£45k debts and £5.5k PPI payout, where to allocate

heyboots

As above, I am waiting to enter a DAS Debt arrangement scheme - which freezes interest on my debts (most are 30%)

I'm getting a 5.5k payout and ive cashed in £1k shares

Not sure how to proceed. My husband has an unblemished credit record (apart from any association with me ) we have only a joint mortgage no other joint borrowings and he has £4k outstanding on a cc which he is paying 200 per month

so... my thoughts are as follows.
1. pay of joint account overdraft so we can close account and dissolve me and my hubby's joint account £850,
2.pay off 2 catalogue bills which the DAS says will be problematic as they are low and will struggle to agree to a small sum over 10 years £1400
THis leaves £4250, my thoughts are either keep £1000 for emergencies and pay £3250 to hubby's cc (low interest) but that means when I enter the das we will have more to live on month to month?

The other option is pay of £6500 of my 30% pa cards and try and pay off WITHOUT a DAS? Maybe MBNA as they usually offer 0% transfers and i could perhaps transfer some of the high interest onto that and snowball my high interest cards?

Although with the number of late payments im not sure id be offered 0%

advice please (im obviously no good at financial decisions or wouldnt be in this mess!) my SOA os below

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1850
Partners monthly income after tax....... 840
Benefits................................ 135 (child benefit)
Other income............................ 650 (fluctuates but this is average)
Total monthly income.................... 3475
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 581 (we are currently only paying interest, we need to add about £300 per month to this asap)
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 195
Electricity............................. 90 (we've switched to the cheapest supplier for gas and electricity, we've tried to reduce spend as well as it seems high, my husband works shifts so the house is rarely empty)
Gas..................................... 104 (as above)
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 45 (12 months to run)
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 49 (9 months of contract left)
Internet Services....................... 24 (9 months of conytract left)
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 (this could come down a lot i suspect!)
Clothing................................ 150 (this can come down a lot too although the kids grow ridiculously quickly and shoes alone are expensive!)
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 3
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 75 (can reduce this by parking further away and walking)
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 40
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 8
Buildings insurance..................... 30
Contents insurance...................... 30
Life assurance ......................... 28
Other insurance......................... 21
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 40
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2181

Assets
Cash.................................... 1000
House value (Gross)..................... 210000
Shares and bonds........................ 1000
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 217000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 115000...(581)......6
Total secured & HP debts...... 115000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mint cc........................5100......117.......29
mbna cc........................8300......242.......29
lloyds tsb cc..................9750......262.......29
Family loan....................14000.....0.........0 (this doesnt need to be repaid anytime soon but i would feel better repaying it asap, doesnt look like i am able to though)
car loan.......................4000......140.......5
lloyds tsb loan................2200......170.......7.9
student loans..................4200......60........2
next...........................965.......104...... .0
littlewoods....................675.......0........ .0
overdraft......................850.......0........ .0
Opus...........................2650......62....... .NaN
barclacard cc (wasegg..........1850......59........NaN
Barclaycard cc.................10866.....280.......29
Total unsecured debts..........65406.....1496......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,475
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,181
Available for debt repayments........... 1,294
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,496
Amount short for making debt repayments. -202
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 217,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -115,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -65,406
Net Assets.............................. 36,594
[

ellesbellesxxx

Hi Well done for your payout!!!

I would say your main priority are those 29% percent cards. If you have had some late payments I doubt you will get 0% but personally I would say pay off mint completely, then 1400 towards your lloyds tsb - this will then leave you an extra 120 ish towards snowballing off those cards.

You can def cut down on groceries... I almost choked when saw gas/elec - you said already switched? Phew! Check the meters regularly so that they are not charging you on estimates, switch things off!
Buildings and contents are horrendously high - switch! Life ins seems high too - what's the other ins?

ellesbellesxxx

Clothing is really high - ebay is fab for clothes and barely worn shoes.
Is your holiday money going into your savings? Is that your 1000 cash? I would personally say go cheap this year - camping? throw more money at your debts then really enjoy it when you have made a big dent in debt. Equally though, I know people need a break.

