Please help me with my SOA.....

CH27

so84 wrote: »

so therefore now i have more negative money! nice thanks mr or mrs!!

Better paying now than getting a large bill.

[Deleted User]

You still need to list each of your debts, (both cc's and loan):

Amount owed - minimum monthly payment - APR (%) - this will help us all to see how best to advise prioritising

At the rate that you are currently repaying, are any of them going to be fully repaid soon? (and thus freeing up a monthly minimum payment that can be directed elsewhere)

Are your debts actually reducing every month, or are you only managing to pay off the interest?

Can you have a good clear out and put anything that you don't use on e-bay/gumtree/amazon, or have a car boot (and put all the proceeds towards the debt charging you the highest in interest)?

Can you get a second job? You could work one of your weekend days or evenings if your regular jobs is Mon-Fri and you would still get one day off a week. Or you could work for an agency and work as and when you could - depending on your experience/area of work/location/qualifications you could do very well from this.

Responses to your comments above:

* 25% council tax - yes you need to sort this out if you have a lodger as this may come back to bite you later (also, I am assuming that you only have one spare room to let out and taking a second lodger in would not be an option? But if this is not the case and you have a further room that could potentially be let, then is this worth considering?)

*If BT won't let you leave your current contract, then see if they will let you downgrade to a different (and cheaper) package?

*Yes, your energy bills do seem cheap - but just keep an eye on this (check 6-12 monthly) to ensure that you remain on the cheapest rate for your area

*If you go over your minutes most months then you really need to cosider whether you are on the right contact for you - as other contracts may suit your usage better (more minutes less texts perhapse? - you need to look at your past phone bills to see where your high usage has been - if calls than texts, then ensure your next package covers more calls and less texts, or vice cersa). Given that you are paying such a high price for your home phone, make sure that you are using all the benefits of this - and check out calls using skypee and/or voip cheap from your computer - they are cheaper for mobile calls if the minutes you are going over your mobile package are being charged at the "standard rate" - worth checking out.

*clothing - yes you will need to replace items that break or are no longer fit for purpose - but when buying new shop around, use cashback sites, make the most of seasonal sales, and shop in charity shops and on e-bay to try and get the best deals on what you do really need to buy (you can always revert to better stuff and start to replace old stuff like for like when you are debt free - it's not forever, it's just for now), as for loosing weight and needing new - sell the stuff that no longer fits on e-bay and buy stuff that does fit in charity shops/e-bay

*For your travel card - I know it's not always an option, but can you start walking to the first stop on the next zone, cycle to work, share a lisf with someone etc etc (given that the weather is now going to remain resonably good until after the summer, it might be worth looking at walking/cycling options until you have paid down some of your debt - only you will know if this is a viable or ridiculous option)

* Yes £50 on food is low, even for one - what you need to do here is to keep a spending diary and note down what you actually do spend - an SOA is meant to reflect actual expenditure and not the "ideal" expenditure. The only way to really know what it is that you actually spend on food is to keep a diary noting down all spends that you actually make, and see how realistic this is. You need to eat to be healthy, and you need to be healthy for everything else you do in life (work & fun)

*I was not suggesting that you consolodate any of your debt - that is very very rarely a good idea - the only suggestion that I was trying to make was a balance transfer of some of your credit cards on to either 0% ot low life of balance cards - but if you have investigated this and it's not an option, it's not worth considering further

* at renewal shop arounf for contents insurance, as it seems a bit on the high side

* only you can decise if renting your flat out is a viable option - but things to consider would be - what would the mortgage cost if you switched to buy-to-let? (if they allow you to switch?), what would your house insurancces be?, where would you live?, how much would it cost you to live elsewhere ?(rent?, utilities?, and commuting costs?)

If after considering all your options you cannot get your income to meet your expenditure (and I suspect that this may not happen unless there's a radical change in either income or expenditure, then this will be very difficult as there seems to be several things missing from your SOA (e.g. haircuts, going out/money spent for fun, your food budget is possibly unrealistically low, correct CTax payment, emergency fund), then you really need to seek advice from one of the debt charities (CCCS, CAB, Payplan, National debtline) - they will give you FREE, imparrtial, non-judgemental, advice on what your options are and where you can go from here.

HTH

D9

so84

Thank you so much d9, I might try to contact one of these companies today. I defaulted on one of my cards this month so that I could have £100 in my account. Really bad and not a way to live - I did write to them for a payment plan after being told on the phone that I could not reduce my min payment until i had defaulted one payment!! Lets see what the outcome is there. I only have about 2 years left on two big loans - when they clear i will have £400 to start paying off my credit cards. I am looking for part time work and a better paid day job if that happens then i may keep my head out of water then when im 30 be nearer to paying off my credit cards finally.

Thanks for your advice this weekend i will sort out my wardrobe and see what i can sell - and make someone help me do a car boot

RAS

so84 wrote: »

I already have a lodger who pays 600 per month that is shown above

In which case you need to declare this income to the HMRC, as it is over the limit for a tax-free lodger allowance (around £370).

so84

If i do a DMP will it affect me getting another job as i work in finance and they always do credit checks.......