What's best for me

jillyflower

Hi I'm really finding it hard to make ends meet. I ran a small business for a while but I had to stop trading 21 months ago. The debts I have are mainly from trying to keep the business afloat. They aren't hugh by comparison to some people I've seen on this site but they are just getting too big for me to manage. I owe various people / suppliers about £6,000 and my question is would I be eligable to go down the IVA route. Any help would be greatfully recieved.
Thanks

RAS

jilly

The fees to do an IVA are about £6K and are taken from you payments, so if you paid back the whole lot, the whole lot would go in fees and there would be nothing for your creditors.

Post up a Statement of Affairs and lets see what the problem is.http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

jillyflower

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet


This is my soa. It says there are 2 adults in the household, the second is my 19 year old son who is on a government training scheme and not earning a wage.
I'm not sure where I can make savings on this so any advise on debt management would be helpful,

Thanks

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 750
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 640
Other income............................ 80
Total monthly income.................... 1470

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 550
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 101
Electricity............................. 80
Gas..................................... 80
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 48.03
Telephone (land line)................... 28
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 11.87
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 380
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 20
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 15
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1383.9


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................759.......38........29
store card.....................120.......5.........16
private loan...................2500......20........0
finqnce company................1200......15........0
supplier.......................435.......20........0
supplier.......................97........10........0
accountant.....................400.......20........0
catalogue......................400.......67........0
Total unsecured debts..........5911......195.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,470
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,383.9
Available for debt repayments........... 86.1
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 195
Amount short for making debt repayments. -108.9

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,911
Net Assets.............................. -5,911



Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

ghostmadlittlemiss

jillyflower wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet


This is my soa. It says there are 2 adults in the household, the second is my 19 year old son who is on a government training scheme and not earning a wage.
I'm not sure where I can make savings on this so any advise on debt management would be helpful,

Thanks

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 750
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 640
Other income............................ 80
Total monthly income.................... 1470

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 550
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 101
Electricity............................. 80 - This is quite high, try comparison sites for a better deal.
Gas..................................... 80 - Ditto.
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 48.03
Telephone (land line)................... 28
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 11.87
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 380 - This could be halved through meal plans and batch cooking. Have a look on the Old Style board.
Clothing................................ 30 - Do you need new clothes every month?
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 20
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 15
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 - If you can reduce everything else enough, stick something in here. Or each if something goes wrong (washing machine breaks, ect), it'll go straight on the cards.
Total monthly expenses.................. 1383.9


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................759.......38........29
store card.....................120.......5.........16
private loan...................2500......20........0
finqnce company................1200......15........0
supplier.......................435.......20........0
supplier.......................97........10........0
accountant.....................400.......20........0
catalogue......................400.......67........0
Total unsecured debts..........5911......195.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,470
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,383.9
Available for debt repayments........... 86.1
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 195
Amount short for making debt repayments. -108.9

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,911
Net Assets.............................. -5,911



Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

I've put some advice above. You're not too much short of your minimum payments so with a few reductions (especially that food bill) and possibly a spending diary to make sure you stick to your budget, you should be able to get things under control.
Kayleigh

BLT_2

ghostmadlittlemiss wrote: »

I've put some advice above. You're not too much short of your minimum payments so with a few reductions (especially that food bill) and possibly a spending diary to make sure you stick to your budget, you should be able to get things under control.
Kayleigh

Not a great lover of SOA's to tell the truth, they just give unknown individuals the opportunity to voyeuristically view other peoples personal affairs.

That said I would suggest that 160 pounds a month for utilities (electric and gas) is outrageous. You really need to review this. Are you sure you are on the right package, many providers give large discounts (EON 8 is approximately 26% if I recall for online)

The OP is certainly not 'living it large' as I have seen with other ridiculous SOAs. I hope she manages to find the savings somewhere. I'll take her on a food shop and she can see a professional at work (Morrisons buy 1 get 2 free - I've been eating cat food for 3 weeks )

jillyflower

BLT wrote: »

Not a great lover of SOA's to tell the truth, they just give unknown individuals the opportunity to voyeuristically view other peoples personal affairs.

That said I would suggest that 160 pounds a month for utilities (electric and gas) is outrageous. You really need to review this. Are you sure you are on the right package, many providers give large discounts (EON 8 is approximately 26% if I recall for online)

The OP is certainly not 'living it large' as I have seen with other ridiculous SOAs. I hope she manages to find the savings somewhere. I'll take her on a food shop and she can see a professional at work (Morrisons buy 1 get 2 free - I've been eating cat food for 3 weeks )

Sorry not prepaired to eat cat food. Food bill also includeds school meals.

jillyflower

Thanks for the coments. In reply, no i don't need new clothes every month but amount i've stated includes everything for a year, school uniform, shoes for a growing child (I only buy the cheap ones from shoe zone).

As stated before I'm not prepaired to eat cat food.

As anyone can see I don't have a lavish life style and I have tried cutting down on the food bill but £60 of that goes on school meals each month and the gas and electric are so high because I'm trying to pay off what I already owe them, maybe i should have made that clear on the soa.

podperson

Hi Jilly,

I'm sure the comment about cat food was a joke (well I sincerely hope so anyway!). If you have a look on the Old Style boards there are lots of tips to reduce your grocery bill while still eating well - for example dropping a brand, making more things from scratch or batch cooking. Could your child take packed lunches rather then paying for school meals as this would probably work out cheaper. As you said you don't have any lavish expenses so that is the main thing that stands out where a bit of saving could be made.
You say your oldest is on a training scheme, does he not get an apprentice allowance or an ALG to help with that. Or could he get a part time job to help out a little. Appreciate you must want to help him out but he is an adult now so not unreasonable for him to contribute a bit to the household.
Would also suggest getting advice from one of the free debt charities such as CCCS or National Debtline. As mentioned above an iva has quite steep fees but they would be able to offer more advice on that or on other options such as a dmp.

RAS

jilly

You do not have a lavish life style but you have to live within your means, like it or not.

Your son has to start putting some money into the household if he wishes to live there. It is a desparately harsh fact that the kids of people on benefits (even if working) have to grow up and contribute to the household much earlier than those whose parents earn enough to support them into their twenties.

You certainly do not have to eat catfood, but many people here reckon that £60 per month per person was a low but acceptable amount to spend on groceries. I suspect ot is more like £65-70 now. But even that give you enough to break even.

When will the utility arrrears end?

Do you have any stock left from the company that you can sell?

jillyflower

Thanks for all the suggestions but not many are really helpful. my son sonly gets £45 per week out of that he has to buy any food he wants while at work and as for getting a part time job he's not allowed to while on the training scheme. I can't drop a brand with food because i already buy the economy brand and don't have space for a larger freezer so batch cooking is not an option.