In a lot of debt - please help!!

BellaMay10

Hello, I posted a little while ago about my financial situation - basically I'm in a lot of debt - I was advised to do a SOA before anyone could offer any real advice so here we go....makes pretty depressing reading I must say!!

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1330
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 82
Other income............................ 600 (husband pays £150 per week to cover part of mortgage/bills etc)
Total monthly income.................... 2012

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 420
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 140
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 27
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 46
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 260
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 55
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 15
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1469

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 165000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 165,000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 131,500...(420)......4% (not fixed)
Total secured & HP debts...... 131,500

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan - LTSB....................9000......235.......0
Barclay Card...................7000......150.......0
MBSA Card......................6000......120.......0
Overdraft......................2500......26........0
DFS ...........................500.......32........0
Next account...................270.......44........0
Total unsecured debts..........25270.....607

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,012
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,469
Available for debt repayments........... 543
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 607
Amount short for making debt repayments. -64

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 165,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -131,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -25,270
Net Assets.............................. 8,230

Some explanation...My husband has bad debt as well and is on a DMP because of this we try to keep our finances separate - although we do have a joint mortgage. He pays £150 a week into my account to cover bills etc rather than having a joint account.
I have a company car hence no car costs other than fuel (I have a long commute so high fuel expenditure!).
Whilst I'd like to be debt free as soon as possible my main aim is to reduce my monthly debt payments so I don't find myself having to pay for groceries and fuel on my credit card at the end of every month therefore exacerbating the situation! I need to check my credit file but I think my credit score is fairly good at the moment and given my husbands poor rating we need to keep mine good if at all possible.
I know its not generally advised but I feel my best solution would be a debt consolidation loan - spread over a number of years - to reduce the payments but maintain a decent credit rating. But I don't know where to go for advice on debt consolidation loans - as you'll see we don't have too much equity in our house so a secured loan may not be possible?!??!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks

tangyfog

looks very tight. try dropping brands on food shopping might save £75. and drop cable. should save £100+

Cant think of anything else apart from do some extra hours?

GeorgieFTB

OK here we go.... *rubs hands together*

BellaMay10 wrote: »

Hello, I posted a little while ago about my financial situation - basically I'm in a lot of debt - I was advised to do a SOA before anyone could offer any real advice so here we go....makes pretty depressing reading I must say!!

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1330
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 82
Other income............................ 600 (husband pays £150 per week to cover part of mortgage/bills etc)
Total monthly income.................... 2012

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 420 - is this interest only? could switch to that to help out with some of the expensive debt
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 140
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 27 - check comparision sites can get this cheaper
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 46 - cut down, go freeview, add telephone into it etc
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 - without too much work this should be able to be £200, try to aim for £250 at first
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 260 - you've already said you commute but anyway of car sharing?
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 55
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15 - check comparision sites I think you can get both buildings and contents for around £20, then use cashback sites to trim this even more
Contents insurance...................... 15 - see above
Life assurance ......................... 20 - I'd check this is the cheapest you can get
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 40 - whats this for? can it be cut down?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 - should have something here
Total monthly expenses.................. 1469

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 165000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 165,000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 131,500...(420)......4% (not fixed)
Total secured & HP debts...... 131,500

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan - LTSB....................9000......235.......0
Barclay Card...................7000......150.......0
MBSA Card......................6000......120.......0
Overdraft......................2500......26........0
DFS ...........................500.......32........0
Next account...................270.......44........0
Total unsecured debts..........25270.....607 - need the apr's to know which debt you should go after first

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,012
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,469
Available for debt repayments........... 543
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 607
Amount short for making debt repayments. -64 - this can easily be made up by cutting down a little here and there then throw it at your most expensive debt

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 165,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -131,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -25,270
Net Assets.............................. 8,230

Some explanation...My husband has bad debt as well and is on a DMP because of this we try to keep our finances separate - although we do have a joint mortgage. He pays £150 a week into my account to cover bills etc rather than having a joint account.
I have a company car hence no car costs other than fuel (I have a long commute so high fuel expenditure!).
Whilst I'd like to be debt free as soon as possible my main aim is to reduce my monthly debt payments so I don't find myself having to pay for groceries and fuel on my credit card at the end of every month therefore exacerbating the situation! I need to check my credit file but I think my credit score is fairly good at the moment and given my husbands poor rating we need to keep mine good if at all possible.
I know its not generally advised but I feel my best solution would be a debt consolidation loan - spread over a number of years - to reduce the payments but maintain a decent credit rating. But I don't know where to go for advice on debt consolidation loans - as you'll see we don't have too much equity in our house so a secured loan may not be possible?!??!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks

OK, it doesn't look too bad, you should start a spending diary to make sure your figures are accurate, and take a look at the Old Style board to see if you can save on anything else.

Consolidation is a sticky subject on this board, it's fine if you deal with the root cause of your financial issues, because all too often people consolidate then continue spending on their CCs, which just increases their debt.

