New Girls SOA

**joanna**

New on tonight but I have been lurking long enough to know that the starting point is SOA.
I am pretty sure that our income should be more than enough.
We have a lot of equity but really don't want to sell our house.
A few things are non negotiable

1. Hairdresser is a family member who comes every 2 months and does all 5 of us for £60
2. Kids have part school meals and part packed lunches - they prefer school dinners but we only allow it 2 days a week
3. we have to have two cars as we are both essential car users
4. "entertainment is other kids parties and youth clubs with subs of £4 weekly
5. Phone is expensive but it's BT and covers TV (but not sport) and internet - if there is a better deal out there we're happy to try it.

Otherwise fire away

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3051
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1830
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4881

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1470
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 860
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 180
Electricity............................. 76
Gas..................................... 85
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 42
Telephone (land line)................... 65
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 900
Clothing................................ 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 70
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 10
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 40
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 8
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 25
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 65
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 30
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 40
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 4428.12


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 725000
Shares and bonds........................ 600
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 2000
Total Assets............................ 728600


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 240000...(1470).....4.15
Secured Debt.................. 70000....(860)......8.19
Total secured & HP debts...... 310000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
JLF............................9000......271.......16.9
Halifax........................1500......12.5......7.5
RBOS...........................5500......55........3.5
Barclaycard....................7500......175.......12.9
Nationwide.....................2400......40........12
Nationwide.....................5900......160.......18.9
Barclaycard....................9900......235.......10.9
JLF............................2500......50........16.9
Total unsecured debts..........44200.....998.5.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,881
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 4,428.12
Available for debt repayments........... 452.88
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 998.5
Amount short for making debt repayments. -545.62

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 728,600
Total HP & Secured debt................. -310,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -44,200
Net Assets.............................. 374,400

**joanna**

Sorry - didn't mean non negotiable as in not up for discussion but can't see a way out of a few things...

[Deleted User]

no family allowance?
£65 tele landline?
£65 life insurance?
you have almost 1/2 million equity in your home could you move?

**joanna**

woodbine wrote: »

no family allowance? - my earnings are too high

£65 tele landline? includes landline, broadband and BT TV - can you suggest any alternatives?

£65 life insurance? that's for two of us for £200K

you have almost 1/2 million equity in your home could you move?

- I would be happy to move but husband wants to stay and is in denial about debt. We live in St Albans and you can barely get a 3 bed here for £500K. Once the twins are in senior school in two years things may change. On the other hand, house value has increased by £100K in the last 18 months...

Thanks for looking and taking the time to comment

Jo xx

pandora205

No contents insurance?

Orange_Ena

Hi Joanna, welcome

Have you checked to see if you can switch gas and electric? I went through MSE cheap energy club and my gas and electric went from £59 to £39 per month. I've only got a small house but maybe you can find some savings there?

Groceries :eek: I think there is massive scope there to save at least half, going by what others say on here. The old style board is brilliant for ideas. Cooking from scratch and batch cooking will cut down a lot I'm sure.

Do you use cashback sites? If you're buying stuff anyway, there are some great cashback offers.

The rest doesn't look too bad but I'm sure more experienced posters will be along to advise.

Have you tried getting new credit cards with 0% deals?

It depends how frugal you want to go to get it cleared. Good luck.....you can do it

**joanna**

pandora205 wrote: »

No contents insurance?

Sorry - unclear -it's included in building insurance

**joanna**

Orange_Ena wrote: »

Hi Joanna, welcome

Have you checked to see if you can switch gas and electric? I went through MSE cheap energy club and my gas and electric went from £59 to £39 per month. I've only got a small house but maybe you can find some savings there?

We're with scottish and southern (or whatever they call themselves these days) and monthly dd internet only. I can have a look at price comparison sites and see if there is anything better. I personally think the whole utilities switching business is a massive rip off but happy to take any advice

Groceries :eek: I think there is massive scope there to save at least half, going by what others say on here. The old style board is brilliant for ideas. Cooking from scratch and batch cooking will cut down a lot I'm sure.

I know I love Aldi but I pass, 3 supermarkets on the way and I am so tired...but I agree, I must make more effort

Do you use cashback sites? If you're buying stuff anyway, there are some great cashback offers.

No - I don't know the first thing about cashback sites - what are they?

The rest doesn't look too bad but I'm sure more experienced posters will be along to advise.

Have you tried getting new credit cards with 0% deals?

Last time I applied for a new credit card (about 4 years ago) I was turned down and I have a fear of rejection so have been reluctant to try again. Can anyone recommend any?

It depends how frugal you want to go to get it cleared. Good luck.....you can do it

Thank you so much for your encouragement, I'm sure there must be a way out which is why I posted looking for help

Jo xx

**joanna**

Just had a look at clothing - no way do I spend £1200 per year on clothing! Probably £150 on school uniforms/replacements etc and then £500 or £100 each for the rest of us. so the figure I gave is probably an over estimation.