Looking through your SOA though, it says you have over money left over each month after debts/expenses - is this true? Keeping a spending diary could show you where those extras are going.

I would really recommend looking through other people's threads - the debt free diaries are inspirational - good luck x

Good luck!!!!!!!

ellesbellesxxx

Ps just seen barcyalcard biggest debt with 29% - shift some of that to reduce monthly payment

heyboots

ellesbellesxxx wrote: »

Hi Well done for your payout!!!

I would say your main priority are those 29% percent cards. If you have had some late payments I doubt you will get 0% but personally I would say pay off mint completely, then 1400 towards your lloyds tsb - this will then leave you an extra 120 ish towards snowballing off those cards.

You can def cut down on groceries... I almost choked when saw gas/elec - you said already switched? Phew! Check the meters regularly so that they are not charging you on estimates, switch things off!
Buildings and contents are horrendously high - switch! Life ins seems high too - what's the other ins?

Im ashamed to say when i double checked groceries it was nearer £600, we did a menu plan last week and havent done great sticking to it will try harder

Buildings and contents ARE high but out house is of solid stone construction and about 120 years old so buildings is very high, plus we got broken into last year so no no claims bonus!

Gas and elec drive me nuts!!! i have NO IDEA why ours are so high! gas is only heating and cooker! ELectricity - sigh i really must figure this out, when i see people with £37 or something i know we are doing SOMETHING wrong!!!

Thanks for your advice!

ellesbellesxxx

Hmm, nothing left on standby?Computers? Don't suppose you have economy 7? That makes huge difference!

Ahhh makes sense now with ins - still worth investigating switching - going via quidco will get you £ too!!!!!

I find it hard to only do one shop a week - I always seem to nip in for a couple of things and come out with treats :S so I can sympathise. I have cut up my credit card to stop impulse buying now - if money not in acc, I can't spend it!

heyboots

ellesbellesxxx wrote: »

Hmm, nothing left on standby?Computers? Don't suppose you have economy 7? That makes huge difference!

Ahhh makes sense now with ins - still worth investigating switching - going via quidco will get you £ too!!!!!

I find it hard to only do one shop a week - I always seem to nip in for a couple of things and come out with treats :S so I can sympathise. I have cut up my credit card to stop impulse buying now - if money not in acc, I can't spend it!

def could be switching things off, i will get kids enlisted!

my hubby is the main culprit for food shopping! i will set him targets - thanks!

coolcait

heyboots wrote: »

As above, I am waiting to enter a DAS Debt arrangement scheme - which freezes interest on my debts (most are 30%)

I'm getting a 5.5k payout and ive cashed in £1k shares

Not sure how to proceed. My husband has an unblemished credit record (apart from any association with me ) we have only a joint mortgage no other joint borrowings and he has £4k outstanding on a cc which he is paying 200 per month

so... my thoughts are as follows.
1. pay of joint account overdraft so we can close account and dissolve me and my hubby's joint account £850,
2.pay off 2 catalogue bills which the DAS says will be problematic as they are low and will struggle to agree to a small sum over 10 years £1400
THis leaves £4250, my thoughts are either keep £1000 for emergencies and pay £3250 to hubby's cc (low interest) but that means when I enter the das we will have more to live on month to month?

The other option is pay of £6500 of my 30% pa cards and try and pay off WITHOUT a DAS? Maybe MBNA as they usually offer 0% transfers and i could perhaps transfer some of the high interest onto that and snowball my high interest cards?

