On the edge and dont want to fall

MrsMerlot_2

I dont know where to start. What I do know is we're in a mess! I realise it could be a lot worse, but if I don't try and organise some changes, things will become desperate. I will post SOA below. It seems as though every month we end up using credit cards to get food and petrol and now the credit card repayments are crippling us. Yes I know, its our own fault and we should cut down and budget properly etc.

We have sat down and worked out what we have and after 12 months of having to pay back lots of unexpected bills (funeral costs, vets bills, dental bills, essential house maintenance) we can now start to concentrate on paying off our debts.

I own the house and my debts relate to living alone and not being able to afford it basically. Now my partner lives with me, but following a huge CSA bill he can now begin contributing.

Is there anything I can do to pay off the debt quicker? Obviously we wont be eligible for any other cards/loans to get a cheaper APR. The intrest we are paying each months totals approx 2/3 of our payments.

The SOA shows a surplus. Out of this surplus we have to pay after school fees for the one day each week we have my partners son after school, also travel for my partner to get to him from work to pick him and up and bring him home - he doesnt have a car, I use it for work. So this costs £20 per week. He also smokes (10 a day) and is trying to quit! We have a treat of one bottle of wine and some beer to drink at the weekend as we cant go out.

We have sold everything we own worth anything over the past 12 months, and now we are finally looking at paying off some debts.

I discovered two credit card statements sent recently- one with Halifax with a £3500 limit on, another with Virgin with £5,500 limit on it, but I've not used these cards for over 3 years after transfering the balances and cutting up those cards. Are these accounts now closed, or is it worth trying to move the balance from the credit card with the highest intrest?

tbh I can't quite believe that someone earning £20k has access to credit cards with total credit limit of £22.5k????? ANd thats just me, luckily my partner has had debt problems in the past and only has one which he got to try and mend his credit history. £200 limit).

We also have a joint loan paid off in 45 months, I have a loan which is paid off in 11 months and he has a loan paid in 20 months.

I have a mortgage currently on lifetime tracker so need to be prepared for rate rises over the Summer.

What is the best course of action for us??? All I know is at the moment we are struggling constantly. Just been paid and have £130 to last us a month for food and toiletries, as we owed partners mum a small amount which she needed back today.

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................ 1290
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1300
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2590

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 386
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 77
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 51
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 27
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 9
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 38
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 23
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 20
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 280
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 8
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 15
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1376


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 82500
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 83500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 55000....(386)......1.49
Total secured & HP debts...... 55000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
loan...........................1050......98........11
joint loan.....................6500......196.......12
loan...........................2400......151.......29
family debt....................5000......0.........0
family debt....................1700......150.......0
store acct.....................350.......50........30
credit card....................1050......27........15.9
credit card....................5750......131.......16.6
credit card....................1780......30........29.9
credit card....................5850......130.......16
Total unsecured debts..........31430.....963.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,590
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,376
Available for debt repayments........... 1,214
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 963
Amount left after debt repayments....... 251

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 83,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -55,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -31,430
Net Assets.............................. -2,930

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

RAS

MrsMerlot wrote: »

The SOA shows a surplus. Out of this surplus we have to pay after school fees for the one day each week we have my partners son after school, also travel for my partner to get to him from work to pick him and up and bring him home - he doesnt have a car, I use it for work. So this costs £20 per week. He also smokes (10 a day) and is trying to quit! We have a treat of one bottle of wine and some beer to drink at the weekend as we cant go out.

Welcome

To start with every one of those items needs to be incorporated into your budget; otherwise it is useless. You need a full understanding of your expenditure.

With respect to the immediate situation, you need to go over to the MoneySaving Old Style forum and do a store cupboard challenge. This means listing everything in your cupboards and freezer and asking people to help you meal plan. It can be done well within your budget.

CH27

You need to put everything into your SOA.

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

theoretica

It would be a sensible idea to call the two cut up credit cards and see if they are still open and what balance transfer they can offer. Unless you have other debt with the company I can't see any disadvantage to trying.

The things that jump out at me are groceries (the old style board will be able to help you cut that down so £130 a month seems normal, or even plenty) energy bills (check you are on the best tariff, paying the right amount and cut down on your usage) and TV (freeview?)

ilovecheese

Welcome!

Your SOA needs to be realistic. Does maintenance on your car really cost £60.00 for the whole year? no new tyres, never breaks down, never needs any work?

You have 0 for presents, is this true? You buy NO Christmas or Birthday presents at all?

Entertainment again you have 0 - you never buy a cup of coffee, go to the cinema, or spend any money at all?

This is probably one of the reasons that you have no money left at the end of the month, you really need to start a spending diary to see what you spending your money on.

Best of luck!

smiths84

Hi. I agree with what the other posters have said but I also think you need professional advice. It seems to me you simply can not afford to keep paying those unsecured loans and keep accruing interest etc. Why don't you visit the CAB for free advice on contacting those credit card companies, getting the interest frozen and making very small monthly repayments?

You say obviously there is no point trying to get other cheaper credit deals. Why is that obvious? Make sure you try every possible avenue to try and get cheaper credit cos your interest repayments are what are really stuffing you.

Also be very very careful to protect your asset, your house. Do not take on any debt that is in your partners name. Technically speaking, he has nothing to lose. You do.

And then it is just down to spending !!!!!! all! There are loads of boards on this site to help you do that...

Ps we lived without a car for two years. Everyone thinks it's impossible, but it's not and we saved a fortune...