SOA - Please help

MrsMerlot_2

We have both sat down and worked out that we cant afford to carry on as we are. I own the property, but most of the debts are owed to me for paying off my partners previous debts. The situation will not be getting any worse, as he is now in a position to start paying off balances. However, as you can see, its not looking good. He also has to pay CSA £230.00 per month.

We have cut down on everything. We are selling stuff on ebay. We walk as much as possible. We need new clothes but we just dont buy anything, honestly.

I have tried CCCS and solution was to cut down on food.

IF we could consolidate the dates, we could afford to pay a bigger lump sum but I just dont know where to start. The bank?

My mortgage company would borrow us £12000 if we increase the term to 31 years. It is currently 12 on a lifetime tracker with Woolwich.

I feel sick constantly worrying about money and debts and as we both work full time, we still have to get to work and eat. We have no food in, no petrol and no money until payday on thursday.


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1296
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1350
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2646

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 386
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 77
Electricity............................. 55
Gas..................................... 55
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 27
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 9.5
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 42
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 90
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 23
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 14
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 8
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 18
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 11
Life assurance ......................... 14
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1111.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 90000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 91000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 54000....(386)......0<
Mortgage Reserve Acct..........4700.....(0)........0
Total secured & HP debts...... 58700.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit card....................4850......131.......12.7
Credit card....................4700......129.......16.9
Credit card....................850.......20........29.9
Personal loan..................3200......151.......30
Personal loan..................1200......98........7.7
Family loan .....................1900......150..........
Joint personal loan............7000......195.......11.7
Storecard acct.................250.......20........29.9
Credit card....................1250......28........14.2
Total unsecured debts..........23300.....772.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,646
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,111.5
Available for debt repayments........... 1,534.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 772
Amount left after debt repayments....... 762.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 91,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -58,700
Total Unsecured debt.................... -23,300
Net Assets.............................. 9,000

Wee_Pilsbury

MrsMerlot wrote: »

We have both sat down and worked out that we cant afford to carry on as we are. I own the property, but most of the debts are owed to me for paying off my partners previous debts. The situation will not be getting any worse, as he is now in a position to start paying off balances. However, as you can see, its not looking good. He also has to pay CSA £230.00 per month.

We have cut down on everything. We are selling stuff on ebay. We walk as much as possible. We need new clothes but we just dont buy anything, honestly.

I have tried CCCS and solution was to cut down on food.

IF we could consolidate the dates, we could afford to pay a bigger lump sum but I just dont know where to start. The bank?

My mortgage company would borrow us £12000 if we increase the term to 31 years. It is currently 12 on a lifetime tracker with Woolwich.

I feel sick constantly worrying about money and debts and as we both work full time, we still have to get to work and eat. We have no food in, no petrol and no money until payday on thursday.


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1296
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1350
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2646

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 386
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 77
Electricity............................. 55
Gas..................................... 55
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 27
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 40 can you cancel and go PAYG?
TV Licence.............................. 9.5
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 42 cancel and get Freeview?
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 could drop by at least £50 - cook from scratch - check out the Oldstyle board for hints
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 90
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 23
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 14
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 8
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 18
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 11
Life assurance ......................... 14
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1111.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 90000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 91000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 54000....(386)......0<
Mortgage Reserve Acct..........4700.....(0)........0
Total secured & HP debts...... 58700.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit card....................4850......131.......12.7
Credit card....................4700......129.......16.9
Credit card....................850.......20........29.9
Personal loan..................3200......151.......30
Personal loan..................1200......98........7.7
Family loan .....................1900......150..........
Joint personal loan............7000......195.......11.7
Storecard acct.................250.......20........29.9
Credit card....................1250......28........14.2
Total unsecured debts..........23300.....772.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,646
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,111.5
Available for debt repayments........... 1,534.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 772
Amount left after debt repayments....... 762.5 Very health surplus here but do you actually have this? If not, then a spending diary would help you see where it all goes.

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 91,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -58,700
Total Unsecured debt.................... -23,300
Net Assets.............................. 9,000

Well done for posting - think of this as the beginning of a brighter future. I'm not an expert by any manner of means but I've highlighted a few things that caught my eye. The main one is that after debt repayments and expenses you have a good surplus - on paper anyway. I suspect you don't have this really so a spending diary would seem to be the best way to tighten up the details in the SOA.

Good luck - more good advice will be along very soon from others.

brokeinlondon

Have you tried comparing your electricity and gas with other suppliers? Perhaps you could knock those down a bit.

