Where do you start?!

SarahT_2

Hi all,

I really dont know where to start with this one. Husband and I are in debt, quite a lot tbh.
We recently received a 0% consolidation from our inlaws which we pay back monthly which helps purely by paying the debt and not the interest but it doesn't reduce our monthly outgoings. We have fallen into pretty bad habits. We earn pretty good money between us but we dont know where it goes! We never have anything left at the end of the month infact we tend to go over, every single month. We rarely check the bank account, big mistake, and just kind of go through the month holding our breath, while spending! I have done a budget before and even though on paper we are paying alot out in debt we do have enough to cover everything but in reality the money just isn't there...!

I could really do with some support on how to 'break the cycle' and create new habits, and where to start to tackle this!
I really want to reduce our debts and become debt free, we are moving house soon and need to get our spending and debts under control.

I feel so embarrassed by the state of our finances. We have about £35k worth of debt and we have nothing to show for it. Its ridiculous.

SarahT_2

Statement of Affairs and PersonalBalance 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................ 1250
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2550
Benefits................................ 134 (Child Benefit
Other income............................ 120 Book keeping
Total monthly income.................... 4054

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 550
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 200 (apparently we are in arrears and this is the new payment plan?! I have started taking readings because kids are at school all day and we work FT so I don’t know how it is so high?!)

Gas..................................... 0 (Same as above)
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 50
Telephone (land line)................... 0 (included in TV)
Mobile phone............................ 90 awful I know – 2x contracts @ £45 each

Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 65 Basic TV package, phone & internet. Recently reduced from £120
Internet Services....................... 0 as above
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 This is too high and its probably even more than this sometimes

Clothing................................ 50 usually something comes up
Petrol/diesel........................... 330 husbands car is now diesel and spend is £250 per month commuting (around 2.5/3hrs commute perworking day) £80 for my monthly commute
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 65 multi car policy
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 250 breakfast & afterschool club
Other child related expenses............ 50 hot dinners, school trips& guitar lessons
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 70 pet insurance dog, pet planf or dog & cat (incl flea/worm treatments & vaccinations) and vet petfood
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 60 hubby and I have separate policies
Other insurance......................... 20 Boiler cover
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 92 Husbands gym membership £30, Merlin passes £50 (finish Nov, £12 boomerang rental membership
Holiday................................. 0

Bank account fee ....................... 13 HSBC premium account incl car breakdown and travel insurance
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2568


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 150,000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 16,000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 166,000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR

Car 6889 220 00% for 3 years, original balance £8k

Totalunsecured debts..........6,889......220.......-0

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
INLAWS.........................18,480.......420...... .0 balance today
HSBC.........................15,747.......315...... .4 balance today
Credit Card....................1,500.......0........ .22 We had been using the credit card for petrol and groceries and paying it thefollowing month so there is no ‘monthly’ amount as such but now the balance will start incurring interest because we have overspent last month
OD...........................1,500.......15......... ?
HMRC (tax credit overpayment.....996.84.... 83...... .0 finishes Nov so debt is lower than stated
Total unsecured debts..........37,476.84......833.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,054
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,788
Available for debt repayments........... 1,266
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 833
Amount left after debt repayments....... 433

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -37,476.84
Net Assets.............................. 128,523.16

SarahT_2

I have not put an amount in to pay off the credit card or overdraft. Also there is no entertaining as such like meals out etc because we dont stick to a budget fr this it just comes out of the account, we are clearly overspending and I can see the groceries would definitely need to be reduced.

We are quite social people but our social life is hæmorrhaging our finances.