Debt and where to start

bextas

Hi everyone,
What a lovely forum you are all so helpful and friendly! I need a bit of advice. Between my partner and I we earn around 40k. He is paid weekly and I am paid monthly. All the major stuff is covered but I can never seem to save or pay off my old debts. What tends to happen is when my partner is paid that money just goes on food, petrol and whatever bill has come up that week for example this week the phone bill is due for £95. I have worked out that our disposable income is around £400 but out of that I would like to save some money each month as we are trying for a baby. Any advice or help I would be very grateful.
Thanks

MFSaver

I suggest you fill in a statement of affairs to help people pinpoint where you can make savings.

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

bextas

Here is my SOA
[tt]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................ 2694
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2694
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 650
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 275
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 90
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 95
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 70
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 160
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 150
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1795

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Car Finance....................950.......200.......0
Total unsecured debts..........950.......200.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,694
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,795
Available for debt repayments........... 899
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 200
Amount left after debt repayments....... 699
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -950
Net Assets.............................. -950
[/tt]

scotdebs

bextas wrote: »

Here is my SOA
[tt]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................ 2694 - is this your combined income?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2694
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 650
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 275 this seems very high based on the rental you are paying are you sure you are in the right band
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 90
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 95 - very very high possible to cancel switch contract?
TV Licence.............................. 0 - oops setting up a mothly DD will be cheaper than a big fine
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 70 this is v high also does it include HD or multi room do you really need these if it does?
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 160
Clothing................................ 0 - really nothing?
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 150 does this relate to a child that does not stay with you ie maintenance
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 - this is something you should try and include in your budget as its these kind of costs that get poeple reaching for credit cards etc
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0 - never go out for a drink/meal?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1795

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Car Finance....................950.......200.......0
Total unsecured debts..........950.......200.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,694
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,795
Available for debt repayments........... 899
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 200
Amount left after debt repayments....... 699
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -950
Net Assets.............................. -950
[/tt]

Hi Bextas & welcome. Am a bit confused by your SOA and am wondering if you have left a few things out. I have put some comments above - not meant to be critical just more from "have you really thought about everything you spend" - for example you say in your first post that you cant seem to pay off your old debt but I dont see this in your SOA - is the car finance the only money that you owe? If it is then acccording to the numbers that you have put in your SOA you should have £699 per month to "play with" - however its clear from your first post that this doesnt seem to be the case. I would suggest that you keep a spending diary for a month so that you can see where EVERY penny goes - when I did my first SOA I underestimated what we were spending on groceries by more than half - and at the same time think about the things you should be putting a wee bit away for ie car repairs, xmas, birthdays etc

Hope that helps I know it can all seem a bit overwhelming at the start but you will get there.

bextas

Hi Scotdebs,
Thanks for the above - that is our combined income. We are overpaying on the council tax until February as we were behind. Mobile phone is for both of us and due to poor credit I can't switch and am in contract for another 18 months. Tv licence I paid outright for the year. Cable TV includes broadband and home phone. We aren't ones for going out much so tv is our one luxury. The rest I have not budgeted I don't pay anything on my debts at the moment and really want to start to do so. the 150 is for my partners son who does not live with us. how much should I budget for car servicing, birthdays and clothing etc? I don't have a clue as we only buy clothes when we have a bit of spare cash. I really want to be a saver and put money away and I know we have the money to do so just got to stick to a budget!
Thanks again.

GAH

HI OP

You said in your last comment you don't put anything towards your debts. Does that mean you have other debts that you haven't included in your SOA?

Tixy

You really need to do a full budget and allocate items like the tv licence, car maintenance etc and also to allocate for haircuts, presents etc (1/12 of the annual spend). Only then will you see what you should have left over each month.

It sounds like you both need to complete spending diaries where you write down everything you spend for a couple of months (even just the odd pound here and there) then you can compare that to your statement of affairs to see where you spend more than you realise.

Your water rates look very high, are you paying off arrears? are you on a meter or unmeasured?
Cable TV - see if you can drop down a package or if they will give you a reduced price for a few months.
Mobiles - even in contract see if they will let you drop a tariff, or if you will be able to in 6months.

Do you have any debts or an overdraft? If so these need to be included and you need to work out how much the overrdaft costs you each month.