Although with the number of late payments im not sure id be offered 0%

advice please (im obviously no good at financial decisions or wouldnt be in this mess!) my SOA os below

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1850
Partners monthly income after tax....... 840
Benefits................................ 135 (child benefit)
Other income............................ 650 (fluctuates but this is average)
Total monthly income.................... 3475
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 581 (we are currently only paying interest, we need to add about £300 per month to this asap)
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 195
Electricity............................. 90 (we've switched to the cheapest supplier for gas and electricity, we've tried to reduce spend as well as it seems high, my husband works shifts so the house is rarely empty)
Gas..................................... 104 (as above)
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 11
Mobile phone............................ 45 (12 months to run)
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 49 (9 months of contract left)
Internet Services....................... 24 (9 months of conytract left)
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 (this could come down a lot i suspect!)
Clothing................................ 150 (this can come down a lot too although the kids grow ridiculously quickly and shoes alone are expensive!)
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 3
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 75 (can reduce this by parking further away and walking)
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 40
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 8
Buildings insurance..................... 30
Contents insurance...................... 30
Life assurance ......................... 28
Other insurance......................... 21
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 40
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2181

Assets
Cash.................................... 1000
House value (Gross)..................... 210000
Shares and bonds........................ 1000
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 217000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 115000...(581)......6
Total secured & HP debts...... 115000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mint cc........................5100......117.......29
mbna cc........................8300......242.......29
lloyds tsb cc..................9750......262.......29
Family loan....................14000.....0.........0 (this doesnt need to be repaid anytime soon but i would feel better repaying it asap, doesnt look like i am able to though)
car loan.......................4000......140.......5
lloyds tsb loan................2200......170.......7.9
student loans..................4200......60........2
next...........................965.......104...... .0
littlewoods....................675.......0........ .0
overdraft......................850.......0........ .0
Opus...........................2650......62....... .NaN
barclacard cc (wasegg..........1850......59........NaN
Barclaycard cc.................10866.....280.......29
Total unsecured debts..........65406.....1496......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,475
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,181
Available for debt repayments........... 1,294
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,496
Amount short for making debt repayments. -202
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 217,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -115,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -65,406
Net Assets.............................. 36,594
[

Why would the DAS be over ten years? You have 65,406 of unsecured debts, and 1,294 to put towards them each month, based on your SoA.

That would take you just over four years to pay it back. Even if you reduced the monthly payments to 1,000, it would only take you five and half years to pay it back.

Even a fee charging money adviser shouldn't be taking so much that it takes you 10 years to pay through the DAS!

I've noticed that in previous threads you've said you can't find a free sector money adviser to take you on. Out of curiosity, why is that (i.e. what reason are they giving for not being able to take you on?)

heyboots

coolcait wrote: »

Why would the DAS be over ten years? You have 65,406 of unsecured debts, and 1,294 to put towards them each month, based on your SoA.

That would take you just over four years to pay it back. Even if you reduced the monthly payments to 1,000, it would only take you five and half years to pay it back.

Even a fee charging money adviser shouldn't be taking so much that it takes you 10 years to pay through the DAS!

I've noticed that in previous threads you've said you can't find a free sector money adviser to take you on. Out of curiosity, why is that (i.e. what reason are they giving for not being able to take you on?)

Sorry, slight change in circumstances since writing soa, family loan does not need to be paid back (although I want to someday) and student
Loan statement a lot lower than I thought. Hence the lower total.

Re the das, it's not that they won't take ME on, they aren't administering any das's due to how time consuming they are, 2 have said that what I'm being charged for the das was very reasonable considering(!) the citizens advice guy said he can stop 3 people being evicted a month in the time it takes to administer a das, and they have to get priority.

The 10 years- the das administrator said I need to be paying back the mortgage ( I'm paying interest only at the moment) and she increased my monthly outgoings in a lot of areas (holidays etc) and said I was better starting off on the minimum I could manage, see how I went for a year and adjust as we saw fit after a year, think it was £440 with 28 going to the das administrator for just over 9 years, again these were on the rough figures of my debt.

She did suggest I save any extra and make a lump sum payment at the end of the year although we would have to be careful because if there IS extra left the companies I am repaying would rightfully want payments raised, however it was important not to over stretch myself.

