Debt Check-Up.. Any Suggestions

Undesirable

Hi Guys..

My wife and I have pretty high debt levels, there were a few reasons for running up this amount of debt, some justified and some not, but both are under control now.

I was hoping you guys could take a look at my SOA and see if you can see any place I can save a few pennies, or if there is a better way of tackling our joint debts.

A bit of background before you read on, most of CC are at 0% as we both have CC and we can usually find a way of shifting the debt to avoid paying too much interest.

The 'massive' amount of other travel expenses are down to public transport costs and also we have to get taxi's home from work due to finishing at unsociable hours and there is no way of getting public transport home. I am learning to drive so hopefully I can cut a chunk in these transport costs... and add a whole chunk into car related costs..

Any help would be great.


Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household............ 2
Number of children in household.......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2000
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1100
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3100

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 388.8
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 86
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 110
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 550
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 11
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 25
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1755.17


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 145000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 145000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 126900...(388.8)....1.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 126900....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Tesco Loan.....................21779.....549.......11.9
Mint...........................1687......37.96.....0
Barclaycard....................2610......100.......6.9
Lloyds.........................2575......51.5......4.9
Baerclaycard...................4569......150.......8
Halifax........................5327......100.......0
Virgin.........................5229......59.67.....0
Total unsecured debts..........43776.....1048.13...-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,100
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,755.17
Available for debt repayments........... 1,344.83
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,048.13
Amount left after debt repayments....... 296.7

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 145,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -126,900
Total Unsecured debt.................... -43,776
Net Assets.............................. -25,676

Superbiatch

Hi there, just a quick look (i'm in work atm) but have spotted £110 for mobile phones - this is way to high, can you look at reducing or better still going onto PAYG? If you're stuck in contract, how about reducing your tarriff until you can get out of contract?

Secondly, £300 a month for groceries is excessive, there are some great threads on here which can help you shave off £100 a month for just the two of you

You can still shave bits off here and there to put towards your debts which should mean you can get them down quicker concentrating on the higher interest ones first

You're in a good starting position as you can afford everything, so get those debts paid off as quickly as possible.

Undesirable

Thanks, will have a look at cutting down my groceries each month.

Any other suggestions.

Tixy

Hi

Undesirable wrote: »

Hi Guys..

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household............ 2
Number of children in household.......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2000
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1100
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3100

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 388.8
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 86
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 35 have you checked these are both with the cheapest suppliers recently? and on the best tariffs? I assume you have guessed the split? if you haven't then that is quite high for elec cost.
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 110 these are really high. can you reduce? are you in contracts? if if contracts ask to reduce a tariff, if not find cheaper deals.
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60 could consider switching to the basic tariff.
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 very high for 2 people. Should be doable at around £160 or so, but maybe try reducing to say £200 to start with. Try tips like meal planning for the week before you go to the shops and only buying what is on your list, and try things like the drop a brand challenge.
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 550 does this include the cost of driving lessons? will you be able to afford to buy and run a car even if you pass?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 11 shop around for B&C at renewal, should be able to get a little cheaper based on your house value. Plus always see if you can earn cashback on any new insurance product.
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 25
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1755.17


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 145000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 145000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 126900...(388.8)....1.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 126900....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Tesco Loan.....................21779.....549.......11.9
Mint...........................1687......37.96.....0
Barclaycard....................2610......100.......6.9
Lloyds.........................2575......51.5......4.9
Baerclaycard...................4569......150.......8
Halifax........................5327......100.......0
Virgin.........................5229......59.67.....0
Total unsecured debts..........43776.....1048.13...-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,100
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,755.17
Available for debt repayments........... 1,344.83
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,048.13
Amount left after debt repayments....... 296.7 do you have this spare each month?

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 145,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -126,900
Total Unsecured debt.................... -43,776
Net Assets.............................. -25,676

A few comments above. Do you have the £296 spare each month and are you using it for extra debt repayments on top of the minimums? Whilst its great that some of your debt is at 0% it is getting harder to get these deals and you don't want to end up with the same level of debt on the cards all at high interest rates. And of course there are the BT fees to pay everytime you switch.

Does your tesco loan allow overpayments? obviously this is the debt that is costing you the most at the moment.

Have you run the figures through the snowball calculator to see how long it will take to become debt free if you put all the surplus to your debts? (this won't be accurate as it doesn't take into account the BT fees but should give you a starting point).

Are you still spending on any of the credit cards? Do either of you have overdrafts that are not listed in the list of debts?

Undesirable

Tixy wrote: »

Hi



A few comments above. Do you have the £296 spare each month and are you using it for extra debt repayments on top of the minimums? Whilst its great that some of your debt is at 0% it is getting harder to get these deals and you don't want to end up with the same level of debt on the cards all at high interest rates. And of course there are the BT fees to pay everytime you switch.

Does your tesco loan allow overpayments? obviously this is the debt that is costing you the most at the moment.

Have you run the figures through the snowball calculator to see how long it will take to become debt free if you put all the surplus to your debts? (this won't be accurate as it doesn't take into account the BT fees but should give you a starting point).

Are you still spending on any of the credit cards? Do either of you have overdrafts that are not listed in the list of debts?

The 0% on CC is at best fickle, agreed. Thus far it has all worked out ok, but of course need to be aware that the luxury of 0% may not last forever.

Spoke to Tesco earlier today, I am able to make overpayments, although it will not effect monthly payments.

I did run it through the calculator a while back and it was around 4 years to pay off, roughly the same time as my loan will be completed. i am due a cash sum in 6 or 8 months which is around 9k which I can use to pay a lump sum off CC.

No, not spending on CC, we have a small OD which we dip into now and again, but by no means do we live in the OD.

I think the thing that is worrying me is that, although I may be ok paying all debts now, with only one thing going wrong it will leave me struggling..

Thanks

ERICS_MUM

Could you cancel the satellite/cable telly and just use freeview, to save £60 a month ?

As others have said, you should be able to knock a fair bit off the food bill - does this include lunches, take-out coffees and pastries etc at work ? You could take packed lunches etc.

Would your employer give you an allowance toward your taxi fares if the unsociable hours are "extra" to your contracted hours/times, or do you have to use them purely due to your normal working hours ?

What do you do with the "spare" £296 every month? Does it just disappear, in which case you could keep a spending diary for a couple of months. When I kept one I was shocked at how much I spent on take-out coffees, magazines, impulse buy of nail polish etc. I just stopped all that and saved a good £100 a month :eek:

Good luck, looking forward to seeing your revised SOA once you've worked through our suggestions.

Linda xx

Tixy

Undesirable wrote: »

I think the thing that is worrying me is that, although I may be ok paying all debts now, with only one thing going wrong it will leave me struggling..

Thanks

I know what you mean - whilst there are some cutbacks you could make its easy to think that as the debts are getting paid/overpaid each month then there is nothing to worry about. But should anything happen so one of your loses your income, even just temporarily then all of a sudden that looks like a very high level of debt and the repayments become totally unmanageable.

If you are not using the cards then at least your debts are reducing each month and so heading in the right direction. And if you can free up another £100 or so each month then all the better in terms of getting it cleared quicker.

Good luck.

Mowgli87

Groceries - My OH and I have managed to cut ours down from £300 a month to £120 by planning ahead and not being snobbish when it comes to own brands!

[Deleted User]

Household Information
Number of adults in household............ 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2000 (Any way to increase this - or income below? Overtime? Second job?)
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1100 (as above)

Total monthly income.................... 3100

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 388.8
Council tax............................. 86 (are you paying this over 10 months or 12, consider switching to 12 if you're paying over 10 - alternatively pay this amount during c.tax free months towards debt charging highest APR)
Electricity............................. 35 (check comparison sites)
Gas..................................... 35 (as above)
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 110 (very high even for 2 mobiles, if in contract see if you can reduce a tariff - if out of contract look at SIM only deals, or go PAYG - could get down to £10/month each)
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60 (again, this is high, consider cancelling - or see if combining with phone and internet would be cheaper)
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 (this is also high for 2 adults - check the old style board for ideas and cheap recepies and advice. Drop brands, batch cook, meal plan, only buy what you need and what you will use)
Clothing................................ 30 (essentials only until debt's reduced/paid off)
Other travel............................ 550 (see if this could be cheaper - walk or cycle all or part of the way. Season, weekly, monthly tickets, see if there's any one at work you could car share with)
Buildings insurance..................... 15 (check comparison sites)
Contents insurance...................... 11 (as above)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30 (consider reducing)
Haircuts................................ 25 (see if there's a local college nearby for trainee cuts, go less often etc)
Entertainment........................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 1755.17


Assets
House value (Gross)..................... 145000
Total Assets............................ 145000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 126900...(388.8)....1.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 126900....-.........-

Unsecured Debts (I have put these in the order that you should be paying them off (after the minimum's been paid towards everything)
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Tesco Loan.....................21779.....549.......11.9 (Are you allowed to make penalty free overpayments?)
Baerclaycard...................4569......150.......8
Barclaycard....................2610......100.......6.9
Lloyds.........................2575......51.5......4.9
Mint...........................1687......37.96.....0
Halifax........................5327......100.......0
Virgin.........................5229......59.67.....0
Total unsecured debts..........43776.....1048.13...-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,100
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,755.17
Available for debt repayments........... 1,344.83
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,048.13
Amount left after debt repayments....... 296.7 (Do you actually have this at the end of the month? If so over-pay towards the Tesco loan if you can, if you will be penalised for making overpayments towards this, then make this overpayment to the CC charging you 8%) If you don't have this at the end of the month, then keep a spending diary to see where it goes)

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 145,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -126,900
Total Unsecured debt.................... -43,776
Net Assets.............................. -25,676

Hi, I've made some comments above - hopefully some of them will be of use to you.

Domino9