SOA Help

Sanctioned_Parts_List

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 400 Sell these
Car(s).................................. 3000 You have a car loan for £3500 - is there no more value in both cars than just £3000?
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 3400

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Car Loan.......................3500......154.......15 As above, there should be more value in both cars if this is the loan value of one of them
Capital One Card...............2000......50........29
Barclaycard....................2500......110...... .29
Credit Union Loan..............5000......220.......? (Not sure) Normally 25%+ for credit unions.
Barclaycard 2..................1100......40........29
Santander......................500.......20....... .29
Aqua Card......................1850......50........29
Total unsecured debts..........16450.....644.......-

I think you might be in DMP territory here... you've been forced to live within your income, but your debts have now grown to an unmanageable size due to their interest rates. Getting the interest and charges frozen and a payment plan put in place is about the only way you can start to make headway in a sensible amount of time.

... unless, that is, you're credit-worthy enough, still, to put some of it onto 0%, and are prepared to sell off everything you possibly can, including old clothes and furniture to bring your monthly payments back to within your budget.

warby68

I'm not convinced your SoA is complete - the amounts for entertainment, presents, children and clothing seem very low when there is a mum at home with 2 pre-schoolers and you work hard and probably do at least something that costs for relaxation whatever that is. Is that perhaps where the debt has arisen - the 'extras' that are not really 'extras'?

It also looks as if you have wanted to give your wife a certain lifestyle while she is at home with children but which is not really affordable. No income AND paid for childcare is actually quite a luxury if you think about it. I fully understand it but your budget can't really stand it.

A lot depends here whether there will be any short term and fairly material change in her income (or your for that matter) and you can play catch up in a few months or whether you really have to look at a different budget for a longer period of only one income.

You are going to struggle because your debt is very expensive - does that mean you don't qualify for the better deals? If your wife had an income, would she? Cheaper debt would help enormously.

Good luck -some serious thought needed. I know the solutions won't look very attractive. To me, your wife needs a job pronto - even a few hours evenings/weekends would help you enormously.

PS I'm a mum and have been through the whole early years juggling thing but I also ran the money so knew exactly what we could stretch to.

mangle101

£25 per month saved for holiday, yet no figure listed for savings, how much have you saved for holidays?

lambda

bamgbost wrote: »

Been sticking my head in sand for too long...
This is the situation laid bare....
Any advice???


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2300
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 132 - Child Benefits
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2432
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 920 - Located in South East (Going rate)
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 92 (12 months)
Electricity............................. 90 (based on last winters price)
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 18
Mobile phone............................ 30 (2 phones)

move to giffgaff and save

TV Licence.............................. 15
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0 (internet currently free, but due to run out in Nov16)
Groceries etc. ......................... 250

This is way to high. For a household of two adults we spend about @120 a month at most. Use ALDI and LIDL - check the food and grocery boards for advice. £250 is way way way too much.

Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 25
Car Insurance........................... 125 (2 cars)

£125 a month for two cars!? That's insane. We pay £300 for two cars for the whole year.

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15

Way too low. A service alone is about £200. This is not realistic.

Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 100 ( in addition to Childcare vouchers already in use)

I don't know much about childcare, but it seems high...

Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 5
Life assurance ......................... 0 - Need to work on
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15 (average)
Haircuts................................ 40 (average)

£40 a month for a haircut!? Good grief. I spend about £6 for a basic clipper cut.

Entertainment........................... 40

What is this for? Not criticising here, just curious what this is budgeting for...?

Holiday................................. 25 (try to budget, not every month)

I'm sorry, but holidays are out until you get this under control.

Emergency fund.......................... 0 - Need to work on
Total monthly expenses.................. 2090

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 400

Sell

Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 3400

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Car Loan.......................3500......154.......15
Capital One Card...............2000......50........29
Barclaycard....................2500......110.......29
Credit Union Loan..............5000......220.......? (Not sure)
Barclaycard 2..................1100......40........29
Santander......................500.......20........29
Aqua Card......................1850......50........29
Total unsecured debts..........16450.....644.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,432
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,090
Available for debt repayments........... 342
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 644
Amount short for making debt repayments. -302
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,400
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -16,450
Net Assets.............................. -13,050
Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

I get the impression that this SOA is not really accurate. What has got you into all that debt? That is the real question to ask. My guess is that you don't budget properly. I think you seriously need to go through all your bank statements and CC statements over the past 3-4 months and itemise every spend, then come up with a more realistic SOA, and then go from there.

Sorry if I am sounding a bit negative. I wish you all the luck to get through this, and we are all here to help you and support you to the best we can.

You can do this - it's not that bad, but I do think you need to be realistic with your spending, cut everything you don't need, and try to shift debt to 0% cards if you can.

Good luck!

Placitasgirl

It's an old adage and one that's frequently wheeled out in such situations, but nothing will change if you change nothing.

It strikes me that as a couple you've got comfy with the idea of using the childcare to allow your wife to "get stuff done", but that really is a luxury that you could easily do away with. Get the little one a kiddies dustpan and brush set and give them a duster to "help" mum with the housework, or let them help with preparation for meals. It's a great life lesson and one they can't learn to young!

If you're at home in the evening that would be an ideal time for your wife to work, and with more and more businesses opening later into the evenings now it would also give you some quality time alone with the little one for bathtime, stories and bedtime when Mum was at work.

By sharing one car and cutting the childcare payments unless and until they're absolutely necessary you'd be making a really positive contribution to reducing your debt.