SOA - Please could someone advise me on paying back this debt

wants.to.be.debt.free

HELLO THIS IS MY SOA

I'm Struggling as i'm paying a lot in interest and the Balance doesn't go down much!

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 810.6
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 330.28
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1140.88
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 390
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 74
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 75
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 17
Telephone (land line)................... 10 (£30 with internet)
Mobile phone............................ 14
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20 (£30 with phone)
Groceries etc. ......................... 140
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 56 (bus fare Son £32, me £24)
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 9
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 10
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 932

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard CC.................520.......15........24
Egg CC.........................500.......15........24
Abbey CC.......................1100......38........30
Abbey O/D......................1250......20........20
Natwest O/D....................1300......20........18
SCS............................1100......50........0
Argos Store Card...............1000......38........30
Asda CC........................2250......68........30
Total unsecured debts..........9020......264.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,140.88
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 932
Available for debt repayments........... 208.88
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 264
Amount short for making debt repayments. -55.12
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,020
Net Assets.............................. -9,020
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

TotallyBroke

wants.to.be.debt.free wrote: »

HELLO THIS IS MY SOA

I'm Struggling as i'm paying a lot in interest and the Balance doesn't go down much!

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 810.6
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 330.28
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1140.88
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 390
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 74
Electricity............................. 50 This is very high for a month
Gas..................................... 75 again pretty high
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 17
Telephone (land line)................... 10 (£30 with internet)
Mobile phone............................ 14
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20 (£30 with phone)
Groceries etc. ......................... 140
Clothing................................ 30Do you need this every month
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 56 (bus fare Son £32, me £24) you are only spending this a month?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 9
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 10
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 932

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard CC.................520.......15........24Are these min payments
Egg CC.........................500.......15........24As above
Abbey CC.......................1100......38........30
Abbey O/D......................1250......20........20 Are these on old accounts as the apr is very high
Natwest O/D....................1300......20........18As above
SCS............................1100......50........0
Argos Store Card...............1000......38........30
Asda CC........................2250......68........30
Total unsecured debts..........9020......264.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,140.88
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 932
Available for debt repayments........... 208.88
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 264
Amount short for making debt repayments. -55.12
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,020
Net Assets.............................. -9,020
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Hi... well done for taking the first step..
The overdrafts you have are they on your bank account now or on old accounts. If they are on your main account are you paying to reduce them.
I'm not sure where you can reduce your SOA other than cutting back on heating and maybe shopping if it truly is an exact SOA and you are only £55 short each month.

wants.to.be.debt.free

Hi thanks for having a look at my SOA

Everything there is correct.

I only spend £24 on buses a month as i work 4 days
I walk there but catch the bus back - otherwise i wouldn't be home for my son.

All the O/D and cc are old accounts and those are minimum payments. The food bill works out at less than £5 per day
(I take my lunch and so does my son)

The clothes bill i could reduce - my sons uniform over the year comes to £150, i hardly buy anything for myself

I often cut back on things just to make the repayments.

But for every £1 i pay towards my debts they take 70p back in interest...i cant get 0% to change them over to.

My gas/elec isn't high...Summer i spend £20 a month on gas and winter i spend £130 a month

Thanks again

TotallyBroke

Wow bus fare is cheap where you are.. it's £2.20 a go here thats why I asked thought maybe you had only put a week down

Your gas and electric is high compared to mine then. I only pay £59 per month all throughout the year... but I am stingy with the thermostat

It is disheartening when you see so much being added in interest but they are going down albeit slowly... You have done great because you have got rid of one debt.

I'm not sure what I can suggest... what I did with my debts was use my bank account overdraft to its max each month. I have an excel spreadsheet that I use to budget for the month and I change the figures as I spend them and as they come out of my account. The I would use my overdraft to pay on one debt.
Do you have an overdraft facility on your current bank account.

Would there be any chance of working 5 days a week?

wants.to.be.debt.free

Thanks Totally Broke,

I have got off the phone from Capital One and cancelled my card so no chance of running the debt up again.

I have asked at work and the only overtime they can give me is saturday and sunday, and i have no family that live nearby so i cant work, also childcare providers don't work weekends!!

Yes the bus fares is £1.50 each way - which for the bus ride home is £6 a week, so pretty good value, much cheaper than a car, plus i get exercise walking to work.

The abbey o/d is my current account, but is at the limit,

I don't want a dmp so i think just carry on regardless and any spare cash from food etc that i don't spend will go into the debts.

Thanks again

TotallyBroke

Ok so the Abbey OD are you reducing the amount you available down by £20 each month so I mean next month you will only have £1230 available. If you are I would stop reducing it and continue to leave it at £1250 and use that £20 to either put towards another debt or cover your monthly shortfall.

That may not be the advice that others give you but it is something I did. I used my overdraft to the max getting rid of other debts until they were gone. Then I used less and less of the overdraft until now I no longer use it but it is still there at max amount should I ever need to use it.

DS4215

How far is the journey to work? - could you invest (or get free from Freecycle) in a bike and get the exercise benefit and save another £24 per month?

