Can you cast your eye over my soa

tlh858

vintagegirl wrote: »

The problem with Vanquis is that once ive cleared it, i tend to run it up again.

Easily solved by cancelling the card now so it can't be used any more, and just continue to pay it monthly until gone.

vintagegirl wrote: »

I dont want to pay it off then cancel as it is helping my credit rating.

How do you think it is helping?
It's costing you a fortune in interest every month, and unless you start to pay significantly more than the minimum payment, you will have it for years and it will cost you literally thousands of pounds in interest.

vintagegirl

Naf wrote: »

I notice you seem to be using no water?
Also you've listed nothing for clothing, while you probably will need to buy some from time to time, worth keeping something aside for when considering your overall SOA.
Also, you have no insurance on your home? Even I've got that, and I barely own anything worth replacing lol.

re the water thing, im in scotland so its included in the council tax. I dont know if its worth changing to 12 monthly, would be £64 a month then. I have house insurance but thats included with the rent

vintagegirl

tlh858 wrote: »

Easily solved by cancelling the card now so it can't be used any more, and just continue to pay it monthly until gone.


How do you think it is helping?
It's costing you a fortune in interest every month, and unless you start to pay significantly more than the minimum payment, you will have it for years and it will cost you literally thousands of pounds in interest.

i know, its just helping in the fact that the green 0's and the longer you have an account, the more favourable it seems.

i have tried the freezing it in the freezer, doesnt work, i just get the hairdryer out hah.
im thinking of giving it to my parents, so i can't use it and paying it off at £100 - £150 a month?

Naf

Get a safety deposit box: that way the card is still possible to use, but not easy to get at for frivolous use.
Perhaps I ought to take my own advice... Lol

tlh858

Another way to look at it:

The Vanquis card is currently costing you £40 every month in interest, so if you are paying the minimum of 44 the card will never be paid off, and you will be wasting £40 per month for the rest of your life.

Or, if you get the scissors out right now and chop the card up, then pay £150 per month, it will be gone in less than a year.

If you are paying your other cards/loans properly, one extra credit card will make little or no difference on your credit report.

mildredalien

You have other cards you can use at presumably way less interest - there is NO reason to keep using that Vanquis card unless you can pay it off in full every month and avoid those terrible interest rates. It sounds a bit like you are using it as a safety net and that you are in the habit of using credit. Not necessarily a bad thing but if you have had problems managing credit before, I'd suggest staying away from it. If you have over £900/month spare each month after essentials there shouldn't be much need for a credit card at all!

Once you have finalised your SOA for all your necessary expenses, pay the minimum amounts on every card except the one you want to focus on at first, then throw absolutely every spare penny at that card. Once that is paid off, move on to the next one. The order you pay them should be the highest - lowest interest.

So for example, you figure out you have £600/month left over and you have 4 credit cards at £25 min payment each. You pay 3 of them the £25 minimum amount, and then £525 off the 4th one until it is completely gone. Then you pay £550/month off the next, when that is done put £575 against the third and so on. You have lots of small-ish balances so it shouldn't take too long and you could pay off more than one debt in a month most likely!

vintagegirl

hiya i have updated my soa to include almost everything i think. Please let me know if i'm missing something

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.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1449.37
Partners monthly income after tax.......
Benefits................................ 433.33
Other income............................ 195
Total monthly income.................... 2077.7

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 308.32
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 77
Electricity............................. 20
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 24.58
Mobile phone............................ 37
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 130
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 130
Road tax................................ 18.33
Car Insurance........................... 53.45
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 69
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 9.75
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
cash for good times .................... 86.66
vanquis. extra standing order.....................108.33
aqua.extra................................... 43.33
capital one..extra........................... 43.33
pocket money ........................... 21.66
BANK ACCOUNT FEE........................ 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 1097.87


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
VANQUIS........................1171......44.76.....41.9
AQUA...........................530.......15........35.9
CAPITAL ONE....................197.......10........31.9
MAC HALL.......................500.......4.........0
NATWEST............................1663......160.......0
LITTLEWOODS...........................263.......18.71.....39.9
Total unsecured debts..........4324......252.47....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,077.7
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,097.87
Available for debt repayments........... 979.83
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 252.47
Amount left after debt repayments....... 577.37

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,324
Net Assets.............................. -4,324

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

mildredalien

Wow that was helpful castlehill, thanks for that

vintagegirl - it's starting to look good Maybe get some contents insurance though, and start a small emergency fund. I assume the 'cash for good times' and 'pocket money' amounts will cover things like entertainment and gifts?

However, rather than pay extra to all the cards at the same time, I would still recommend throwing every extra penny at the most expensive card first, it really saves you interest. From your SOA, you can click on the 'snowball' button, import all your details and it will advise you as to which debt to pay off when to cost you the least money. You still have enough left over that you could clear Vanquis in 1-2 months and then clear a debt a month!

If you don't actually have that £500/month left over, it would be good to do a spending diary and see what you are really spending your cash on, can be an eye opener Good luck!

vintagegirl

mildredalien wrote: »

Wow that was helpful castlehill, thanks for that

vintagegirl - it's starting to look good Maybe get some contents insurance though, and start a small emergency fund. I assume the 'cash for good times' and 'pocket money' amounts will cover things like entertainment and gifts?

However, rather than pay extra to all the cards at the same time, I would still recommend throwing every extra penny at the most expensive card first, it really saves you interest. From your SOA, you can click on the 'snowball' button, import all your details and it will advise you as to which debt to pay off when to cost you the least money. You still have enough left over that you could clear Vanquis in 1-2 months and then clear a debt a month!

If you don't actually have that £500/month left over, it would be good to do a spending diary and see what you are really spending your cash on, can be an eye opener Good luck!

thanks for all your advice, im feeling pretty confident about this and have set up the following standing orders into virtual pots in my Halifax internet banking.

aqua - £10 per week
capital one £10 per week
Vanquis £25 per week
entertainment - £20 per week
Natwest - £40 per week
clothes - £4.60 per week
Hair dressing - £2.25 per week
MOT - £5 per week
Road tax - £4.42 per week
Daughter's pocket money - £5 per week

once The Capital one card is paid off, ill increase the Vanquis standing order by £10 and the same with Aqua

mildredalien

Great start vintagegirl, well done

The virtual pot thing is a great idea, not sure why you are transferring into virtual pots to pay off credit cards though? The interest you are being charged on those cards while there is a balance on them is so high that the benefit of 'saving' to pay the cards off at a later date is wiped out. Unless I'm just misunderstanding and that's your extra payment to the cards?

Just keep your eyes sharply on that surplus, it could so easily disappear each month but think about on the last day before your next payday transferring every last penny over to pay towards a debt. It might be £50, £100 or £300 but it all adds up!