A Debt Free Journey From Stress to Success

Upsidedown_Bear

Good luck with the fleabay sales

purple.sarah

I'm sorry for neglecting this diary, I'm resurrecting it. I was feeling overwhelmed but I've finally bitten the bullet and done a SOA. Advice is appreciated.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 400
Partners monthly income after tax....... 600
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1000

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 290
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 55.94
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 12
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 53.47
Telephone (land line)................... 42.5
Mobile phone............................ 54
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21.25
Internet Services....................... 7.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 108
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)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 10
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 984.66


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
Capital One....................440.79....15.82.....34.9
HSBC loan......................1345.97...45........7
Vets Now.......................482.2.....100.......0
Total unsecured debts..........2268.96...160.82....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,000
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 984.66
Available for debt repayments........... 15.34
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 160.82
Amount short for making debt repayments. -145.48

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,268.96
Net Assets.............................. -2,268.96

Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

Notes
The gas and electricity is billed quarterly but I've divided a quarterly bill by 3 to get a monthly figure

We can't get out of our phone contracts but I will get mine capped so I can't exceed it.

Clothing and haircuts aren't every month but I thought I should put a figure. We only buy clothes on sale or in charity shops.

We do have a TV license but our house mate pays it.

We'll be ditching the Sky and probably TV altogether when we move in July.

I'm committed to cutting down our grocery bill.

Looking at the repayments I can see we are paying what for us is a large amount to Vets Now. They have not been very flexible at all. They originally told us when our dog was ill that they do not normally do payment plans and we would have to pay a large deposit to get one, which we did (my mum loaned us the money). Then after our dog died they demanded payment in full before they would release her remains for cremation! They've since told us it is “standard procedure” for them to ask for payment in full before setting up a payment plan but we did not know that at the time so it was very distressing! Then we managed to arrange a payment plan and they suggested paying £100 a month. At that time I was just desperate to get it sorted so I agreed but we are struggling. I would like to ask to reduce the payments to £50 a month to make them more manageable. How do I do this? Can I just phone their payment department or should I put it in writing? What should the letter say?

We need to find the money from somewhere for pet insurance to avoid more problems in the future.

I've only included the debts we are making payments on so I have not included the Housing Benefit, which we are appealing against and money we owe family, which they have said they can repay when we are more stable.

wurrrrrzel

Hey there Sarah

1. You can send the vets a SOA or such like, with an offer letter
,there are some on CABS adviceguide.org.uk, really and truly you should offer them something equitable to your other debt payments so similar to your Cap1 debt £15pm. Also this is the debt with no APR so should be the one you should worry about least. (but then again it is your choice
if they still have the ashes)
2. You could really cut your household budget for a few months until you get rid of Cap1 and the Vet debt.
3. Could you be claiming Working Tax Credit???? See Gov.uk website for calculator.

Hope this helps


*** BTW It looks as if I am a newbie but I am not, lost login details silly me.

purple.sarah

Thank you for your suggestions, I will send Vets Now an offer letter. I considered asking for a lower payment but I wasn't sure if they would consider it. They gave us the ashes when we arranged a payment plan so we have nothing to lose by asking. I'll try cutting the household budget and check about working tax credits.

Upsidedown_Bear

Good suggestions from wurrrrrzel

Might be worth posting your SOA on the main DFW board - more people will see it there.

wurrrrrzel

purple.sarah wrote: »

Thank you for your suggestions, I will send Vets Now an offer letter. I considered asking for a lower payment but I wasn't sure if they would consider it. They gave us the ashes when we arranged a payment plan so we have nothing to lose by asking. I'll try cutting the household budget and check about working tax credits.

You are welcome sarah good luck

purple.sarah

Upsidedown_Bear wrote: »

Good suggestions from wurrrrrzel

Might be worth posting your SOA on the main DFW board - more people will see it there.

Good idea, I've now posted it here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4585109

purple.sarah

I'm taking part in the May the NSD Force Be With You - May NSD Challenge I'm aiming for 15 NSDs this month, with 5 in a row. Today was NSD 2.

I'm spending the bank holiday weekend with my mum, visiting my grandma in Warwickshire. We've had some lovely walks in the countryside and today we went to Waitrose to help my grandma with her shopping and then we enjoyed sipping our free coffees in the cafe and reading the free magazine thanks to our MyWaitrose cards.

My mum has also made a good suggestion. If Vets Now don't accept our reduced offer and still want £100 a month, she will pay half of that so we are only paying £50 a month till it is paid off and then we could pay her back at £50 a month. I normally feel uncomfortable borrowing money from family but I feel comfortable with this because there is a plan to repay. It is such a relief to know that one way or another we will be able to cut one of our monthly payments in half.

DH is working the bank holiday weekend, which will bring in some extra money.