SOA please help

emylou

datlex wrote: »

OP I noticed you are paying £64 per month for Virgin Media what package are you on? I pay a total of £44 a month across a range of services (Virgin(Big Bang package)/Now(movies and entertainment)/Amazon/Netflix/TVPlayer Plus). The Now/Amazon/Netflix/TV Player are all portable and I can watch at no extra cost on a second TV in my home. A change like that would save you £240 a year!!

As for phone contract, you can get cheaper but you need to look at your usage- no point in going for a cheaper contract if you are likely to go over the allowances and face the consequential charges. Look at what is on offer from other suppliers and see if your company will match it.

Thank you for your comments! I'll have to check our Virgin bill, OH sorts it cos he has sport channels (he is a Formula One fan) and apparently our internet speed is the fastest one around? We never use the actual landline to make calls.

You're right about the usage on my phone. The tariff I was on was terrible and I often went over the data, I now have unlimited texts, 500 minutes and 10gb. I'm only on my 2nd month and can change as often as I need to if my usage changes, but I imagine if I had to pay for a few minutes f calls it would be cheaper than paying for extra data.

Smodlet

S0d USwitch! Look where you are! Do USwitch pay you £30 to switch tariffs, never mind suppliers?!?

It simply won't do, you know!

Penelope_pitstop

Hi. Normally I just browse this forum anonymously, and when I saw this I had to make my first post!

Your situation is very similar to how mine was 4-5 years ago! My then partner didn't contribute to our combined monthly outgoings and then left me in 12k of debt

The first thing that I did (after I had calmed down) was sit myself down and do an SOA
I was brutally honest with my expenditures and as I wasn't in contract with my sky,mobile phone and utility suppliers I could easily give notice on them. I cancelled my mobile and went PAYG and top up £10 per month. I brought a free view box for £20, I switched suppliers to a cheaper provider. I contacted the bank to temporarily increase my overdraft so I didn't keep being charged £30-60 per month for unpaid items.
I planned weekly meals and stuck to it using meals like casseroles, pasta bakes and soups that I could freeze extras of and shopped at Aldi once a week.
When I was left on my own I was working 20 hours a week, I had to increase my hours to bring in more income. Of course I didn't want to but it was a case of having to! Needs must!
I had one night out a month usually to the cinema or bingo and a lot of nights in with a recorded movie! Takeaways became a thing of the past as did eating out.
I threw every extra penny that I had at the debts that I was left with.
One piece of advice that I would give you is to confide in someone that can offer you the support you need, not necessarily to help you financially but emotionally. I was able to speak to my mum about things and she was always able to lend a supportive ear and encourage me when times were tough.
I see that you have a partner; does he know the full extent of your debts and is he able to contribute more than the £800 per month? If he is able to contribute more then you can get it payed off quicker. And if he understands your debts then he will understand why you need to cut back and have lots of cozy nights in.
Anyway! I can now see a light at the end as I have worked really hard at making things better I hope to have the debt I was left with cleared by 2017.

KenAdams2015

I note from your post that you are currently £1,100 OD out of a £1,200 limit with a week to go to payday, may I ask is £100 going to last you until payday, are there uncleared bills or expenses during this time?

Is this a regular occurrence being so near your limit in the last week? If yes do you find you have to use your credit cards more or are they at their limits?

I see you are fortunate to have no childcare costs are they any other associated childcare costs eg do you pay for your mum to take your LB anywhere on the days she had him? Eg playgroup etc

Your fuel costs are quite high are they for you and your OH? Do you both work quite far away?

As to be expected in the first few drafts of a SOA I see you have noticed some things you have omitted such as tv license, entertainment, car parking, chiropractor appointments, contents insurance etc

Once updated please re-post so we can all see if can help further.

As others mentioned is your OH able to contribute more or does he have his own debts or he is giving you his whole wages nearly?

KenAdams2015

Hi OP, how is the new SOA coming on?

