Statement of Affairs - Advice Needed!

Gem82

Hi,
Until the 27th of this month I am in full time employment. From that point I have only managed to secure a part-time role. My debts have been mounting and mounting for as long as I can remember, and I am sure i have some very bad spending habits.

But enough is enough, and with wanting to start a family at some point in the next couple of years I want to be able to comfortably provide for my child and that means sorting my debt out. (Irrelevant of my job situation)

I have done a statement of affairs based on my part-time job situation. However this will hopefully change as I pick up some more hours from somewhere.

I spoke to the national debt line today and they went over a couple of options with me, a Debt management plan (which currently I wouldn't qualify for I don't think?) or a Debt Relief Order (which I maybe wouldn't qualify for if my work situation is to change over the next 12 months (which I hope it will!)

What concerns my about a DRO is my likely inability to get a mortgage in the future (although as it stands with my debtI would maybe struggle to get one anyway!)

I am moving in with my partner (renting) but I have based this on my own personal financial situation.

Any advice greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Gemma

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1011
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1011
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 280
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 50
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 14
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 300
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1516

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 800
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 800

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclays Credit Card...........2770......70........24
Barclays Overdraft.............250.......6.........0
Aqua CC........................700.......40........35
Lloyds OD......................250.......18........0
Lloyds loan....................8000......170.......8
Capital 1 cc...................700.......40........35
Total unsecured debts..........12670.....344.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,011
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,516
Available for debt repayments........... -505
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 344
Amount short for making debt repayments. -849
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 800
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,670
Net Assets.............................. -11,870

tallyhoh

£300 for food is a lot for 2 people. Also £80 is not much for petrol, do you really need a car?

ReadingTim

Comments below, in red

Gem82 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1011
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1011
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 280
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 50
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 40 Go PAYG or SIM only £10-15
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30 Get rid - £0
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 For one person? Waaaay too much. £150
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 14
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40 What this for if you have a car? Can you reduce/lose this (or the car?)
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 You're going to have to reduce this as you can't afford to be this generous. £20
Haircuts................................ 20 Reduce this by half. £10
Entertainment........................... 300 You simply cannot afford this. Between this and food, it's over 50% of your wages. Cut to £100-150 at the very least.
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1516

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 800
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 800

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclays Credit Card...........2770......70........24
Barclays Overdraft.............250.......6.........0
Aqua CC........................700.......40........35
Lloyds OD......................250.......18........0
Lloyds loan....................8000......170.......8
Capital 1 cc...................700.......40........35
Total unsecured debts..........12670.....344.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,011
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,516
Available for debt repayments........... -505
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 344
Amount short for making debt repayments. -849
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 800
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,670
Net Assets.............................. -11,870

That's £400 saved per month for starters...

Gem82

tallyhoh wrote: »

£300 for food is a lot for 2 people. Also £80 is not much for petrol, do you really need a car?

I was probably a bit generous, it also includes food and litter for 2 cats (who I can't get rid of)

My family live far away so I do need the car, and if my job circumstances change I may need it to commute.

Mrs_Cheshire

At the moment your unlikely to qualify for anything at the moment as you don't even have £1 to give to each of your creditors at the moment.
You need to look at your SOA carefully and work out where you can reduce your outgoings so you can at least show the creditors your willing to change things.
We've just recently sought advice from CAP and have been given a very detailed budget, all very helpful!

dancingfairy

Your biggest problem is that you earn 1011 a month and yet your bills are 1500 before you even start to tackle your debts.
Are the bills fair? Is there a fair split with you and your OH?
Is this just your share of the bills? If so then they seem really high. If not then you need to account for your partners income as well.
In terms of entertainment you need to try and cut right back (and I mean right back). Do you have friends who you can swap a dvd with and have a dvd evening? Do you have any hobbies you can do at home? online sudokus/games? or any crafts or hobbies you have already you can get back into? If you have lots of meals with friends then invite them over to yours and get them to each bring a plate or bring a bottle and cook them something nice..., if you do go to the cinema it should be orange wednesday, think walks in the park followed by a nice mug of hot chocolate when you get back, trips to museums/art gallerys or such like your local area (anything that's free/cheap). What sort of thing does your entertainment money normally go on? I'm sure people can suggest cheap alternatives.
Do you need to run a car? could you walk/cycle/bus/train/lift share etc?
Are you entitled to any benefits?
You also appear to be spending quite a lot on gas and electric. You can't afford to be spending this much. Make sure you are shopping around and that everything is turned off when not in use and that you are really frugal.
df

gfplux

First thing as dancingfairy says is you want/are spending £1500 but only earn £1011.
So as of today you must, must only spend £1011 a month.
However you have large debts that are more than you earn in a year!!!!
So any plans for children and houses must be on hold for a few years yet.
I suggest you redo the SOA to first reflect your income. You then have the huge problem to service your debt. Perhaps you can get your partner to help out.
Your major problem is your bad, bad spending habit that has got you huge debts even when you were working full time.
Good luck

dancingfairy

Basically your rent and utilities are costing about 500 a month. That leaves about 500 for food, clothes, entertainment and running a car. You can spend more on food and cut the others, you can run a car but live off very cheap food or you can have very cheap food and some entertainment but somehow you have to make the figures balance.
df

