Need a little encouragement and advice.

mojito83

I joined this board to get some advice on a loan. Saw alot of references to this part of the site and got intrigued. I would love to be debt free.

I need to get a small loan to ease the stress of arranging a wedding. However I would love that to be the last I did a SOA.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
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................ 1500
Partners monthly income after tax....... 600
Benefits................................ 180
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2280
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 363
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 192
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 149
Electricity............................. 45
Gas..................................... 45
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 240
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 20
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 11
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 14
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1334

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 120000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 8000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 128000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(363)......3.5
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 8600.....(192)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 8600......-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................2900......65........0
credit card....................3000......60........0
loan ..........................4200......118.......0
overdraft......................2500......45........0
Total unsecured debts..........12600.....288.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,280
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,334
Available for debt repayments........... 946
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 288
Amount left after debt repayments....... 658
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 128,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -8,600
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,600
Net Assets.............................. 106,800
Created using the SOA calculator at
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

cc82

Your in a similar situation to me... big sur plus at the end of each month but no idea where it goes??

Your SOA looks ok, there isnt really much you could cut back on. The only thing to mention is your groceries i think... i manage to stick to around £200 a month with 2 adults and a 4 and an 8 year old... might be worth trying to cut back

Good luck xx

mojito83

Yeah those calculations have got my monthly outgoings spot on but I'm lost to where the rest of our cash goes.

I've had a bit of an eye opener on the loan sectionm a poster has claimed my level of debt is massive.

I'm going to try and keep a tab on my spending, get married and then tackle this !!!!! head on.

Malky

I think you'll struggle to get another loan especially one at a competitive rate. I can't understand how you can have over £20K of debt already, a surplus of over £600 per month and still looking to borrow more. The mind boggles.
Can you not sell your car and buy something cheaper?

mustang1

I don't rate your chances of getting a loan at a decent rate. It's not a good way to start married life with so much debt. I would try and cut back as much as you can now so you can still have the big day that you want without the big debt hangover!

Maybe you should start writing down everything you spend. It's only when you do that you start realising how every little thing adds up and it will help you work out where all your money is going.

mojito83

Yeah this soa has made me jack the idea of a loan.

I really need to track what we do with the surplus 600 pounds. It never feels like we have that spare.

What's the best way to tackle paying off the unsecured debt?

[Deleted User]

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
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................ 1500 ANy way to increase any of these incomes - overtime? Second job?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 600 as above
Benefits................................ 180 are you claiming all that you are entitled to?
Total monthly income.................... 2280

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 363
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 192
Council tax............................. 149 Are you currently paying this over the usual 10 months, can you ask to pay over 12 instead
Electricity............................. 45 this and below seem a little on the high side - check that you are on the cheapest tariff for your area (e.g. USwitch), and if switching is benificial then se if there's an incentive through one of the cashback sites (e.g. Quidco, Onepoll, topcashback etc). Also check that you are not in credit with this company - and if you are claim it back
Gas..................................... 45 as above
Telephone (land line)................... 11 what does this include? Internet too?
Mobile phone............................ 35 Could you drop a tariff here or are you stuck in contract - if/when out of contract look at SIM only and PAYG options
TV Licence.............................. 12
Groceries etc. ......................... 240 This is high, and I think that you can probably cut this down without even noticing - meal plan, batch cook, drop brands, try lidl/aldi - have a look on the old style board for sutting grocery costs hints, tips and advice
Clothing................................ 30 Perhapse could reduce to £20 - only buy what is really needed - also have a good clear out and sell what's no longer needed (doesn't fit/doesn't get worn) on E-bay
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 0 ??
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 ??
Other child related expenses............ 20 what does this cover? Is is good value? Can you get the same/similar from somewhere else for cheaper?
Buildings insurance..................... 11 check if b & C combined would bring any saving when you renew
Contents insurance...................... 12 as above
Life assurance ......................... 14
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 never? what about christmas/birthdays etc
Haircuts................................ 0 never?
Entertainment........................... 40 What does this cover?
Emergency fund.......................... 0 might be worth thinking about so you are not reliant on cards
Total monthly expenses.................. 1334

Assets
House value (Gross)..................... 120000
Car(s).................................. 8000
Total Assets............................ 128000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(363)......3.5
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 8600.....(192)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 8600......-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR In order to suggest how to prioritising these, we need to know the APR's.
credit card....................2900......65........0
credit card....................3000......60........0
loan ..........................4200......118.......0
overdraft......................2500......45........0
Total unsecured debts..........12600.....288.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,280
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,334
Available for debt repayments........... 946
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 288
Amount left after debt repayments....... 658 According to this you have a monthly a very healthy monthly surplus - do you actually have this? If not keep a spending diary noting down everything that you spend from a packet of chewing gum, a magazing and a carton of milk, through the DD's and mortgage payments - you will soon see where it goes (at the moment I am guessing the wedding?)

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 128,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -8,600
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,600
Net Assets.............................. 106,800

Hi,

I have made some comments above on where cutbacks could be made in your SOA - I think once you have done a spending diary you will realise where your cash goes.

Take a look at this for any regular spends that you make like a startbucks coffee in the am or bar of chocolate at lunch etc - it can be quite alarming! The Demotivator:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/protect/demotivator/

I don't know how much the loan was that you were looking at, but looks like if you can find the £600, you may not need it? Hope it works out for you - good luck

HTH

D9

mojito83

Cheers for the tips and advice so far folks. The loan idea has been completly shelved (doubt i would have been successful given the info on here)

The £600 is a mystery as it never feels as if we have anything near that spare although the wedding does eat up quite a bit.

I'm going to hang about these pages and hopefully pick up some tips. Hopefully soon i'l be reducing my debt for a change.

CH27

Keep a spending diary detailing every penny you both spend. You will soon see where the cash is being frittered away.

rising_from_the_ashes

Just a couple of quick things - like others have mentioned you need to include a sum for car tax & maintenance, haircuts, presents etc (and also have a shop around for better insurance/utility deals).

I would suspect that these would eat up some of the £600 but even so you should be able to reduce it fairly quickly if you can try to put the majority of the "spare" money towards it.

In your assets, you have listed an amount for your house - is this the value of the house or the equity? If the equity, this means your debts are very small compared to your assets.

mojito83

Ive spent all of tonight moving all my direct debits to the account I get paid into. I have two current accounts at the moment with DD's in both and money gets transfered so I now have everything in one place. Its a start though.