Good luck
Gx

Deeperblue

I'm a bit confused about your husbands situation. Is he working? Is there anyway he contribute more for the household bills? £150 is nowhere near half and if he's working and his only other expenditure is his DMP maybe he could afford to contribute a little more?

Other than that I agree with tangyfog.

Does a £64 shortfall sound about right for the end of the month or is it more than that in reality? Have you done a spending diary?

I'm sure someone will be along soon with advice about loans, and well done for tackling this!

vasseur

BellaMay10 wrote: »

Hello, I posted a little while ago about my financial situation - basically I'm in a lot of debt - I was advised to do a SOA before anyone could offer any real advice so here we go....makes pretty depressing reading I must say!!

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1330
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 82
Other income............................ 600 (husband pays £150 per week to cover part of mortgage/bills etc)
Total monthly income.................... 2012

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 420
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 140
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 27
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 46
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 260
Road tax................................ 0 - You need something in here
Car Insurance........................... 0 - Ditto
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 - Ditto
Car parking............................. 0 - Really nothing?
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 55 - What are these?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 15
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 - You need something in here
Total monthly expenses.................. 1469

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 165000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 165,000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 131,500...(420)......4% (not fixed)
Total secured & HP debts...... 131,500

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan - LTSB....................9000......235.......0 - Are these the minimum payments? You need to put the APRs in
Barclay Card...................7000......150.......0
MBSA Card......................6000......120.......0
Overdraft......................2500......26........0
DFS ...........................500.......32........0
Next account...................270.......44........0
Total unsecured debts..........25270.....607

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,012
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,469
Available for debt repayments........... 543
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 607
Amount short for making debt repayments. -64

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 165,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -131,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -25,270
Net Assets.............................. 8,230

Some explanation...My husband has bad debt as well and is on a DMP because of this we try to keep our finances separate - although we do have a joint mortgage. He pays £150 a week into my account to cover bills etc rather than having a joint account.
I have a company car hence no car costs other than fuel (I have a long commute so high fuel expenditure!).
Whilst I'd like to be debt free as soon as possible my main aim is to reduce my monthly debt payments so I don't find myself having to pay for groceries and fuel on my credit card at the end of every month therefore exacerbating the situation! I need to check my credit file but I think my credit score is fairly good at the moment and given my husbands poor rating we need to keep mine good if at all possible.
I know its not generally advised but I feel my best solution would be a debt consolidation loan - spread over a number of years - to reduce the payments but maintain a decent credit rating. But I don't know where to go for advice on debt consolidation loans - as you'll see we don't have too much equity in our house so a secured loan may not be possible?!??!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks

Didn't want to read and run. I have put a few things in for you. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along in a while with more advice.

I wouldn't advise a debt consolidation loan. You have £25k of debt on cards that look like they are maxed out (is that the case?). You need to change your attitude to money. Many people take out a consolidation loan, pay off the cards then take out more and still have the CL to pay off. Could you be disciplined enough not to do that?

jonjamie1970

I have to say looking at your SOA I doubt if you would get a loan to cover your debts, I dont think you have had your light bulb moment.

RAS

Your husband is not paying enough into the household to cover his share.

Who is his DMP with and why are they not making a proper allowance for his share of the household costs?

dancingfairy

Frankly you're building up debts so your partner can pay towards his whilst on a dmp? this doesn't seem to make particular sense to me as it's going to drag you more into the mire as well.
The best approach would be to look at it as a whole with each contributing a fair share to the household running expenses and then each dealing with your debts.
df

BellaMay10

Ok, thanks for the replies....
I was surprised at the shortfall being just £64 - seems to be a lot more than that so I do need to do a spending diary to work out where its going. I agree we can maybe cut the groceries down a bit but they inlcude nappies etc. so not sure by how much.
A quick answer to some of the comments above...yes, mortgage is interest only...as I said, I have a company car so no other expenditure other than fuel...yes, all payments are minimum repayments. No way of car sharing - I live miles from anyone else! Will look on price comparison websites re insurance, phone etc.
I feel my husbands been given a bit of a bashing for 'not paying his way' - not really the case...our monthly expenditure is £1469 - take out £260 for my diesel (not fair he should pay towards my commute!!) leaves us with an expenditure of £1,204, half of which is £602. He pays £600. Yes, he works but only takes home approx £1000 a month - so once you take out his £600 contribution and his debt repayments there isn't a lot left to pay any more into the pot.
I really am ashamed and upset at my/our situation and definitely could be disciplined enough to cut up my credit cards if I could get the debt consolidated. I know it sounds silly given my circumstances but I really don't want to ruin my credit rating if I can avoid it. But it sounds like I probably couldn't get a loan anyway so may have to think again

RAS

Who is his DMP with? The amount he pays should be based on what he can afford.

BellaMay10

Forgot to say, no the credit cards aren't maxed out - one has a limit of £10,800 and the other a limit of £9,000. I also have an egg card and Lloyds TSB card with nothing on them - should I cancel them now?