MY SOA & current situation - Some feedback/advice please.

Roy-Batty_2

Hi,

Have added my SOA below - background is my wife and i accumulated around 45k worth of unsecured debt and as of last October, found ourselves having to repay around £1400.00 per month which we could not afford to sustain.

I grabbed the Bull by the horns after a long while in thinking things would improve and contacted all my credit card debtors and managed to negotiate reduced payments with reduced interest rates for all of them (with the expection of MBNA who would not play ball at all and showed no interest in discussing any reduction quoting bizarre things like American Law forbade them from reducing payments and i would have to wait until the debt was passed on to a DCA)!!

Yesterday, i then received a card from a DCA (Alliance Credit services in Glasgow) acting on behalf of MBNA requesting my debt of 6.4k be repaid (my wife has the other 5k below). I outlined to the gentleman that i had submitted several SOA's and had maintained open correspondence with MBNA regarding my financial circumstances. Then out of the Blue, he offered me a F&FS of £2.4k. Regrettably, i do not think i can raise the money in time (he gave me until Wednesday) but i thought it was a good offer.

Coming to the point, my question is that on the basis i have been paying a reduced figure from last October to my other creditors, at what stage could i begin offering F&FS to my other creditors should i be brave enough to ask a relative to help (who would likely agree to help at least in part but my pride is getting in the way)?

Most have already gone to default ad i am not that interested in improving my credit record (at least in the next 6 years).

Thanks in advance and please feel free to be as open and forthright about the detail below..i have broad shoulders.;)
The money outlined in repayments for the unsecured debts is the current reduced payment. My wifes income can fluctuate by as much as £200 net per month also.

Kind Regards,

Roy

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.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2700
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1500
Benefits................................ 100
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4300
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 860
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 375
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 114
Electricity............................. 80
Gas..................................... 80
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 68
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 115
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 90
Internet Services....................... 12
Groceries etc. ......................... 620
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 240
Road tax................................ 45
Car Insurance........................... 85
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 5
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 65
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 32
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 16
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 20
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 150
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 3435

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 170000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 170000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 160000...(860)......0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 13000....(375)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 173000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................12000.....130.......0
MBNA...........................11000.....130.......0
Halifax........................6000......70........0
Sharps Bedrooms................550.......225.......0
Aqua...........................1600......20........0
Kays Catalogue.................700.......55........0
Sainsburys Credit .............3000......40........0
Tesco Credit Card..............3500......50........0
Next...........................2000......150.......0
Debenhams......................1000......75........0
Capital One....................1500......30........0
Total unsecured debts..........42850.....975.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,300
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,435
Available for debt repayments........... 865
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 975
Amount short for making debt repayments. -110
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 170,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -173,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -42,850
Net Assets.............................. -45,850

RAS

Hi

If you were on a DMP with a debt charity, you would be living on a lot less, even more so with an IVA.

Even so DMP budgets can be quite generous, so I am going to make the coments showing what you can do if you want

Roy-Batty wrote: »

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.................... 2 - do you absolutely NEED two cars?

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2700
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1500
Benefits................................ 100
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4300
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 860
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 375 - how long before you can return the car(s)?
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 114
Electricity............................. 80 - try and shave £20 off both this and gas
Gas..................................... 80
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 68
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 115 - this is huge and needs to be cut back drastically. Drop packages now and PAYG as soon as possible
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 90 - drop your package now and go freeview for a couple of years
Internet Services....................... 12
Groceries etc. ......................... 620 - you can easily halve this. Even on a DMP £480 would be about tops. Here people manage on £240 but prices have gone up a lot so £320 would be easily doable. Send your wife over to the Old style forum for help with menu plans.
Clothing................................ 50 - try to cut back
Petrol/diesel........................... 240 - cut out unnecessary journeys and learn to drive conservatively; it can reduce the consumption by one third.
Road tax................................ 45
Car Insurance........................... 85 - use www.quidco or other cashback companies when checking, if possible
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 5
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 65 - what are these?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 32
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 16
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 20 - what is this?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60 - halve this
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 150 - you cannot afford this - £30
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 50 - how much is in there?
Total monthly expenses.................. 3435

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 170000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 170000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 160000...(860)......0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 13000....(375)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 173000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................12000.....130.......0
MBNA...........................11000.....130.......0
Halifax........................6000......70........0
Sharps Bedrooms................550.......225.......0
Aqua...........................1600......20........0
Kays Catalogue.................700.......55........0
Sainsburys Credit .............3000......40........0
Tesco Credit Card..............3500......50........0
Next...........................2000......150.......0
Debenhams......................1000......75........0
Capital One....................1500......30........0
Total unsecured debts..........42850.....975.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,300
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,435
Available for debt repayments........... 865
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 975
Amount short for making debt repayments. -110
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 170,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -173,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -42,850
Net Assets.............................. -45,850

You can save at least £500 per month on your expenditure and more if you try hard.

