Help needed please!

missp1982

Finally plucking up the courage to post my SOA. For the entertainment, groceries and clothing sections I have gone through my bank statements and taken an average for the last 3 months.


I have all 3 credit cards on 0% balance transfer deals but only pay the minimum. I really want to start paying off more but am stuck in a cycle of over spending!


Any help appreciated, and advice on whether it would be worth consolidating my credit cards to a loan?




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.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1373
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 115.80
Other income............................ 202
Total monthly income.................... 1690.80

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 586
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 83
Electricity............................. 21
Gas..................................... 28
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 10
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 32
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 32
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 35
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 8.60
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 50
Buildings insurance..................... 18.60
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 465
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Charity................................. 0
Adobe................................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1621.20


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 150000
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
MBNA CC......................6000.....0%
Barclays CC...................2200......0%


Virgin CC...................3600......0%
Total unsecured debts..........11800.....


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1690.80
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1621.20
Available for debt repayments........... 69.60
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 175
Amount left after debt repayments....... 69.60

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 150000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -18,571
Net Assets.............................. -11800

StopIt

£465 a month on Entertainment?


I'm afraid if you want to get the debt gone, that's really the only thing in the SOA that needs to go.


Does the buildings insurance cover contents too? if not, that needs addressing also.


You also need to start building an emergency fund. Cut the Entertainment down to £150 p/m, put £100 p/m into an Emergency fund and you'll be able to put £215 extra onto your debts a month, a significant amount.


Also: Massive no to consolidation, especially if you can get the debt down and keep the 0% deals going until it is gone.

missp1982

It does cover buildings and contents. The entertainment was a big shock! Included in the figures were eating out, pub, hobbies and cash withdrawls.


On the plus side, this has reduced from £596 in month 1, to £479 in month 2 to £320 in month 3. I really need to work on this a lot more.


Not having an emergency fund is not good either, especially living alone.

MallyGirl

definitely don't consolidate 0% card debt to an interest incurring loan.
The rest of the SOA doesn't look too bad - you just have to knock the 'entertainment' down massively.
Look at when the 0% deals run out then calculate what you need to pay each month to pay them off before the interest hits. Put those amounts in to the SOA and see what is left for entertainment - and don't spend more than that.

zippygeorgeandben

Don't consolidate! It's just making your debt plan longer!

Sncjw

What do you do in regards to entertainment.

Is your mobile in a contract currently if it's finished maybe look at a sim only deal and get the phone unlocked also

consultant31

Almost £465 a month on entertainment :eek: cut down (a lot)
Cable/satellite tv......get rid, there's plenty of channels on Freeview.

fantastiyk

Hello,
I'm not sure if I've misunderstood something.
Available for debt repayments. 69.60
Monthly unsecured debt repayments 175
Amount left after debt repayments 69.60

If you have 69.90 available for debt repayments before paying 175 you would have a minus balance -£105.10 as Amount left after debt repayments.

There's also something that appears not right with the Personal Balance Sheet Summary Section. If you look at others that might help.

Good luck with it.

EssexHebridean

It's all been covered really hasn't it - but I'll offer congratulations for posting a proper honest SOA and acknowledging that some of it shocked you! That really is the key to getting the situation sorted out - consolidation doesn't often work anyway but in your case, it's down to getting rid of the frittering of money under that "entertainment" category.

The cash withdrawals thing can be a big one for people - some work it by taking out just a token amount every week to cover those awkward "shall we pop for a coffee" moments - you might also find it useful to "allow" yourself a meal out once a month and a pub visit (to an agreed budget) once a fortnight or similar. Take out cash for these though and only spend what you've budgeted. As a single parent which I presume you are from your personal details on the SOA you do need some interaction with other adults! Remember to include any babysitter costs etc in your budget too though.

One thing I will say on the SOA is that you've fallen into the "rounding" trap - ideally it should be accurate to the penny so the TV license for example is 12.12 and should be shown as such.

The £50 for pet insurance seems high - is this for an elderly dog? I will say though if you've been with the same insurer for years be wary of swapping and read all the small print very carefully. If there are pre-existing conditions then you will most likely be best just to swallow that.

Try redoing the SOA from the link on the "sticky" post at the top of the board - I think you have done it by copying, pasting and amending someone elses haven't you - you'll find it a lot easier done from the link AND you can save it so when you want to amend it will be masses easier! :T

missp1982

EssexHebridean wrote: »

It's all been covered really hasn't it - but I'll offer congratulations for posting a proper honest SOA and acknowledging that some of it shocked you! That really is the key to getting the situation sorted out - consolidation doesn't often work anyway but in your case, it's down to getting rid of the frittering of money under that "entertainment" category.

The cash withdrawals thing can be a big one for people - some work it by taking out just a token amount every week to cover those awkward "shall we pop for a coffee" moments - you might also find it useful to "allow" yourself a meal out once a month and a pub visit (to an agreed budget) once a fortnight or similar. Take out cash for these though and only spend what you've budgeted. As a single parent which I presume you are from your personal details on the SOA you do need some interaction with other adults! Remember to include any babysitter costs etc in your budget too though.

One thing I will say on the SOA is that you've fallen into the "rounding" trap - ideally it should be accurate to the penny so the TV license for example is 12.12 and should be shown as such.

The £50 for pet insurance seems high - is this for an elderly dog? I will say though if you've been with the same insurer for years be wary of swapping and read all the small print very carefully. If there are pre-existing conditions then you will most likely be best just to swallow that.

Try redoing the SOA from the link on the "sticky" post at the top of the board - I think you have done it by copying, pasting and amending someone elses haven't you - you'll find it a lot easier done from the link AND you can save it so when you want to amend it will be masses easier! :T

The £50 for pet covers the insurance and also dog walker. I massively need to cut down the entertainment, I do things before thinking!


Will re-look at things, I copied and pasted from someone elses so its possible the totals are not right.


Thanks again for the help.

EssexHebridean

Yes thought you had - definitely re-do it in the actual calculator then to make sure it's all accurate.