Same cycle developing again

debitnotcredit

Hello All,

Although my situation is by no means as bad as some on this forum, I would value comments please.

Consolidated CC last year to a larghish loan 12500.00, but have found my credit cards have started building again. They hit 4000.00 so with a nasty nagging feeling I have just cleared them once again with some shares I had. My other loan on my SOA supports a car, but is a personal loan not car finance.

I am posting my SOA. A point or two, in my endowments section I have two policies which mature one 2014 and one 2015 I can't surrender them as I lose a valuable mortgage promise provided by Aviva of about 11000.00. The promise is now guaranteed on one policy and will be guaranteed on the other one in August this year.

Paying just interest at the moment, having just stopped an overpayment of 75.00 a month.

Part of mortgage is fixed at 3.99% part is flexible at 2.49% above base rate.

I am self employed with a variable income and my wife is employed part time, we are both late 40s. My income has been averaged over two years.

Looking at some SOAs on here I seem to be paying over the odds for some items.

Daughter is due to go into further education soon, so will need to fund her.

SOA will appear soon.

I was in horrendous debt in the early 1990s 50 K and negative equity of 40K and have seen how bad it can become in a recession.

Got myself out of that situation and never want to return, hence these little nagging feelings keep coming back.

Thanks

debitnotcredit

My business employs some people so the income is net of that, business has started to slow hence starting to worry for them also.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2350
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1178
Benefits................................ 82
Other income............................ 25
Total monthly income.................... 3635

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 407
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 200
Electricity............................. 78
Gas..................................... 108
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 78
Telephone (land line)................... 38
Mobile phone............................ 93
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 500
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 400
Road tax................................ 13
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 23
Buildings insurance..................... 7
Contents insurance...................... 7
Life assurance ......................... 105
Other insurance......................... 64
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 150
Holiday................................. 200
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 2768.37


Assets
Cash.................................... 2587
House value (Gross)..................... 315000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 38366
Total Assets............................ 355953


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 143894...(407)......3.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 143894....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................12100.....275.......8.4
Loan...........................3350......0.........9.6
Total unsecured debts..........15450.....275.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,635
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,768.37
Available for debt repayments........... 866.63
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 275
Amount left after debt repayments....... 591.63

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 355,953
Total HP & Secured debt................. -143,894
Total Unsecured debt.................... -15,450
Net Assets.............................. 196,609

Created using the SOA calculator Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

theoretica

Have you considered taking scissors to the credit card?

ifstar

I'm sure others will be along to get stuck into your SOA but from a quick look at it, you say you should have £502 left every month after everything including the debts paid and if this is the case they you wouldn't be needing to run up your credit card every month. If you do have the extra £500 then cut the credit cards and throw that money against the loans to get rid of them sooner. If you don't have that then you need to see where it is going.

Your landline is very expensive, is this correct?
Can you drop your mobile phone bills down?
Cutting back on holiday and entertainment for a bit too would free up more money.
Grocery shopping for 4 people is pretty high too. You could probably cut a few hundred off that

Googlewhacker

debitnotcredit wrote: »

My business employs some people so the income is net of that, business has started to slow hence starting to worry for them also.

Household Information
Number of adults in household........ 3
Number of children in household...... 1
Number of cars owned.................. 2

Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax.............. 2350
Partners monthly income after tax.. 1178
Benefits................................ 82
Other income............................ 25
Total monthly income................. 3635

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 407
Secured/HP loan repayments....... 0
Council tax............................. 200
Electricity............................. 78
Gas..................................... 105 Gas and electric seem very high combined...£2200ish a year
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 78 Again very high, just under £1k a year
Telephone (land line)................... 38
Mobile phone............................ 93.5Maybe work reasons but again high, check your contract, see if can get more minutes etc
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 Could be halved...
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 400 Preusme this is for work?
Road tax................................ 13
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT).......40
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 23
Buildings insurance..................... 7
Contents insurance...................... 7
Life assurance ......................... 105
Other insurance......................... 64
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 150
Holiday................................. 200Change your holiday? I suspect it costs more than this a month so why not have a cheap holiday for once...prob better value
Emergency fund.......................... 50Scrap this if you are paying debts of...
Total monthly expenses.................. 2730.87


Assets
Cash.................................... 2587
House value (Gross)..................... 315000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 38386
Total Assets............................ 355973


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 143894...(407)......3.5
Total secured & HP debts. 143894....-.........

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Loan...........................12100.....275...... .8.4
Loan...........................3350......127...... .9.8
Total unsecured debts...15450.....402.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,635
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,730.87
Available for debt repayments........... 904.13
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 402
Amount left after debt repayments....... 502.13

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 355,973
Total HP & Secured debt................. -143,894
Total Unsecured debt.................... -15,450
Net Assets.............................. 196,629

You actaully would have near to £1000 if you cut back, changed thigs etc and accounted for the £502 you never seem to have.

Your lives would be comfortable.

Cut the credit cards up!!!

MFWannabe

debitnotcredit wrote: »

My business employs some people so the income is net of that, business has started to slow hence starting to worry for them also.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2350
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1178
Benefits................................ 82
Other income............................ 25
Total monthly income.................... 3635

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 407
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 200 - This seems high; does it include any arrears? Do you pay over 10 months or 12?
Electricity............................. 78 - Check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper
Gas..................................... 108 - Check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 78- Check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper
Telephone (land line)................... 38
Mobile phone............................ 93 - this is very high; how many mobiles is this for? See if you can lower tariffs
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60 - See if you can get landline cheaper combined with this
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 - You should be able to reduce this by at least £100
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 400 - Is this your usage? If so could you claim this back as you are self employed
Road tax................................ 13
Car Insurance........................... 50 - Check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 23
Buildings insurance..................... 7
Contents insurance...................... 7
Life assurance ......................... 105 - Seems very high; again check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper
Other insurance......................... 64
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 150 - This is high; trying cutting by at least £50
Holiday................................. 200 - this is very high; either do without this year while you pay off debts or try to cut in half
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 2768.37


Assets
Cash.................................... 2587
House value (Gross)..................... 315000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 38366
Total Assets............................ 355953


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 143894...(407)......3.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 143894....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................12100.....275.......8.4
Loan...........................3350......0.........9.6
Total unsecured debts..........15450.....275.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,635
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,768.37
Available for debt repayments........... 866.63
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 275
Amount left after debt repayments....... 591.63

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 355,953
Total HP & Secured debt................. -143,894
Total Unsecured debt.................... -15,450
Net Assets.............................. 196,609

Created using the SOA calculator Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

Hi
I've made some comments above where you could make some cutbacks. You already should have £500 per month left over and you could have nearer £800. If you find you don't have this then you need to start keeping a spending diary to see where you're spending money. Get rid of the credit cards so you are not tempted to spend on them again.

The_Drowner

I don't want to be harsh but discipline is the key on this and it sounds as if , from your own descriptions of your situation , that you're not overly discplined in your approach to this - if the credit cards are the source of your problem there is a really simple solution - cut them up. It also looks as if, from your SOA, that a bit of shopping around and consolidating on your utilities, and significant but not drastic cutting back on some of your day-to-day expenditure (groceries for example), that you could make some major inroads into that.

But ditch the credit cards!! You know it's the right thing to do. Deep breath, snippety-snip. Job done. Great sigh of relief.

debitnotcredit

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2350
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1178
Benefits................................ 82
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3610

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 407
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 200
Electricity............................. 78
Gas..................................... 108
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 78
Telephone (land line)................... 38
Mobile phone............................ 93
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 500
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 400
Road tax................................ 11.25
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 23
Buildings insurance..................... 7
Contents insurance...................... 7
Life assurance ......................... 86
Other insurance......................... 18
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 150
Emergency fund.......................... 40
Total monthly expenses.................. 2596.62


Assets
Cash.................................... 2587
House value (Gross)..................... 315000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 8000
Other assets............................ 34886
Total Assets............................ 360473


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 143894...(407)......3.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 143894....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................12100.....275.......8.4
Total unsecured debts..........12100.....275.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,610
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,596.62
Available for debt repayments........... 1,013.38
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 275
Amount left after debt repayments....... 738.38

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 360,473
Total HP & Secured debt................. -143,894
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,100
Net Assets.............................. 204,479

Created using the SOA calculator
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

debitnotcredit

I have updated my SOA, I have considered taking some of the funds out of the savings plans to pay off second loan, the values of which are incorporated in the assets section, this saves £127.00 a month. I will still pay £100.00 a month to build plans up again.

I am struggling to find cheaper electric gas 4 bed house, mobile phone are mine my Wifes and daughters, shopping at 500 a month has been cut down from about 750.00. Fuel is used in business.

Holidays are important as we have a lot of illness in the Family with 3 people pretty ill and needing our care, one is in a home but he is dying at the age of 53, and being my Wifes Brother I like to make sure Shes get away from it all.

Water is high I know but cant seem to find cheaper for that.

Mort

£4,000 in how long? What led to this spending? Just some things to think over as you need to work out what is leading you back into bad habits.

I would agree with those who have suggested cutting up the cards but if you are having to use them as a safety net you should build up an emergency fund first

Googlewhacker

debitnotcredit wrote: »

I have updated my SOA, I have considered taking some of the funds out of the savings plans to pay off second loan, the values of which are incorporated in the assets section, this saves £127.00 a month. I will still pay £100.00 a month to build plans up again.

I am struggling to find cheaper electric gas 4 bed house, mobile phone are mine my Wifes and daughters, shopping at 500 a month has been cut down from about 750.00. Fuel is used in business.

Holidays are important as we have a lot of illness in the Family with 3 people pretty ill and needing our care, one is in a home but he is dying at the age of 53, and being my Wifes Brother I like to make sure Shes get away from it all.

Water is high I know but cant seem to find cheaper for that.

If the prices are what they are then you need to look at actual usage that is involved.

Regarding the holidays, it is understandable but ultimately everyone in life has problems and its how we cope. I am not saying don't go on holiday but seriously look at where and how much you pay.

EDITED: I think probably the most important thing you need to do is do a spending diary of what you are actually spending the money on. Even with the changes you have done if you stuck to the budget you have nearly £800 spare a month....I suspect you don't see any of that!!!