Here we go.....

vickithefairy

Well, after a lot of discussions with DP we have decided enough is enough and we can't carry on like we are especially as I (only wage earner due to genuine disability) could potentially be made redundant in 6 months....

Here is our SOA
Summary

Monthly Budget Summary Amount(£)
Total monthly income 2,799
Monthly expenses (incl. HP & secured loans) 3,327
Available for debt repayments -528
UNsecured debt repayments 759
Amount short for making debt repayments -1,287
Personal Balance Sheet Summary Amount(£)
Total Assets (things you own) 3,000
Total Secured & HP Debt -0
Total Unsecured Debt -35,345
Net Assets -32,345
Household Information

Number of adults in household 2
Number of children in household 2
Number of cars owned 2
Income, Expense, Debt & Asset Details

Income Amount(£)
Monthly income after tax 2049
Partners monthly income 0
Benefits 750 (Incapacity, DLA, Industrial injuries, child benefit andf child tax)
Other income 0
Total monthly income 2799
Expenses Amount(£)
Mortgage 0
Secured/HP loan payments 0
Rent 850
Management charge (leasehold property) 0
Council tax 140
Electricity 100
Gas 100
Water Rates 40
Telephone (land line) 40
Mobile phone 65
TV Licence 12
Satellite/Cable TV 50
Internet services 15
Groceries etc. 350
Clothing 80
Petrol/diesel 130
Road tax 40
Car Insurance 50
Car maintenance (including MOT) 40
Other child related expenses 70
Medical (prescriptions, dentists, opticians etc.) 10
Pet Insurance/Vet bills 10
Contents Insurance 25
Presents (birthday, christmas etc.) 30
Haircuts 60
Entertainment 20
Emergency Fund 1000need to work out how to remove this - I didn't put that in???
Total monthly expenses 3327
Secured & HP Debt Description Debt(£) Monthly(£) APR(%)
Mortgage 0 (0) 0
Secured & HP Debt totals 0 - -
Unsecured Debt Description Debt(£) Monthly(£) APR(%)
cc1 5100 114 23.9
cc2 8800 196 27.9
cc3 1830 47 3.9
sc 315 12 29.9
cc5 6500 164 16.9
cc4 7800 156 21.9
overdraft 5000 70 10
Unsecured Debt totals 35345 759 -
Asset Description Value (£)
Cash 0
House Value (Gross) 0
Shares and bonds 0
Car(s) 3000
Other assets (e.g. endowments, jewellery etc) 0
Total Assets 3000

I have made the call to payplan already and have the phone consult next week....
Some things I am unable to reduce, i.e. sky - recent contract 10 months to go....
And in all honesty I could probably make savings in other areas eg, Lidl instead of Tesco for food

I know We/I have a problem and want to be debt free but have never been debt free since I was old enough to have a bank account....

Help! (Very hard to offend and understand forum talk is so much harder to get across cos we can't see your face or see your tone of voice!)

Jesthar

Hey Vicki, and welcome And congratulations on your lightbulb moment!

If you've done this SOA on our normal site, try hunting for the 'Format - MSE' button - if you copy and paste that format in here it makes it much easier to read

Now, then, let's have a look...

vickithefairy wrote: »

Well, after a lot of discussions with DP we have decided enough is enough and we can't carry on like we are especially as I (only wage earner due to genuine disability) could potentially be made redundant in 6 months....

Here is our SOA
Summary

Monthly Budget Summary Amount(£)
Total monthly income 2,799
Monthly expenses (incl. HP & secured loans) 3,327
Available for debt repayments -528
UNsecured debt repayments 759
Amount short for making debt repayments -1,287
Personal Balance Sheet Summary Amount(£)
Total Assets (things you own) 3,000
Total Secured & HP Debt -0
Total Unsecured Debt -35,345
Net Assets -32,345
Household Information

Number of adults in household 2
Number of children in household 2
Number of cars owned 2
Income, Expense, Debt & Asset Details