[Deleted User]

Gem82 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1011
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1011
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 280
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 50
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 40 - Go PAYG
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30 - Dump this
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 - Reduce this A LOT
Clothing................................ 50 - Every month?
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 14
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 - £600pa seems a lot, for someone with no children
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 300 - Reduce this A LOT
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 - You need something in here
Total monthly expenses.................. 1516

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 800
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 800

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclays Credit Card...........2770......70........24
Barclays Overdraft.............250.......6.........0
Aqua CC........................700.......40........35
Lloyds OD......................250.......18........0
Lloyds loan....................8000......170.......8
Capital 1 cc...................700.......40........35
Total unsecured debts..........12670.....344.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,011
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,516
Available for debt repayments........... -505
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 344
Amount short for making debt repayments. -849
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 800
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,670
Net Assets.............................. -11,870

My comments in red.

Siouxsie32

Hi Gemma, well done on contacting the National Debt Line. And welcome to the boards. There's a lot of great information on here so hopefully you'll pick up some tips to help you out.

So you need to find an extra £850 each month on top of your wages? Potential cutbacks that jump out at me are:

Food - £150 should be MORE THAN enough for you and your cats. You need to meal plan (and stick to it). There are some great threads on this forum that can help you do that. Have you tried the downshift challenge? Look at agirlcalledjack.co.uk website for some real low cost recipes. Over time you cold probably aim to get this down as low as £100, but I think starting with a January budget of £150 will give you an idea of how easy it is to achieve.

Entertainment: Somewhere close to nil would be ideal, but being realistic, no more than £100. You can't afford to spend any more money having fun.

Birthdays/Christmas Gifts: Again, too high! The £20 ReadingTim suggested is still high, but better. Just out of curiosity, who are you buying gifts for? Is this throughout the year or just at Christmas? Are you actually spending £50 each month? Are you putting £50 away each month? Just curious how you work it.

I also agree the satellite TV has to go. Are you in contract at the minute or can you cancel? Can you watch Freeview instead? Others can probably advise better than me on this front (Don't have a TV).

How long does your mobile phone contract still have to run? You could switch to SIM only or downgrade to a cheaper contract when it's time to upgrade.

As well as cutting your outgoings, you also need to look at increasing your income. You mention finding extra hours from somewhere? Do you mean there's a possibility of working more than your contracted hours? Could you look for another part time job?

What are the £40 Other Travel Expenses? You say you need your car to see your family - would it be possible to sell the car and live without it in the short term? Selling it would pay off your Capital One Card, freeing up the £40 you pay each month...plus it would free up the other £189 each month you spend servicing the car.

If you were able to do this, plus cut your food and entertainment budgets your income would be more than your outgoings. If you were then able to increase your earnings, you could start paying off the debt.

Put simply, you need to tighten your belt til it hurts. Increase your income and cut your outgoings. There's lots of help on this forum but you need to acknowledge that you need to bite the bullet and cut out all unnecessary spending.

its_maths_not_magic

Howdy, lets see if we can get this down a tad! I'll try to make my comments in red, but sometimes that doesn't work... as it turned out I had to rainbow colour it, don't ask why but it seems the site only let me use a different colour each time. lol, well at least its colourful. Hope it help.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1011
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1011
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 280
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 50
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20 if you're not on a water meter yet, you can get one and by being sparing with the water, you can probably save a bit more
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 12 you dont need a licence if you don't watch tv (strange concept I know) but MR MNM and I get by without it. There are plenty of sites out there that let you stream movies and tv shows. Not to sound like a total weirdo but theres also reading, creating, learning...
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30 again, not a necessity, try freeview
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 I manage for two of us on £200 a month which includes everything from food to laundry stuff and pet food. I also eat lots of fresh fruit, veg and herbs. There are heaps of cheap recipes on this site. Its a bit of a process I go through with shopping, hard to explain but if you want more info, feel free to PM me
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 14
Car Insurance........................... 70 thats pretty expensive, go through the insurance part of this site and see if you can get it cheaper
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 this is pretty high per month, while you're getting out of debt you can get creative with gifts, there are some great ideas out there in google land
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 300 as much as it sounds no fun, £300 per month is way to high, especially since you have no emergency fund. It doesn't have to be a monk's life, you can spend your time doing lots of things that cost next to nothing or nothing.
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 there needs to be something here. Emergencies are an evitability (sp?).
Total monthly expenses.................. 1516



Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 800
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 800

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclays Credit Card...........2770......70........24
Barclays Overdraft.............250.......6.........0
Aqua CC........................700.......40........35
Lloyds OD......................250.......18........0
Lloyds loan....................8000......170.......8
Capital 1 cc...................700.......40........35
Total unsecured debts..........12670.....344.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,011
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,516
Available for debt repayments........... -505
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 344
Amount short for making debt repayments. -849
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 800
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,670
Net Assets.............................. -11,870
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