Help needed please

gollygosh

What about overdraft and it's charges? if you've got one.

[Deleted User]

Nicandan wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1100 Any way to increase? Overtime? Second job?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1400 As above
Benefits................................ 81.2
Other income............................ 260 What is this? And is there any way to increase it? Also, are you in a position to take in a lodger? Take a look at the govts "rent a room scheme"
Total monthly income.................... 2841.2

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 508
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 286
Council tax............................. 95 Is this over 10 or 12 months? If 10 either a) ask your council to switch to 12 months, or use your CTax free months to overpay the debt that's costing you the most every month
Electricity............................. 65 This is quite high. Firstly, check that you are not in credit with the company, and if you are claim it back. If not, then switch things off instead of leaving them on standby, switch of/down heaters radiators in rooms that you are not in/don't use that often, use energy saving bulbs, and switch down the thermostat on your heating and hot water tank by a few degrees (you're unlikely to notice), and be careful what you have switched on (don't leave all the lights on in the house if you are only using one room) etc
Gas..................................... 44 as above
Water rates............................. 43.56
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 47How many mobiles is this for? Are you stuck in a contract? If/when you are out of contract look at SIM only deals and/or PAYG - I have saved a fortune since switching to GiffGaff - so I can recommend that you take a look at them
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 80 there's room for big savings here - you should be able to get home phone and internet for approx £20-£25 per months, cancel the pay for TV and stick with freeview, or alternatively consider freesat
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 240 there might be a bit of savings to be had here - meal plan, batch cook, drop brands, cook from scratch, shop at Lidl/Aldi
Clothing................................ 0 prob need to put something here, even if just to cover kids clothes
Petrol/diesel........................... 200 Any savings to be had here?Can you combine journeys? Walk/cycle more? Do you need two cars?
Road tax................................ 25
Car Insurance........................... 81
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0 would public transport, walking, cycling be an alternative that would be cheaper for one or both cars?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 never?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 14 When you can renew, shop around and see if you can combine buildings and contents for cheaper - use comparison sites, and if switching is cheaper, see if there are additional incentives on any of the cashback sites (onepoll, quidco, topcashback)
Contents insurance...................... 18 as above
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20maybe cut this back, perhapse to £10, and join some of the survey sites that give cash/vouchers - which you can save up and at least in part cover the cost of Xmas
Haircuts................................ 25see if you can go less often, or if there's a local college nearby see if they offer free/cheap cuts by trainees or demonstrators
Entertainment........................... 0 never?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 probably need to start putting even a little here, so that if an unexpected bill/expense pops up you will be able to at least in part covering it without reaching for further credit
Total monthly expenses.................. 1828.56

Assets
Cash.................................... 0 you ought to have something here for bills that are less frequent than monthly, presents, MOT etc
House value (Gross)..................... 130000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 12000 do you really need two? If you could sell one, not only would you be able to pay a chunk of debt off with the proceeds, but also you would save on running costs, petrol, maintenance, insurance, tax etc
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 142000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 78000....(508)......6.04
Secured Debt.................. 22000....(286)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 100000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts I have put these debts in order of the most to least expensive. If you manage to find the missing £500 odd quid in your SOA - this is the order that you need to overpay the debts. This way you will pay back the least amount of interest and thus maximise the amount that will be knocked off the actual debt every month. This is called snowballing your debts, and there's a "snowball calculator" at the end of the webpage where you filled in this SOA - if you use this it will help you see the order to pay off your debts, and it will give you an estimated "debt free date". You are in a very fortunate position to have a monthly surplus in order to do this - you just need to find it! remember always pay the minimum towards all your existing debts whilst overpaying on the most expensive
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
AQUA...........................1350......48........37.95 If you can find your monthly surplus, you could be rid of this debt in less than 3 months
AQUA...........................910.......32........37.95 and this one could be gone in another 2 - so within 6 months you could be rid of your 2 most expensive debts
OPUS...........................1430......55........36.94
CAPITAL ONE....................1420......55........34.08
BARCLAYCARD....................1800......50........29.9
BARCLAYCARD....................2000......60........29.9
MINT...........................1807......41........19.16
VANQUIS........................950.......42........0
CO-OP..........................1800......40........0
Total unsecured debts..........13467.....423.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,841.2
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,828.56
Available for debt repayments........... 1,012.64
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 423
Amount left after debt repayments....... 589.64 Do you actually have this left at the end of the month? If not you need to keep a spending diary to see where it all goes - carry around a note book with you, and write down every thing that you buy, from a carton of milk, or a newspaper, to monthly direct debts, to debts payments and everything that is in between - you will soon see where this all goes

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 142,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -100,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -13,467
Net Assets.............................. 28,533


Having looked at this i am shocked, we should have money left over, i am going to have to seriously look at our finances, there has to be something i've missed as we defo do not have any spare cash.Keep a spending diary My other half is paid monthly and i am paid weekly if this makes any difference to the situation? Yes you need to make sure that you have entered the income and expenditure appropriately to reflect this

Any help or advice would be appreciated, thank you in advance!