Income Amount(£)
Monthly income after tax 2049
Partners monthly income 0
Benefits 750 (Incapacity, DLA, Industrial injuries, child benefit andf child tax)
Other income 0
Total monthly income 2799
Expenses Amount(£)
Mortgage 0
Secured/HP loan payments 0
Rent 850
Management charge (leasehold property) 0
Council tax 140
Electricity 100 - this is very high, are you payin goff arrears? If not, check your tarrif and useage patterns!
Gas 100 - this is very high, are you paying off arrears? If not, check your tarrif and useage patterns!
Oil 0
Water Rates 40
Telephone (land line) 40 - this can be combined with internet and reduced
Mobile phone 65 - if you can reduce your tarrifs do so, or ditch and go PAYG, emergencies only
TV Licence 12
Satellite/Cable TV 50 - this needs to be at least cut down to the minimum package, and preferably ditched and go Freeview instead
Internet services 15 - this can be combined with the phone and reduced
Groceries etc. 350 - you can probably knock £100 of this with savvy shopping and meal planning - check out the 'old style' section of the board for a wealth of help on feeding your family heartily on a shoestring budget
Clothing 80 - this may have to go essentials only for a while
Petrol/diesel 130 - ouch! Can you cut back on journeys?
Road tax 40
Car Insurance 50
Car maintenance (including MOT) 40
Car Parking 0
Other travel 0
Childcare/nursery 0
Other child related expenses 70 - can you clarify what this is? Ta!
Medical (prescriptions, dentists, opticians etc.) 10
Pet Insurance/Vet bills 10
Buildings Insurance 0
Contents Insurance 25
Life Assurance 0
Other Insurance 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc.) 30
Haircuts 60 - this may need to go, or be cut back drastically
Entertainment 20
Holiday 0
Emergency Fund 1000 - :eek: OK, you're drastically in debt, but still putting £1,000 aside for emergencies? Right now your debts *ARE* your emergency, and this needs to go towards them
Total monthly expenses 3327
Secured & HP Debt Description Debt(£) Monthly(£) APR(%)
Mortgage 0 (0) 0
Secured & HP Debt totals 0 - -
Unsecured Debt Description Debt(£) Monthly(£) APR(%)
cc1 5100 114 23.9 - this is your third target
cc2 8800 196 27.9 - this is your second target
cc3 1830 47 3.9
sc 315 12 29.9 - pay this off first, it's tiny and highest interest
cc5 6500 164 16.9
cc4 7800 156 21.9
overdraft 5000 70 10
Unsecured Debt totals 35345 759 -
Asset Description Value (£)
Cash 0
House Value (Gross) 0
Shares and bonds 0
Car(s) 3000
Other assets (e.g. endowments, jewellery etc) 0
Total Assets 3000

I have made the call to payplan already and have the phone consult next week....
Some things I am unable to reduce, i.e. sky - recent contract 10 months to go....
And in all honesty I could probably make savings in other areas eg, Lidl instead of Tesco for food

I know We/I have a problem and want to be debt free but have never been debt free since I was old enough to have a bank account....

Help! (Very hard to offend and understand forum talk is so much harder to get across cos we can't see your face or see your tone of voice!)

Right, the biggest thing here is your £1,000 'emergency fund' - I'm not sure what you're doing with it, but the amount you have put against it you could not only be paying off all your debts each month, but OVERPAYING on the highest interest rate debts by over £400 a month, even before making any savings. That means you could clear that store card in just one month! I know saving something for a rainy day sounds a good idea, but NOT when you are in debt - you'll never earn as much in interest as you're paying each month against your debts.

As you can see, there are some good areas you can make savings in, and I also suspect you desparately need to start a spending diary to find out exactly where all your money is going each month. If you don't know where the pennies are slipping away, you can't plug the holes in your finances, and a spending diary is the best thing to help you do that - I keep one even though I'm not in debt

*hugs* Hope that helps a bit!

~Jes

vickithefairy

I don't remember putting in that emergency fund???!!!! Don't know where that came from!!!

Electric and Gas are both worked out as average spread over a year and then divided - card/key for both. Tends to be very expensive over winter... DP struggles to tolerate cold due to disability....

Telephone now includes internet
Other Internet £15 needs to be cancelled (is a dongle)

Mobiles both recent and reduced tariffs

Satelite - again a recent not well thought out 'upgrade' Unable to cancel (10 months to go!)

Groceries.....I intend to cut back as much as physically possible!

Clothing - maybe extreme, need to cut back, damn kids keep growing!! Includes shoes(school too)

Petrol - to and from work and that's already car sharing!

Child related expenses - school dinners, milk and fruit snacks at school and 1 after school club

Haircuts - will invest in clippers (gotta be cheaper!!)


Thanks for swift reply!!!!

What route is best likely for us to go down???

Jesthar

Hey Vicki

You're welcome Thanks for the extra info, time for some more comments:

vickithefairy wrote: »

I don't remember putting in that emergency fund???!!!! Don't know where that came from!!! *phew!* Suggest you re-do your SOA and repost it, as that is throwing it out by a lot!