Roy-Batty_2

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. Taking each point in turn:-

Yes we do need 2 cars - commuting to work is not an option for either me or the wife as we both work unusual/shift hours.

1st car will be repaid in 8 months. Second car in 3 years but as stated - both needed due to work patterns.

Gas & Electric - agree that they are too high..we have recently had our payments increased but have cut back. I have looked on uswitch for a better deal but need to clear off what we owe to existing company before switching. Should be early next year.

Mobile Phones - 4 contract phones - most expensive ones for children -iphones etc. My deal finishes next month and i will switch to payg. Will look into cancelling contracts upon completion for rest.

Sky - Is contractual for another 4 months and will then look into freeview.

Groceries - Leaving myself open for some criticism here but circa £240 is tobacco - really need to look into quitting but finding it hard with current pressures etc.

Clothing - will try to reduce. Already shop at George/Primark to not really sure what other options i have?

Petrol - Wife works some way from home - not practical to reduce this.

Insurance - Got best deals on go compare for each of us

Child Related expenses - College journeys/dinner money etc.

Other insurance - is the subscription to Royal College of Nursing - HAS to be paid.

Presents - We have a large extended family - struggling currently to just spend what is detailed.

Entertainment - Gym membership for Wife plus golf membership for me - both contractual.

Emergency Fund - very little - around £200.00

Clearly, you have given me plenty food for thought...main issue i have is that the wife is in complete denial and continues to spend without consequence..its getting very difficult to even discuss finances.

Thanks anyway for your input.

GeorgieFTB

Roy

I have made some comments below...

Roy-Batty wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. Taking each point in turn:-

Yes we do need 2 cars - commuting to work is not an option for either me or the wife as we both work unusual/shift hours.

1st car will be repaid in 8 months. Second car in 3 years but as stated - both needed due to work patterns. Look at whether a cheap round around would be better once you have re-paid the 1st

Gas & Electric - agree that they are too high..we have recently had our payments increased but have cut back. I have looked on uswitch for a better deal but need to clear off what we owe to existing company before switching. Should be early next year.

Mobile Phones - 4 contract phones - most expensive ones for children -iphones etc. My deal finishes next month and i will switch to payg. Will look into cancelling contracts upon completion for rest. Don't know how old the kids are but you should think about them contributing - man my mum was mean

Sky - Is contractual for another 4 months and will then look into freeview. you can knock some of the channels off even in contract, I think, when out of contract look at the tv guide on here and you could halve your cost by threatening to leave

Groceries - Leaving myself open for some criticism here but circa £240 is tobacco - really need to look into quitting but finding it hard with current pressures etc. Mmm... I might have a bit of a problem with this (a bit pot and kettle) but that is a massive amount:eek:, I'm not going to tell you to stop, mostly because it would do no good! But do you roll your own? If not this will cut your spend down, if you do already I will pray for you:eek:

Clothing - will try to reduce. Already shop at George/Primark to not really sure what other options i have? Wear what you already have... if its not school uniform go without until you have none left!

Petrol - Wife works some way from home - not practical to reduce this. Does she drive economically? If not read the guide and she could cut about a third

Insurance - Got best deals on go compare for each of us Quidco?

Child Related expenses - College journeys/dinner money etc. Part-time job? OK that was flippant, I'm sorry, I'm just jealous

Other insurance - is the subscription to Royal College of Nursing - HAS to be paid.

Presents - We have a large extended family - struggling currently to just spend what is detailed. Sales, or talk to other grown ups in the family and agree to only buy for the kids (my family did this as my grandfather went postal after opening the 6th pair of socks one christmas:D)

Entertainment - Gym membership for Wife plus golf membership for me - both contractual.

Emergency Fund - very little - around £200.00 Better than nothing but you should keep this lowish and plow the rest of your spare money into your debts

Clearly, you have given me plenty food for thought...main issue i have is that the wife is in complete denial and continues to spend without consequence..its getting very difficult to even discuss finances. You need to lay it all out for her... I can't really give you any more advice but there have been plenty of similar situations on the boards.

Thanks anyway for your input.

Good Luck
Gx

SAM147_2

You really need to get your wife 'on side' asap or else you're going to get into an even bigger mess.

What you owe is obviously a massive amount but paying it back is achievable, especially with you both working.

The full and final settlements you could try, the fear I have though is that without your wife being fully committed as well I can see you getting straight back into even further debt. I am not preaching, I did this exact thing myself, borrowed money from a relative but I hadn't had my true light bulb moment and got into debt again unfortunately which I am now paying back sensibly each month.

Myself, partner and 1 child allocate 200 per month for food and groceries. I agree about the old style shopping boards. I now cook most meals from scratch despite myself and partner both working and it has saved us a lot. In terms of smoking - would it be cheaper to roll your own rather than buying packs of cigarettes? Might save a bit. Please try and go to your doctors for help with quitting though, you'd save soooooo much money!!!