Betty_Crumble

"Not sure how to proceed. My husband has an unblemished credit record (apart from any association with me ) we have only a joint mortgage no other joint borrowings and he has £4k outstanding on a cc which he is paying 200 per month

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mint cc........................5100......117.......29
mbna cc........................8300......242.......29
lloyds tsb cc..................9750......262.......29
Family loan....................14000.....0.........0
car loan.......................4000......140.......5
lloyds tsb loan................2200......170.......7.9
student loans..................4200......60........2
next...........................965.......104...... .0
littlewoods....................675.......0........ .0
overdraft......................850.......0........ .0
Opus...........................2650......62....... .NaN
barclacard cc (wasegg..........1850......59........NaN
Barclaycard cc.................10866.....280.......29
Total unsecured debts..........65406.....1496"

Hi, don't want to come across as rude but as a married couple how can you in your mind see the above as just your debt (unless you had all this before coming to the relationship). Are you telling me that none of that money has been used for the family?
Its a joint soa, where is your husbands cc on there? If all those outgoings are being serviced by both wages then his cc needs to be on there too (sorry if ive overlooked it but cant see one thats having 200 paid off it) if hubby is sevicing it separate has the 200 been deducted from the income?
Have you been borrowing money to service your outgoings? because if so you should do a soa just using the amount of money YOU actually have to pay what YOU have to pay, does that make sense? :-) (dont mean to sound bullish chuck, not meant that way at all)

coolcait

heyboots wrote: »

Sorry, slight change in circumstances since writing soa, family loan does not need to be paid back (although I want to someday) and student
Loan statement a lot lower than I thought. Hence the lower total.

Re the das, it's not that they won't take ME on, they aren't administering any das's due to how time consuming they are, 2 have said that what I'm being charged for the das was very reasonable considering(!) the citizens advice guy said he can stop 3 people being evicted a month in the time it takes to administer a das, and they have to get priority.

The 10 years- the das administrator said I need to be paying back the mortgage ( I'm paying interest only at the moment) and she increased my monthly outgoings in a lot of areas (holidays etc) and said I was better starting off on the minimum I could manage, see how I went for a year and adjust as we saw fit after a year, think it was £440 with 28 going to the das administrator for just over 9 years, again these were on the rough figures of my debt.

She did suggest I save any extra and make a lump sum payment at the end of the year although we would have to be careful because if there IS extra left the companies I am repaying would rightfully want payments raised, however it was important not to over stretch myself.

Boots I have no idea what kind of debt arrangement you're on, but it sounds like a very odd version of the Debt Arrangement Scheme to me :eek:.

Is the person you're calling 'the DAS Administrator' actually your money adviser? Because the Scottish Government official who is 'the DAS Administrator', wouldn't be telling you how to pay your mortgage!

If youre in DAS, it's entirely up to you how you pay your mortgage - as long as you pay it. So, when you say that you've been told that "you need to be paying back the mortgage", I take it that this is financial advice that you've been given, not a condition for going on DAS?

As for paying the absolute minimum, and seeing how it goes, that seems very odd. One of the plus points about DAS is that you can change the amount you pay if your circumstances change. OK, it's probably sensible not to put in all of the surplus, but to go as low as 440 per month...? After all from your point of view, the more you pay, the quicker it all gets paid off.

You CAN pay a lump sum towards your debt at any point in the DAS, but your creditors CAN'T insist on the regular payments being increased.

The attitude of your local free money advisers is disappointing frankly. Most of the administration work for DAS is done by the DAS Administrator's office nowadays. The free sector advisers' role is to give you money advice, and help you decide what's the right thing for you. As part of that role, they should be checking with your creditors exactly how much you owe, and that you have the correct reference numbers. They should be doing that anyway for any client.

Then, if you decide that you want to go for DAS, they fill in an electronic form with all the details and send it to the DAS Administrator online. After that all the admin work of dealing with creditors etc gets done by the DAS Administrator. Unless you're ever in a position where you need further money advice.

It sounds as if they haven't caught up with the changes to DAS, tbh.

Anyway, if your DAS has already been approved, I hope it runs smoothly. If it hasn't already been approved, I hope all goes well, and it goes through without any hitches. Even though I dont agree with all of the things you seem to have been told, I do think that DAS is a great way for dealing with debt, and I hope it all works out for you.