Brightspark87

Hi your mortgage seems high given you loan - ours is similar loan and only £614 - similar Loan to Equity (LTV) too. When was this rate taken out?

emylou

Re KenAdams2015; being so near my OD has been a regular occurrence since returning to work in January unfortunately I avoid using my credit cards if possible so OH does any top up shops we need if necessary.
My Mum won't take any money for when she takes my LB to playgroups or anything as she never took money from my brother's when she looked after their children either, so I do treat her to flowers or chocolates every few months as a thank you instead.
My fuel costs are just mine; I actually drive past my work to drop my LB to my Mum's in the morning and I probably do lots of local trips (I do walk when I can) and we drive 40miles (round trip) to see MIL usually once a week too, the £200 was an exaggerated guestimate. I have plated the seed of us going down to one car which we have discussed before so will see where that gets me.

My OH has a credit card he is paying off too but he gives me about half his wages towards our bills.

I have forgotten how I did my SOA in the first place, does anyone have the link please??

Thank you!!

emylou

Brightspark87 wrote: »

Hi your mortgage seems high given you loan - ours is similar loan and only £614 - similar Loan to Equity (LTV) too. When was this rate taken out?

We got our mortgage in September 2014. Would the high rate be to do with having a smaller deposit?

emylou

Penelope_pitstop wrote: »

Hi. Normally I just browse this forum anonymously, and when I saw this I had to make my first post!

Your situation is very similar to how mine was 4-5 years ago! My then partner didn't contribute to our combined monthly outgoings and then left me in 12k of debt

The first thing that I did (after I had calmed down) was sit myself down and do an SOA
I was brutally honest with my expenditures and as I wasn't in contract with my sky,mobile phone and utility suppliers I could easily give notice on them. I cancelled my mobile and went PAYG and top up £10 per month. I brought a free view box for £20, I switched suppliers to a cheaper provider. I contacted the bank to temporarily increase my overdraft so I didn't keep being charged £30-60 per month for unpaid items.
I planned weekly meals and stuck to it using meals like casseroles, pasta bakes and soups that I could freeze extras of and shopped at Aldi once a week.
When I was left on my own I was working 20 hours a week, I had to increase my hours to bring in more income. Of course I didn't want to but it was a case of having to! Needs must!
I had one night out a month usually to the cinema or bingo and a lot of nights in with a recorded movie! Takeaways became a thing of the past as did eating out.
I threw every extra penny that I had at the debts that I was left with.
One piece of advice that I would give you is to confide in someone that can offer you the support you need, not necessarily to help you financially but emotionally. I was able to speak to my mum about things and she was always able to lend a supportive ear and encourage me when times were tough.
I see that you have a partner; does he know the full extent of your debts and is he able to contribute more than the £800 per month? If he is able to contribute more then you can get it payed off quicker. And if he understands your debts then he will understand why you need to cut back and have lots of cozy nights in.
Anyway! I can now see a light at the end as I have worked really hard at making things better I hope to have the debt I was left with cleared by 2017.

Wow! Well done you on working so hard to lower your debt and having the end in sight.
Sadly I am unsure I have anyone in real life I can talk to hence why I am on here tbh. My OH knows my debts but also has his own credit card to pay off. He has had a pay rise and now that I am part time maybe we need to reassess his budget too as his money goes towards bills but I then pay for food out of my money.

KenAdams2015

emylou wrote: »

My fuel costs are just mine; I actually drive past my work to drop my LB to my Mum's in the morning and I probably do lots of local trips (I do walk when I can) and we drive 40miles (round trip) to see MIL usually once a week too, the £200 was an exaggerated guestimate. I have plated the seed of us going down to one car which we have discussed before so will see where that gets me.

My OH has a credit card he is paying off too but he gives me about half his wages towards our bills.

Is or will your OH do a SOA?

Can I ask what his credit card debt and the amount he pays off each month?

You state that he gives you half his wages towards the bills, is the other half mainly going towards his debt? If not could he give more to you so you could pay less bills and pay off more of your debts or od?

Do you have half of your wages to yourself? It would seem not according to the SOA.....