Helping getting debt free, where do i start?

rising_from_the_ashes

laura243 wrote: »

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................ 1098
Partners monthly income after tax....... 463
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1561
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 390
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 123
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0 Are you in Scotland? If not, need something here
Telephone (land line)................... 25 You should be able to get this down a bit - I pay £15
Mobile phone............................ 60 Def try to get this down!
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 50 Not really an essential at the minute - you can buy a Freesat card for a one off payment of £20
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 450 Yup very large for 2! See below
Clothing................................ 30 Try to cut this a bit
Petrol/diesel........................... 60
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 39 Check around when renewal's due
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 You should have something in here
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 150 Sorry but this needs cut until you're sorted out
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1534

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Very...........................200.......0.........39
Barclaycard....................260.......0.........19
Argos Card.....................360.......0.........29
Electric bill (x2).............259.......0.........0
Garage bill....................222.......0.........0
Overdraft......................400.......0.........17
Total unsecured debts..........1701......0.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,561
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,534
Available for debt repayments........... 27
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 27
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,701
Net Assets.............................. -701

It is hard trying to put it all down but you've done it!

On first glance you have enough coming in but unfortunately this doesn't cover the debt repayments which you need to start making headway into.

Is there any way you could up your income?

The really obvious things that jump out are:

Groceries @ £450 - this is big for 2 people, there are families of 4 who manage on under £250. OH needs to cut his "habit" - move to rollies if he can't give up as much cheaper. Have a look at the OS board for ideas http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33 at the start of the Grocery challenge thread (sticky at top) there's loads of recipe ideas.

Entertainment @ £150 - unfortunately, not affordable at the minute and needs drastically reduced.

Sky @ £50 - nice to have (I know it broke my heart to lose it) but unfortunately not an essential and you really need that money to pay debts at the minute.

Make it a "once we've cleared everything, we can have it back" kind of thing so it's something to look forward to if you still miss it (you get a pretty good range of channels with the Freesat card tho')

If you managed to cut:

£200 off groceries, £50 for Sky and £100 off your entertainment budgets that would give you £350 to pay towards your debts each month - and you'd be able to clear them in around 5 months:D.

Good luck & HTH

CH27

You could cut your mobile costs by dropping a tarriff or changing to PAYG.
Could easily shave £200 of your grocery bill by dropping a brand, meal planning & clever shopping.
Get rid of Sky until your debts are cleared.

Tackle the Very debt first as it has the highest interest.

Good luck:)

Debt_free_by_2012

I agree with the last posting. If you cut back for a few months you should really be able to make some dramatic savings. Do you having a lot of stuff that you can flog on ebay or do a car boot sale? It's surprising how much you can raise. As for what order to pay off, I would look at who is charging you the most in interest/bank charges and start with the highest. Have you spoken to the debt recovery people and worked out a payment plan?
Well done for tackling this now and not leaving it to get worse. Good luck and all the best.

kj*daisy

Can your oh earn more/get 2nd job? You have,said they spend about 200 of the grocery spend on cigs - that is nearly half their wages - which is a lot. I would separate this out on the soa too. Others have also, suggested other ways to reduce and once u have a surplus start paying things with highest interest first. good luck.

laura243

Right, first of all thank you for all your replies, very much appreciated My OH lost his job a year ago and the only thing he has been able to pick up since is part time, hence the small wage but he does do over time if its available.Will phone Vodafone tomorrow, or today if i get time (moving house is an actual nightmare!!!) and see about lowering our tariff.I will also speak to debt recovery and work out a plan with them.Will definitely be able to cut down on groceries more, we already use value toilet roll, pasta, tinned toms, seasonings etc.As for my SOA no water listed on there as it will be included in the rent of our new flat, no contents insurance as we dont have any, yes silly i know!!!must get it sorted out.Could probably drop the clothes out...Car insurance is very cheap for my age (22 with only 3 years no claims, i shopped around for days for it!!)As for entertainment will try and reduce that to, i know i will feel ten times better when we have started to put a real dent into these debts, think i will start a diary on here, also thinking about 1 debt, 100 days i have seen on a few peoples posts I think credit card companies really have a lot to answer for, i know nobody forced me to take these out but i phoned barclays and asked if i could set up a direct debit to pay £20 a month off my card and they said no!!!Once i am debt free i will seriosly start saving and never take credit out again!!Thank you all again, now off to write my diary then more of the dreaded word.....PACKING!!!

mothsinmywallet_2

Is your council tax over 10 months? It can be changed to spread it over 12 months and that will lower your monthly payments to £102.50.

laura243

I am already paying over 12 months but missed the first 2 as i had just moved in this house at the start of april and they messed up my bill/payments so not a chance