struggling at the min... + my SOA

katydo12

Feeling really run down with money matters at the moment. Feel I have taken too much on, what with a holiday/wedding to pay for in less than a year, I lent my brother £1200 for a car; I took the money out for my barclaycard, what a stupid thing to do. I have a loan and also another credit card. I have a overdraft on an old bank account which needs paying and the account closed. I also am constantly in my overdraft with my current bank account. I have a nice car which I pay for with salary sacrifice though work – I pay for it before tax from my ‘top line’ therefore the costs are not included in my SOA as my monthy wage is lowered because of this (I hope that makes sense)


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1500
Partners monthly income after tax....... 950
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2450
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 143
Rent.................................... 525
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 99
Electricity............................. 45
Gas..................................... 25
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35.44
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 29
TV Licence.............................. 37.62
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 42.25
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
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
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1341.31

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

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Secured Debt.................. 1450.....(143)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 1450......-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
barclaycard....................6021......135.......0
halifax........................1763......20........0
hsbc overdraft.................360.......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........8144......155.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,450
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,341.31
Available for debt repayments........... 1,108.69
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 155
Amount left after debt repayments....... 953.69
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -1,450
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,144
Net Assets.............................. -9,594
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.


well thats that and I feel its not as bad as first thought to be fair, I just feel like I struggle through every month and cant keep my head up sometimes. I did start a spending diary in october but it fell by the way side after a week and a half, we realised we had spend £200 in one week and when I told my other half he was shocked and couldnt believe we'd spent that on mostly rubbish really!! we dont go out very often, once a week really, he gets paid on a thursday so thats usually our treat night.

anyway.. thats me in a nutshell, just after some moral support really!!

McKneff

I think you maybe have the wrong monthly figure for tv licence.

If there are only two of you your water bill will be about halved if you had a meter.
Obviously, you would have to have permission from your landlord.

You should have something in for Road Tax, MOT

You should also have contents insurance,

Groceries could be well cut down if youre careful

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi Katydo ... a few comments on things you should be able to cut down a bit on form me.

katydo12 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1500
Partners monthly income after tax....... 950
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2450
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 143
Rent.................................... 525
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 99
Electricity............................. 45
Gas..................................... 25
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35.44
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 29 Are these contracts? Switch to PAYG & use for emergencies only when these are up
TV Licence.............................. 37.62 This should only be £12.12 / month?
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 42.25 This needs to go (sorry), switch to Freesat if with Sky for a one off payment of £25 & a pretty good range of channels
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 This is big for 2 - pop over to the Old Style board & try the grocery challenge. Great fun & lots of supportive people over there (there are several couples who manage on £100/month)
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
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 Need something in here
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0 and here
Entertainment........................... 0 and here
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1341.31

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0 Is your car actually yours or a lease type thing?
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Secured Debt.................. 1450.....(143)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 1450......-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
barclaycard....................6021......135.......0
halifax........................1763......20........0
hsbc overdraft.................360.......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........8144......155.......-
What are the APRs on the debts? Helps to try to advise what to throw money at first etc
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,450
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,341.31
Available for debt repayments........... 1,108.69
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 155
Amount left after debt repayments....... 953.69
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -1,450
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,144
Net Assets.............................. -9,594
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.


I did start a spending diary in october but it fell by the way side after a week and a half, we realised we had spend £200 in one week and when I told my other half he was shocked and couldnt believe we'd spent that on mostly rubbish really!!

Do you actually have £950+ left each month?

Well done for starting the spending diary - you really need to do it for at least a full month to find out where all the money's going so give it another bash in November.