Electric and Gas are both worked out as average spread over a year and then divided - card/key for both. Tends to be very expensive over winter... DP struggles to tolerate cold due to disability.... OK... Don't suppose you can switch to a normal billed tarrif, as key meters are a rip off rate! :mad: If you can't, get on the price comparison sites and find the best tarrif you can for prepay, last time I had cause to check Ebico were about the best as they only have a single rate for all accounts no matter how you pay, but no idea what the situation is like now. In the meantime, try cutting your useage - turn off appliances at the wall, try not to use anything that generates heat too much (especially tumble dryers and fan heaters) as they eat electricity

Telephone now includes internet - OK, double check it;s not listed twice?
Other Internet £15 needs to be cancelled (is a dongle) - great! Do this ASAP

Mobiles both recent and reduced tariffs - OK, had to ask! My mobile bill is around £3 PATG

Satelite - again a recent not well thought out 'upgrade' Unable to cancel (10 months to go!) - oooh, annoying - can you at least reduce the package?

Groceries.....I intend to cut back as much as physically possible! - great! :T You'll be *AMAZED* at what can be achieved here

Clothing - maybe extreme, need to cut back, damn kids keep growing!! Includes shoes(school too) - *nods* if the kids need it, they need it, but you can be stricter with yourself and hubby

Petrol - to and from work and that's already car sharing! - Yeowch! My sympathy...

Child related expenses - school dinners, milk and fruit snacks at school and 1 after school club - can you ditch the school dinners and supply packed lunches instead? My packed lunch for work costs me under £1, including fruit, whereas lunch in the canteen would cost me £3+

Haircuts - will invest in clippers (gotta be cheaper!!) - Indeed Another good move


Thanks for swift reply!!!!

What route is best likely for us to go down???

Well, a revised SoA will help us work that out, but if the emergency fund is the only error then theorietically you have money lefto ver each month. As this is obviously not the case, starting a spending diary becomes even more important, as you obviously are missing where some of your cash is going. Do you, for example, have anu insurnace policies you've for gotten - life or pet insurance, for example? Or miss putting something in the 'Holiday' line. If you get all your statements for the last six motnsh together and do a backdated diary, you'll have a much better idea of what's actually going on with your finances.

Again if the emergency fund is the only big error, taking that off technically leaves you with £400+ spare a month already. If your spending diary confirms you have a surplus, or your taking control and cutting back leaves you with one, then you won't need to go on a Debt Management Plan, just start overpaying as much as you can on the highest interest debt (the store card). Then when that one is clear, you move on the next highest interest debt, and so on. This is known as 'snowballing', and you can find a handy online tool to help you work out how long this will take to clear your debt here:

http://www.whatsthecost.co.uk/snowball.aspx

The basic principle is the more you pay off each month, the less interest you are charged, the more you can afford to pay off and so on. Yes, it's going to take quite some time to clear everything. But as long as you are disciplined you have the means to do it without needing to resort to on a debt management plan and the associated stress that entails.

~Jes

foxgloves

Hi,
I'll be surprised if you can't cut at least something off your energy bills by cutting down. I take your point about your partner feeling the cold, if there is no way that wearing extra layers, etc, is going to help (you're probably doing that anyway), see what you can cut down on in all other respects. Lights always being switched off, nothing left on standby, tv/pc only on when someone is properly watching/using it, set washing machine to come on at night if you are on dual tariff, there are loads of little things which might seem tiny on their own, but when you add them up, they can make a difference. Npower sent us one of those electricity use monitors & it amazed us how much it shoots up when you boil a kettle.....before my LBM, I used to boil a whole kettle just for one cup of tea, but not any more. Heating water is expensive, so I often share bath water with partner (but only if I get to go in first!) and I wash everything I can on 30 degrees, 40 'economy cycle' max, never any hotter. With all these economies our energy bills have more than halved. I do understand heating may be difficult for you to reduce. In the coldest months, we concentrate our efforts on heating one downstairs room & spend the evening in that so it still might be possible for you to try something. (I just hate to think of those energy companies having all that money from you!) Best of luck with it, there's loads of good advice from people on here.

vickithefairy

Right..... here is the 'revised' SOA

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................ 2049
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 793.04
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2842.04
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 850
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 130
Electricity............................. 100
Gas..................................... 100
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 38
Telephone (land line)................... 37
Mobile phone............................ 65
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 50
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 135
Road tax................................ 35
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 70
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 25
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 40
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 2368

