Worse than we thought......

foolofbeans

I've finally completed the SOA and hope to use it to gain control of our finances. Notes about it are at the end.
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 300
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1500
Benefits................................ 650
Other income............................ 130
Total monthly income.................... 2580

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 140
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 100
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 100
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 130
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 85
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 450
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 40
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 20
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 9
Life assurance ......................... 8
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 200
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Charity................................. 4.5
Magazine subscription................... 15
Pocket money............................ 135
Smoking................................. 100
Total monthly expenses.................. 2038.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 1000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Catalogue V....................6230......295.......19.9
Catalogue S....................1225......65........20
Catalogue N....................1885......95........20
Debt repayment.................3000......30........0
CC EC..........................160.......25........0
CC EB..........................8500......190.......24
CC GB..........................800.......25........0
CC GM..........................800.......22........0
CC GC2.........................800.......20........0
CC GC1.........................800.......15........20
CC GN..........................1460......35........20
Loan G.........................4200......230.......8
Loan E.........................6857......0.........10
Catalogue L....................850.......25........20
Total unsecured debts..........37567.....1072......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,580
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,038.5
Available for debt repayments........... 541.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,072
Amount short for making debt repayments. -530.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -37,567
Net Assets.............................. -35,067

We don't pay any rent or mortgage.
TV includes phone and broadband which is required for work.
We are tied into mobile contracts for at least another year but will look to cancel as soon as we can.
Partners income is variable according to season. I have put what it is now, in a few months it should increase to about £2000 per month. About the same time the benefits amount will decrease by around £250 but I am hoping to get a pay rise before then of at least £100, hopefully £200 so an overall decrease of around £50/month.
Pocket money is for 2 x teenagers and 1 older child at uni.
Monthly payments for the credit card debts are fairly accurate but I'm not so sure of the APR's or the outstanding amounts so have estimated them.
Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

anna_1977

Hi,
you've already pointed out the obvious savings. Although TV doesn't need to be that much even with BB for work...cancel the TV side?

Only other comment really is about pocket money for the child at Uni... looking at your earnings you take home under £25,001 per annum is this correct? If so your child will be receiving maximum uni grants, this is a lot so why are you also substituting?

Magazine subscription can go and that will save £180 per yr

Entertainment @ £200 is pretty shocking when you look at the shortfall you have...

FinallyGettingFree

Hey foolofbeans

You'll get loads of good advice on this post I am sure.

My initial thoughts are that the entertainment and pocket money combined at at 335 could maybe be cut down a little... and of course the 100 a month on smoking could be looked at (I smoked for years, so I am not making any judgement!)

If you have 1000 cash on hand, then maybe that could be your emergency fund and you could put the 50 a month towards your debts instead?

andyfromotley

foolofbeans wrote: »

I've finally completed the SOA and hope to use it to gain control of our finances. Notes about it are at the end.
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 300
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1500
Benefits................................ 650
Other income............................ 130
Total monthly income.................... 2580

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 140 Pay this over 12 months instead of 10. reduces it to 116 pcm
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 100 This is quite high. Use comparison website. Turn it down, turn it off use less. You should be able to shave £20 off energy pcm
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 100
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 130 Not your comments - get out of this asap
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 85 This is wayyyy to high. I know you get internet phone etc but still way to high. shop around nd you can get this for well under £20. I pay £7.50 pcm. if its sky even just haggling hard on this should reduce it by half.
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 450 I have no idea what it costs to feed 4 kids nd this seems ok, but there are always saving to be made, aim for £25pcm
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 40
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 20
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 9
Life assurance ......................... 8 This seems low for a couple with 4 kids. Do yu have enough cover?
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 200 whats this? You are in a debt emergency. find free stuff to do.
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 50 How much have you got? Stop when you get to around £1000
Charity................................. 4.5
Magazine subscription................... 15 Stop until debts are sorted.
Pocket money............................ 135
Smoking................................. 100 Try try try to stop. Call your local NHS stop smoking service. I know this isnt easy.
Total monthly expenses.................. 2038.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 1000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Catalogue V....................6230......295.......19.9
Catalogue S....................1225......65........20
Catalogue N....................1885......95........20
Debt repayment.................3000......30........0
CC EC..........................160.......25........0
CC EB..........................8500......190.......24
CC GB..........................800.......25........0
CC GM..........................800.......22........0
CC GC2.........................800.......20........0
CC GC1.........................800.......15........20
CC GN..........................1460......35........20
Loan G.........................4200......230.......8
Loan E.........................6857......0.........10
Catalogue L....................850.......25........20
Total unsecured debts..........37567.....1072......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,580
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,038.5
Available for debt repayments........... 541.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,072
Amount short for making debt repayments. -530.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -37,567
Net Assets.............................. -35,067

We don't pay any rent or mortgage.
TV includes phone and broadband which is required for work.
We are tied into mobile contracts for at least another year but will look to cancel as soon as we can.
Partners income is variable according to season. I have put what it is now, in a few months it should increase to about £2000 per month. About the same time the benefits amount will decrease by around £250 but I am hoping to get a pay rise before then of at least £100, hopefully £200 so an overall decrease of around £50/month.
Pocket money is for 2 x teenagers and 1 older child at uni.
Monthly payments for the credit card debts are fairly accurate but I'm not so sure of the APR's or the outstanding amounts so have estimated them.
Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

Hi,

ok well it looks bad on face value. You must get this under control as you are icreasing your debt by over £500 pcm!! Yikes, i take it this is going on credit cards etc.