Orange_Ena

It's worth having a look at the utilities switching. Its handy if you've got a bill so you can work out your usage to make it more accurate. I got £30 cashback too

I know it's hard when you're tired and busy but the old style board is brilliant. Depends what you like eating but you could make a batch of mince with a tomato sauce which you could turn into spag bol, lasagne, chilli etc. Lots of ideas to be had though.

I think topcashback and quidco are the main cashback sites. Basically, you just register and if you want to buy something online, click on the cashback site, search for the company you want to buy from (not all companies offer it) and click through to the site and buy as normal. Hopefully cashback will track and at some point, you can get the cash back, or vouchers. It's not just actual goods, you can get cashback for home insurance, breakdown, lots of services. Worth checking before you do any online buying. I even got cashback for just getting a home insurance quote but I didn't even go ahead. It was only £2.53 but it was free!

Try this:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/eligibility/credit-cards/

It does a soft search and sees whether you are likely to get a credit card deal or what may be available to you. Have a read of it all though.

There is ALWAYS a way out. It may not be quick or painless, but there is a solution

andyfromotley

**joanna** wrote: »

New on tonight but I have been lurking long enough to know that the starting point is SOA.
I am pretty sure that our income should be more than enough.
We have a lot of equity but really don't want to sell our house.
A few things are non negotiable

1. Hairdresser is a family member who comes every 2 months and does all 5 of us for £60
2. Kids have part school meals and part packed lunches - they prefer school dinners but we only allow it 2 days a week
3. we have to have two cars as we are both essential car users
4. "entertainment is other kids parties and youth clubs with subs of £4 weekly
5. Phone is expensive but it's BT and covers TV (but not sport) and internet - if there is a better deal out there we're happy to try it.

Otherwise fire away

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3051
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1830
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4881

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1470
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 860
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 180 If this is 10 monthly switch to 12 monthly at £150 cpm
Electricity............................. 76
Gas..................................... 85 Wayyyyy too much for gas and electric. Switch, its not a rip off, turn down the heating switch off lights You should be able to knock £40 off this easy.
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 42
Telephone (land line)................... 65 Again way too much. you can get phone and internet for under £20. ditch the TV package.
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 900 This is a joke right? You can easily feed a family of 5 for under £500. You are currently spending £30 per day on groceries? This is more than many families have left for everything. Old style MSE board will help
Clothing................................ 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 70
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 10
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 40
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 8
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 25
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 65
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 30
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 40 Nope - you have a a shortfall of £550 EVERY MONTH. You don't get to have a holiday until this is resolved.
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 4428.12


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 725000
Shares and bonds........................ 600
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 2000
Total Assets............................ 728600


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 240000...(1470).....4.15
Secured Debt.................. 70000....(860)......8.19
Total secured & HP debts...... 310000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
JLF............................9000......271.......16.9
Halifax........................1500......12.5......7.5
RBOS...........................5500......55........3.5
Barclaycard....................7500......175.......12.9
Nationwide.....................2400......40........12
Nationwide.....................5900......160.......18.9
Barclaycard....................9900......235.......10.9
JLF............................2500......50........16.9
Total unsecured debts..........44200.....998.5.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,881
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 4,428.12
Available for debt repayments........... 452.88
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 998.5
Amount short for making debt repayments. -545.62

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 728,600
Total HP & Secured debt................. -310,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -44,200
Net Assets.............................. 374,400

Hi jo and welcome.

You are in the middle of a financial emergency!! You are adding to your debt £550 every single month. This must stop immediately!! if it doesn't you will slide into a vicious debt spiral from which you cannot escape.

The changes i recommend above will put you back in the black each month. But your problems are much more serious than that. You have hefty debt and will need even more radical changes to resolve.

Some of your problems are structural. Your mortgage APR is high. Can you remortgage, including your secured debt? A 5 year fix of 2.5% gives payments of about £1400 cpm saving you in the region of £1000 pcm

You need to try and shift your card debt to 0% cards this will have a huge impact on your ability to repay them. If you are only paying the minimum with those APRs it will take you up to £40 years to pay them off!!

Finally (and in the nicest way possible) you need a hefty kick up the jacksey about how you view your current situation!! You are drowning in debt but seem to be a 'oh well' about it. Holidays? £900 on food? Paying for your kids school lunches because thats what they prefer? My kids would prefer to be driven to school by a chauffeur but tuff, we aren't millionaires! Don't think switching is a great idea? Really?? Are you kidding?

You are in a FINANCIAL EMERGENCY and ever single pound counts!! You have plenty of money and really can fight your way out of this, chin up shoulders back and crack on. Attack it with a passion. Oh and kick you're husband out of his debt denial. He is an adult with a family to look after. He's not another one of your kids! Screw that!!