Partner moved out - cash shortfall

ok_c

Hi there, I guess this is about as good a place as anywhere for this - if not apologies.

Anyway, basically I have recently split from my partner who has now moved out leaving me £500 a month short from her contribution.
I can just about make up the difference from my wages to meet bill payments etc, but it leaves me precariously on the cusp of missing payments. So I would like to try and sort my finances out, and reduce my outgoings as far as possible.

At the moment I am half way through a 5yr personal loan paying £250 a month. But I also have 2 credit cards, totalling £6000 - for which I'm paying about £200 a month onto.

My mortgage is 'out of deal' at the moment and I'm paying £480 a month onto that (about 4.7% IIRC, ~70% LTV). I am aware that this will increase as and when the base rate does, but to be honest I'm a little reluctant to re-mortgage or get a new deal as I'm planning on moving to a new area in the next 12 months.

Would anyone care to offer me some advice? I've tossed a few ideas around in my head, but I'm not sure which way to go.


Thanks (in advance)

January20

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Put your statement of affairs (link above) so that people can have a look and have a clear picture of your situation in order to help you.

ETA: just a thought: do you have space for a lodger?

ok_c

Here's my SOA:
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1800
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1800

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 483
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 110
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 7.5
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60 (incl landline and internet)
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
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..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 10
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1192.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 130000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 132000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 90000....(483)......4.74
Total secured & HP debts...... 90000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Cards...................7000......200.......15
Loan...........................10000.....264.......7.7
Total unsecured debts..........17000.....464.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,800
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,192.5
Available for debt repayments........... 607.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 464
Amount left after debt repayments....... 143.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 132,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -90,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,000
Net Assets.............................. 25,000

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

That's off the top of my head though, there might be a few figures slightly out.

Lodger isn't really an option, although there are 2 bedrooms - the house isn't really big enough for a non-couple. Plus I wouldn't be comfortable living with someone I'm not close too (i.e. a good friend etc).

tealady

Hi Your telephone and internet need to be cut, its a luxury not a necessity.
Keep a spending diary to see if you can see where savings can be made (a daily paper or take out coffee can soon mount up)
Flog what you can (books/cd's/dvd's what ever you have).
Look at switching banks to see if you can get a cashback deal.
Check you are on the best deals for gas and electicity and turn off things when not in use.
Make sure you are on the single persons discount for Council tax
HTH

NeverAgain_2

I guessing your credit file is in reasonable order, so how about a 0% balance transfer card?

Other than that, try to reign in spending as much as you can.

The good news is your indebtedness is decreasing each month, so your situation will come right in the end.

Another thought would be an offset account, because you have equity and other debts.

I'm afraid I know little about them, but someone else on here probably will.

dancingfairy

ok_c wrote: »

Here's my SOA:
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1800
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0 not sure if you are entitled to anything? I guess not but may be worth a quick check
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1800

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 483
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 110 single person discount? 2 months free now as well hopefully?
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50 these seem very high - can you switch and save? go on a comparison site and to check and then through a cashback site to switch
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 7.5
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60 (incl landline and internet)
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 150
Clothing................................ 0 probably need to budget something here as you will need clothes at some point
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 0 need to budget for this
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 and this
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..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 10
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0 something here?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1192.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 130000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 132000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 90000....(483)......4.74
Total secured & HP debts...... 90000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Cards...................7000......200.......15
Loan...........................10000.....264.......7.7
Total unsecured debts..........17000.....464.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,800
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,192.5
Available for debt repayments........... 607.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 464
Amount left after debt repayments....... 143.5 where's this going?

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 132,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -90,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,000
Net Assets.............................. 25,000

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

That's off the top of my head though, there might be a few figures slightly out.

Lodger isn't really an option, although there are 2 bedrooms - the house isn't really big enough for a non-couple. Plus I wouldn't be comfortable living with someone I'm not close too (i.e. a good friend etc).

You look like you will have some money spare - you need to shave the gas and electric as they are high but also budget for the other expenses so you can see how much they cost you a month.
Also try a spending diary. Apart from that can you list the credit cards - perhaps you could try and attack them one at a time? you are showing a small surplus and with the council tax free months you could start attacking one? also there may be options to do balance transfers etc to minimise the interest?
Also the more obvious things like selling what you can and trying to do overtime etc or possibly a second job? even a few hours a week in a pub or something would help.
df

ok_c

Hi, thanks for the replies.

I need to be able to work from home, so I can't really chop off the two. The £60 is inclusive of my Sky package, with phone and internet tied in to get a discount. I can try to reduce the sky package, but I'm still in the 12month contract and has a 25% discount applied from when I renewed, so it may not be possible.

My credit file is in order as far as I've never missed any payments - or at least not within the last few years anyway. I've missed a couple in the past through forgetfulness rather than cashflow.
But due to my high amount of borrowing, I'm not sure I'd be able to get a 0% card to cover the current amount owed? Like wise for a(nother) personal loan...

I have been cutting my spending anyway over the last 6months or so, my problem has always been spending on things when I'm bored/depressed which I think I've managed to control now

I expect my gas/electric will reduce now I'm on my own, and I can save 25% off my council tax. I had thought about possible changing my mortgage to IO for 6-12months, to allow myself some breathing space - but I'm not sure if this would be a good idea or not?

Thanks again

dancingfairy

That depends very much on how discipline you are - from what you've said re 'breathing space' and spending money when you're bored would you be able to make sure that the mortgage repayment got put straight towards the other debts? otherwise I suspect that all you will have done is missed some mortgage payments (which no doubt will mean making them up at the end or extra interest?), getting used to having such a low mortgage payment and having not really made any headway in the other debts.
I would try and stabilise the situation for now and then review the situation in a few months time.
df

jonjamie1970

Good luck with this mate, not an easy time having to adjust after splitting with a partner, been there done that, twice. So I managed to live fairly frugally on my own as there is noone else to worry about. I managed to have heating on in just two rooms and the bathroom. switched everything else off electrically when it wasnt needed and at at my parents or shopped on a budget when I could. I have also over the space of 6 months sold most of what I have left that was just taking up space, a whole 20ft containers worth and managed to amass a fair bit in income from these items, some of which were just junk, literally.

jonjamie1970

Oh and ring and get the council tax sorted now, IIRC you can backdate to when your partner moved out. I did anyway.

Calling14

I rent a room out to student teachers - dont see much of them and extra 80 quid a week. Advertise on spareroom. com one of my friends suggested it as I was in a similar position works for me.