Huge Overspend

Feral_Moon

Due to a change in circumstances I've found myself sinking deeper and deeper into debt which isn't going to get any better as doing the SOA has shown me I'm overspending by around £800 a month.

I've always used a credit card for monthly spending (Barclaycard) and paid it off in full every month but over the last 6 months or so, I've found I'm needing to shift the balance onto my Lloyds Advance using 0% interest periods as I just don't have enough leftover to pay it. The £600 is a miscellaneous amount after taking into account groceries, diesel, rent, clothing, car maintenance, haircut, presents, holidays and dog food all of which go onto monthly credit card too - total £1100-£1200 per month. Everything else is on DD from current account.

The MBNA is 4.9% LOB and incurs approx £23 per month interest. All the others are 0% and monthly payments are set to clear the balance before interest is applied.

My income isn't going to increase in the foreseeable future so something drastic needs to change. Aside from cutting back on spending I don't know whether I should reduce some of the monthly payments but if I do then I will end up paying interest at some point.

What would you do in my situation?



Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1318
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1318

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 77
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 11
Electricity............................. 37
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 19
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 46
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
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...................... 8
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 12
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 40
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Window Cleaner.......................... 7
Student Loan............................ 5
National Trust.......................... 5
Dog Food................................ 100
Total monthly expenses.................. 929


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
Lloyds Advance.................8465......250........0
MBNA...........................5735......100.......4.9
Tesco Clubcard.................3990......150........0
Barclaycard....................600.......600.......0
Very...........................773.......65........0
Argos..........................347.......30........0
Total unsecured debts..........19910.....1195......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,318
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 929
Available for debt repayments........... 389
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,195
Amount short for making debt repayments. -806

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -19,910
Net Assets.............................. -19,910

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

quintwins

Feral_Moon wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1318
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1318

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 77
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 11
Electricity............................. 37
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 19
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 how many people, could easily cut this way down
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 46
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
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...................... 8
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 12
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 40 sorry but you can\'t afford a holiday at the moment
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Window Cleaner.......................... 7 could easily get rid of this
Student Loan............................ 5
National Trust.......................... 5 could easily get rid of this aswell, plenty of free parks ect if it's for dog walks
Dog Food................................ 100 this is very high!
Total monthly expenses.................. 929


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
Lloyds Advance.................8465......250........0
MBNA...........................5735......100.......4.9
Tesco Clubcard.................3990......150........0
Barclaycard....................600.......600.......0
Very...........................773.......65........0
Argos..........................347.......30........0
Total unsecured debts..........19910.....1195......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,318
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 929
Available for debt repayments........... 389
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,195
Amount short for making debt repayments. -806

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -19,910
Net Assets.............................. -19,910

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

That is the actual balance of your Barclays card?

sourcrates

Hi,

Rent £77, is that a week/month ?

I dont think your budget figures are high enough, no emergency fund for example.

If you budget more realistically, you may just qualify for a debt relief order.

Failing that id go bankrupt, no amount of budget fettling is going to make up an extra £800 a month unfortunately.

Feral_Moon

quintwins wrote: »

That is the actual balance of your Barclays card?

No, it's currently around £1200 but obviously it varies month by month depending how much I've spent, but half of that is already accounted for in the monthly figures above, if that makes sense?

quintwins

Feral_Moon wrote: »

No, it's almost £1200 but half of that is already accounted for in the monthly figures above, if that makes sense?

I'm sorry but you can't afford to pay that much. Pay the minimum payment for now, cut your grocery bill and dog food by half and get rid of your holiday fund and window cleaner and you'll actually have a few £ spare.

Also if you are using your Barclays card for basic living expenses by having £600 in there you are adding this expenses in twice.

Feral_Moon

sourcrates wrote: »

Hi,

Rent £77, is that a week/month ?

I dont think your budget figures are high enough, no emergency fund for example.

If you budget more realistically, you may just qualify for a debt relief order.

The rent is per month for bedroom tax.

I'm trying to keep my budget as low as possible so I can keep paying the credit cards off within the 0% offer periods.

