Fed up with debt

taxi-29

Hi to all the wonderful people of MSE.

I had my LBM moment after realising my debt was 23k and i was getting no where with paying it off.
i got into this mess by having a (if i want it, i'll get it now attitude) instead of saving up for the pleasures of life, the main debt was when i got married in 2009 which we totally blew the budget on.

And recently ive been having alot of time off work(up and down hospital) as we have a baby due this month and we ended up putting alot of bills on c/cards, and also we have missed a few of our payments to household bills:mad:.

now its time i got to get this sorted for the future for us and my baby boy. so i thought i would post for some advice and encouragement as ive seen so many of u have done so amazing

so thanks for reading .

May2013

Firstly...congratulations and good luck on the immanent arrival of your baby son...happy times!!

Secondly...a big old well done on recognising your financial situation so early on...I ignored mine until I had four extra mouths to feed...and even then I still refused to face up to it until they were in their teenage years, by then I’d built up over £50k of debt (you live and you learn so they say )

The standard advice is to complete and post your SOA (you can find a link to the calculator on the sticky at the top of the board). Once you’ve done that the good people here will give you a guide on where you might be able to tweak your budget to help speed things along.

In terms of encouragement and support, you’ll find it in abundance here…the route to a debt free life is rarely short or straight forward, but the advice that you get from MSE will certainly make the journey more informed.

Good luck and keep posting xx

Triggles

taxi-29 - Welcome to DFW. Definitely take the time to complete and post the SOA. I found that when we did ours, it was a bit :eek: to see it all in black and white. No denying the things we were spending that we didn't need to! And it also gives you the chance to look and see where you can trim a bit. People here are pretty helpful, so once you post it, you'll see people giving suggestions as well. Best advice is to take on board what everyone says, as it is usually good information, and then decide how you want to proceed from there. I think organisation and a good bit of support is pretty important, and this site can help with that.

Congrats and good luck with your new little one!

taxi-29

thanks for ur support triggles and may, ill get my soa done as soon as and get it on here for some helpful advice.
i had to come in early today from work as its just to hot to be sitting in a car and sweating to death. think ill have to do a lte one tonight to make up for it.

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi Taxi, welcome to the boards & congratulations on your new arrival (and having your LBM).

You'll get a lot of useful advice when your SOA is posted - it's funny how another set of eyes can make things leap out for the 1st time which, looking back, should've been obvious.

I'd do anything to be sitting and sweating in a car at the minute - it's freezing here (11 deg) and the mist hasn't lifted since Weds!

taxi-29

right finally done my soa so herew it is

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1733
Partners monthly income after tax....... 560
Benefits................................ 128
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2421
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 436
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 38
Council tax............................. 103
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 22
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 9
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1500
Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 125000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 129000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 100000...(436)......
Total secured & HP debts...... 100000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
lloyds overdraft mine..........440.......0.........0
lloyds overdraft wife..........1090......0.........0
lloyds overdraft join..........700.......0.........0
next...........................900.......50........0
halifax c/c....................3072......80........0
virgin c/c.....................4784......80........0
virgin c/c.....................3146......80........0
tesco loan.....................2300......215.......0
lloyds loan....................6013......265.......0
Total unsecured debts..........22445.....770.......
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,421
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,500
Available for debt repayments........... 921
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 770
Amount left after debt repayments....... 151
Total assets (things you own)........... 129,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -100,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -22,445
Net Assets.............................. 6,555

[Deleted User]

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1 is this one child already, so the new baby will mean 2?
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1733 Any way to increase? Over-time?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 560 Is this temporary whilst on maternity leave, or is this permanent?
Benefits................................ 128 what's this? Are you claiming all that you are entitled to? Are you including any additional benifits you will get once the baby arrives?
Total monthly income.................... 2421

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 436
Management charge (leasehold property).. 38
Council tax............................. 103 Are you currently paying this over the usual 10 months? Is so ask your council if you can spread over 12 months as this will bring down the monthly payment
Electricity............................. 35 Although neither this nor gas is high check that you are on the cheapest tariff for your area (check every 6-12 months) and if switching is cheaper try and go through one of the cashback sites (Quidco, topcashback etc)
Gas..................................... 35 as above
Water rates............................. 40 are you on a meter, would a meter be cheaper if not already on one?
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 50 Very high, you already have a home phone - if in contract see if you can downgrade your tariff, if/when out of contract compare SIM only pay monthly, and PAYG deals - there are some good ones around for £10 pm depending on usual usage
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30 What does this include - see if combining with home phone and internet would be cheaper - also consider switching to freesat/freeview
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 This is very high for two adults and one child - try reducing it by a bit (say £50) every month until you are down to around £200 pm - drop brands, meal plan, batch cook, try the cheaper supermarkets - Lidl/Aldi. And take a look over on the old style board foe hints, tips and advice
Clothing................................ 0 should probably be somethting here - even just for the child
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 22
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Buildings insurance..................... 0??
Contents insurance...................... 20 does this also include buildings?
Life assurance ......................... 9
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 0 never?
Entertainment........................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 1500

Assets
Cash.................................... 0 where's the cash that you keep for yearly bills - car maintenance etc, are you actually managing to save this for when it's needed?
House value (Gross)..................... 125000
Car(s).................................. 4000
Total Assets............................ 129000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 100000...(436)......
Total secured & HP debts...... 100000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Are you not being charged anything for having these three overdrafts?
lloyds overdraft mine..........440.......0.........0
lloyds overdraft wife..........1090......0.........0
lloyds overdraft join..........700.......0.........0

