I'm in so much debt and so, so ashamed :-(

MoneyMission2015

SoftKittyWarmKitty wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 822
Other income............................ 199
Total monthly income.................... 1221

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 500
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 18.16
Electricity............................. 40 We pay about the same for a family of 4, make sure things are switched off, take meter readings, look into switching.
Gas..................................... 40 Same as above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 34.40 Are you on a water meter? Reason I ask is because this is high for just 2 of you. We are a family of 4 and believe it or not we only pay £2 more than you do per month, we are on a meter as our house is a new build
Telephone (land line)................... 17.40
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 36Definitely cancel as much as you can. Try Netflix, around £5 per month and loads to choose from
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 220 I know I keep going on about us being a family of 4 but it hopefully gives you a good comparison. For instance, we are a family of 4 and I spend around £60 per week on our groceries, so you're almost spending as much as us per month!
Clothing................................ 26.67This should be cut down for now, try ebaying old stuff and buying things in charity shops and ebay. My mum buys all her clothes in a charity shop near her, she gets items still with tags on but pays next to nothing for them
Petrol/diesel........................... 20 People have already discussed the car situation with you, so you've already commented on savings here
Road tax................................ 18.75
Car Insurance........................... 29.42
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 8.33
Car parking............................. 4
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 10.42
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 35
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 11.67
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 5.42
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 27.50
Haircuts................................ 12.5 Can you leave it longer between cuts?
Entertainment........................... 45 Difficult one, it is quite high but as you said you have a pre teen I expect a lot of this goes on him/her. Maybe look at more things at home, movie nights, sleepovers etc which won't cost as much?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
Education............................... 19.99
Sport/Hobbies........................... 54.13 Massive!! You've already noticed this though so no point me saying anymore
Savings................................. 25
Total monthly expenses.................. 1291.88


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 5000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Car Loan.......................3503......122.......4.5
Personal Loan..................5238......131.......4.7
Credit Card....................2293......75........0
Total unsecured debts..........11034.....328.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,221
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,291.88
Available for debt repayments........... -70.88
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 328
Amount short for making debt repayments. -398.88

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 5,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -11,034
Net Assets.............................. -6,034

Hi SoftKitty, I know I will be repeating what others have already said, but thought I'd post anyway to give you a few suggestions on where to cut down etc. I have put them above on your SOA. Good luck http://static.moneysavingexpert.com/images/forum_smilies/smile.gif

hydrangea_2

Hi Kitty, have you considered online job opportunities like Upwork? I am a copywriter too, and that's one thing I've looked into a few times.

Mobile phone could be cut by a few pounds if you own the handset. Giffgaff is great - £7.50 a month for 250 minutes, unlimited texts & 500MB of internet.

Also I share Netflix with a friend which brings the price down somewhat.

gettingtheresometime

hydrangea wrote: »

Hi Kitty, have you considered online job opportunities like Upwork? I am a copywriter too, and that's one thing I've looked into a few times.

Mobile phone could be cut by a few pounds if you own the handset. Giffgaff is great - £7.50 a month for 250 minutes, unlimited texts & 500MB of internet.

Also I share Netflix with a friend which brings the price down somewhat.

I was also going to suggest peopleperhour as well

FunBrum

Not sure if I can be much help, but regarding your food bill. Pop over to the Old-Style Moneysaving boards. There is a wealth of information there and they are a great bunch!

I know it's hard but try not to worry hun. Once you get your head around it, you will see items on your SOA where you can cut back or do without as some have already suggested.
Also, you need to identify why you have ended up in this situation again?
I had to and I'm sure most people on here has. Sometime we need to really turn our financial lives around and do things completely different, so that we can have a debt-free life.
You seem to be on the right path in asking for help and not burying your head. :T