what you might have spent each day... willing to bet that you spend a lot more than £200 on food and £200 on clothes, not to mention entertainment... don't worry... it's normal to under estimate

MrsPiglet

looktothefuture wrote: »

I'm assuming the OP has seriously under budgeted for luxuries and there is alot of leeway in terms of the money left over to pay off her debts but I know with DFW's help, she can do it pretty easily!

This made me smile, thank you

I know we have been stupid in the main and I really appreciate how non judgemental the replies have been.

talana

Yes, keep a spending diary and keep all receipts (ask for them when not automatically given) for at least a month so you know where you're spending.
There are plenty of easy savings from what is on your SOA, but really just focus for now on what's not there.
£2235 is a HUGE amount every month just to disappear into a hole. You need to account for it somehow.

the_cat

MrsPiglet wrote: »

I know we have been stupid in the main and I really appreciate how non judgemental the replies have been.

No not stupid! Stupid is not dealing with it once it becomes a problem...... and you are!!

Besides it's much easier to be a bit blase about your outgoings on a healthy income, (that is at least until you have racked up the debts) than if you are living close to the wire each month

Try digging out your bank statements and credit card bills for the last 3-6 months and jot down what you have spent in each category. Some stuff will be tricky to account for properly (ie: if you have bought clothes in the supermarket etc and any amounts you have frittered under the heading of ' misc cash':D) but it will give you a better idea more quickly

ecoelle

Hi, i think you should have a really good look around the other diaries and SOA's and see what other people are doing to identify exactly how much they are really spending.

If your SOA was correct then you wouldn't be scrabbling round at the end of the month and you wouldn't be in debt, there must be some seious descrepencies in your figures somewhere for it to come out with nearly £3000 available for debt repayment but you say you have only around £700. Try a spending diary, it's a real pain to do but do it for 1 week and i can guarentee you'll a) spend less than normal, just because you know you'll have to write it down, and b) identify where you could save money which are necesities but could be done more cheaply
x