We are so ready!

Oasis10

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wifey27

Didn't want to read and run Oasis10. Posting a SOA is probably a good place to start. Good luck with your journey! Will follow your progress.

Wifey27

National_Debtline

Hi Oasis


Good to have you back here. Now that you've resolved to start attacking your debts, I would suggest that cutting up any existing cards etc. is a good place to begin, so that running up further debts is not an option.


That, and posting a Statement of Affairs http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php as per wifey27's suggestion.


Good luck!


Dennis
@natdebtline

ShakeItOff

Hi Oasis!

Definitely post your SOA.

I would definitely crack out YNAB too and work through the classes (I've just gone through them and found them really helpful to get an understanding of how to use the software, but also to focus my attention).

Good luck!

Oasis10

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moneyonmymindsam

:hello:


Hello and Welcome - really brave of you to post

6 of your debts are small so that is a plus!

Food needs to be cut - £350 is rather high. I do 1.5 ( other half ) people on £100 a month and we live like kings ( mostly ) look at meal planning - cheap and easy meal idea's there are plenty on the Forums.


£10 for presents might not be very realistic - maybe you spend more than that on just your partner's Birthdays and Christmas combined if you think about it? I could probably spend that on chocolate alone lol


You don't pay any rent atm unless you are Mortgage free? so going forward that would be a priority if you lived with partner.


I don't want to dishearten you but I quote you "things look worse than they are" - from where I'm sitting things are not looking great ...but pretty dire even when you take off the PDL's you are still very short each month.


I'm not judging but this must be a massive weight on your shoulders - you are certainly in the right place for all the help and support you need to pay it back but do speak to a free debt charity for impartial advice.


We all make mistakes so don't worry about how you got there but your minimum debt repayments alone amount to £1268 PCM prior to the PDL which is a huge percentage of your income. if you don't stop your debt.. your debt will stop you


Recognise how you got there and make changes to stop the debt getting worse.

Well done for taking the first step :T

MSE really is full of fantastic helpful people .


Wishing you all the best on your Journey :beer:

tealady

Hi
You have a high budget for entertainments so that needs to be cut drastically. TBH you cannot afford it whilst you have debts.
Find cheaper ways of enjoying your hobbies. For exampley if you like a take away then make your own, if its a night in the pub then go out later. And quitting smoking will not only help your budget but your health (I am an ex smoker BTW)
Also you need to look at every penny you are spending, even writing it
down on a piece of paper will help.
Good luck

Lemonsqueezer78

Hi Oasis

Firstly, well done for deciding to take action to combat your debts.

First things first – just to get a complete picture of your situation, you say “We are so ready” so would you mind just clarifying a little how your partner plays in to this? You say you don’t live together and your finances are separate....so does your partner currently play any part in servicing/managing your debt payments or monthly expenses, or not? I only ask because –given the picture your SOA paints – I think it is a key part of things to understand what kinds of other financial income or support is currently keeping you “afloat”.

The other thing I’d like to ask you is what leads you to say “It looks way worse than it really is”? Because I don’t wish to sound too negative, however it actually looks quite bad at the moment, in that from the SOA you posted, your budget looks pretty broken. What I mean is, you obviously have a significant shortfall between your income and your living expenses + debt repayments. So unless I’m missing something, your SOA is either not reflective of your actual situation – OR you are taking in more money/financial support from somewhere –OR you are in reality just servicing your debt and monthly expenses are covered by taking out more debt each month.

I suspect it’s a bit of all 3.

I’m going to cut to the chase with this I think, as to be honest I believe (and others may disagree) your only option here is really a proper re-structuring of your debts in order to try and get you back to some kind of realistic monthly budget that balances your living expenses with your debt repayments. By that, I’m talking about actually contacting your creditors to advise them of your current financial situation (which is no longer sustainable, by the looks of it) and to begin negotiating with them on a regime of lower, more manageable, repayments - and where possible, frozen interest.

I could comment on your SOA and the things you could/should change, but to be honest – even making those adjustments and even factoring out the PDLs, It still would not adequately address the budgetary mismatch you have between income and outgoings and you need to take some urgent action to address this.

I really think you should make a call to the guys at National Debtline and discuss all your options with someone.

Divingmad

Hi Oasis,

Just a couple from me...
Food budget is verryyyy generous. This could be easily trimmed by at least £100 (and very possibly more).
Your entertainment budget is £200, this needs to be reduced.
By chance, have you 'double counted' your entertainment needs in your food budget?
Have you considered having a spending diary to tot up everything you actually spend, that way you can get a more complete picture of where money is going and what you can do to budget more effectively.
Regards
DM

ShakeItOff

Hi Oasis!

The ones that jump out for me are Groceries. This seems high. I budget £150 for DH, me, the house (so cleaning stuff etc) and two cats. He probably chips in another £50 ish.

Personally, I would reduce the amount I spent on clothes too. I tend to wear the same things most of the time, so really only replace when something is wearing/worn out. I know it is only £50, but a couple of months of not spending (even as much), could go towards some payments.

I would also look to trim down the entertainment and smoking. I'm not a smoker, and never have been, so that may be easier said than done, though there seem to be a lot of stop smoking services and aids these days. The entertainment seems quite high. I personally look ahead for my month ahead and try to work out how much it is likely to cost me in eating out. In November, I spent £40. December will be a bit busier, and I'm looking at £70. Admittedly, I'm not the social butterfly that I once was, but I still get to go out with friends - we just do free stuff, or cheap stuff.

Are there any ways that you can look to boost your income? You've mentioned selling furniture that you no longer need, is there anywhere else that you could trim down?

Oasis10

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