I can't really see where else you could cut down, except your groceries spend.

I agree with Wee Pilsbury, you really need to find out where that surplus is going!

All the best
M

gettingbackontrack

As you seem to have a surplus for debt repayment according to your SOA, is it worth keeping a spending diary? I started this a month or so ago and it really makes you think about spending when you put every £2 here and £1.50 there down on paper. Then you can add it up after a month and see where the money all goes.

MrsMerlot_2

I have started a spending diary working back a few weeks and I do tend to save receipts!

Gift for a birthday £20, party drinks 2 adults and 2 children £40, DH smokes -10 a day - we have managed to get through 4 bottles of cheap wine to drown our sorrows £23, windscreen wiper £23, vets bill £122, window cleaner £10, keep fit class £3, retirement collection at work £5, extra fruit from market £6.50, cold and flu tablets £6.80, car wash £3, extra trip to supermarket for bread!£23, taxi fare to pick son up from school - DH does not drive and works 10 miles from school - we have him one night only access £10....... it just seems as though there is always something during normal day to day living and we are just not paying off any debts.

I know things could be a lot worse, but I just need to sort out the debts.

We hope to get married next year, but its never going to happen :-(

We really would like to try for a baby, as I'm 38 and time is flying by, but we just cant do it.

He also owes his ex wife money and pays her £130 each month but this will be paid in 10 months.

House insurance, car insurance, MOT, tax all due in May/June. Car is 10 years old and becoming less reliable.

How can we consolidate the credit cards/loans/store account/mortgage reserve into one loan over longer term if no one will borrow us any money? Is there a way?

dave1961

Hi MrsMerlot,
This might help, I was once in debt over 100K in 2003, my story is post on a reply in another stream, but I got out of it, you can too. Firstly you've already started by identifying what's going where, good.

Concentrate on the debts you can something about...all the stuff already mentioned by others. Next the pile of unsecured stuff, this has to be tackled first.

I was shown a method of prioritising these and concentrating on them one at a time, each journey starts with a single step !

Open an excel spread sheet, call it debt. make five columns name them

DEBT AMOUNT MONTHLY RANK ORDER

in the first column put the debt
in second amount
in third how much you pay each month.
in fourth divide 2nd col by 3 col this will give a number how many months each will take to pay off.
in fifth give them a rank, this important. the lowest number in col 4, becomes number ONE, next lowest TWO, and so on.

so when you have all 9, unsecured debts in order you attack !
pay all debts as normal, except number 1. If number 1 has a monthly payment of say £25.00 per month then pay this plus much as you can humanly afford from you surplus, don't make any excuses. be ruthless with yourself. Add as much as you can each month, say you can add £200, then pay the 25 + 200 = 225 off of debt 1 until it's gone ! then attack debt 2, if that's say £75.00 pay 75 plus all the money you were paying on debt 1, so 75 + 225 = 300, each month til debt 2 is gone, then attack debt 3, and so on.

A couple of very important points here, stick to it, try to add more to your debt attack fund when ever you can.

Do not add to your debt, cut up those store and credit cards.

don't beat yourself up if an emergency happens, use the fund if say the washing machine explodes and you need a new one (which is what happened to us) buy a new one, you'll find you will be able to buy it cash instead of 1 months debt attack, it will only put you back one month.

keep the excel programme going, work out when each debt will finish, and enjoy each little triumph as another debt disappears.

This work for me. Keep positive belive you can do it, because you can.

LandyAndy

dave1961, wouldn't it be better to rank them in descending order of interest rate?

Tixy

Hi

MrsMerlot wrote: »

I have started a spending diary working back a few weeks and I do tend to save receipts!

Gift for a birthday £20, party drinks 2 adults and 2 children £40, DH smokes -10 a day - we have managed to get through 4 bottles of cheap wine to drown our sorrows £23, windscreen wiper £23, vets bill £122, window cleaner £10, keep fit class £3, retirement collection at work £5, extra fruit from market £6.50, cold and flu tablets £6.80, car wash £3, extra trip to supermarket for bread!£23, taxi fare to pick son up from school - DH does not drive and works 10 miles from school - we have him one night only access £10....... it just seems as though there is always something during normal day to day living and we are just not paying off any debts. a lot of these costs highlight that your SoA is not complete - which is why you don't have the expected surplus. So you need to include a budget for presents, for entertainment, you need to put in the cost of smoking etc. For car maintenance you need to budget for MOT, service, new tyres and a bit for the little extras (like wipers).
The taxi fares need to go in other transport etc. Vet fees - work out a monthly estimate based on the overall annual cost etc. If you have a window cleaner and go to exercise classes then add in extra lines to put these costs in. You also need to put in the CSA payment.
That will give you a better idea of your monthly surplus, which will be a lot less than £762 but at least might be realistic.

