Considering DMP - SOA advice please

AliceBanned

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2000
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2000
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 278
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 353
Management charge (leasehold property).. 100
Council tax............................. 83
Electricity............................. 20
Gas..................................... 27
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 5
Mobile phone............................ 5
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 80
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 25
Road tax................................ 19
Car Insurance........................... 19
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 130
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 30
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 20
Emergency fund.......................... 35
Total monthly expenses.................. 1406

Assets
Cash.................................... 150
House value (Gross)..................... 80000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 81350

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 48500....(278)......1.99
Total secured & HP debts...... 48500.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Halifax cc.....................1100......50........19
Barclaycard....................3200......60........15.9
Credit U 1.....................3000......121.......13.9
Capital One cc.................950.......20........30
First Direct cc................1850......55........19.9
Coop Card......................2400......50........6.9
Credit U2......................1500......135.......19.9
Total unsecured debts..........14000.....491.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,000
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,406
Available for debt repayments........... 594
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 491
Amount left after debt repayments....... 103
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 81,350
Total HP & Secured debt................. -48,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -14,000
Net Assets.............................. 18,850
Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

AliceBanned

I went to see The Big Short last night. Great film.


Wall Street makes sheep look independent and insightful..

AliceBanned

I think I've had a second LBM. This one made me realise that I really can do it! I have set myself a repayment goal and I can see myself making a lot of progress to get on top of my debts for the next 4-6 months, then easing off a bit and still repaying them. I plan to pay of £600pm from now on. :eek:


It's all set up on YNAB and I have the motivation to go for it as it suddenly doesn't seem impossible/depressing/overwhelming.


Btw I was paid £125 for switching bank account, but due to a complaint I made because they forgot to attach the agreed overdraft (£300 - a reduction on my previous account's o/d), they have paid me £56 as a goodwill gesture. So that's £176 extra income this month.


I'm going to join one or two of the DFW challenges as well..

chevalier

Congrats on your second lightbulb. My comments are in blue

AliceBanned wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2000 Any way of raising extra income? Selling broken gold, 'stuff' on ebay or gumtree?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2000
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 278 Is this repayment or interest only?
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 353 I take it you are in a shared ownership? Not having outgoings for two houses?
Management charge (leasehold property).. 100
Council tax............................. 83 Does this include the single persons discount
Electricity............................. 20 This and your gas seems very low. If you have only had estimates for a while, you may want to put in actual readings online. Don't want to get a nasty surprise.
Gas..................................... 27
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 5
Mobile phone............................ 5
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 80 Does this include everything, ie good and cleaning stuff, the makings of lunch etc, trips to corner shop?
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 25
Road tax................................ 19
Car Insurance........................... 19
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car Your monthly car costs are 103 a month, yet your petrol cost indicates you don't do many miles. Do you need a car?
parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 130
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 30 Can you get a prepayment certificate to decrease this cost?
Buildings insurance..................... 0 I would recommend getting this, in fact I am surprised your mortgage lender didn't insist on it. Often it is a condition of the mortgage.
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 20
Emergency fund.......................... 35 How much is in your emergency fund. Unless you are getting a fab amount of interest you might want to consider paying some of this to the debt. Say anything more than a 1000 pounds?
Total monthly expenses.................. 1406

Assets
Cash.................................... 150
House value (Gross)..................... 80000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 81350

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 48500....(278)......1.99
Total secured & HP debts...... 48500.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Halifax cc...............1100......50........19
Barclaycard......200......60........15.9
Credit U 1................3000......121.......13.9
Capital One cc.................950.......20........30
First Direct cc................1850......55........19.9
Coop Card......................2400......50........6.9
Credit U2......................1500......135.......19.9
Total unsecured debts..........14000.....491.......-
Some of those are pretty high interest rates. I gather from your comments that you are going to use the credit union loan to pay some of these off. Great! If you use the snowball calculator it will tell you the best way to pay off the rest to minimise interest.
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,000
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,406
Available for debt repayments........... 594
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 491
Amount left after debt repayments....... 103 Well done on having a surplus. But do you have this left a month, if not then you need to track where it goes.
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 81,350
Total HP & Secured debt................. -48,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -14,000
Net Assets.............................. 18,850
Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

Good luck with your debt busting
chev

AliceBanned

Thanks chevalier, that's very kind of you to look through my SOA and make some helpful comments.


Yes LBM 2 - quite powerful!


I will answer your comments:
Extra income - I am raising extra through various means, so occasionally my income is higher than this. I am also applying for second jobs but only want a few extra hours. I recently did a market research focus group which involved trying on nice clothes, chatting with a load of women and giving feedback on the clothes, for 2 hours near to my home, and got £75 cash. I've done another one and got £50 cash. I have sold a few things on Ebay and Amazon and continue to look for ways to make a bit extra. I made £175 this month by switching bank accounts!


All great ideas I got from this site btw!


Yes it is a repayment mortgage - £49k owing and current value of property £83k. Yes it is shared ownership and I own 40% - one of the main reasons for my debtbusting is so that I can buy a bigger share but a bigger mortgage is almost impossible with these debts. Great incentive - future wealth/security.


I do get council tax discount.