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 3000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
cc1 mint.......................5100......114.......23.9
cc2 natwest....................8800......197.......25.9
overdraft......................5000......70........15
cc4 hsbc.......................6500......164.......15.9
cc3 barclay....................7800......156.......16.9
store card dp..................315.......12........29.9
Total unsecured debts..........33515.....713.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,842.04
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,368
Available for debt repayments........... 474.04
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 713
Amount short for making debt repayments. -238.96
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -33,515
Net Assets.............................. -30,515


I'm still screwed, aren't I? And I stupidly forgot a credit card too.......Although I want to leave it well alone (a 3.9 for the life of the balance 1850 left on it)

I can easily knock at least £100 off shopping for a month - maybe a wee bit more
Switching Eldest to packet lunches instead of school dinners is not really an option - she has a ild eating disorder which is currently being managed with the support of the school.

I'm going to start shopping around with gas/electric suppliers - we are card/key - we were being sttched up with quaterly payments - at least it is consistent with card/key....

Any other suggestions?

HappyMJ

vickithefairy wrote: »

I'm still screwed, aren't I?

No you are not. Every situation has a resolution. Just look at this line

Available for debt repayments........... 474.04

It means you have 474.04 to make debt repayments. That's a good start. You've said you can cut £100 from the grocery budget so that's good too. The more that can be cut the better. But if you can't find the full repayment then it doesn't matter it's not screwed.

If you can no longer juggle the minimum repayments then you'll have to come to an arrangement to pay. You need to include the £1850 3.9% debt as well as they all need to be part of the same plan. They'll probably get the same payment as they are already getting but you need to allocate the 474.04 that you have available around all the creditors evenly.

And I recommend cancelling Sky. If you are going to pay less than minimum repayments then cancel Sky and put that £50 towards debts. Yes you said 10 months to go on contract. What will they do if you don't pay? They turn it off... That's it they don't do any more than that. They may default you but you'll have defaults anyway for not paying minimum repayments. They won't take you to court over it as they want you back as a customer in the future so forget about the contract and try and avoid defaulting on the the loans and cc's. Same goes for any mobile contracts.

You do know that 474.04 plus your 100 from groceries plus 50 from sky 45 from the mobiles 50 from the emergency fund 20 from reducing haircuts 30 from monthly presents and 20 from entertainment and reducing gas and electric by 25 each that you'll have enough to make your minimum repayments. It totals 839.04 and you only need to make 713 in payments.

edit: And 1 more thing sell a car. You do not need 2. Share the 1 you have.

winner12

Hi there
ref your energy usage there is a little machine you can get for free that hooks up to your electricity supply it shows on a little monitor in your kitchen or anywhere you want to put it how much you are using i found this a great help it encourages you to unplug and switch off saved quite a bit this way reduced my monthly payment from £120 to £58

Simon_Pugsley

winner12 wrote: »

Hi there
ref your energy usage there is a little machine you can get for free that hooks up to your electricity supply it shows on a little monitor in your kitchen or anywhere you want to put it how much you are using i found this a great help it encourages you to unplug and switch off saved quite a bit this way reduced my monthly payment from £120 to £58

Where do you get that from... Would be great help

chevalier

Don't forget your local freecycle or freegle site for clothes for the family. Would free up some money there. Ok they won't be anything special but they are free.

Regarding your partner. Are they able to maybe do online surveys? This would bring a bit of money in that would build up over time. Could they do some selling on ebay if you have stuff to declutter?

good luck
chev

ms_london

Sorry if that has already been mentioned, but can you do a balance transfer onto the 3.9% for life card? What is your credit limit? Even if you could transfer one of your other credit cards onto this one it would make a difference to the interest.....

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 40
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 50

Can these amounts be reduced? Also your grocery budget seems quite high?

I would suggest cancelling your direct debits for your credit cards so that they don't take what they like this next month, and set about what you can afford to repay each of them, write to them explaining about your financial struggle and propose you can pay them £X a month and will be in contact if your circumstances change. Also ask for them to temporarily freeze or reduce your interest. When I was in debt one of my creditors did actually remove my interest (and it was of my higher cards) so basically if you don't ask you don't get. When you have worked out how much you can afford to pay your credit cards just ensure that you make a bigger payment to the creditor who is charging the most interest (this is called snowballing).

Welcome to MSE xx