You really need to find out what the APR's are on these in order to prioritise - also are the payments that you have made the minimum payments allowed?
next...........................900.......50........0
halifax c/c....................3072......80........0
virgin c/c.....................4784......80........0
virgin c/c.....................3146......80........0
tesco loan.....................2300......215.......0
lloyds loan....................6013......265.......0
Total unsecured debts..........22445.....770

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,421
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,500
Available for debt repayments........... 921
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 770
Amount left after debt repayments....... 151 Well this is great, you have a monthly surplus left at the end of the month to throw at the debt that is costing you the most in interest. However, you mentioned earlier that you are not meeting all of your financial commitments every month - this suggests that your SOA may not be accurate - are you sure that you have included all your monthly spends? Perhapse you need to keep a spending diary for a month or two, or have a look at you past bank statements and see if there's additional spending. Keep a note pad with you noting down all spends that are made from coffees and newspapers to the mortgage and everything in between, and you will soon see where your monthly surplus is going.

Total assets (things you own)........... 129,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -100,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -22,445
Net Assets.............................. 6,555

Hi,

I have made some comments above, I hope that they are of some use.

D9

CH27

edit Domino has said everything for me:D

asp746

looking at ur soa i noticed ur tesco loan only has 10 payments left on it and it'll free up £200 per month:j you'll notice a big difference and hopefully you can just divert that £200 off between your outstanding credit cards. What i did was when i paid extra off i emailed the c/c company to reduce my credit limit - even if it was £30 per month so that way there's no temptation to pay it off and then withdraw it again.

just keep one c/c for an emergency with a balance of your choice on it - mine's £900.

good luck

taxi-29

Domino9 wrote: »

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1 is this one child already, so the new baby will mean 2? no this will be with baby coming
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1733 Any way to increase? Over-time? yes as this is the minimum i nhope to earn
Partners monthly income after tax....... 560 Is this temporary whilst on maternity leave, or is this permanent? yes just tempory
Benefits................................ 128 what's this? Are you claiming all that you are entitled to? Are you including any additional benifits you will get once the baby arrives?this is what i worked out we could claim
Total monthly income.................... 2421

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 436
Management charge (leasehold property).. 38
Council tax............................. 103 Are you currently paying this over the usual 10 months? Is so ask your council if you can spread over 12 months as this will bring down the monthly payment
Electricity............................. 35 Although neither this nor gas is high check that you are on the cheapest tariff for your area (check every 6-12 months) and if switching is cheaper try and go through one of the cashback sites (Quidco, topcashback etc)
Gas..................................... 35 as above
Water rates............................. 40 are you on a meter, would a meter be cheaper if not already on one?
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 50 Very high, you already have a home phone - if in contract see if you can downgrade your tariff, if/when out of contract compare SIM only pay monthly, and PAYG deals - there are some good ones around for £10 pm depending on usual usage this is for 2 mobiles
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30 What does this include - see if combining with home phone and internet would be cheaper - also consider switching to freesat/freeview this is combined on sky
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 This is very high for two adults and one child - try reducing it by a bit (say £50) every month until you are down to around £200 pm - drop brands, meal plan, batch cook, try the cheaper supermarkets - Lidl/Aldi. And take a look over on the old style board foe hints, tips and advice we have tried reducing but my wife likes fresh food and lots of fruit and salads at the moment.
Clothing................................ 0 should probably be somethting here - even just for the child
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 22
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Buildings insurance..................... 0??covered as we pay service charge
Contents insurance...................... 20 does this also include buildings?
Life assurance ......................... 9
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 0 never?wife cuts my hair
Entertainment........................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 1500

Assets
Cash.................................... 0 where's the cash that you keep for yearly bills - car maintenance etc, are you actually managing to save this for when it's needed?No we never save!!!:(
House value (Gross)..................... 125000
Car(s).................................. 4000
Total Assets............................ 129000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 100000...(436)......
Total secured & HP debts...... 100000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Are you not being charged anything for having these three overdrafts?yes but didnt know the rates
lloyds overdraft mine..........440.......0.........0
lloyds overdraft wife..........1090......0.........0
lloyds overdraft join..........700.......0.........0

You really need to find out what the APR's are on these in order to prioritise - also are the payments that you have made the minimum payments allowed?yes all minimum payments and interest rates r hard as percentage of them r 0% but as we have put more on them some is interst:o
next...........................900.......50........0
halifax c/c....................3072......80........0
virgin c/c.....................4784......80........0
virgin c/c.....................3146......80........0
tesco loan.....................2300......215.......0
lloyds loan....................6013......265.......0
Total unsecured debts..........22445.....770

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,421
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,500
Available for debt repayments........... 921
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 770
Amount left after debt repayments....... 151 Well this is great, you have a monthly surplus left at the end of the month to throw at the debt that is costing you the most in interest. However, you mentioned earlier that you are not meeting all of your financial commitments every month - this suggests that your SOA may not be accurate - are you sure that you have included all your monthly spends? Perhapse you need to keep a spending diary for a month or two, or have a look at you past bank statements and see if there's additional spending. Keep a note pad with you noting down all spends that are made from coffees and newspapers to the mortgage and everything in between, and you will soon see where your monthly surplus is going.yeah i think ur right that i need to keep a spending diary as we never have anything left over

Total assets (things you own)........... 129,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -100,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -22,445
Net Assets.............................. 6,555

Hi,

I have made some comments above, I hope that they are of some use.

Thanks for looking over

cassidy0111

Good luck with the baby taxi!