I have kept my Sky subscription but I class that as my entertainment and rarely go out, apart from things with our boy obviously.

aberdeensaver

Hi,

You can save some money with sky. I did it last week. I called sky, asked to be put through the cancellations department, they might then give you a hard nosed 'you cant quit your in a contract' in which case ask to have movies / sports / kids / etc removed as you cant afford them. I did this and got 6 months with 25% off. There is a chance you will get someone who will not budge in which case there is no harm lost!

I agree, if your children have college trips I imagine they are old enough to get part time jobs, or even do jobs round the house to help contribute to their mobile phone bills. I hope I dont sound preachy, but they must learn the value of money, otherwise their is potential for them to fall into the same pit falls you and your wife have.

Have you got stuff to car boot or ebay? Will not make you millions, but genuinely makes you think about what stuff you need and what stuff you want. I just sold a £160 dress for £7!!! Now its a hard pill to swallow, but the tags were still on etc. But at some point in my past I brought it for no reason, and figure the £7 is better than just keeping it in my cupboard for another 5 years unworn.

Hope you can get your wife on board, it took me ages to get my OH on board, but he started laying clothes out the other day for ebaying so it was a small step in the right direction!

E

desperate+determined

Wowsers! Right, i'm by far no expert here but after 5 years on an IVA an completing heres my thoughts (if u went on an IVA you'd be lucky to keep a 3rd of your expenditure)

Roy-Batty wrote: »

Hi,

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.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2700
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1500
Benefits................................ 100 (are you claiming everything you entitled too)
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4300
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 860
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 375
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 114
Electricity............................. 80 (look to reduce this by £15-20) and gas
Gas..................................... 80
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 68
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 115 (Woah - way to much, speak to providers and see if they can lower packages, i've done this with my iphone - or switch to pay as you go)
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 90 (needs to redce - if sky you can lower packages mid contract without tying you in for longer - just done it myself)
Internet Services....................... 12
Groceries etc. ......................... 620 (this could be halved - 1 feed family 4 (1's in nappies and formula) for £220pm - bulk cooking, whoopsie section in supermarket, etc
Clothing................................ 50 (can this be cut? - charity shops, sale only items etc)
Petrol/diesel........................... 240
Road tax................................ 45
Car Insurance........................... 85
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 5
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 65 (if dinner money - take packouts? - or are they old enough for paperround etc)
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 32 (check on quidco / comparison sites for insurances ually can reduce them)
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 16
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 20
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60 (cut - homemade cards etc)
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 150 (whats included in this?)
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 3435

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 170000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 170000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 160000...(860)......0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 13000....(375)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 173000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................12000.....130.......0
MBNA...........................11000.....130.......0
Halifax........................6000......70........0
Sharps Bedrooms................550.......225.......0
Aqua...........................1600......20........0
Kays Catalogue.................700.......55........0
Sainsburys Credit .............3000......40........0
Tesco Credit Card..............3500......50........0
Next...........................2000......150.......0
Debenhams......................1000......75........0
Capital One....................1500......30........0
Total unsecured debts..........42850.....975.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,300
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,435
Available for debt repayments........... 865
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 975
Amount short for making debt repayments. -110
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 170,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -173,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -42,850
Net Assets.............................. -45,850

Hopefully someone more experienced will help with cards etc

Good luck and well done for asking for help. you need to get your wife on board (chop c/cards and s/cards up - she'll listen then :rotfl:)

KingElvis

Hi Roy

You'll need to be more disciplined than a Nexus 5 to get out of this one.

You just need to start drastically cutting costs, sky tv and iphones for your children are just two obvious starters for ten.

I'm so glad we never started down that route, yes my kids crazed me for all that junk and sky tv but I've always managed to say no....glad I did now.

Good luck.

plzhelpmesave!

Just one point to add - are all of your debts on 0% or have you not put in the actual APRs?? Check the APRs, and once you start sving money by cutting costs, throw at the debts with the highest interest rates.

RAS

Roy-Batty wrote: »

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 160000...(860)......0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 13000....(375)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 173000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................12000.....130.......0
MBNA...........................11000.....130.......0
Halifax........................6000......70........0
Sharps Bedrooms................550.......225.......0
Aqua...........................1600......20........0
Kays Catalogue.................700.......55........0
Sainsburys Credit .............3000......40........0
Tesco Credit Card..............3500......50........0
Next...........................2000......150.......0
Debenhams......................1000......75........0
Capital One....................1500......30........0
Total unsecured debts..........42850.....975.......-

Which of these debts are yours? Joint and the wife's?

RAS

Roy-Batty wrote: »

...main issue i have is that the wife is in complete denial and continues to spend without consequence..its getting very difficult to even discuss finances.

There is a debt charity called CAP - they do home visits. Maybe having a third party involved might wake her up?