Gas and electricity - I am super frugal and have lots of warm fleeces and cardigans, but my flat is super economic too - it is modern and on the first floor of 3, so very well insulated. I am always comfortable and yes the bills are pretty good. I provide a meter reading every month when prompted by my provider (First Utility, who incidentally also provided me with a free Cosy smart thermostat which has cut the bills even more!).


Believe me I am fighting this demon on all fronts!


Yep groceries includes everything - I am a fairly good cook (used to be my job years ago) and can cook quickly from scratch and use up ingredients etc as I go along. I also get a HUGE free cooked lunch at work so I don't need to worry as much about massive shops or variety in my diet as I get plenty of that.


Buildings insurance _ I have included in the amount for rent and service charge £453pm as it is all paid together.
It is a leasehold flat.


I only recently started the emergency fund and I have to say I really like saving a bit. I know I have debts but I worked out that for me I also like to have a small amount of savings which I am adding to slowly so that as my debt balance goes down my savings goes up even if a little bit. It helps me psychologically and is a method that both the credit unions I borrow from use, to teach good money management whilst you have debts. If that makes sense. I'm no longer scared of having savings whilst I have debt because I need to work on both simultaneously, even if the savings are very small.


The car. Ahhh the bain of my life!:D. I am seriously contemplating selling it in June (might get £1k if I'm lucky) and going without a car for at least 8-9 months whilst I get on my feet. The downside is then my travel to work costs would increase. But it would reduce my outgoings overall and make things more stable. As it happens just this evening I hit huge pothole and it is heartbreaking to know that for the 3rd time this year my car will be going in to the garage - more expense at a time when I start to do well with debt busting. It is a long story but the car or no car decision is a complex one, as having one takes me to a cheaper mode of transport (tube or bus) that I can't otherwise get to as I live in a semi-rural area. I am constantly struggling with this decision but erring more and more towards selling it and going without. I am getting seriously kick-!!! about this debt-busting where anything goes as long as I get these debts paid off!!


It is an old car and I'm fairly attached to it but really I could change my lifestyle for a few months and go without, it would be an adventure in a way.

chevalier

I guess you have to work out whether the increased travel costs of no car, would still be less than your current travel costs plus the car costs. I understand how important your own transport can be. It certainly allows for a spontaneity that you just can't get if you don't have one. But maybe now is the time to grit your teeth?
good luck
chev

AliceBanned

Thanks chev. I think you may be right.


My car insurance runs out in early July so if I go for it it will be then.

AliceBanned

I'm not feeling strong at the mo. I realise I need to stay rational but I also need 1-1 advice and support. I've phoned and left a message with a Christian debt advice place near to where I live and will see what they suggest re possibly DMP or sell my flat and rent for a while, or carry on as I am.


A few things happen and they are the 'final straw' and I go into meltdown. It seems the more I try the more I get ripped off or get unexpected huge expenses. At least this time I had £75 in savings to take out for something unexpected but I also borrowed from a relative until payday as I felt so overwhelmed.


One was hitting a pothole last week and the garage trying to rip me off, after I paid £700 out to keep my car on the road already. I am only keeping my car on the road so that I can get to work more cheaply but this is swings and roundabouts as it takes me a long time by car and tube.


Anyway I won't ramble on with negative stuff, though I am not in a good place at the mo - at least I am still trying to take action and get help I suppose. My GP has fixed some counselling sessions for me soon and I really need them but I realised I can't make financial decision at the mo but am drained by the situation which I am a bit OCD about with my spreadsheets etc. I can't see the balance going down. The situation is too difficult for me to repay the debts anytime soon, though I won't give up. I panic about the future and the fact that I can't increase my mortgage and I may be insecure in old age. It might sound ott but it's the way I think. I can get on with the challenge of it all sometimes, but then I feel like I'm having a breakdown and something has to give. I have to protect myself from this somehow, and maybe I'm still going wrong somewhere (not with the budget, but with my choices, attitude and lifestyle, my emotions even at the mo).


The other 'final straw' is that Barclaycard has put my interest rate up from 6.9% for 2 years to 19% without telling me (as far as I can tell they didn't) because I went £10 overdrawn. I have raised this with them and they are going to get back to me within 3 days. It just feels like too might to fight for as one thing after another comes up that I have to sort out. :eek:


Maybe people with debts will understand the impact these small things have. I am scraping together everything I can to improve the situation and then this happens. I am close to changing tactic and a DMP may be unavoidable, at least to save my sanity. It will mean home ownership probably needs to go as well.

AliceBanned

I haven't been on this thread or the DFW for a while but I am still ploughing away.


My debt repayment is starting to gain momentum. I am able to repay £700pm at the moment and have set a DF date of December 2017 to keep me motivated.


My car packed up (forumites on another thread helped me in that respect) and I got £50 for it for scrap. I have been selling things on Ebay. Not having a car is saving me over £100 pm. My journeys are long by walking/bus but hey I am getting so fit and reading a lot on the coach. It is quite a nice journey..into central London by bus. . Four days a week and one day from home.


Using YNAB and also properly using the snowball calculator on 'What's the Cost?'. Had no idea how great it is. So motivating.


Thanks forumites for the motivation. Really fed up of struggling now. Am able to do £60pm grocery spend as I am using the slow cooker and I get free lunchtime hot meals. Really going for it this time. . I can see light at the end of the tunnel, that's the difference.