Updated SOA - advice please!

lobsta100

To respond to some of your posts:

The mileage is pretty much all me. I commute 40-45 miles/ day. This is all the petrol costs also. For this reason my wife cannot just drop me at work and I have looked into public transport alternative which will cost approx £180/month and I would need to leave before 6am to get there - not feasible.

My wife's car is the Ford which is £223/ mnth but only £2,200 o/s.

Our children are 2 1/2 and 4 months old - my wife is not ready to go to work - she is still feeding the baby!

We currently dont have a nursery fee because our parents are helping us out with fees for 1st year.

We don't have a TV.

Car insurance is £550 for Fiat and £650 for Ford.

I know re. the contents insurance. Waiting for renewal to shop around - damn my broker!

Service charge is for our block of flats - £150 /mnth. This is really not high for a service charge for a block!

Tixy

You've got the cars at a value of £17k, how much of that is the ford? perhaps you and wife could consider selling this and paying off the finance and then buying a much cheaper runaround for her whilst she is not working (cheaper to buy as well as cheaper to insure).
Just doing that would allow you to breakeven each month and put a bit more towards the card debt. If you don't do that then you do need to make changes elsewhere at the moment you have a shortfall and you need to turn this into a surplus to be able to get your cards paid off.

There are some areas that look like easy gains to people reading - like the cleaner etc but only you know what is the biggest priority to you - but cutbacks some where are needed if you can't increase the household income.

mum2one

lobsta100 wrote: »

Hi

Here is my updated SOA. Some points to note:

I drive one car for work (this is vital) and my wife has the other to take kids to nursery/ do shopping .etc. She has said that she is not willing to give up a car. She does know times are hard but this is no something she wants to compromise on for now.

I am paying off one car (Ford - £223/mnth) until June 2013 and the other (Fiat - £192/mnth) until Oct 2015. A possibility is to use remaining savings (c. £1,200) to basically pay off the Ford so that the monthly cashflow is reduced.

The charitable donations/ synagogue membership is not negotiable. We are orthodox Jews and consider it an obligation to give 10% of income to charity, and we already cut some corners on this...

Food spend is probably higher than would usually be as kosher food does tend to cost quite a lot more.

Achievements since last SOA
- Paid off HSBC card (18%) - £4,000 - with savings
- Paid off £1,700 overdraft facility with savings
- Stopped overpaying by £150 each month on mortgage
- Transferred broadband to BT to combine with phone and saved
- So far making concerted effort not to buy snacks at work and to bring from home instead

Any further advice welcome!

Thanks. Here's the SOA:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2366
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 177
Other income............................ 20
Total monthly income.................... 2563
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 442
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 420
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 174 - is that right seems really high
Electricity............................. 32 - ok,you checked whether you would get a better deal (same for gas)
Gas..................................... 32
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 42
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 16
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 - could you try to brand drop, cook from scratch
Clothing................................ 25
Petrol/diesel........................... 220 - are there any journeys that you could cut back on between you both?
Road tax................................ 12.5
Car Insurance........................... 100 - would you be cheaper on a multi car policy, or def shop around at renewal
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 20
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 49 - is that contents and buildings combined? shop around at renewal, this may sound daft, but we've changed insurers, but our existing company quotes were dearer to do a combined policy, but our new company cheaper to combine
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 11
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 6
Entertainment........................... 45
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Service charge.......................... 150 - sorry to ask but what is this for?
Cleaner & cleaning products............. 40
Savings (Child Trust Fund).............. 20
Food at work............................ 50 - could this be reduced, at all, even if its diy lunch a couple of times a week
Donations/ Synagogue membership......... 190
Newspapers/ Magazines................... 20
Heathcare cashplan...................... 12
Total monthly expenses.................. 2498.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 1500
House value (Gross)..................... 270000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 17000
Other assets............................ 5000
Total Assets............................ 293500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 211000...(442)......2.5
Secured Debt.................. 12000....(420)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 223000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard Plat...............8000......150.......0
Total unsecured debts..........8000......150.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,563
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,498.5
Available for debt repayments........... 64.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 150
Amount short for making debt repayments. -85.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 293,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -223,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,000
Net Assets.............................. 62,500
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

sounds like you've made a major achievment already, at the mo its £85.50 a month to find, i've popped a few suggestions on,

I'm guessing when the 1st car is paid that will make a massive difference, but as you ssay its now that needs the attention.

have you tried cashback for any purchases, maybe do some online surveys, reviews, its pin money, but it may help towards the small items. xx

dancingfairy

Is the Barclaycard really at 0% or do you not know the apr?
How much is the limit on your HSBC card? Are they able to offer you any balance trasnfers now you have paid off the balance? they may be able to offer you an option so you can pay down the barclaycard or perhaps even refinance the car(s)?
Also how much of a difference to your monthly Barclaycard payment would it make it you used your remaining savings and the 2 free council tax months to try and get the balance down?
You've made good progress so far and you just need to save another 85 a month - this could be achieved by not buying food at work and ditching the cleaner for example.
Best of Luck
df

JulieGeorgiana

lobsta100 wrote: »

We currently dont have a nursery fee because our parents are helping us out with fees for 1st year

How are you going to pay for this after the year is finished??

sp1987

thriftychap wrote: »

It looks as though your wife:
a) does not work
b) send the children to nursery while she is not at work
c) does not want to make the required cut backs
d) Spends money when shopping and enjoying all this 'leisure time' - oooooh its a hard life!!!!

Can she get a job? if not bye bye car. Sometimes people need to take the bull by the horns and be a little more autocratic for the greater good - maybe this is your time?

Apologies if this comes across as harsh or if i have missed some previous relevant information.

As above, your wife seems not to be doing the 'full time job' which being a housewife is for many. She doesn't clean the house and one of the children is in nursery? She won't work but is able to spend money?

