Credit Card Out of Control

jayss

Do the drop a brand level on your shopping and it will come down. The old style board is full of money saving recipes and your kids are more than old enough to cook a few meals a week to help you cut back on preprepared stuff if thats what you buy.

mysupermarket can really help with grocery planning, it really helps to know how much you'll be spending before you go in to the supermarket.

Also check all your loyalty cards, you might be surprised how many xmas gifts you can get with boots/tesco/sainsbury points, if your shopping has been high all year and you've not already used them as you've gone along.

MFWannabe

Jamjaf wrote: »

Wow!! Thank you all who have provided me with both support and specific advice so quickly. I have corrected the entries that were annual amounts rather than monthly, which puts me in a less drastic situation. Nevertheless, perhaps the mis-entries and the scare they gave me were just what I needed to stop this before it becomes irreversable. On my pay I should be extremely comfortable and not worrying every month if the mortgage is paid!
For clarity, the 'medical' monthly is for contact lense sbscription - we're seeing if we can cancel this today. The mobile phone cost is for 2 contract phones and 2 PAYG (£10 each pcm) - any way of getting out of vodafone contracts early? The electricity is actually electricity, gas and water rates combined.
We have started digging stuff out to sell: old mobile phones; ball gowns and a designer wedding dress that don't fit; a little sailing dinghy and trailer (only £200-300 but it will all help). We have also cancelled the SKY subscription which saves £50.75 pcm (incorrectly entered as £35).
The £1000 groceries was a complete wild guess. Not keeping a proper tab on how much we spend on what is one of the reasons I've got us in this position.:( That's a life lesson in itself and one I intend to share with my children.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 4660.27
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1600
Benefits................................ 188.4
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 6448.67
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 966.3
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 439.27 - Is this correct? Is your property part share?
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 160.89 - Is this correct? Seems really high?
Electricity............................. 103.23
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 46 - This seems a lot for land line; does it also include internet?
Mobile phone............................ 90 - Ring up provider and see if you can downgrade to lower tarriffs
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 1000 - You should be able to at least halve this; this is a HUGE amount. Make sure you go shopping armed with a list of what you actually need
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 260
Road tax................................ 27.5
Car Insurance........................... 60
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 150
Other child related expenses............ 790
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 28.5
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 30.99
Buildings insurance..................... 36.5 - Check comparison sites; you should be able to get this combined with contents much much cheaper
Contents insurance...................... 33.91 - See above
Life assurance ......................... 253 - Is this right? This is a HUGE amount to be paying. Check what you are actually covered for and shop around on comparison sites; should be able to get much much cheaper than this
Other insurance......................... 30 - What is this for?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 68
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 70
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 4786.21

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 224999
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2900
Other assets............................ 8224 - What is this?
Total Assets............................ 236123

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 157572...(966.3)....2.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 157572....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
sainsburys bank loan...........12778.....378.4.....6.95
sainsburys bank loan...........11903.....369.1.....8.7
MBNA credit card...............19685.....553.4.....23.32
NATWEST Overdraft..............5000......50........18.26
Halifax credit card............10118.....101.2.....7.92

Hi

I've made some comments above in your soa where you should definitely be able to make some cutbacks. can you try posting your soa again though with the end bit included. This adds up your total debts and also makes it clear how much money you should have left each month.
Can you get a 0% balance transfer card to move some if not all of the high interest MBNA card debt to? If not a low interest life of balance card? If nether is an option what is the limit on your Halifax card? May be worth speaking to them to see if they will raise the limit to move some of the MBNA card debt to; at least it's much lower interest.
If you do check comparison sites and find things cheaper make sure you use a cashback site when buying so you make some money back