Hi, welcome to the boards, you are in a very lucky position in that you have a monthly surplus in your SOA, you just need to find it. Keep a spending diary! (if I've not mentioned this before ) As a starting place, make sure all your income and expenditure is entered as monthly, not weekly or four weekly. Anything that is weekly, multiply by 52 and then divide by 12, this will give you the monthly amount. Then update your SOA accordingly, you will then see your true income, expenditure, and surplus. You also have areas in your SOA that you can make cutbacks, especially pay for TV, which would bring your debt free date forward even more. I hope that at

I have made some comments above, I hope that at least some of themm will be of use to you, Good luck,

D9

Nicandan

Hi Domino

Thank you very much for your input, i will redo the SOA and look at all the points you have raised and will re-post asap.

theoretica

You might also find it interesting to look through your past few months of bank and card statements and chart where your money has really been going compared to your SOA. Was all your spending really necessary and was it even worth it?

Nicandan

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1400
Benefits................................ 81.2
Other income............................ 260
Total monthly income.................... 2841.2
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 508
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 286
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 95 will enquire about 12 payments
Electricity............................. 65 fixed from sept11 (£40 to cancel)
Gas..................................... 44 as elec
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 43.56 pay weekly £10.89
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 47 this is for 2 contracts but 1 is on minimum tariff, set til Dec2012
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 80 this incl phone & broadband and we don't go out so it's out little luxury an we love footie so couldn't be without sports channel
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 240 av wk spend £60
Clothing................................ 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 200 other half is visiting officer so needs car, my work is not on a bus route and i do not live near anyone to car share
Road tax................................ 25 for 2 cars
Car Insurance........................... 81 for 2 cars
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25 for 2 cars
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 8
Buildings insurance..................... 14
Contents insurance...................... 18 32 for our p/code afte much shopping around and haggling
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 25 i have hair cut every 8 weeks, other half an son about same, so this is the average over year
Entertainment........................... 25 occasional meal
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 28
College Costs........................... 60 bus as too far to bike
Total monthly expenses.................. 2059.56

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 130000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 12000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 142000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 78000....(508)......6.04
Secured Debt.................. 22000....(286)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 100000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
BARCLAYCARD....................1800......50........29.9 i overpay £6
VANQUIS........................950.......42........0 i overpay £8
CAPITAL ONE....................1420......55........34.08 i overpay £5
NEXT DIRECTORY.................450.......40........0
LLOYDS OVERDRAFT...............3000......45........0
CO-OP..........................1800......40........0 other half overpays when poss
AQUA...........................1350......48........37.95 to start overpaying
BARCLAYCARD....................2000......60........29.9
MINT...........................1807......41........19.16 i overpay £9
OPUS...........................1430......55........36.94 i overpay £5
AQUA...........................910.......32........37.95 i overpay £18
Total unsecured debts..........16917.....508.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,841.2
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,059.56
Available for debt repayments........... 781.64
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 508
Amount left after debt repayments....... 273.64
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 142,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -100,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -16,917
Net Assets.............................. 25,083


I definitely need to do a spending diary, as we need to account for newspapers, milk, and other misc costs that we obviously don't realise we are spending.

I have only just started paying a little more than the minimum on the cards since January, need to see if i can perhaps concentrate on the aqua card and pay even more that will save interest, i have cut all of the cards up apart from the mint card and barclaycard and as mint card has the lowest apr.

I feel 100% positive after reading all your advice, will look at trying to get some stuff on ebay to pay towards the cards, i did a stint of selling last year to help and it was general stuff that we didn't use or need and i was quite happy with how much it sold for, also will be doing a car boot sale once they start back up which i think is in March some time.

RAS

For each one of the debts, can you list the limit, please and whether the account is still open?

beverleyhills

Does OH claim travel expenses?

mrsb83_2

Just a small point - your car maintenance looks extremely low for 2 cars with a high petrol cost. I know that garage bills were a major problem for me as I was massively underestimating how much it cost me.

I budget £60 a month for one car doing 20000 a year as a guide.

Nicandan

BARCLAYCARD............ 1800....50....29.9 i o/p £6.....limit 1850
VANQUIS......................950.....42.....0 i o/p £8.............1000
CAPITAL ONE...............1420.... 55....34.08 i o/p £5........1500
NEXT DIRECTORY...........450.....40......0 ....................... 550
LLOYDS OVERDRAFT......3000.....45......0 :mad:
CO-OP........................1800.....40......0 o/h o/p............2000
AQUA.........................1350.....48....37.95 .................. 1500
BARCLAYCARD...............2000....60....29.9 ....................2000
MINT...........................1807....41....19.16 i o/p £9........1850
OPUS...........................1430....55....36.94 i o/p £5........1500
AQUA.......................... .910.....32....37.95i o/p £18.......1200


All of the accounts are current and sadly all too close to their limits, i mentioned i have already started paying more than the minimum, even though it might only be £5 it's a start

The one debt that really bugs me is the Lloyds overdraft which i've had forever from when i was ill over 4 years ago, i addressed this with LLoyds before xmas and asked about having it reduced down each month even if it was only £25 a month reduction, i was advised they would have to do a credit check each month to reduce it down.....i've never heard such rubbish in my life, the best advice they could give was to put a pool of money away then come pay it in an then ask for it to be reduced :mad: not sure if this is correct but i have since spoken to lloyds via a different branch and they confirmed this :eek:

Nicandan

mrsb83 wrote: »

Just a small point - your car maintenance looks extremely low for 2 cars with a high petrol cost. I know that garage bills were a major problem for me as I was massively underestimating how much it cost me.

I budget £60 a month for one car doing 20000 a year as a guide.

Yes i agree it is low, but we both pay £12.50 a month into a service plan this covers our service and mot each year. I work in a car dealership so fortunately both our plans are discounted down, so we are lucky in that respect. Tyres etc are also heavily discounted