Can you do any work in the evening from home? - not sure what you do but you might be able to find something home based - even £5 a day would pay off the two smallest debts in a few months... Perhaps take a look at odesk or Peopleperhour and see if there is anything you can do...

lemonpopsicle

You ought to check whether you can get school uniform vouchers through your local council. We get nearly £100 a year. Your son isn't paying for the school bus is he?
Plus, I don't want to pry but do you not get financial help from his dad?

asparagus1968

i feel for you!
there is me and my boy in a two bed here-gas and electric £50 per month via direct debit,so maybe you could look at using less?
tv/internet-this could be reduced by £5-£10 a month.
use quidco and/or topcashback for the comparison sites to look into making sure you have the best deals.

i'm not an expert,but apparantly if you look at the snowball calculator (among the stickies with the SOA) and input the debts and interest rates it shows you how pay thm off in the best order to reduce how much interest you pay.i think this is your main problem,so have a look?

suppose you have done the obvious-ebay/music magpie etc?
was ot home improvements/gadgets etc or day to day living that brought on the debt?

good luck,i know its hard.:)

[Deleted User]

wants.to.be.debt.free wrote: »

HELLO THIS IS MY SOA

I'm Struggling as i'm paying a lot in interest and the Balance doesn't go down much!

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 810.6
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0 Is there any child maintenance to add here?
Benefits................................ 330.28Are you getting all that you are entitled to?
Other income............................ 0Any way to put something here - check the "up your income board" on here for some inspiration
Total monthly income.................... 1140.88

Monthly Expense Details
Rent.................................... 390
Council tax............................. 74 Are you getting the 25% discount for being the only adult in the house
Electricity............................. 50Are you in arrears? - I agree with others that this is high. We are two adults in the house, one of who works from home a fair bit and we are quite a bit less than this. Check that you are not in credit with the company, and if you are claim it back. Make sure that you are only using electricity in the room that you are in, and switch things off instead of on standby
Gas..................................... 75As above, perhaps you need to go to one of the comparison sites and check that you are on the cheapest tariff available to you, often online and duel fuel are cheaper. Also, turn down the boiler by a few degrees [you will never notice] and turn down the thermostat on the heating too, and when you use the heating, make sure that switch off or down the radiators in other rooms
Water rates............................. 17
Telephone (land line)................... 10 (£30 with internet)I know that this can depend on area - but check that you can't get this cheaper - I know talktalk offers both internet and phone - inclusive of certain calls, including international for about £20-£22 per month
Mobile phone............................ 14Are you PAYG or contract? If you can switch take a look at GiffGaff, I switched and more than halved my bill. You can keep your number
TV Licence.............................. 12
Internet Services....................... 20 (£30 with phone) As above
Groceries etc. ......................... 140I think that you can manage to shave a little of here if you are organised and use batch cooking, meal planning, own brand products etc
Clothing................................ 30 I know that you've said that most of this is for your son, but see if you can reduce
Other travel............................ 56 (bus fare Son £32, me £24)If you were to get either of you a monthly ticket/weekly/season - would it be any cheaper [although I agree with other poster, that this is very reasonable
Contents insurance...................... 9
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10 Do you actually save this somewhere when it's needed. Sigh up to some of the survey sites and see if you can earn vouchers over the year to help towards the cost of Xmas and birthday presents. Not a quick way of making money, but it's a little extra evry now and then
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 10
Emergency fund.......................... 10Again, do you actually save this somewhere for when it is needed?
Total monthly expenses.................. 932


Assets
Cash.................................... 0 Presents? Emergency savings?
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0


No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Argos Store Card...............1000......38........30
Asda CC........................2250......68........30
Abbey CC.......................1100......38........30

Barclaycard CC.................520.......15........24
Egg CC.........................500.......15........24

Abbey O/D......................1250......20........20

Natwest O/D....................1300......20........18

SCS............................1100......50........0

Total unsecured debts..........9020......264.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,140.88
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 932
Available for debt repayments........... 208.88
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 264
Amount short for making debt repayments. -55.12I think that this could be made up in your SOA with little cutbacks here and there (utilities, home phone/internet/mobile/groceries/clothes etc

Personal Balance Sheet SummaryHave you stopped using the credit? Is it reducing every month?
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,020
Net Assets.............................. -9,020
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Hi, I have made suggestions above, I don't think that there is one thing that you are particularly over spending on, perhaps utilities (but this will depend on usage and probably geographical area too, so maybe not overspending here by too much). But I do think that you can shave a little off several things to make up the short hall.

Having said this, if you are only going to be paying the minimums towards all of your debts, and you are unable to shift any to lower interest debt, or you are not expecting an increase in income anytime soon, then I would seriously consider talking to one of the debt charities about all your options (free, impartial, non-judgmental, knowledgeable). If you put all of your debts in the the snowball calculator [at the bottom of the page that you filled your SOA in], you will get a debt free date for if you were to continue the current payments at their current rates.

Generally most people find that cutting back on everything is doable in the short term, but is unsustainable in the long term. If just one unexpected bill cropped up, without any savings you would most likely have to reach for more credit? Please seriously consider talking to one of the charities.

HTH

D9

wants.to.be.debt.free

TotallyBroke wrote: »

Ok so the Abbey OD are you reducing the amount you available down by £20 each month so I mean next month you will only have £1230 available. If you are I would stop reducing it and continue to leave it at £1250 and use that £20 to either put towards another debt or cover your monthly shortfall.

That may not be the advice that others give you but it is something I did. I used my overdraft to the max getting rid of other debts until they were gone. Then I used less and less of the overdraft until now I no longer use it but it is still there at max amount should I ever need to use it.

Hi Totally broke, but the £20 for the O/D is their monthy charges so i dont have the money as spare:mad: