Struggling but determined... Mostly!

Wellyboots6

Well, this is my second SOA I have put on here and doesn't look much like the first one!

I am determined to make ends meet and get out of debt but am really struggling. I have decided to keep a diary on here to try and motivate myself.

I ended up in a lot of debt years back through university debts and running up various credit card and loan debts. My parents cleared this for me and all was well for a little while.

And then I did it again...

I got convinced by the bank that getting a credit card would undo the damage to my credit history, which for me is not a good idea!

Ran up a credit card bill and overdraft.

Parents have come to the rescue again with the credit card, but I still have that debt, I just now owe them.

I will get debt free. Honest!!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1438.82
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1438.82

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 579
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 105
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 60
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 75
Telephone (land line)................... 33
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 29.1
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 190
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 89
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 20
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 7.4
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 13.37
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 25
Total monthly expenses.................. 1570.87


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 50
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 50

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Parents loan...................900.......100.......0
Overdraft......................847.......45........0
Loan...........................400.......100.......0
Total unsecured debts..........2147......245.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,438.82
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,570.87
Available for debt repayments........... -132.05
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 245
Amount short for making debt repayments. -377.05

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 50
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,147
Net Assets.............................. -2,097

Wellyboots6

Forgot to add on here that I get approx £250 a month in expenses from work, which means I just about break even each month, although not very often

Fosterdog

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1438.82
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1438.82

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 579
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 105
Electricity............................. 40 This seems high for one person, have you looked into changing supplier
Gas..................................... 60Same here
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 75
Telephone (land line)................... 33 Is this including calls and internet?
Mobile phone............................ 40 Could you lower your tariff?
TV Licence.............................. 29.1This again seems a lot a TV license is around £13 a month
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 190 Again for one person seems high
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 89
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50 Is it really £50 a month or just as and when you need repairs?
Car parking............................. 20
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 7.4
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 13.37
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 Did you mean to put something here?
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 25
Total monthly expenses.................. 1570.87


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 50 Is the car only worth £50
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 50

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Parents loan...................900.......100.......0
Overdraft......................847.......45....... .0
Loan...........................400.......100...... .0
Total unsecured debts..........2147......245.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,438.82
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,570.87
Available for debt repayments........... -132.05
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 245
Amount short for making debt repayments. -377.05

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 50
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,147
Net Assets.............................. -2,097

I can see you already seem to save in most places and seem to have cut back on lots of things so it will be tough to cut back further. Try looking into cheaper gas and electric you are paying more than me and I'm on pre-payment metre with two adults and four children a few times a week and we are paying less than you are.
Your phone line rental and internet could be a lot cheaper for a bundle.
Do you take meals to work or end up buying food on a day to day basis? Taking lunch will significantly reduce your grocery costs.
You have pet insurance/vet bills covered but what about other things like pet food?

Wellyboots6

Thanks for your reply Fosterdog.
It is a rented property and so I am unable to change gas and electricity suppliers. The gas is a pre-pay meter and so there isn't much I can do about that really. I turn the heating off when I go out and only wash up once a day etc but it still seems to disappear so quickly! The electricity is high because I have a big bill I cant afford to pay and so they are supposed to be sending me out a payment card. The amount on my soa is the amount I owe worked out per month until I get my next electricity bill, and so by the time that comes my balance should be at zero, or even slightly in credit.

The £33 phone is for line rental and internet too. Its a year contract so cant change it now for a while. Same with my mobile phone, I cant change that for another 6 months although I did drop the tariff recently.

TV licence should come down in a couple of months.

Car repairs etc is just as and when it needs doing but ideally I would like to save £50 a month to go towards it as I need a car for work.

The car really is only worth £50 for scrap!!

I have just worked out my grocery costs for the past month as I kept a spending diary, and I am spending around £110 a month on my own food. Dog food is around £35 a month which I included in groceries, and so this amount can come down slightly.

I think my main expenses are the gas and electric, and phone bills, but I have no idea how to reduce these down whilst in the middle of contracts and being in rented property.

Thank you so much for your reply, its lovely that people take their time out to help

Fosterdog

I'm also in a rented house but am free to change suppliers whenever I want. It may be worth talking to your landlord, most are happy for you to change providers as long as it's still a prepay meter. We have switched three times over two years to get the best deal, as it's pre pay you don't usually get tied to a minimum term contract so it shouldn't make a difference to your landlord.

It is also worth speaking to mobile and landline providers and explain that you are struggling to make payments on the current plan and see what they offer.

How many dogs do you have and what do you feed them? £35 a month seems very high, I have two german shepherds and pay £28 with delivery for 30kg of food which lasts for two-three months and then just treats and natural pouches to mix in at maybe £10 a month. Again maybe another area to look at changing

ETA also just noticed how much your water bill is and my eyes almost popped out of my head. Speak to your landlord about allowing you to have a water meter fitted, that way you only pay for what you use.

Wellyboots6

I will try calling the mobile and landline people tomorrow and see what they say.

I have a German Shepherd but he has digestive problems and allergies and so eats the expensive stuff! That £35 bag of food will last about a month and a half, but I have put it on every month as that will then cover the £2 a week I spend on training classes too.

I looked on a water bill calculator and it said I would end up paying about the same with a water meter. It is so high because there was arrears on the bill.

I am a little reluctant to do too much about changing suppliers etc as I am hoping to move soon to somewhere cheaper (once I have saved up enough for a deposit!).

Fosterdog

Do a search for CSJ K9 that's where I get my dog food. One of my two shepherds also has very bad digestive problems and has poor skin because of allergies and this is the only food I've ever been able to feed her without causing problems. For the first time I've managed to keep weight on her and keep her healthy for a considerable period. She's been on it for 9 months and we haven't had a single issue.

If you go to the contact page and drop them an email or give them a call they will discuss your dogs specific needs and send out some free samples. It's worth a try, it's saved me £20 a month and could do the same for you and has improved the health of my sickly dog.

Wellyboots6

I shall give that a go, thanks very much

He has had all sorts of tests but they have no idea what he is allergic to! He is constantly itching and making himself ill through it

Fosterdog

Tell me about it, my girl was the same her skin used to be raw and sore all the time and nothing we tried worked and we couldn't find a cause for it. The food helped to ease it but we also invested in CSJs herbal Resist formula and after two weeks of a scoop on her food once a day for the first time in two years she stopped scratching all the time. We have cut the dosage down to half a scoop twice a week and she is still itch free after four months and her skin has almost completely healed and she is starting to get some fur regrowth. The £13 tub will last for over six months at this dose and is a lot cheaper than all the meds and vet visits we used to pay for.

Even our vet has been amazed by the results and has recommended it to other customers and is hoping to become a stockist. Even if you don't end up changing food it's worth getting the supplement just to make your boy more comfortable.

Wellyboots6

I have sent them an email so I will see what they suggest.

Its so annoying because I am paying out on pet insurance each month but it wont cover vets bills to do with his skin because it was a pre-existing condition.

Ah well, will have to try and make even more cutbacks elsewhere although I am struggling to see where else I can do it!

Wellyboots6

So far today...

I have requested my username to complete my online Self Assessment Tax Return as I have lost it, and hadn't realized I would need to do a tax return this year as I haven't been self employed for a few years...

Rung Eon as I have an overdue bill with them and they were supposed to post me out a payment card so I could start chipping away at the balance, although mysteriously the card has been lost in the post. They managed to convince me to sign up for a monthly direct debit which I am not sure if I am going to manage, but hey ho...

Set up another online savings 'pot' with Barclays. Nothing in it yet, but its going to have whatever is left over in my main account each month put in to it to help me keep track of my spending.

Meat taken out of the freezer ready for making a huge curry tonight to portion up and freeze.

Hoovered up mountains of dog fur!