Friendly advice please?

rhapsody7

Hi, Here's my current debt situation -

£1500 - £2000 overdraft (charged £12 - £15)
£782 HP 0% loan (Paying £112 monthly - ends Dec 2012)
£4543 0% Barclaycard (Paying £145 monthly, (min payment £105)
£3400 0% Barclaycard (Paying £85 monthly (min payment £75)
£2500 HP 0% loan (Paying £70 monthly for 3 years)

Total monthly debt payment £427

Been in touch with a debt adviser through Money Supermarket and they have suggested paying £400 a month for 3 years on a debt free plan. I would have to close the bank account with which I have an overdraft (no problem) as the overdraft would be paid and the interest would be frozen on the cards.
What should I do as there doesn't seem to be a great deal of difference and one of my loans is paid off in December. Was thinking of using that payment to pay off one of the cards quicker.

My head is spinning!!!

ineed

Hi, I'm sure someone more experienced will be along shortly, just wanted to say why not have a chat with your local CAB, maybe even CCC to discuss your options.

It's your decision but if your really struggling can you wait till december to pay off your loan going as you are now? Why not post up a proper SOA listing your incomings and outgoings?

rhapsody7

I have done a SOA before on here and it got criticised quite badly. I am no means extravagant with money (can't afford to be) and we just basically pay our bills (and debts) and eat, oh we do have Sky TV though but that's because we don't go out.
We can manage until Dec but I'm pretty sure our tax credits are going to decrease by about £50 a month this time so that's not good.
I guess 3 years isn't too long to be debt free.

Niv

rhapsody7 wrote: »

I have done a SOA before on here and it got criticised quite badly. I am no means extravagant with money (can't afford to be) and we just basically pay our bills (and debts) and eat, oh we do have Sky TV though but that's because we don't go out.
We can manage until Dec but I'm pretty sure our tax credits are going to decrease by about £50 a month this time so that's not good.
I guess 3 years isn't too long to be debt free.

I dont believe I saw your previous SOA, but sometimes people do come accross as blunt (I am not claiming to be an exception), most of the time however, the advice is meant in the nicest way and some people do need a reality check. For example imo (assuming the debt isnt too crippling) sky is fine, but if your struggling does a person need HD, sports and movies? - just an example, not aimed at you at all

Anyway, in your situation as you have described it, I think I would carry on as you are for now. One of your debts are due to be paid off in December and that extra money can go on one of the other debts to pay that off quicker (maybe the OD as that costs you month to month?).

How much longer are your 0% interest deals in place for, is it the duration of the loans? Assuming they do go up at some point what % do they go to as this would give a guide to which is the next priority loan to pay off (after december).

Niv

rhapsody7

The 0% rate on the HP loans are for the duration of the loan. The 0% on the cards are until Nov this year so I have that in mind and can hopefully find another 0% deal to transfer the balances.
Thanks for the reply! We're paying the least amount possible for all our bills. I constantly switch for the cheapest in everything using this site, I only buy basics supermarket brands (I work in one so receive staff discount) cheap this cheap that is all I ever do.
Three years to be debt free (and counting!!)

ineed

Hi, oh ok, didn't realise you had posted one before. I totally understand about Sky btw, I don't go out so consider it essential. See how you go, if it becomes to much you have options. Good luck

geoffky

You missed the important bit...total debt=15k looks worse than the monthly payments bit..

rhapsody7

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Ok here we go!

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

Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax............... 777
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1174
Benefits................................ 182
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2133

Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 435.04
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 181
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 99
Electricity............................. 53 and gas as one payment thats why the equal amounts
Gas..................................... 53 just used uswitch
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 39
Telephone (land line)................... 35 inc internet
Mobile phone............................ 39 this is for 3 in our house
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 42.32 our luxury as we dont go out
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 480
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 43 only use car weekends cycle other times
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 29
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 45 £20 child bonds and football training
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 5.83
Contents insurance...................... 4.99
Life assurance ......................... 19.38
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 15 playing squash and the odd dvd hire
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1760.89


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 126000
Shares and bonds........................ 100
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 126600


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 90000....(435)......6
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 3200.....(181)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 93200.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
barclaycard....................4500......105.......0
barclaycard....................3500......85........0
argos card.....................500.......10........0
Total unsecured debts..........8500......200.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,197
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,760.89
Available for debt repayments........... 436.11
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 200
Amount left after debt repayments....... 236.11

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 126,600
Total HP & Secured debt................. -93,200
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,500
Net Assets.............................. 24,900

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

Loubell83

Hi there,

I am not going to go through your SOA with a fine toothed comb, they are better people to do that.

However some friendly tips that have helped me free up more money -
£480 on groceries seems quite high. Look at the old style boards to get ideas for recipes. Plan your eating for the week, purchase the stuff you need and cook things from scratch. You can cook stuff and freeze what is left for later on in the week. I have found planning meals really helps and saved me a lot of pennies. And there are loads of tips over there.

Have you got stuff you can sell on eBay? I recently had a clear out and made about £400, selling stuff from clothes to empty iPhone boxes - you would be surprised what people buy. Some stuff I thought would never sell did.

Keep a spending diary - you will surprise yourself with how it mounts up. I have a budget app on my iphone called EEBA that helps, you can split everything into envelopes, such as travel, groceries, bills etc. I make sure I keep within the budgets and this helps me keep track of my spending. EEBA is also a website if you prefer to do it online.

Also, when people go through your SOA they are trying to be helpful, although I understand it can seem harsh. I also keep my cable as its my only form of entertainment along with my £5 lovefilm subscription.

Good luck, I hope you can make small measures to help your situation. the small steps all add up and that is what I focus on.

rhapsody7

Thank you, I do cook all my meals from scratch and plan weekly as I order my groceries online, sometimes I don't spend as much as that.
I'm always selling on Ebay but I've ran out of stuff to sell at the moment!
I will definately check out EEBA, we use the piggy bank method which is very helpful so for certain things we always make sure we have the money.

TonyMMM

The main thing is that your SOA shows you have £236 left at the end of the month ... presumably that isn't the case, which means your SOA is wrong.

You need to work out exactly where the money is going - keep a diary listing every penny you spend.