My sorry SOA!

Loobeyloop

Hi there, thought it's time to stop burying my head in the sand and once and for all start tackling all my debts, I've had years of an attitude of "live for today as who knows what's around the corner" for so many years now that's why I'm in such a state, well it's time to grow up:eek:.... I have only put my income down as although I live with my partner, he pays most of the mortgage, the council tax and internet etc I pay everything else, we are financially quite separate, hope you understand what I mean!

Thanks for looking!!

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.................... 3

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 659.39
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 312.62
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 972.01

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 150
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 22.3
Telephone (land line)................... 13.5
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 10.62
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 370
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 70
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 38
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 2
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 25
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 13
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 25
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 919.42


Assets
Cash.................................... 170
House value (Gross)..................... 110
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 3480


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 80000....(150)......2.69
Total secured & HP debts...... 80000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Egg............................3088.61...80........16.9
Tesco cc.......................2729.7....54........0
Halifax........................2884.7...29........0
Natwest........................16.14.....5.........16.9
Virgin.........................338.77....25........16.9
Nationwide.....................1396.44...42........16.9
Santander......................3820......35........0
Total unsecured debts..........14274.46..270.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 972.01
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 919.42
Available for debt repayments........... 52.59
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 270
Amount short for making debt repayments. -217.41

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,480
Total HP & Secured debt................. -80,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -40,274.36
Net Assets.............................. -116,794.36

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

Tixy

Hi

It looks like you are short by over £200 a month to pay your debts, does that feel about right?
How have you been managing so far? are you in arrears? or have you been getting further into debt or reusing cards etc to be able to keep on top of things?

I've put a few comments below at areas you could look at.

Loobeyloop wrote: »

I have only put my income down as although I live with my partner, he pays most of the mortgage, the council tax and internet etc I pay everything else, we are financially quite separate, hope you understand what I mean!

Thanks for looking!!

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.................... 3 are 3 cars required? can you sell 1 (or 2)

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 659.39
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 312.62
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 972.01

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 150 is this your contribution?
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 35 not that high combined but have you tried shopping around recently just to check you are on the best tariff/best supplier?
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 22.3
Telephone (land line)................... 13.5
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 10.62
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 370 this is probably going to be the place you can make most savings.For a family of 3 with pets a lot on here can manage on £200 a month, so you should be able to make some reductions. Try the drop a brand challenge or writing out meal plans for the week before you go shopping
Clothing................................ 40 can you try to keep to a minimum for a while (obviously not easy with a child)
Petrol/diesel........................... 70
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 38
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 2
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 25 how old is child? what are these costs?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 13
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 25
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 919.42


Assets
Cash.................................... 170
House value (Gross)..................... 110
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 3480


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 80000....(150)......2.69
Total secured & HP debts...... 80000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Egg............................3088.61...80........16.9
Tesco cc.......................2729.7....54........0 are these on 0% deals?
Halifax........................28884.7...29........0
Natwest........................16.14.....5.........16.9
Virgin.........................338.77....25........16.9
Nationwide.....................1396.44...42........16.9
Santander......................3820......35........0
Total unsecured debts..........40274.36..270.......-
Have you stopped all spending on the cards at the moment? are these just debts in your name? what were they built up on? anything you could sell to put towards the debts?


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 972.01
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 919.42
Available for debt repayments........... 52.59
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 270
Amount short for making debt repayments. -217.41

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,480
Total HP & Secured debt................. -80,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -40,274.36
Net Assets.............................. -116,794.36

Is your partner aware of the level of your debts? whilst you keep finances seperate do you feel the way you split costs at the moment is fair based on you respective incomes? do you think he could afford to pay a little more in the short term so you could put more towards your debts?

Loobeyloop

Hi and thank you so much for your quick response!! I don't know how to add comments on the soa so am going to have to answer the long way sorry! I lived off my Nationwide CC until recently when they slashed my limit from 10k to 1400...a good thing really as I can't get further into any debt, but I am now living off an overdraft which obviously is eating my wages (Only got paid today but only have £120 to last the month, and not paid any bills yet..it's my fault I'm in this situation I know!!)
The 3 cars in the household, one belongs to me and 2 are my partners, he has a clapped out estate car which is on it's last legs and a sporty one, which he can't afford to use, plus I think it's got something mechanically wrong, so not worth a carrot probably, plus he says if he sells it he'll never be able to get another one, I know this probably sounds like a silly attitude to have considering out situation, but he's had so many kicks (lost his business etc.won't bore you too much with our sob story!)
Clothes are off of catalogue so once that's paid off I am not buying anymore!
the mortgage payment of £150 is my contribution, the total amount is £510 a month...
I have tried the comparison sites for gas/elec and they say that the one i'm on is the cheapest.
My son is 14, the money is for travel to school, he gets the train occasionally, and to pay for the train so he can go and see his friends. My cat is on medication for over-active thyroid and has to be sedated for blood tests as she's a bit of a psycho, I was paying for her treatment on the dreaded CC.
The credit cards with 0 are 0% but only for a few more months, I haven't been able to get any more on 0% get refused...
My partner does know about my debts, and unfortunately he is in a very similar predicament, I know one of my main problems has been food shopping, I spend far too much on it, and alcohol as well...crying into the bottle only makes my debts worse!! I don't have anything of value that I can sell, am planning on doing a bootfair, but don't imagine I'll get much.
We have had broken windows in my son's bedroom and mine for years now but can't afford to sort it out (oh get your violins out)
We don't go on holidays, very rarely go out, but yes agree my main problem is overspending on grocerys.. I will ban myself from going to Tescos etc!
Sorry this is really long, Thank you again, all help is gratefully received!!

