SOA Please Help

onlygoingforward

Vikipollard wrote: »

Could he not have a moped? Likely to be much cheaper to run than a car, gives him road experience and (should) be cheaper than public transport too.

I think it would too but he's definitely not a moped rider - barely ever rode a bike and preferred to walk so 2 wheels isnt his thing.

onlygoingforward

racing_blue wrote: »

Honestly, your SOA seems extremely spartan and the sceptic in me wonders if it is really achievable for your family to live with so little discretionary spending money. Maybe for a month or two like a crash diet, but after that?

Bankruptcy might be a neutral option as your assets and liabilities seem in almost perfect balance, although I guess this would mean a lifestyle change. If you are certain you don't want that then my approach would be to focus heavily on the income side of the equation.

Wish you success and hope all your efforts pay off

Thanks, i dont think it is spartan really not compared to some MSErs. I have been on and off the MSE boards, so have made sure for a while i have the cheapest bills i can. I think the shopping is partly where the "spare" is going so back to doing a spend diary for us. We dont live too near big towns and cities so no flashy gyms, restaurants etc here to spend on, we dont do alot apart from work and babysit for my grand-daughter while her mum is working.

James_B.

onlygoingforward wrote: »

I think it would too but he's definitely not a moped rider - barely ever rode a bike and preferred to walk so 2 wheels isnt his thing.

First preferences really need to take a back seat if you want to sort out the finances.

19lottie82

onlygoingforward wrote: »

I will check out again these are better deals than before, EE works well here and we are rural for the most part so it's finding the one with good coverage, at work we are all on different networks and all have signal problems. I travel to rural villages so has to be reliable coverage too.

I'm pretty sure Virgin Mobile "Piggyback" from EE, so if you get an EE signal, you should be able to get a VM signal. You'll need to get your phone unlocked tho, but it's a fairly simple procedure.

A good tip is to get a payg sim and pop it in your (unlocked) phone (without putting any money on it), and see what the signal is like in terms of bars.

onlygoingforward

Thanks i will try that, i have no need for a new phone or anything mines perfectly okay even though my contract is up in feb/march next year. i will speak with my daughter as she is on contract too with EE and i have no idea if it would cost her more if i wasnt on orange or if i could still be her magic number.

I know vodaphone is pretty poor round here so thats no good as oh work phone is on that.

TrustyOven

onlygoingforward wrote: »

Total unsecured debts..........61928.83..1206.57...-

Omg nearly 62k of debt.... wow.
Edit: your monthly debt payments are about 76% of my net monthly salary. Having that debt and the interest is like wasting one person's entire monthly salary.

onlygoingforward wrote: »

Also alot of problems arise as i get paid monthly and oh gets paid weekly so budgeting is difficult.

This one I dont understand. How does one have problems in that situation? You save up one months of expenses and always keep that in your bank account in case salary/wages are late.

I'd personally use the 465.71 you have spare every month and build up an emergency fund of about 1k over about 2 months of saving. Then that could be your buffer to dampen late wages. Then after that I'd use the 465 every month to exterminate those debts using the Snowball methodology

Echo Cat2011's point about spending diary to see if you really have 465 spare.

[Deleted User]

19lottie82 wrote: »

I think Virgin mobile do unlimited minutes for £15 a month?

They do better than that.

For just £10, Big Talk gives you unlimited landline calls (01, 02 and 03 numbers), 120 minutes of mobile to mobile calls, and you keep the £10 top up as well.

BTW OP. If you really do have over £465 left over, I'd put most of it toward the Mint debt.

At the current rate you are paying, it's going to take 5 years to clear it, and cost you £994 in interest.

If you put £400pm extra toward it, it would be gone in 5 months, for just £53 of interest.

racing_blue

onlygoingforward wrote: »

Thanks, i dont think it is spartan really not compared to some MSErs. I have been on and off the MSE boards, so have made sure for a while i have the cheapest bills i can. I think the shopping is partly where the "spare" is going so back to doing a spend diary for us. We dont live too near big towns and cities so no flashy gyms, restaurants etc here to spend on, we dont do alot apart from work and babysit for my grand-daughter while her mum is working.

What I'm thinking is £120 per year for holidays, £240 per year for entertainment, and £180 per year for presents - is this really all you plan to spend on yourselves and those around you? For how long, with children and grandchildren in the mix? It feels too pared down.

Which is why I think income is the key to this. The debt is £60k, if you can throw an extra £1000 per month at it you will be debt free in 3 years, because your interest payments will shrink quickly. How can your household net an extra £1000 per month- are there ways?

[Deleted User]

onlygoingforward wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned....................

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1425.58
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1705.25
Third person's contribution - There should be something in here
Total monthly income.................... 3130.83

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 623.5
Council tax............................. 137 - If this is over 10 months, swapping to 12 months will reduce it to £114-16
Electricity & Gas..................... 79.82
Water rates............................. 31
Telephone (land line + Internet)................... 19.27
Mobile phone............................ 57.08 - 3 Phones up in Feb 2015 - Swapping to PAYG (eg. Virgin Big Talk) in Feb, will get this down to £30
TV Licence.............................. 12.12 - Could you cancel this and use catchup instead?
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 - You could probably trim a bit (£50 to £100) from this.
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 80 - How are you using petrol/diesel, when you don't have a car :huh:
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 33
Buildings + Contents insurance......... 12.83
Life assurance ......................... 17.93
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 10
Emergency fund..........................10 - This seems low, given you are a home owner

Total monthly expenses.................. 1458.55


Assets
Cash.................................... 500 - This seems low, given you are a home owner
House value (Gross)..................... 180000
Total Assets............................ 180000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 112000...(623.5)....3.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 112000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................10800.....215.......6.9 for life
Fluid..........................7000......70........0 to June 15
Nationwide.....................9994.59...300.......4.9
GEC............................2379.28...84.57.....Double Glazing loan
Very...........................542.2.....0.........0 on BNPL
Fluid..........................7843.96...79........0 July 2015
Barclays.......................10072.....227.......6.9 for life
Halifax........................3717......50........0 June 2015
Mint...........................2000......50........17.89 - Concentrate on clearing this ASAP
Halifax........................233.91....10........16
Santander......................2471.12...25........0 to Nov 2014
Tesco..........................1812.38...36........15.75
Lloyds.........................3062.39...60........0to Dec 2015
Total unsecured debts..........61928.83..1206.57...-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,130.83
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,458.55
Available for debt repayments........... 1,672.28
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,206.57
Amount left after debt repayments....... 465.71

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 180,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -112,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -61,928.83
Net Assets.............................. 6,071.17

My comments in red.

Your household finances would be in excellent shape, if it weren't for your unsecured debt.

Therefore, you need to work hard on clearing some of it.

I suggest a few months of very frugal living.

Also, as I believe others have said, you need to find out where the "spare" £450+ is going.

Once you stop spending it on frivolities, that £450+ will go a long way to clearing your debts.

pennypusher

You seem to have a pretty tight SOA but you have got large debts. Is your SOA realistic or is it what you would like it to be. I'm confused how you managed to get into so much debt if that is how you live. I think you need to be realistic about how you spend your money and you will definitely need to keep a spending diary to find that out. Possibly go back through your bank account statements and see what you buy extra that you haven't included.

I hope all goes well for you. You could look at the grocery challenges to see if they help at all.