Help please

emma88dot

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some help and advice on getting my debts down, any help or questions welcome.
\
Household Information[/b]\
Number of adults in household........... 1\
Number of children in household......... \
Number of cars owned.................... 1\
\
Monthly Income Details\
Monthly income after tax................ 1800\
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0\
Benefits................................ 0\
Other income............................ 100\
Total monthly income.................... 1900\
\
Monthly Expense Details\
Mortgage................................ 0\
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0\
Rent.................................... 525\
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0\
Council tax............................. 83\
Electricity............................. 56.26\
Gas..................................... 0\
Oil..................................... 0\
Water rates............................. 12\
Telephone (land line)................... 38\
Mobile phone............................ 42\
TV Licence.............................. 12.12\
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0\
Internet Services....................... 31\
Groceries etc. ......................... 80\
Clothing................................ 10\
Petrol/diesel........................... 150\
Road tax................................ 10\
Car Insurance........................... 33\
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10\
Car parking............................. 0\
Other travel............................ 0\
Childcare/nursery....................... 0\
Other child related expenses............ 0\
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 13\
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0\
Buildings insurance..................... 0\
Contents insurance...................... 0\
Life assurance ......................... 0\
Other insurance......................... 0\
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 5\
Haircuts................................ 5\
Entertainment........................... 20\
Holiday................................. 0\
Emergency fund.......................... 0\
Total monthly expenses.................. 1135.38\
\
\
Assets\
Cash.................................... 0\
House value (Gross)..................... 0\
Shares and bonds........................ 0\
Car(s).................................. 4500\
Other assets............................ 0\
Total Assets............................ 4500\
\
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts\
\
Unsecured Debts\
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR\
Cc.............................2250......100.......39.9\
Very...........................1000......25........39.9\
Loan...........................5500......150.......17\
Overdraft......................1000......0.........17\
Overdraft......................1000......0.........0\
Mum............................475.......100.......0\
Total unsecured debts..........11225.....375.......- \
\
\
Monthly Budget Summary\
Total monthly income.................... 1,900\
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,135.38\
Available for debt repayments........... 764.62\
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 375\
Amount left after debt repayments....... 389.62\
\
Personal Balance Sheet Summary\
Total assets (things you own)........... 4,500\
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0\
Total Unsecured debt.................... -11,225\
Net Assets.............................. -6,725\
\

DCFC79

Is your mobile in contract ? Is it ending soon ? When it ends get a sim only contract from your current network or 1 from say Tesco or giff gaff, depends on your signal though.

Are your monthly payments the minimum ?

Id pay off a bit more to either the CC or Very, Id put more of the money towards Very as its only £1,000 then the rest towards the CC. You need to be careful with the overdrafts as the bank could recall these at any time.

I don't know if £80 is too much for shopping for 1, have you thought of shopping at Lidl/Aldi or buying non brands, going for the shops value range.

nicp60

Hi Emma,
The SoA shows that you have £389 left each month. Do you? If so, use the snowball calculator to work out the cheapest way of paying off you debts quickly.

If not (and I suspect this is the case), then your SoA is inaccurate and you need to redo it. An SoA isn't a wish list or a budget - it's an honest picture of where your money goes right now. Use previous bank statements to pinpoint where everything is going.
You can definitely clear your debts pretty quickly on your income. You need to ask yourself why you got into debt in the first place though, as it's those behaviours you need to tackle too.
Hope this helps

rising_from_the_ashes

emma88dot wrote: »

Household Information[/b]\
Number of adults in household........... 1\
Number of children in household......... \
Number of cars owned.................... 1\
\
Monthly Income Details\
Monthly income after tax................ 1800\
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0\
Benefits................................ 0\
Other income............................ 100\ what is this?
Total monthly income.................... 1900\
\
Monthly Expense Details\
Mortgage................................ 0\
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0\
Rent.................................... 525\
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0\
Council tax............................. 83\
Electricity............................. 56.26\
Gas..................................... 0\
Oil..................................... 0\
Water rates............................. 12\
Telephone (land line)................... 38\ *
Mobile phone............................ 42\ *
TV Licence.............................. 12.12\
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0\
Internet Services....................... 31\ *
Groceries etc. ......................... 80\ Really .... have you kept a spending diary for say 3 months to get an accurate figure?
Clothing................................ 10\
Petrol/diesel........................... 150\
Road tax................................ 10\
Car Insurance........................... 33\
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10\ Not enough to cover maintenance / service / MOT
Car parking............................. 0\
Other travel............................ 0\
Childcare/nursery....................... 0\
Other child related expenses............ 0\
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 13\
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0\
Buildings insurance..................... 0\
Contents insurance...................... 0\You must get this
Life assurance ......................... 0\
Other insurance......................... 0\
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 5\ As groceries
Haircuts................................ 5\as above
Entertainment........................... 20\
Holiday................................. 0\
Emergency fund.......................... 0\need figure in here so debts don't grow
Total monthly expenses.................. 1135.38\
\
\
Assets\
Cash.................................... 0\
House value (Gross)..................... 0\
Shares and bonds........................ 0\
Car(s).................................. 4500\
Other assets............................ 0\
Total Assets............................ 4500\
\
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts\
\
Unsecured Debts\
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR\
Cc.............................2250......100.......39.9\
Very...........................1000......25........39.9\
Loan...........................5500......150.......17\
Overdraft......................1000......0.........17\
Overdraft......................1000......0.........0\
Mum............................475.......100.......0\
Total unsecured debts..........11225.....375.......- \
\
\
Monthly Budget Summary\
Total monthly income.................... 1,900\
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,135.38\
Available for debt repayments........... 764.62\
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 375\
Amount left after debt repayments....... 389.62\
\
Personal Balance Sheet Summary\
Total assets (things you own)........... 4,500\
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0\
Total Unsecured debt.................... -11,225\
Net Assets.............................. -6,725\
\

Are the figures you've quoted for groceries / hair / entertainment / presents etc absolutely accurate - or what you think / would like to spend?

Other figures are very excessive - eg you're spending well over £100 / month on telephone / internet / mobile. By comparison, I spend £40 / month on those 3 things .... big difference!

You need to keep a spending diary for 3 months to get an absolutely accurate figure - I don't understand how you manage to spend so little on groceries / hair et all and yet spend huge sums on other things - it doesn't add up

Do you really have £300+ left / month?

Have you addressed the reasons for the debts building even with a healthy surplus? (until you tackle the reasons for them you will only fight fire)

emma88dot

Thank you for the advice, yes they are contracts available for upgrade in November so I have already scheduled this in to reduce cost down dramatically. The very account is interest free until January next year. My overdraft is my graduate one from natwest also.

I do have around £300 left over, I have just paid off a higher interest credit card by using this. Just not sure where to go now really.

I think I got into a lot of my debt as a student, my course was pretty intensive money wise for books, travel and now I'm earning I'm paying the price!

I try to buy groupon deals for hair cuts and presents to save money, and get supermarket saver stamps for Xmas. I forgot to add I put £25 away for emergency fund and £10 a month on vet/animal bills.

Thank you again for all the help!

emma88dot

My other income is my expenses, depending on the month and if I've been on a training course I get minimum £100

rising_from_the_ashes

Expenses shouldn't be included as income as a) they're not guaranteed / you won't get them every month and b) some of the money will have already been spent so it's paying that back (and not additional income)

Re the debts - ideally you want to clear the c/card first if it's the highest interest rate - but I'm confused why you have Very in at the same rate and then say it's 0%? Obviously you want this cleared before next Jan.

emma88dot

I put 39.9 because that's what it will be in jan. My expenses are guaranteed I have to travel every day for work and I get this back in my expenses... It is also a set minimum that I do and then extras some months. How should I factor thus in?

rising_from_the_ashes

When you travel for work, how do you pay for it?

The expenses will be paying that money back surely?

What happens if you don't have to travel - or if your on holiday / off sick - do you still get the money?