If I was you, I would trade the expensive ford in for a cheaper ford. Get another focus, an older one. If she 'needs' a car, she needs the car itself, not the fact it is an expensive one you pay every month for!

You have religious obligations regarding 10% of your income and food, so sadly to allow for that your other outgoings need to be lower than a comparable family who doesn't have those extras to afford.

I would love a new car and not to work and to give 10% of my income away and not clean my house myself and to go out shopping and having my hair done. But back in reality....

lobsta100

dancingfairy wrote: »

Is the Barclaycard really at 0% or do you not know the apr?
How much is the limit on your HSBC card? Are they able to offer you any balance trasnfers now you have paid off the balance? they may be able to offer you an option so you can pay down the barclaycard or perhaps even refinance the car(s)?
Also how much of a difference to your monthly Barclaycard payment would it make it you used your remaining savings and the 2 free council tax months to try and get the balance down?
You've made good progress so far and you just need to save another 85 a month - this could be achieved by not buying food at work and ditching the cleaner for example.
Best of Luck
df

To reply to this and some other posts:

The Barclaycard was a 22 month 0% BT deal - still have probably 18 months left of this so not an immediate worry. Also, by then the car will be paid off.

Council tax is paid by DD £174/month, I'm pretty sure it comes out every month (i.e. over 12 months) - unfortunately I have checked and it is correct for our property, despite it being a 2 bedroom flat!

We have a £6,800 limit on HSBC but I dont know what deals/ offers they have for use of this. The idea was not to use this except for emergencies due to APR.

I'm not really sure why people are saying car insurance is so high. It is for a Fiat 500 and Ford Focus (2009) - it is with Admiral multicar and I have 6yrs NCB and my wife 2yr NCB. I paid in advance to make cheaper, so not an actual monthly cost.

As noted before the £150/mnth is the service charge on our block of flats. £1,800 is actually very low for a block with a lift and communal areas.

I totally agree re. food at work. This is wholly down to me and a combination of my appetite and lack of willpower! I am really trying on this. Embarrassingly this amount is after bringing in my main lunch (i.e. a sandwich) every day anyway - I still end up getting hungry and buying crisps, fruit or a chocolate - i know..... :-(

As noted previously, of the car amounts o/s, only £2,200 is the Ford so we currently do not have enough remaining savings to pay off in full but I guess if we reduced it, it could cut down repayments?

Tbh I dont know what has been put down as entertainment! - We dont go out but maybe once a month will get a takeaway when it all gets too much!

Other assets is an estimation which includes wife's engagement and wedding rings, some silverware given for our wedding, thats pretty much it.

Those that have said: how will you stop using credit card/ going into overdraft again?...... good question! I'd love to know! But I am trying!

Thanks all so far.

lobsta100

thriftychap wrote: »

It looks as though your wife:
a) does not work
b) send the children to nursery while she is not at work
c) does not want to make the required cut backs
d) Spends money when shopping and enjoying all this 'leisure time' - oooooh its a hard life!!!!

Can she get a job? if not bye bye car. Sometimes people need to take the bull by the horns and be a little more autocratic for the greater good - maybe this is your time?

Apologies if this comes across as harsh or if i have missed some previous relevant information.

Learn how to speak to people in a decent way!!

My wife is breastfeeding a 4 mnth year old baby so does not work - I do NOT think this is strange or luxurious!

She spends the rest of the day cleaning and doing washing .etc when she is not chasing the toddler or feeding the baby. The cleaner is, as you say a luxury once or twice a month that needs to be cut out.

She does NOT go shopping in her "free time"!? She never goes shopping and hasnt bought anything that is not essential food/ clothes items (for kids) in months and months.

You obviously do not have young children as you are questioning why he needs to go to nursery..... children require stimulation - he is almost 3 years old. Get a grip on reality!

Just please learn some sensitivity!

rising_from_the_ashes

Unfortunately, something has to be cut somewhere ...... as you've said the cleaner is a bit of a luxury that's not an essential atm & if you can reduce the groceries/cleaning/lunch budgets then you should manage to break even.... but this isn't going to help with trying to clear the outstanding debt.

If your wife will be off work for sometime yet (not a critism) then the only way of doing this that leaps out (and has done to everyone) - is her car. As others have suggested, sell this one and buy a cheap runaround. There are many cars cheaper to run than a Ford Focus (and a Fiat 500!). You need something that's going to be cheap to run & insure .... plenty of cars around now with £30/year road tax etc.

Or the other option is to get rid of your car & use public transport for work (I note your comments re cost - but it's less than the cost of running the car - and many people have to leave that early.....).

I'm afraid that you just can't afford to have/run two new & fairly expensive cars with just the one income.... sorry

wannabee_in_credit

The fact is that something has to give, and there are areas where you can cut back. It's fine if your wife doesn't want to work, but she surely must understand that cutbacks need to be made - I think it would be wise to cut back on the cleaner.

I agree that the oldest child needs stimulation. My two have been in full time nursery from quite a young age and I think there are many positives in terms of their social skills as they've gotten older. When the oldest turns 3 then you'll get 15 hours a week of nursery education.

I would have really loved to have been at home longer after my second child was born but due to circumstances I had to go back to work when he was 5 months old (and I was still feeding him - expressing milk in a cupboard at every available opportunity). The situation I was in just wouldn't allow for me to be at home any longer... that was where my compromise was made. I think your wife may need to consider where she is prepared to cut back, just in the short term until you're back on your feet.

Time with the little ones is something you can never get back. Surely worth losing the cleaner, or running a cheaper car for her?

I wish you luck in getting things sorted out. Well done for taking action and making some headway with your debt. It will get better as long as you keep going with it.