I know things could be a lot worse, but I just need to sort out the debts.

We hope to get married next year, but its never going to happen :-(

We really would like to try for a baby, as I'm 38 and time is flying by, but we just cant do it.

He also owes his ex wife money and pays her £130 each month but this will be paid in 10 months. Add this in to the list of debts if its not the family loan showing.

House insurance, car insurance, MOT, tax all due in May/June. Car is 10 years old and becoming less reliable.

How can we consolidate the credit cards/loans/store account/mortgage reserve into one loan over longer term if no one will borrow us any money? Is there a way?

I would say you probably don't stand a chance of consolidating at the moment due to the level of debts you already have.
However I would also say you don't want to be paying your debts over a longer period because as your finances stand you can afford your minimum payments. What you need to be doing is paying off more when you can afford it.

So once you have a new SoA with a realistic surplus figure you should then be able to use that surplus to snowball your debts, starting with that storecard (this is similar to what dave1961 has posted but is based on the interest rates) - but you can use the calculator already built into the makesenseofcards site that you have already done the SoA on.

RAS

MrsMerlot wrote: »

Gift for a birthday £20, - you have nothing in your SOA for presents. Is this a priority present (close family) or a keeping up with the Jones present?

party drinks 2 adults and 2 children £40, - you have nothing in your SOA for entertainments. Why not if you are spending like this?

DH smokes -10 a day - is this in your household budget, if not, you need to put that into ents as well.

we have managed to get through 4 bottles of cheap wine to drown our sorrows £23, - that is not cheap at £6 a bottle and if you are doing this regularly, you need to put it into housekeeping or ents.

windscreen wiper £23, car wash £3,- you have nothing in your SOA for car maintenance - how much did you spend last year. Divide by 12 and make that provision

vets bill £122, was this not covered by the insurance? If not, you need to increase this item on your SOA.

window cleaner £10, - where is this on you SOA?

keep fit class £3, - this is ents

retirement collection at work £5,

extra fruit from market £6.50, extra trip to supermarket for bread!£23, this should be out of the housekeeping budget

cold and flu tablets £6.80, Prescriptions or housekeeping

taxi fare to pick son up from school - DH does not drive and works 10 miles from school - we have him one night only access £10...... - this should come under other child expenses. does it?

It just seems as though there is always something during normal day to day living and we are just not paying off any debts.

Err no - it seems that you do not budget for a large number of bills that you pay out routinely. You need to revise your SOA above.
I know things could be a lot worse, but I just need to sort out the debts.

House insurance, car insurance, MOT, tax all due in May/June. Car is 10 years old and becoming less reliable. - According to your SOA, these are already included in your SOA, except for the MOT. It is more cost effective to pay half yearly or yearly, but if you have to pay monthly for a while, that is better than putting it on a massively expensive credit card.

MrsMerlot wrote: »

How can we consolidate the credit cards/loans/store account/mortgage reserve into one loan over longer term if no one will borrow us any money? Is there a way?

You would be completely daft to consolidate this debt or to borrow against your house.

Both you and OH need a very big wake up call.

Start by going through every credit card and bank account bill for the last year and work out what you spend where.

It looks like there is a lot of money frittered away on drinks, booze, treats for yourselves and others.

If you could afford this, then you would not be in the sort of debt you are acquiring.

I would go so far as to suggest that you seriously review your relationship if your OH does not shape up and start cutting back on unnecessary expenditure sharpish.

dave1961

Hi LandyAndy,

Interest rates make very little difference in the long run, it is the speed you can clear a debt, and use that cash to attack the next debt which is important. This also provides important momentum and encouragement during the debt destruction process.

Hope this makes sense.

RAS

MrsMerlot wrote: »

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit card....................4850......131.......12.7
Credit card....................4700......129.......16.9
Credit card....................850.......20........29.9
Personal loan..................3200......151.......30
Personal loan..................1200......98........7.7
Family loan .....................1900......150..........
Joint personal loan............7000......195.......11.7
Storecard acct.................250.......20........29.9
Credit card....................1250......28........14.2
Total unsecured debts..........23300.....772.......-

We need the maximum limits on all those cards. And to know if you can repay early on the loans without penalty.

With your current SOA, you can clear two of the worst debts in a couple of months.