If the answer to the above is no, then it's not guaranteed if you're not undertaking travelling and should not therefore be incl as income in your SOA

The months you get it, see it as a bonus and make an extra payment towards clearing the debt

andyfromotley

emma88dot wrote: »

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some help and advice on getting my debts down, any help or questions welcome.
\
Household Information[/b]\
Number of adults in household........... 1\
Number of children in household......... \
Number of cars owned.................... 1\
\
Monthly Income Details\
Monthly income after tax................ 1800\
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0\
Benefits................................ 0\
Other income............................ 100\
Total monthly income.................... 1900\
\
Monthly Expense Details\
Mortgage................................ 0\
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0\
Rent.................................... 525\
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0\
Council tax............................. 83\
Electricity............................. 56.26\
Gas..................................... 0\
Oil..................................... 0\
Water rates............................. 12\
Telephone (land line)................... 38\ Way too high. Max £15 pm including bb keep an eye on the BB on the mse site to get it this cheap.
Mobile phone............................ 42\ reduce at end of contract. £15pm max
TV Licence.............................. 12.12\
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0\
Internet Services....................... 31\ 0 see above
Groceries etc. ......................... 80\ wow that looks a little low. If not well done.
Clothing................................ 10\
Petrol/diesel........................... 150\ seems high, keep milage down to a minimum, walk, cycle, car share
Road tax................................ 10\
Car Insurance........................... 33\
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10\
Car parking............................. 0\
Other travel............................ 0\
Childcare/nursery....................... 0\
Other child related expenses............ 0\
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 13\
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0\
Buildings insurance..................... 0\
Contents insurance...................... 0\
Life assurance ......................... 0\
Other insurance......................... 0\
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 5\
Haircuts................................ 5\
Entertainment........................... 20\
Holiday................................. 0\
Emergency fund.......................... 0\ You need an emergency fund, otherwise any emergency will be dealt with by resorting to debt. However as you have very high interest debt on your CC/very i say do not build this up until those two are paid off.
Total monthly expenses.................. 1135.38\
\
\
Assets\
Cash.................................... 0\
House value (Gross)..................... 0\
Shares and bonds........................ 0\
Car(s).................................. 4500\
Other assets............................ 0\
Total Assets............................ 4500\
\
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts\
\
Unsecured Debts\
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR\
Cc.............................2250......100.......39.9\
Very...........................1000......25........39.9\
Loan...........................5500......150.......17\
Overdraft......................1000......0.........17\
Overdraft......................1000......0.........0\
Mum............................475.......100.......0\
Total unsecured debts..........11225.....375.......- \
\
\
Monthly Budget Summary\
Total monthly income.................... 1,900\
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,135.38\
Available for debt repayments........... 764.62\
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 375\
Amount left after debt repayments....... 389.62\
\
Personal Balance Sheet Summary\
Total assets (things you own)........... 4,500\
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0\
Total Unsecured debt.................... -11,225\
Net Assets.............................. -6,725\
\

Hi Emma.

Good news, your SOA isnt too bad, i have suggested some changes which will probably be cost neutral as your grocery bill seems low, so amy savings will probably see you about even.

Secondly you have decent residual income to pay down this debt.

Possible Bad News, is this SOA accurate? Do you actually have £390 'spare' each month? If not then this SOA represents a wish list. But thats ok. if its not accurate you can either go through your bank statements to find out where the cash has been going or just draw a line under it and accept this will be your spending from here on in.

A couple of other things, your interest rates are very high. See if you can get 0% BT CARD and move the high interest debt to that. Close any cards cleared this way in order to resist the temptation to increase them again.

When you have paid off your other debt look to refinance the loan to a lower interest rate. Do not increase it, or the term when doing so.

I guess you are single, if so look for a second job. Bar work, waitressing whatever, it will hugely increase your ability to pay down this debt. With a good wind behind you and a second job you could have this cleared well within 18 months i reckon.

Hope this helps,

Andy

emma88dot

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

When you travel for work, how do you pay for it?

The expenses will be paying that money back surely?

What happens if you don't have to travel - or if your on holiday / off sick - do you still get the money?


If the answer to the above is no, then it's not guaranteed if you're not undertaking travelling and should not therefore be incl as income in your SOA

The months you get it, see it as a bonus and make an extra payment towards clearing the debt

I've factored it in to my petrol money on the soa. So I pay for it myself and then claim back.