My debt is out of control please help

damsidebear

tori.k wrote: »

First thing is to get a true accounting of you SOA if you don't have £219 left over each month, hit you statements and account for everything if you tend to deal in cash keep the receipts over the next month and find where your leaks are and plug them.

If you find the additional £219 and snowballed your debts you would be debt free in 18months and in no need of a dmp.

I'm slightly confused as how would it be possible to be debt free within 18 month? I have calculated that if what I'm paying to my CC's alone just now would take approx. 5 years to clear due to interest costs alone?

tori.k

Sorry I jumped the gun and talking nonsense if you draw the line and don't add to your unsecured debt with snowballing (see the link that sanctioned parts list added) your Credit cards and OD would be gone in 18 months. leaving you to overpay your secured debts. If you can.

That's with the figures taken off you SOA not in your first post which are correct?

damsidebear

right guys no wonder I am confused, I have just realised the CC debt figures I have put on my SOA is wrong its not 2770 & 2900 its 7700 & 7900! ill redo it....

damsidebear

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1670
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1670
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 200
Rent.................................... 210
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 60
Gas..................................... 55
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 12
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 100
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 13
Buildings insurance..................... 14
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 17
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 35
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1166

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

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0<
Car PCP........................13600....(200)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 13600.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Card....................7700......150.......20.9
Credit Card....................7900......200.......24.9
Store Card.....................2600......70........22.9
Overdraft......................1100......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........19300.....420.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,670
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,166
Available for debt repayments........... 504
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 420
Amount left after debt repayments....... 84
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -13,600
Total Unsecured debt.................... -19,300
Net Assets.............................. -32,900
Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

damsidebear

so I did a snowball calculator and its returning a 62 month plan to clear my unsecured debt. ouch

EssexHebridean

OK - usual, comments in red...

damsidebear wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3 Take it the third adult is paying at least something in "keep"? If not, they need to - even £10 a week would be a help.
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1670
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1670
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 200
Rent.................................... 210
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 60 This and the gas combined seem high, have you joined Martin's Cheap energy club to check if you can get cheaper?
Gas..................................... 55
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 40 This is just you? Can you switch to a cheaper deal?
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 You could possibly tweak this a little but probably not by much. Does your wife put in anything for grocery shopping as well or is this your real total spend?
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 12 Seems a bit light - servicing, MOT, tyres etc will be more than that over a year. Also are you actually putting this money aside each month?
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 100
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 13
Buildings insurance..................... 14
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 17
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 35
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 You need to get an emergency fund built up as a priority.
Total monthly expenses.................. 1166

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

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0<
Car PCP........................13600....(200)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 13600.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit Card....................7700......150.......20.9
Credit Card....................7900......200.......24.9
Store Card.....................2600......70........22.9
Overdraft......................1100......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........19300.....420.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,670
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,166
Available for debt repayments........... 504
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 420
Amount left after debt repayments....... 84 Do you actually have spare money at the end of the month or is this getting frittered away?
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -13,600
Total Unsecured debt.................... -19,300
Net Assets.............................. -32,900
Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

OK - a little bit of wiggle room I'd say. BUT - firstly, if you don't currently have that £84 left at the end of the month you need to start a spending diary to track where it's going. Doesn't need to be anything posh - just a notebook and pen will do it. Secondly - you've put in £12 for car maintenance - while you *might* be covering your annual routine costs (Assuming this is just for your car, not both?) for that figure, I'll be honest and say I doubt it - even with a discounted MOT test. In addition, your SOA shows a figure of £12 per month for that, and £35 per month for presents etc, but there is no cash shown under assets? If this money "really" being set aside, or are you accounting it on the SOA but in actual fact it's going elsewhere?

On another note - I appreciate that you've done the SOA based purely on your income and expenditure - so are the debts shown just yours or do they relate to joint expenses? If just yours, does that mean there is further debt in your wife's name? If so, the picture may, again, be rather different.

Start at the bottom, pare back all expenditure that you can, and start paying everything that's spare to the highest interest rated card. Ignore everything else until that's gone, then divert that payment to the next card in addition to what you're paying. You'll be surprised how fast the balances will start falling - and that in itself becomes an incentive to pay more.

EssexHebridean

damsidebear wrote: »

so I did a snowball calculator and its returning a 62 month plan to clear my unsecured debt. ouch

How long did it take to accumulate it though? You'll get there - it will be a slog, but you can do it if you are determined enough.

damsidebear

EssexHebridean wrote: »

OK - usual, comments in red...



OK - a little bit of wiggle room I'd say. BUT - firstly, if you don't currently have that £84 left at the end of the month you need to start a spending diary to track where it's going. Doesn't need to be anything posh - just a notebook and pen will do it. Secondly - you've put in £12 for car maintenance - while you *might* be covering your annual routine costs (Assuming this is just for your car, not both?) for that figure, I'll be honest and say I doubt it - even with a discounted MOT test. In addition, your SOA shows a figure of £12 per month for that, and £35 per month for presents etc, but there is no cash shown under assets? If this money "really" being set aside, or are you accounting it on the SOA but in actual fact it's going elsewhere?

On another note - I appreciate that you've done the SOA based purely on your income and expenditure - so are the debts shown just yours or do they relate to joint expenses? If just yours, does that mean there is further debt in your wife's name? If so, the picture may, again, be rather different.

Start at the bottom, pare back all expenditure that you can, and start paying everything that's spare to the highest interest rated card. Ignore everything else until that's gone, then divert that payment to the next card in addition to what you're paying. You'll be surprised how fast the balances will start falling - and that in itself becomes an incentive to pay more.

the 3rd adult is my stepdaughter who is starting Uni in sept.
the gas/Lecy isn't all that high IMO for Scotland! its cold here lol
Mobile phone bill is into its 2nd year of a 24 month contract.
groceries could come down slightly agreed!
Car maintenance- I have a service package so no cost to me, the car is 3 year old and I just took it out in April which has a years warranty, so only ware and tear costs and MOT not due until next year.


Emergency fund zero, but its rock and hard place where to put surplus which is very little so the £84 is frittered away!


your comments in bold suggest paying everything to the highest APR CC? until its cleared? surly that would cause me major issues ignoring all other debt? Don't get me wrong I don't like the fact i'm paying a lot of interest otherwise but is it the right thing to do?

bargainbetty

What EH meant is that you pay the minimums on everything and throw every spare penny at the highest interest one until it is cleared - not that you stop paying the others. Then you move onto the next highest interest debt etc, so you reduce the cost of your debt as you go.

Sanctioned_Parts_List

damsidebear wrote: »

right guys no wonder I am confused, I have just realised the CC debt figures I have put on my SOA is wrong its not 2770 & 2900 its 7700 & 7900! ill redo it....

Hmm... the new SOA paints a slightly different picture. What happens if you do a "whole house" SOA - yours and your wife's income, assets, expenditures combined? Does your wife know about these other debts?

It's far more efficient to have both partners working on the same plan than each trying to do their own thing, or having one struggling and the other oblivious...