First SOA for years after huge drop in salary..

ferry

Brilliant-your advice is greatly appreciated and as a result I've formulated a plan to firstly call in expert IFA help in looking into swapping to an IO mortgage for a while and our Life Assurance policies at the same time.
Next I'll tackle the Sky package at the weekend to the package suggested above.
My missus is also now tasked with getting the groceries down by £10 per week..
Does it also make sense to enquire about consolidating the CC debt onto the mortagage?I know its not a recomended route but given our LTV etc?
Does this sound like a plan?

Also can I ask -with regard to the IFA,we dont really have money to pay on a fee basis.Is it possible to do a remortgage to IO if its possible and sort out Life Assurance on commission basis?

Thanks again for all the ongoing advice
F

RAS

Hi

Please do not consolidate the credit card debt, even with your good LTV rate. if worst comes to worst, you can default ofn the cc debt and the sky does not afall in. DO that on the mortgage and you have almost immediate problems. Also paying it off over ex number of years means that you end up paying more interest in total even if less per month in the short term.

foxgloves

Energy bills are astronomical! We pay £66 a month for gas & electricity combined. Used to be higher but we halved it by cutting out waste. Well worth cutting back.

oldtractor

I think I'd get the house up for sale and look at down sizing or renting. Heres a useful link about what can be done
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1393194/The-ultimate-downsize-Couple-ditch-2-500-sq-ft-home-belongings-live-mortgage-free-320-sq-ft-shack-son.html

Marine_life

How come your mortgage is that high?

Is it a 25 year mortgage?

My calculation based on a rate of 5% would be around 650 not 938?

[Deleted User]

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1050 Any possibility of overtime?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 650 Again, any possibility of overtime? Second job?
Benefits................................ 130
Other income............................ 0 have you made any guestimates of what you will likely get through WTC using one of the online calulators? Might be worth trying?
Total monthly income.................... 1830

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 938
Council tax............................. 185 You are likly to make your life easier by taking the option to pay over the full 10 months
Electricity............................. 100 Both this and below seem very high? Are you in arrears? If not then I suggest you see if a) you are in credit with the company (and if so claim it back and reduce your DD), and/or b)compare different companies and packages (eg USwitch) and if switching is cheaper then see if there are financial incentives to do so through one of the cashback sites (Quidco, onepoll cashback, topcashback etc) - often online and duel fuel tariffs are cheaper (Also, turn your thermostat down by a few degrees, ensure things are switched off instead of on standby, energy saving bulbs etc)
Gas..................................... 100 as above
Water rates............................. 33
Mobile phone............................ 20 how many phones is this for? Are you in a contract? If/when it ends look at SIM only contracts and PAYG if not already doing this
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 80 you should be able to get home phone and internet for approx £20-£25 PM combined (including some free calls) and ditch the pay for TV for now - look at freesat/freeview as an alternative
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 You should be able to cut this down, maybe by quite a bit - drop brands, meal plan, batch cook, cook from scratch, take packed lunches etc (Have a look at this website: http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/ where it shows that you can feed a family of 4 for £100 - even if all the recepies etc aren't to your taste, some at lest should appeal and could get the food bill down, and it is nutritionally balanced. Also, take a trip over to the old style board for further recepies, hints, tips and advice.
Clothing................................ 0 might need to budget a little here - even if just for the kids!
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Contents insurance...................... 23 I am assuming this is buildings and contents combined
Life assurance ......................... 90 might be worthwhile reassessing this and see if you can get the same or similar elsewhere
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 25 what does this cover - can you get the same or similar elsewhere - use vouchers and deals where possible
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2071

Assets
Cash.................................... 1000
House value (Gross)..................... 250000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 252000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 116000...(938)......4.87
Total secured & HP debts...... 116000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Card....................6500......145.......0 can you afford to fully repay this before the 0% deal ends - I knw you said that you have a good credit history, so perhapse a good balance transfer will be an option when the time comes
Total unsecured debts..........6500......145.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,830
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,071
Available for debt repayments........... -241
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 145
Amount short for making debt repayments. -386 I think that you might be able to make this up by saving on groceries (£100), pay for TV (£65), spread your council tax bill out a bit (£??), reduce your utilities (gas and elecrtric)(??£50-£75), life insurance (£??), and hopefully tax credits.

Having said that things might be very tight and although doable, might not be sustainable in the long term (generally we can all make tough cutbacks and stick to them short term), at some point you will need to get new clothes for you and the kids, and if anything broke down (boiler, car, or you or OH become ill etc you might be stuck!). Is there any way that either of you can up your income any? Overtime or a second job?

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 252,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -116,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,500
Net Assets.............................. 129,500 This is great news!

Hi,

I have made some comments above, I hope at lest some of them will help you.

D9

ferry

Some excellent comments there and have taken note...