ALIBOBSY

Do you pay for all the food? Surely all the bills need to be split evenly between you?

Anway thats for you and your partner to work out lol. I would ensure that the sporty car if it has a mechanical fault is at least declared sorn and on the min insurance ie just fire and theft for a disaster on the drive-if it isn't working and is unaffordable it should cost as little as possible, plus any tax left on it you can claima refund against. BTW even not working you CAN sell a vehicle. We have sold a car that had major faults to a mechanic a few years ago. It was in fab condition bodywork wise but over 2k worth of work needed doing on the engine. Mechanic bought it off us for a cheaper price than a working one (we worked out the price we would get for it fixed and takeing into account the garage costs we came out even with cash in hand-he could fix it cheaper himself by doing the work and selling it to his friend and making some in hand).

Definately to food costs seem high. There are 6 of us, 2 cats, and 3 chickens and we manage easily on £100 a week (around what you spend). We can (and have) manage on £50-£60. Get over to the old style boards, it takes planning and discipline-don't buy something just because its on offer unless its a really good offer and its something you either need now or will definately use shortly.

Is there any way you or Oh could get some more income-look at the up your income threads, sell anything you can earn as much as possible and spend as little as possible. Martins advice is to cover the minimums on the cards then throw as much as possible at one card at a time. he says to target the highest interest rate cards first, but I find as well as that We aimed at the lowest balanced highest rate (if you get my meaning lol). It is so satisfying to clear a card.

If you are still covering the full payments on all your debts another option is to try to make arrangements with each of them to make reduced payments, but remember this means the card will likely be closed for good and it will go on your credit file.

Personnally I reckon you and OH need to do a joint budget and get things as tight as possible for both of you (no good you trying hard and him still spending on "his" cards), one "bad" marker on one file effects the partners file as well. Joint effort needed here.

Good luck its a long hard journey but its worth the effort.

Ali x

FireWyrm

Loobeyloop wrote: »

I lived off my Nationwide CC until recently when they slashed my limit from 10k to 1400...a good thing really as I can't get further into any debt, but I am now living off an overdraft which obviously is eating my wages (Only got paid today but only have £120 to last the month, and not paid any bills yet..it's my fault I'm in this situation I know!!)

We've all dont this, trust me. How much is the overdraft interest? If it's more than 16%, tackle that first. I know others will say different, but you cant pay off your situation with bad money from the start. Besides, banks can and do sometimes demand the whole lot which can be a shocker.

Loobeyloop wrote: »

The 3 cars in the household, one belongs to me and 2 are my partners, he has a clapped out estate car which is on it's last legs and a sporty one, which he can't afford to use, plus I think it's got something mechanically wrong, so not worth a carrot probably, plus he says if he sells it he'll never be able to get another one, I know this probably sounds like a silly attitude to have considering out situation, but he's had so many kicks (lost his business etc.won't bore you too much with our sob story!)

One mans' trash is another man's treasure...as the saying goes. I'd try to sell the sporty broken one. It might have some worth to someone. Does the OH know how much of a mess you are in and how fast you are sinking? If you dont get a grip now, it's only going to get worse. Others have advised on specifics of your SOA, but I recon you could cut that food bill by two thirds at least.

Loobeyloop wrote: »

Clothes are off of catalogue so once that's paid off I am not buying anymore!

Good

Loobeyloop wrote: »

the mortgage payment of £150 is my contribution, the total amount is £510 a month...

Can you pass that to your OH for the duration?

Loobeyloop wrote: »

I have tried the comparison sites for gas/elec and they say that the one i'm on is the cheapest.

Yeah, tell me about it. Keep checking though.

Loobeyloop wrote: »

My son is 14, the money is for travel to school, he gets the train occasionally, and to pay for the train so he can go and see his friends.

Paper-round? Saturday shop...time he started paying a little for his upkeep perhaps?

Loobeyloop wrote: »

My cat is on medication for over-active thyroid and has to be sedated for blood tests as she's a bit of a psycho, I was paying for her treatment on the dreaded CC.

You know what I'm going to say and you're not going to like it....but...what quality of life does your cat have. Sometimes it's heartbreaking, but this is a bit of a situation you have here.

Loobeyloop wrote: »

The credit cards with 0 are 0% but only for a few more months, I haven't been able to get any more on 0% get refused...

Ok, stop applying. It's only hurting your credit rating. You need more money, not more credit.

