Can't make ends meet and debt will only grow

beanielou

Was sure I had posted on this but I havent!
You need to show your current income without overtime so we can get a true picture of how things are.
Do you actually save £180 pm for a holiday?
How much do you spend in the supermarket every week?
In your first post you say your debt is 4k approx but the SOA says its only £2800.
Which is correct?
Can you ebay/car boot to raise some money to pay off even the smallest debt?
I take it you have no £££'s left at the end of the month?

beanielou

Oh & you need to start a spending diary so you can see where every penny goes.
An old notebook will be fine.
Good luck!

breakingpoint

No we don't manage to save £180/month for the holiday. Because most of my husband's overtime is after June, we have more money around then. I don't do a weekly supermarket shop. It's about £150/fortnight then daily top-ups of fresh fruit veg and meat from our local Co-op (based on whatever they have on orange sticker pricess).
Debt amount inaccurate as I forgot to enter £1500 overdraft.
Having problems now as there's no overtime and net income is around £1100 per month.
We live in an old Victorian House with 4 metre high ceilings and 3m high windows, hence high heating costs. We only heat the house 1 hour morning and 1 hour evening. Phone includes internet. Insurance is the endowments for the mortgage (which we have switched to repayment but kept paying endowments so we can pay off mortgage early, surplus will go towards replacement windows).

theoretica

The monthly income now is around £1100. So you need to shave about £450 off this budget. I think it could just be done.

breakingpoint wrote: »

Electricity............................. 106
Gas..................................... 200

This is astronomical. Can you get someone in to inspect that the heating and meters are working correctly? I know you said that the house was hard to heat, have you considered the old fashioned method of only heating one room and wrapping up to go elsewhere. With extra blankets and a hot waterbottle frost on the inside of the bedroom windows isn't really a hardship.

Telephone (land line)................... 47.5
Mobile phone............................ 75
Can you shave anything here by looking at deals, going PAYG?

Groceries etc. ......................... 500
Try to stick to this- look in the oldstyle forums for tips.

Clothing................................ 100
Wear what you have unless you are on the point of going around in rags- look in charity shops, ebay, other families, hand downs...

Buildings insurance..................... 112.7 A month? Look around for a better quote

Life assurance ......................... 86.4 A month? Look around for a better quote

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100
Holiday................................. 180
For the moment you have more important uses for this money.

beachie

breakingpoint wrote: »

Doesn't look too bad when presented like this, however this calculation is based on my husband's last year's income so does not account for the fact there is currently no overtime. The monthly income now is around £1100. Also I think I have hugely underestimated groceries.



Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 5
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1672 - Put in your current wage
Benefits................................ 935
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2607

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 373
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 156Is this over 12 months or 10?
Electricity............................. 106This is high! Are you using it effectively and turning off lights etc.
Gas..................................... 200 Will this come down over the summer? Still high but colder up there than here.
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 47.5This is really high. I pay £22 a month for broadband, evenings calls etc.
Mobile phone............................ 75Is this for 2 mobiles? Could go on PAYG. Make sure you only use what you are contracted for
TV Licence.............................. 12.43
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 500Could reduce this to £200 or less. Plan meals and look out for reduced items
Clothing................................ 100Is this for little one? Still it is quite high! Make sure you wear what you have
Petrol/diesel........................... 200Understand you can't reduce this but is your car economical? Could changing it be a cost benefit?
Road tax................................ 17
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
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..................... 112.7This is massive but understand the issues with snow damage. Have you shopped around to get the best deal?
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 86.4Is there a better deal?
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100This is high - £1200 a year on presents! Look out for presents throughout the year.
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 180You can't afford this - have a holiday at home this year and you will pay off the debt!
Emergency fund.......................... 0Need something here
Total monthly expenses.................. 2381.03


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 200000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 30000Whats this?
Total Assets............................ 230500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 28000....(373)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 28000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
egg............................1312.22...26.78.....0
tesco..........................127.42....11........0
halifax........................710.07....15.62.....0
kids...........................660.......30........0
Total unsecured debts..........2809.71...83.4......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,607
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,381.03
Available for debt repayments........... 225.97
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 83.4
Amount left after debt repayments....... 142.57

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 230,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -28,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,809.71
Net Assets.............................. 199,690.29

I am pretty sure with some planning you can come in at a postive figure even with your lower income.

breakingpoint

Mobile phones - this figure represents phones for 5 of us. Home phone includes internet. Clothing is an estimate - the majority of this figure is based on shoes - 5 pairs of growing feet in the house. Buildings/contents Insurance, as mentioned above we are virtually uninsurable and it took a lot of searching to get this cover, cheapest I could find. Life insurance is the endowments, only 3 years to go, would be foolish to change now.
Presents and holiday figure are both estimates. Not to forget there are 7 of us in the house.

breakingpoint

Other assets are the maturity value of the endowments, not sure if this is a correct way to present them.
The car is a 7 seater - not much we can do about that, having 5 kids.
Council tax is over 12 months and includes water rates.
Have guessed at split between Gas and Electricity. Total is £306. Washing and drying for 7 is costly and up here outdoor drying days can't always be relied on. The £306/month is an average over the year. This winter we had temperatures down to -15C and a 3 week spell with temperatures never above -2C so clearly this has pushed the bills up. At that point we had to run the gas boiler 24/7 to stop the pipes freezing, although they did anyway and the gas regulator also froze. Boiler is set to 1. No, ice on the inside of the windows is not a hardship, it is a regular feature here.

[Deleted User]

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 5
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0 Any way to put something here - even part-time?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1672 Any way to increase? Overtime? Second job?
Benefits................................ 935 Are you claiming all that you are entitled to?
Total monthly income.................... 2607

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 373
Council tax............................. 156 Is this spread over the usual 10 months, can you ask your council if you can spread over 12?
Electricity............................. 106 This is high, are you in arrears (if so when will it be fully paid), if not in arrears are you in credit with this company (and claim it back)
Gas..................................... 200 as above - also check that you are on the cheapest tariff for your area (often duel fuel and online tariffs are cheaper), (check Uswitch), and if switching males sense then go through the cashback sites for incentives (Quidco, onepoll, topcashback)
Telephone (land line)................... 47.5 This is high - you should be able to get home phone and internet for £20 pm (if this includes pay for TV, consider freeview as an alternative)
Mobile phone............................ 75 Again, this is high, for how many phones? If stuck in contract see if you can reduce a tariff, if/when out of contract look at PAYG and SIM only deals
TV Licence.............................. 12.43
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 (this is quite high, even for a large family, look at dropping brands, meal planning, batch cooking, cooking from scratch(cheaper supermarkets - if there are any neaby - lidl/aldi)
Clothing................................ 100 Again, this is high, every month? Stick to essentials only, wear what you have, and have a clear out and put everything on e-bay that no longer gets worn
Petrol/diesel........................... 200 Any way to reduce? Are all journeys essential?
Road tax................................ 17
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Buildings insurance..................... 112.7
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 86.4
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100 Again, every month- £1200 everyyear, try and trim a bit
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 180 can you afford a holiday? Consider paying your debts first and then saving up for a family holiday?
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2381.03


Assets
Cash.................................... 0 where's the holiday fund?
House value (Gross)..................... 200000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 30000 what does this include, and anything that can be sold to pay down debt?
Total Assets............................ 230500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 28000....(373)......0 You are in the fortunate position to have a very low mortgage compared with the value of the house - while no one here would suggest that you transfer unsecured debt to secured, would it be possible to increase the term of your mortgage, or take a payment holiday, you can always reduce it again, or overpay, once debt free?
Total secured & HP debts...... 28000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR You really need to find out what the APR's are on these debts, so that you know how to prioritise.
egg............................1312.22...26.78.....0
tesco..........................127.42....11........0
halifax........................710.07....15.62.....0
kids...........................660.......30........0 Unless there's something specific that the kids need this for in the short term, then I would put this £30 towards a debt that you are being charged interest on (whichever of your debts is charging the higest interest), and build this back up when the other debts are gone.
Total unsecured debts..........2809.71...83.4


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,607
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,381.03
Available for debt repayments........... 225.97
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 83.4
Amount left after debt repayments....... 142.57 Do you actually have this at the end of the month? If not keep a spending diary to see where it all goes (noting down everything that you spend money on, from a carton of milk to the mortgage and debt repayments and everything in between). If you do have this at the end of every month, then pay this towards the debt that is charging you the higest in interest.

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 230,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -28,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,809.71
Net Assets.............................. 199,690.29[/QUOTE]

Hi,

I have made some comments above, I hope that at lest some of them will be of use to you.

Given that you have a surplus at the end of the month (and you can find it) you are in a good position, overpaying on your debts, no matter how much will help you to pay them back quicker and be debt free sooner.

You need to find out what the APR's are on your debts so that you can priorities overpayments to the one that is costing you the most in interest (and this will make you debtfree sooner). At the end of the page where you filled in your SOA is a snowball calculator - this will help you prioritise them.

HTH

D9

beachie

breakingpoint wrote: »

Mobile phones - this figure represents phones for 5 of us. Home phone includes internet. Clothing is an estimate - the majority of this figure is based on shoes - 5 pairs of growing feet in the house. Buildings/contents Insurance, as mentioned above we are virtually uninsurable and it took a lot of searching to get this cover, cheapest I could find. Life insurance is the endowments, only 3 years to go, would be foolish to change now.
Presents and holiday figure are both estimates. Not to forget there are 7 of us in the house.

Apologies I did miss the fact you have 5 children in the house. Either way should be possible to bring down the food budget a bit but after realising the above I am not sure how you would get to £1100 a month unfortunately but if you can get a job and your over half gets overtime later in the year maybe with careful planning now you can make the year balance?

breakingpoint

Thanks for the advice. I will start a spending diary tomorrow. There are a few areas that really do need attention, most of which will mean tough decisions involving the kids. We pay for unlimited broadband as they play PS3 online and download a lot from the internet - 3 teenagers!
One of the big issues for the food bill is lunches - £2/child per day. I can switch the £2 at primary school to packed lunches, but it will be hard to persuade the 3 at senior school to ignore the peer pressure.
The presents figure could be reduced, however we don't tend to buy anything for the kids unless its a birthday or Christmas.
The big thing we are going to have to try and do is SAVE during the times when the overtime is readily available.
The holiday cost is for 2 weeks in this country self-catering. Our holiday destination is one of the few times we get to meet up with the remainder of the family as we now live 400 miles away from them, so will be hard to relinquish.