However there are saving to be made, check out my notes above. i reckon you can make these savings each mopnth.
Counil tax £26
Energy £20
Sattelite £65
Food £25
Entertainment £200
Emenrgency fund £50 (when you have your £1k)
Magazines £15
Smokes £100

This totals £501 pcm so you will still need to find more savings or increase income even more.

However your debts are large. I suspect that they have awful APRs (which means they will take even longer to pay off.

I strongly suggest that you contact National Debtline, Stepchange or Christians against poverty and discuss your situation with them. They will give you sound FREE advice. (Never pay for debt advice) It may well be that a more formal debt solution such as a DMP or Bankruptcy may be a better solution for you.

well done for sorting this out, and it will be sorted out. Not overnight, it wasnt built up overnight, but you will resolve this.

CalumHeath

Satellite TV/Cable is high at £85.00. I'm presuming this includes an internet service? You should get rid of that as quickly as you can or get yourself on the lowest tariff you can until you can end the service.

Your mobile phone costs are really high. When you can end it keep your phone and get on a sim-only deal.

£60 every month for presents is high.

Cancel the charity donation - you can't afford it.

Cancel the magazine subscription - you can't afford it.

Give up smoking - you can't afford it.

lambda

foolofbeans wrote: »

Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Gas..................................... 100

This is high - not reduce?

Water rates............................. 100


This is high - not reduce?


Mobile phone............................ 130


Sorry to be blunt: £130 a month on mobile phones is, frankly, ludicrous. You can't afford them.


Satellite/Cable TV...................... 85

Ditch this, you can't afford £85 a month on Sky

Groceries etc. ......................... 450

You can reduce this easily by £200 a month

Clothing................................ 50

Make do with the clothes you already have!
Entertainment........................... 200

What is this for? Kill it.

Charity................................. 4.5

Of course, it's nice to be charitable, but you can't afford to right now.

Magazine subscription................... 15
Pocket money............................ 135

Kill this

Smoking................................. 100

Now's the perfect time to quit!

[/font]

Sorry to be blunt, but you can save a huge amount of expenditure by cutting back on things you don't need/can't afford. With my suggestions above, you can easily save £800 a month!

kelpie35

£200 for entertainment, TV £85 and £135 for pocket money.

Sorry for being harsh but with the amount of debt you have you need to live off the bare essentials. I believe these thing are luxuries.

Lemonsqueezer78

Statement of Affairs and Personal BalanceSheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 300
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1500
Benefits................................ 650
Other income............................ 130
Total monthly income.................... 2580

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 140 – can you spread this over 12months rather than 10 (if you have not done so already)?
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 100 – This seems high – have you checked you are with the cheapest supplier? If not, switch asap
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 100 – this is also very high, even for a large household. Are you on a meter?
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 130 – Wow... you have addressed this in your note below, but you need to reduce asap.
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 85 – even if you need Broadband, this must STILL be one of the higher TV packages. Can you downgrade the TV or Telephone components of this. Even my own virgin package is only £60pm and that includes HD channels and ultra fast broadband.
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 450 – checkout the old style moneysaving pages for info on meal planning, food budgeting and batch cooking to bring this down. Whilst it’s not astronomical for a large household of 6, I feel you could get this down with some better meal planning
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 40
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 20
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 9
Life assurance ......................... 8
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 200 – what kinds of things are you including here?

Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Charity................................. 4.5 - stop this
Magazine subscription................... 15 – stop this
Pocket money............................ 135 – reduce this
Smoking................................. 100 – definitely stop this!
Total monthly expenses.................. 2038.5

At a stretch, I can just about imagine you shaving £500 or so off the above if you are very strict about your groceries... look for the best utilities deals, stop smoking, reduce your "entertainment" spending, downgrade your TV package etc. However, on paper, that is still barely enough to stay a float with those kinds of debt commitments.

To be honest, I'm afraid unless you can increase your regular household income consistently you are only going to get through this by contacting your creditors and re-structuring your debts somehow to something more affordable.

In your case, I really would suggest you contact a debt support service like stepchange, or the National Debtline who can assess your situation and help outline your options.

tallyhoh

Are 2 cars really necessary? based on £300 salary & taking off car expenses you must be working for very little.

KID77

Hello,
I think contacting a Debt Charity is essential, go on to Stepchange website and complete the debt remedy tool. You are never going to clear these debts on your income even if you cut back on some things above.
We are on a DMP but if you have no assets like a house then maybe bankruptcy is best...no expert on this but the debt charity can advise best option :-)
Good luck with it all.

Lemonsqueezer78

Out of interest, how old are the teenagers and what proportion of that £135 are they getting? Are they old enough to get a paper-rounds or weekend jobs?

Also, what is that Loan E - with the "0" in the monthly repayment?