I guess the reason I don't have an emergency fund is because I've always used a credit card for any emergencies. Thats part of the problem as I haven't adjusted my spending in line with my reduction in income. I seem to have accrued over £10k of debt within the past year

Feral_Moon

quintwins wrote: »

I'm sorry but you can't afford to pay that much. Pay the minimum payment for now, cut your grocery bill and dog food by half and get rid of your holiday fund and window cleaner and you'll actually have a few £ spare.

Also if you are using your Barclays card for basic living expenses by having £600 in there you are adding this expenses in twice.

I know I can't afford it, that's the problem and why my debt is increasing month on month. On paper, my monthly living expenses budget is supposed to be £600 but my internet shopping addiction is doubling it almost every month. This is what I need to address.

The dog food bill is non-negotiable and I hardly think saving £7 a month by getting rid if the window cleaner is going to make any difference.

sourcrates

Feral_Moon wrote: »

I know I can't afford it, that's the problem and why my debt is increasing month on month. On paper, my monthly living expenses budget is supposed to be £600 but my internet shopping addiction is doubling it almost every month. This is what I need to address.

The dog food bill is non-negotiable and I hardly think saving £7 a month by getting rid if the window cleaner is going to make any difference.

No amount of budget reduction is going to help you here.

You are over spending by nearly £900 a month, its not sustainable.

Bankruptcy would be my advice, failing that, only other option is (a very long) DMP (debt management plan).

Puddylove

Hi
I understand that your budget is tight but would suggest the following;
1. Bedroom tax - if your house is too big could you move somewhere smaller (which would be cheaper to heat etc too)?
2. Nat Trust & window cleaner - get rid.
3. Car - do you really need one? If not, sell.
4. Holiday - doesn't seem as if you can afford one.
5. Groceries - could reduce this by meal planning etc, maybe.
6. Dog food - this is an outrageous amount to spend - why so much? I have animals myself...so sympathise but can you feed him/her for less?
7. Debts - calculate minimum repayments plus £1 for all of them. If you have any money left over, snowball it either to the smallest or the one with the highest APR.
8. 0% balance transfers - any reason why you can't do more of these in the future? I got rid of a huge cc debt by moving it between 2 cards.
9. Increasing income - any way?

I think the hard truth is that you are on the brink of debt problems so must stop thinking of anything as 'non-negotiable'.
I hope this doesn't offend..incidentally have you tried talking to StepChange?

pmlindyloo

A couple of suggestions.

You have car expenses but no car assets so how much is your car worth? Could you manage without it? You are spending almost two hundred pounds a month on the car.

You are paying the bedroom tax so have a spare bedroom. Could you take in a lodger?

Are you claiming all the benefits that you are entitled to?

Depending on the value of your car you could be eligible for a Debt Relief Order.

Hiddenidenity

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1318
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1318

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 77 Can you downsize? Get a lodger?
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 11
Electricity............................. 37 This combined with gas is high for 1 person. we where a family of 5 and using less. Look around at comparison sites and how to cut costs.
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 19 Do you need a land line? if you have a mobile?
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 High!
This can def be cut back, again as a family of 5 we where spending £80 a month less
Clothing................................ 20 Every month?
You can't afford it right now cut back to essentials only.
Petrol/diesel........................... 80 all essential travel?
Road tax................................ 46
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40 Do you actually save this?
Car parking............................. 0 Never?
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...................... 8
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20 This isn't bad but see if you can cut back, less gifts, do a secret santa rather than buy everyone, buy token gifts, make homemade gifts
Haircuts................................ 12 Every month?

Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 40 You cant afford this.
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Window Cleaner.......................... 7 Or this
Student Loan............................ 5
National Trust.......................... 5 Or this
Dog Food................................ 100 Extortionate.
you need to look at cutting this you simply can't afford to sustain this long term
Total monthly expenses.................. 929


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Lloyds Advance.................8465......250........0
MBNA...........................5735......100.......4.9
Tesco Clubcard.................3990......150........0
Barclaycard....................600.......600.......0
Very...........................773.......65........0
Argos..........................347.......30........0
Total unsecured debts..........19910.....1195......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,318
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 929
Available for debt repayments........... 389
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,195
Amount short for making debt repayments. -806

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -19,910
Net Assets.............................. -19,910

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/QUOTE]


Speak to stepchange, Stop paying the credit card in full you can't afford too and the shortfall is no where near as bad if you take the £600 off. Speak to one of the free debt advice services.