Loobeyloop wrote: »

My partner does know about my debts, and unfortunately he is in a very similar predicament, I know one of my main problems has been food shopping, I spend far too much on it, and alcohol as well...crying into the bottle only makes my debts worse!!

Never try to drown your sorrows in a bottle, they can swim. Have you thought about brewing your own? I brew mead, wine and beer at home and it works out at about £1 a bottle for me.

Loobeyloop wrote: »

I don't have anything of value that I can sell, am planning on doing a bootfair, but don't imagine I'll get much.

Any jewellery you can hock? Gold is at it's highest rate. Dont go to the gold lenders, go to a real jewellers.

Loobeyloop wrote: »

We have had broken windows in my son's bedroom and mine for years now but can't afford to sort it out (oh get your violins out)

Cling film...works a treat.

Loobeyloop wrote: »

We don't go on holidays, very rarely go out, but yes agree my main problem is overspending on grocerys.. I will ban myself from going to Tescos etc!

Aldi, lidle, netto...all good supermarkets at a fraction of the price. Try a spending diary and also meal plans. The Old Style thread has plenty of information to get you started.

quantic

Might be useful to do a joint SOA, which includes both your incomes and debt (you and partner) to give a better persecutive of the situation.

Tixy

Hi Loobey again.

Aside from the groceries and any reduction there I think you might need to consider getting some advice from the debt charities. £40k is a lot of debt compared to your income and if OH is an similar position its going to be tough to work your way out of it unless you can increase your income by quite a bit. Would it be possible for you to up to full time hours, especially given son is presumably old enough to be on his own a bit if needed.

Otherwise I think it would be worth a least speaking to one of the debt charities and considering whether a DMP or even an IVA might be a possibility for you.
IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts.

foxgloves

Hi Loobey, My partner & I kept our finances separate for years, even after we got married, but last year, when we had made quite a good inroad into clearing debts & really seemed to have reigned in our previously silly levels of spending, we decided to move to a joint bank account. We also decided that I'd do the budgeting, as I'm better at this, tho' to be fair, husband is now very good at not spending money & when he does, looking for good deals. I had always felt financially independent & it was a bit strange at first to have completely joint finances, but we budget an amount for each of us every month to have as personal spending money, and for the bigger purchases, such as more expensive household items, etc, we make a joint decision. All I can say, is that it is now sooooooo much easier to budget. I wish we'd done it years ago. We always thought of it as 'His money' and 'My money' but we are a married couple (all be it with minds of our own!) with a joint mortgage & shared life, so really, there's only 'Our money'. Now I can see exactly where we are financially from monitoring just one bank account, it's very much easier to budget & stay on top of everything. Everyone's experiences are different, but I just thought I'd post & say that for us, this has really worked well.

Loobeyloop

Wow! Thank you for all your help!!
Alibobsy, I do pay for all the household bills and shopping but he pays the majority of the mortgage and life insurance, sky tv, the internet and our mobile phones (plus all his credit card bills and loans etc) so I kind of think we are even as he gets similar wage as me?

Firewyrm I'm not sure of overdraft interest rate, it's a flex account with nationwide, but boy I''m glad to have it as god only knows what I'd do without it... I couldn't get rid of my cat, she's part of my family and although she's probably cost me thousands on credit cards, think the vets saw me coming I just can't (Now getting the bf put down is another matter!!)
I have a winemaking kit, tried brewing my own it was gross!! have no jewellery, apart from cheap !!!!! ....already shop in aldi...oh and used black sacks in place of glass in windows!! omg I feel such a tramp lol!!

Tixy, we rang CCCS a while ago, and discussed a dmp or iva, can't remember, but they said we don't have enough spare income...even when we explained we are using credit cards/overdrafts to live off, they said they couldn't help

I have looked into getting a full time job, but after doing a benefit check on here, what ever I did, I'd lose most child tax and my partner would lose all his tax credits, and what I'd earn wouldn't cover the loss...makes no sense does it, but I would be happy to work more hours but what is the point when we'd be worse off...
Thank you all again, it is a horrid place to be in isn't it? Like lots of you on here, just can't see an answer at the moment, I don't know what to do,
Thanks for your support

Tixy

Loobeyloop wrote: »

Tixy, we rang CCCS a while ago, and discussed a dmp or iva, can't remember, but they said we don't have enough spare income...even when we explained we are using credit cards/overdrafts to live off, they said they couldn't help

If you can reduce your groceries by say £100 a month then you should have £150 or so for debt repayments and that would be okay for a DMP (though probably too low for an IVA). Might be worth exploring with them again - or doing the online debt remedy calculation?

Loobeyloop

Tixy wrote: »

Hi Loobey again.

Aside from the groceries and any reduction there I think you might need to consider getting some advice from the debt charities. £40k is a lot of debt compared to your income

Otherwise I think it would be worth a least speaking to one of the debt charities and considering whether a DMP or even an IVA might be a possibility for you.
[URL="http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?
t=2077631"]IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts.[/URL]

Hi Tixy, Just realised there was an extra digit on my halifax credit card, those fat fingers of mine! I am 14k in debt not 40k, phew!!