can see myself getting into more debt my soa is included..........

chloo

hello

im not to sure where to start i would be very happy to get some kind of feedback anything really.

i am a uni student doing 13 hrs a week (massive i know!!!!!! 3.5 grand a year for that!)

i am currently working 22.5 hrs per week but im being made redundant in 10 days time (no pay off havent been there long enough) i have managed to get myself a new job its a weekend job demontrating so no more hours possible for that job. i will be £200 a month worse off but i will have more options of commision which is odd as i was a travel agent!!!!!!! (this isnt included as its not garenteed)

i live with my oh and best friend in a two bed flat rent is split 50% per bed room ie £600 pcm so £300 per bedroom then me and oh put in £150 each.

bills are split 3 ways we have only leccy no gas.

we dont have a tv licence as tv isnt watched.

oh and i food shop together so we have 120pcm to spend on food we plan our meals.

my actual income is £480 pcm
i do get given a student loan and grant which is 3 times per year:

19th september-loan: £1237.17
grant: £967.00

9th jan-loan:£1237.17
grant:£967.00

19th march-loan:£1274.66
grant:£966

i should also get a bursary of £500 from the uni in feb or march 2012.

so from last year i owe £3749 plus uni fees of £3250 so total uni debt for first year is £6999!!!!!!!!!!!! £7000 to learn fack all!!!

my aim from the money i was given was to try to only spend the grant and bursary and save the loan and pay it straight back after uni - im not sure if this is ilegal? either way i havent managed it!!

honestly i dont know where the money goes i fritter it on carp and have nothing to show for it all my clothes are primark i dont drink alcohol and hardly go out socilising.

my one weakness is holidays my loan and grant for september went of car insurence and a holiday to fuertevenure!!!!

i need my car as i have a disabled brother i take care of and my new job isnt on a public transport route.

what can i do to save money and stop my self getting into more debt?????


thank you for reading xxx


Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 480
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 500 this is the uni grant and loan divided by 4
Total monthly income.................... 980

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 254.8
Rent.................................... 150
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 28
Electricity............................. 19
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 7
Telephone (land line)................... 4
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 4
Groceries etc. ......................... 60
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 60
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 67 i need to factor this in as in the futer i wont have a lump sum to just pay of my car insurence!
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 brand new car
Car parking............................. 15
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 14.8 2x prescriptions have applied for a cetificate
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........................... 20 i would say this is lunch out ect.
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 810.6


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 19500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 19500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 19000....(254.8)....NaN
Total secured & HP debts...... 19000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 980
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 810.6
Available for debt repayments........... 169.4
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 169.4

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 19,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -19,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 500

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.[/font]

somethingcorporate

The car is the obvious thing. Do you really need a £20k one?

chloo

hi sc thanks for viewing im stuck in to an agreement thingy finance is that what i mean?!

KingElvis

wow the car stick out like a very sore thumb

somethingcorporate

Can you be more specific as to what kind of finance thingy you have?

If you took out a personal loan you can sell the car, pay some of the debt off and buy a cheaper one with the remaining balance (although I guess the car is worth a lot less than you paid for it).

If it's HP or something secured on the car it would be a lot harder.

I have no idea on how (or why!) you got a £20k car on a £3.5k salary

ferox666

I earn over £20,000 a year, still live at home and have five-figure savings (house deposit fund), and I have a car that cost £4,000.

Buying a £20k car - and getting into debt for it - on your income/circumstances, was madness. Just imagine what you could do with that £254 a month (and no doubt higher insurance costs) that you will be paying for YEARS!

But the good thing is you realise you have a problem and are seeking help.

Cut all necessary costs and contact the finance company about returning the car, you will suffer a loss but it's better than having that £20k debt milestone round your neck. Then get a cheap run-around, or consider if you can afford a car at all.

£40 a month on clothing also seems high.

serious_saver

I don't know how it works with part-time students but have you been in touch with student services to see if they can give you a hardship grant / loan?

When I was in my final year of university I had to leave my job to focus on my final exams and I realised that I was going to really struggle with my rent at one point in the year. I applied for a hardship grant and the university gave me enough to cover my rent and bills for two months. It took all of the stress and worry away. I had to fill out a form (a lot like an SOA but in even more detail) and supply bank statements but it was worth it.

The worst that can happen is they say no. However, if they are able to give you a grant then you could use it for rent or put that money on your worst card and reduce the monthly payments. It's worth a visit to ask them anyway.

chloo

the car is on finance so i paid a £4000 deposit (all my savings) and then you do a monthly payment for the next 48 months. im on month 5 this month. i did have a car before a 10 year old one but it was costing me a tonne each month it was one thing after another.

my insurence has only gone up £60 a year and that was due to a house move!!!!

asides from the car as i cant hand it back until half way through the agreement or when more than half is paid off what else can i cut or try to do to save money?

thank you for all your replies.
xxx

chloo

seriouse saver i have tried i got rejected as im not over a grand into my over draft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how stupid is that i asked if i should just take my over draft up to the limit and hid that money and she said well it would look this you are up to the limit!!

so in order to get help from uni you have to lie and cheat!!!! isnt that dreadful surely they should try and help you not get further into debt!!!!

i will not encourage my children to go to uni but thats another matter!!!

xxxx

sorry edited to add im a full time student not part time!

RAS

Why are you paying Council Tax? Students are exempt?

If you are getting that sort of grant, you are full-time for the purposes of CT.

And if you are in class 13.5 hours a week, you need to be doing twice that number of hours study outside class if you are going to succeed.

Tixy

Hi chloo

Whilst its a nice idea to try to live without spending your student loan, I think you probably need to accept that this isn't going to be possible, especially now your income has reduced. It does look like you will still have sufficent income to manage your expenses, even given the expensive car.

What you won't have enough for is to pay for things like holidays. I think you either need to decide you won't have a holiday until you finish Uni, or only have one if you can earn additional money eg in the summer holidays etc to pay for one without spending your loan on it.

As others have said I would look at whether the car loan is a personal unsecured loan, or a hire purchase secured on the car. Unfortuantely the car and insurance etc are very expensive for your circumstances. If it is a personal loan and you can sell you could easily get a car for a couple of thousand.

Comments on your SoA -
Council tax - are your OH and flatmate students as well?
Mobile - are you in contract? if so see if you can drop a tariff, if not see if you can find a slightly cheaper deal.
Clothing - can you try to reduce this, or sell clothes you no longer wear and use that to buy new ones. Or ask for clothes for xmas presents etc from family.
Car maintenance - it might be a new car but you still need to budget for an annual service and new tyres every so often. I'd suggest trying to put something away for this.

I think aside from the car you are living fairly frugally. And whilst in an ideal situation you wouldn't need a student loan, it is at least classed as 'good debt' and is far better than using overdrafts and expensive loans to manage your way through Uni.

Good luck
Car insurance - are you actually saving the £67 in a seperate account to pay for insurance next year? if not start doing this.