Hello! i'm new but determined!

Ladyloraella

Hello everyone!

This year I would like to seriously get my finances under control. I'm sick of having to turn down things because I don't have the money. The reason I'm in debt is due to a lot of reasons but there is no point in going into that, I need to look forward!

My situation isn't as bad as some but I want to get it sorted before it gets worse.

So far to help me on my way:
1. I've gotten a better job that pays more and have guaranteed pay rises each year.
2. I have moved into a small 1 bed flat which includes water rates in the rent. I was in a house before but it was too big and too expensive for just me.
2. I just sold my car, which was very sad as I only passed my test in September and loved driving but it was such an expense that I didn't need as I live in the town centre and walk everywhere, I was barely using it!

My SOA:

I've not added things like clothing/hair cuts because I don't really know what to put. I very rarely go to the hairdressers or buy new clothes. If i did buy clothes it was via littlewoods and the rare salon visits are paid with birthday/xmas money.

I don't have a TV so no tv license and my internet is accessed via my parents BT openzone thing so I don't pay for that.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1151
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1151

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 325
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 62
Electricity............................. 62
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 684


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
RBS Loan.......................2352......157.......0
BOS Credit Card................800.......23........0
Littlewoods....................503.......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........3655......180.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,151
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 684
Available for debt repayments........... 467
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 180
Amount left after debt repayments....... 287

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,655
Net Assets.............................. -3,655

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.


Any advice would be appreciated

sourcrates

Ladyloraella wrote: »

The reason I'm in debt is due to a lot of reasons but there is no point in going into that, I need to look forward!

Oh contrae milady, i doth protest !!

Welcome to the forum.

We all have different reasons for being in debt, but its normally down to spending more than we have coming in, so unless that mind set is changed, you will be no further ahead.

I think its important to look at the reasons why you got into debt in the first place, then learn from that.

Lots of good advice available to you on here.

Ladyloraella

It's a long story but simply I was putting a very selfish person's needs before myself. That person is now no longer in my life (thankfully) but the debt remains. Probably quite a typical story and it is a bit more complicated than that but that's the TL: DR version haha!

louby40

Hello Lady L

Can you sell anything, generate any extra income at all?

With a bit of budgeting you can easily pay this debt off. If you could pay £400 a month towards your debt you'd pay it off in 10 months!

fatbelly

I agree - I think you can be debt-free in a year.

Your soa is not bad and I won't quibble about £50 for entertainment as long as you stick rigidly to it.

Is it right that you now spend nothing on travel, clothes, you have no contents insurance and don't intend to go on holiday this year? You could allow something (small) for each of these.

You monthly payment on Littlewoods is showing as zero. Yet that is likely the highest apr and should be cleared first, then the credit card, unless you can balance transfer to 0%.

Ladyloraella

Hi, thanks for your reply! I wasn't sure what to put down for these things as I'm not sure what "entertainment" is. I very rarely go out and do things, I'm a bit of a recluse lol but will go out for lunch or dinner with friends occasionally.


I walk everywhere so I rarely encounter travel costs.
Clothes I will buy sporadically but I always do it via my Littlewoods account.
I don't have contents insurance as I don't have anything worth insuring (or that's coverable tbf)
I don't go on holidays as somehow I never have spare money!


The Littlewoods purchases are all on a buy now pay later which is why I haven't put anything down but I do have a spread sheet with the dates they are due and how much I will be paying each month.

Ladyloraella

Ok, I've done another SOA adding in entertainment as I do go out for lunch/drinks about once a month when I think about it! It's also a bit complicated for me to work out a budget because before I was literally using all my wages to pay for the rent, bills, car and debt whereas my ex would pay for our food or if we did anything. When my sister moved in after I kicked him out, she paid half of everything but because I had all this debt and my car to pay for, she tended to pay for our food or if we went out anywhere. So for the last three years, I've just been paying bills. I don't know what I spend on food and entertainment because I never paid for it or if I did it was using my credit card/littlewoods!


So I'm just looking for information on what I should be putting aside for things like that plus should I start a savings fund or pay the debts first?


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned....................
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1157
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1157
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 325
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 62
Electricity............................. 62
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 654

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
RBS Loan.......................2352......156.......26
BOS Credit Card................800.......100.......15
Littlewoods....................503.......100.......0
Total unsecured debts..........3655......356.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,157
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 654
Available for debt repayments........... 503
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 356
Amount left after debt repayments....... 147
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,655
Net Assets.............................. -3,655
.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

enthusiasticsaver

It looks like you could easily clear this but personally I would ditch the little woods catalogue and get out of the habit of using it to buy clothes. Budget a set amount per month and either save it and buy clothes twice yearly (this is what I do) or just set the money aside so it is there when you need new pair shoes, coat, underwear or whatever. Littlewoods is expensive I think. You would be better using matalan, primary or new look.

fatbelly

Agree with the above. You need to concentrate on getting the Littlewoods account to zero and then shop more widely for your clothes.

I'm not an expert in this area but have in the last month taken advantage of sales at Clarks shoes, Edinburgh Woollen Mill and M&Co. A budget of £12-20 per month should be OK for clothes.

As a target, aim to get the Littlewoods account to zero in 2 months, the credit card to zero in the following 3 months and then overpay the loan (if that's possible) to get debt-free by this time next year.

Fosterdog

How long until you have to start paying the littlewoods bill and how much is the first payment? Does the loan have any penalties for overpaying or paying off early? If so what are they?