My SOA - KATCHAMBERS

bonnie_2

Agree with black saturn we haven't got house insurance why line their pockets, half the time they won't pay out anyway.
I take it sky and the cinema are more important to you than your house being reposesed when the interest rate goes up in january. As you are on a tight budget and haven't included council tax which is at least £100 a month, have you any idea how you are going to make the extra payments.

markokeeffe

A couple of points on insurance in my opinion. I would suggest that Life & Critical Illness are essential, and I really would not cut back on that. Also, by taking the policies out young (I believe the OP is only 24!) the premiums will be low and do provide good cover. Also, the buildings and contents cover, which should be a bit higher I think, can be recouped in the event of one claim. Anyone who has witnessed a fire only needs to see how much things can cost.

The areas to cut back on are those that have already been stated. Sky, Cinema, etc etc.

youngandreckless

I personally think that £22 a month on cinema isn't bad, especially because of how much she goes. Surely one treat to make life a bit more enjoyable is ok?
With regards to the holiday situation, you probably will find that you'll be able to shave down the 8 years you will be in debt for once you've implemented all the money saving things you can, so maybe a holiday could wait for a couple of years? What I mean is could you make a pact with yourself that for the next two years (for example) you will live extremely frugally and see if you can make some big dents in the debt, then reassess your finances and if circumstances allow, then start to incorporate a holiday or other treat budget?
I'm a firm believer in having one treat at least to make life a bit easier, but I think to start with you are going to have to be quite tough with yourself - remember it won't be forever and as you and your husband sound like such a strong couple I'm sure you will be able to handle it.
I wish you lots of luck and remember people on this board may sound like they're being overly critical but they do have your best interests at heart and we all hope that you can be debt free as soon as possible x

all_hours

I'd keep the cinema and cut back or cut out sky TV as going to the cinema gets you out of the house. Freeview has plenty of channels - including Film 4, E4, more 4, 4 BBC channels, 4 ITV channels - and there are two new channels from Five.

Cut back on clothes shopping and look on ebay for bargains.

Altogether Tv, entertainment, birthdays, christmas + holidays is costing you over £200 a month. You can't maintain your current lifestyle and pay off the debts. Remember any changes you make don't have to be permanent.

lynzpower

hang on a minute, you havent listed your debts in here under your SOA Kat.

You need to list them really, but for ease Ive copied in from your other thread, but youll need to add the aprs.

all_hours

I agree with youngandreckless.

Also kat, keep a look out on the vouchers, freebie and grabbit forums. You sometimes see info on cheap or free holidays.

lynzpower

Here is a breakdown of what we owe:

£177,000 mortgage
£29,000 loan at same rate as mortgage IS THIS A SECURED LOAN???
£17,000 loan
£23,000 loan
£3,000 hubby student loan 3.0dd?
£11,000 my student loan im guessing 3.odd?
£600 store card ( what did you bu with this, which store)

Total = £260,600
Now if we take away the mortgage that still leaves: £83,600!!!
What a horrible amount of debt to be in so young. When I look at that figure it makes me feel sick. I have known it was around that amount for awhile but didn't really want to acknowledge it, hence why I have stayed away from the DFW board until now.

Because we have been struggling to pay all of these as well as have a fairly happy life we have extended our mortgage to 35 years temporarily so that we have slightly less to pay out, because if we carried on based on the last couple of months we would rack up about £3k debt worth of overdrafts in the space of 10 months, so at least we have sorted that out. However, that isn't going to clear it off very quickly and as far as the other debts go we won't be debt free (excluding the mortgage) untill 2014! That is such a long way off, and we are supposed to be enjoying these years not worrying about debt. I don't know how we could have been so stupid as to run up these kind of debts in such a short space of time with almost nothing to show for it.

Are we really stupid? Do we have too much debt?

I don't even know what the future holds because I am going to be made redundant in either march or july and I really want to focus on my business, but that seems selfish when we have so much debt. My hubby is totally behind my business but there is a big worry that our debts will worsen if I go for it, however, the redundancy is making it the best time to just go for it and if I lock myself into another job I know I will never get the business off the ground like we want. However, if the business does take off it could clear out debt, and if it at the minimum just covers our bills at least I will be happy and not in a job I don't like anymore.

I hadnt read all the way through your other thread, so apologies for stating things that other people have already said.

Wht are the payments on your debt every month?

chivers1977

I have put my thoughts next to your figures:

Sky = £50 - is this multiroom - if so could you lose the extra box.
Northern rock loan = £250 - could you get a better rate on this?
First direct loan = £350 = could you get a better rate on this?
Sofa = £68 (will be paid off in april!) = extra 68 to snowball......
Birthdays & Christmas & holidays = £75 - this has got to stop. max £10 per person.......
Clothes = £50 - you haven't said why you can't buy cheap clothes - big small short or tall but the point is, even if you have only spent £25 per month for the last yr, you must have enough clothes to keep you going. I have lost so much weight since having my son that nothing fits me and I only spend a max of around £20 per month now to get a whole new wardrobe. If you haven't had a drastic size change, you don't need any more. I know that you are only 24 but charity shops do sell nromal high street items not just old lady clothes.
Buildings/contents insurance = £12 - this does not seem a high enough premium for a property value as yours. Mine for a £140k value with a bank staff discount will be £20 per month
Entertainment = £70 (was £300) - You should cut this dowm

lynzpower

Ive been thinking about this some more.

If you do get made redundant in March 07, choose to focyus your attention on your business- you will become completely insolvent and I expect be looking at bankrupcy, or at the very least an IVA.

If bankrupcy is decided, I do not know about what impact this will have on whether you are allowed to run your own business. There is a bankrupcy supporters club on here and MikeSthelens & rog2 seem to know a fair amount about the process along with a few others. It might be worth taking time to have a good read of this.

To all intents an purposes, saving a fiver here and there now isnt going to make that big a difference, come march when you will lose a third of your income.

When that happens you will just about be able to afford to run the mortgage, pay the CT, TV licence, land line, food and possibly one car.

I suggest you take some time to talk this over with your husband, and find out as much information as you can in order to prepare yourselves for what potentially could be happening in the new year.

tomstickland

You are a two car household and you keep your car for the business. I think a bit of planning could allow you to get rid of your car. The business is not bringing in any income at the moment and the car is costing you. Bit of thought needed there.

BTW MK has a lot of bike tracks etc which you can use. I've cycled around the place. No good for delivering goods though unless you have a bike trailer.