Need some advice on my situation.....

treadingwater_2

My SOA is as follows:

Self Employed , income varies between £30-50k

Monthly Income Varies, occasional large royalty payments

Mortgage £135,000 on repayment @ £846 PCM (5.296% currently based on Tracker @ base rate + 0.29%)
House worth £285,000

Northern Rock Unsecured Loan £ 12,458 @ £272 PCM
( from £10,000 at 6.9%, £4000 @ 5.6%)

Credit Cards ( currently all at 0% for 9 months) £ 12,003 @ £360 minimum payment.

Overdraft £ 5000 approx at current First Direct rate of 10.9%. I have avoiding consolidating this for two reasons a) because it then becomes a monthly liability, which it isn't right now and b) because i then think of the unused overdraft as a safety net and stop worrying about spending ( I know, this is a bad mentality in financial terms)

My monthly basics which I cannot avoid spending ( including those outlined above) are currently about £3200, from which the only saving I can make is my childs nursery £360 PCM, a cleaner £60 PCM. The cleaner I could just about ditch but the nursery provides my wife with the only day off she has in the week, and half a day to prepare her schoolwork for her 1 days work per week. In a few months she gets free nursery provision from the state for five mornings per week, which will reduce this burden.

So to service this I need to earn £40,000 before tax roughly, which is a big demand for a self employed musician.

Have been spending far too freely, in some ways to counter the effects of working so hard to build a new business and to 'treat myself'. But the amount that's been leaving my account has, month by month, been way beyond my means, so I've drawn up a strict budget to curtail this, and recently handed financial control over to my very disciplined wife.

I'm considering doing a IVA so that I can regain control of the situation, without disrupting my family home through bankrupcy. My prospects are good in so much as I have been earning good money, but as it's in its infancy my company still has quiet periods while I build momentum in orders, and I don't think I can support this level of debt.


Any advice gladly considered.

tyllwyd

Hi! Welcome to DFW!

I'm afraid I can't think of any specific advice to give you - I think it might help if you could break down that figure of £3200 a bit - I know you say that it can't be reduced, but maybe a different perspective on it might help?

lynzpower

your best bet is to do a FULL SOa using Martins budget planner at the top of the page.

3200 is a massive outgoing, lets have a look if we can find any other savings for you

treadingwater_2

Thanks guys. But what I specifically need advice on is whether something like an IVA would be a good direction to explore, given that my short term finances are under so much pressure while my wife isn't working.

My top five outgoings are:

Mortgage £846
Studio (absolute neccessity to earn living, cheapest I can get) £395
Childs Nursery £360
Credit cards £ 360
Loans and overdraft £322

PS I should be putting away £600 PCM for tax. I have usually met this with royalty payments as am usually unable to save this every month.

lynzpower

wew cant say whether an IVA is to be explored, but you need to look at doing a FULL SOA, thats

all your incomings
all your outgoings
all your debts with APRS

read southern scousers sticky, first time posters and do your SOA in tandem with martins budget planner. Without knowing what you are spending where, no one can make a good decisoin of the next steps. I suggest you dig through your bank statements to get a clear an idea as possible

Also to say, IVAs arnt guaranteed, you apply for them and your creditors in the main have to agree to it, its not a question of you requesting it and getting it if you see wht I mean.

angchris

hiya welcome to dfw! dont mean to pry but howcome you are paying for a nursery if your wife isnt working?surely she can look after the child for free

anniestar

A warm welcome. You will get loads of advice and support on here.

jet77

Welcome to DFW board - make this your homepage - I've found it really helps.

Follow the sticky post at the top of the board and then everyone will pick it to bits and you'll end up feeling much better.

Luv Jxxx

webitha

hiya glad too see you takling debtsbut i agree with angchris and sack the cleaner too i am a mum of 3 and work 40 hrs pw DH works away, so i have to do everything including the cleaning can you and DW do the chores together?
also how many cards have you got can you afford to get rid of any of them, i now have none hurrah and my mind set is if i have to finance then i cant afford it and what about cutting back on other stuff ie groceries have you the best deal on phone utilities etc what i have found on this site is invaluable have a scout round and you will be amazed... oh and this site is also highly addictive lol

angchris

quote:- "The cleaner I could just about ditch but the nursery provides my wife with the only day off she has in the week, and half a day to prepare her schoolwork for her 1 days work per week."


so from what i can gather from your quote you are paying £360 a month for your child to go to nursery for 2 1/2 days a week when your wife actually only works 1 day a week does your wife actually earn £360 a month for working 4 days a month?

Clive67

angchris wrote:

quote:- "The cleaner I could just about ditch but the nursery provides my wife with the only day off she has in the week, and half a day to prepare her schoolwork for her 1 days work per week."


so from what i can gather from your quote you are paying £360 a month for your child to go to nursery for 2 1/2 days a week when your wife actually only works 1 day a week does your wife actually earn £360 a month for working 4 days a month?

Guess it a fair point to make but its not just about the money - its also about sanity!! People (men and women) need some of their own time. Sadly childcare is very expensive in this country. One idea a friend of mine had was to advertise in a local paper and contact others in a similar position, that way they sorted out a rota and all ended up with cheap (free) childcare, its hard work to set up but if you get in touch with decent folk (need some luck here too) it works really well.

If this is any help I can tell you more.

Good luck!