If you spent £200 in a week, over the month, that's more than the £950 you've got left in your SOA .... you need to find out what this is being spent on and try to cut it down.

katydo12

thanks for your input folks.. in regards to your comments:

tv licence - yes sorry I pay quaterly for this I put the wrong figure in.

mobile phone - yep this is a contract which I will be getting rid of when time is up, but thats not till april 2012 unfortunatly!

sky tv - really don't want to get rid of this, that figure is my line rental/broadband/tv all together. Really want to keep sky if poss as sice we dont go out very often this is pretty much our main entertainment!

groceries - yep i know this is a dreadful figure and really needs to be cut down, I did enroll in the grocerie challenge for October but got lost along the way, need to try again in November. Although to be fair I am really being careful when shopping, going to local farm shop and butchers instead of being lazy just going to supermarket. Also changed from asda to tescos as now have a clubcard..

Insurance - nope there is nothing in that box because stupidly don't have it.
Also we have a cat, who is not insured, this is also something I really want to do but havent done yet. All his food etc is included in our monthly grocery shop.

Haircuts - Literally get haircut once every 4 - 5 months as its in pretty good nick, I get loads cut off and then let it grow for months..

Entertainment - probably go the the cinema once a month if that to be honest we watch whatevers on television as we work late..

Car - yep its a lease car, dont pay any tax, insurance, mot etc it all comes off my 'top line' before tax from my wages, its a scheme through work.



oh and interest on credit cards as follows..
barclaycard, interest on about £3000 (a balance transfer) is 0% till apr 2012. interest for purchases is 19.9% and interest for cash is 27.9%
halifax, balance transfer from a previous card - the interest is 0% till june 2012 (i dont actually know the pin for this card so have never and will never use for purchases etc) perhaps this is a mistake since looking at it now i also have 0% on purchases till june 2012 as well. although I am almost at the credit limit already.

Tixy

Hi katy

If you have the £950 spare a month, then that with the £155 you are already paying could mean you were debt free in around 8 months (depend on the breakdown on the bcard balance to the different rates.)

I know you've said you want to save for a wedding/holiday - do you have anything savings for this yet? Ideally you need to clear off the debts first and then start saving. If you could make a few cutbacks in areas like groceries, change the tv licence etc then you could clear the debts in 6-7months and then have over £1000 a month to put towards wedding savings. So in a year you could have savings of £5k to cover your wedding & holiday.

Good luck with sticking to the budget. Oh and do consider getting some contents insurance - should be able to get for a few quid a month by shopping around and using cashback websites.

katydo12

Tixy, you make it sounds so simple! It would be fantastic to be debt free in such a short space of time, its just the living in between I think will get in the way, haha, we spend far too much on little things I think thats what adds up.

Tixy

I know its those little bits and pieces that always add up to a lot. Would it help if you allocated yourselves a little spending money each month - and then just used that for any extras/entertainment etc? Maybe even put it in a seperate 'spends' bank account? If you allocated yourselves £100/month each (in addition to the grocery spend), then you could try living on that and see how you get on - that would still leave you able to pay £800 off your debts a month, which would be fantastic.

If you are still struggling to pay that off then do carry on with the spending diary - it will tell you where the money is going, and maybe motivate you to cut down on those little spends that add up over a month.

McKneff

It is simple if you are committed and disciplined.

Please, please get some house contents insurance.

katydo12

I think I struggle mostly because my other half is so laid back about money.. but then again they arent his debts and I really dont like the thought of him missing out on what he wants because of my debts. I know what I've just said sounds a bit silly since we are getting married and we should tackle things together etc..

I know I don't have nearly as much debt as many others my age, especially since I've been to university (didn't need a student loan as was paid a bursary, however ended up with a loan when I left to pay back credit cards and overdraft.. shouldnt have moved out when I was a student!)
I just struggle big time with it mostly because I'm annoyed with myself for racking it up in the first place!

Anyway I'm trying my best to think positive and selling things on ebay, musicmagpie, using tesco clubcard vouchers, doing surveys etc.
I'll get there eventually!!!

Thanks so much for your thoughts Tixy its uch appreciated. And I think I will be broaching the subject of £100 a month spends with the other half..

natsplatnat

Keep a spending diary - it is really amazing how quickly all the little bits such as a chocolate bar here and a coffee there add up!!