Not sure what our best move is.....

Dinglehopper31

Hi all, I'm an old newbie.... had an account but forgot the details!

Anyway. My OH and I are trying to get a grip on our money at long last.

I went part time the beginning of this year and my husband works full time. We have one daughter who goes to a child minder 3 times a week.

We have credit card debt of approx £4300 some of which is interest free. About £1500 has interest applied .

We have a loan which has a balance of approx £6800 we have looked into moving it to a lower rate but we are on the lowest we could get.

We both pay in to share schemes with work. Mine started this month, paying in £150 from my gross salary.
My husband has been paying in £100 for a few years and has approx £8000 in shares.

We also have £3900 saved in cash. A car free of finance worth about £6000.

We did an SOA and that states we should have about £1000 each month to split across cash savings, saving from our daughter, birthdays, and fun money....... but we don't!

We try to save around £300-£400 a month but inevitably this gets taken back out again. I know our monthly spending has not dropped in line with my part time salary.

We also have a holiday booked for next May which needs paying off - £3500 and we receive annual bonuses totalling around £3000 - £4000 mark.

We want to start being a bit clever with our money and making it work for us. We want to clear the debt and try and save and keep it saved!

Does anyone have any suggestions or tips based on the above?
I think I've covered everything

Thanks

chelseablue

You sound similar to us, we owe £4,400. But its on 0% until 2020.

Could you post your SOA here so people could give some advise?

What interest rate are you getting on the £3900 savings? It may be worth using some to clear debts

Dinglehopper31

I think it's 0% interest!

I think we are both just worried about using all our cash reserves especially at the moment as we are basically using that to supplement our income some months. If a big event comes up, wedding, big birthday then we tend to have dip into it!

MallyGirl

I think you just need a plan and a budget and then stick to it for a bit. Big events like weddings tend to come with a fair amount of notice, birthdays are on the same day every year so the big ones can be planned for in advance.

If you are not getting interest on savings then it is madness to pay interest on credit cards. I would pay that off straight away.
You do need a cash buffer but not that much.

I'd do an SOA and keep a spending diary to see where the money really goes.

Neocon

Why did you go part time?

Dinglehopper31

I went part time after maternity leave. I have also re trained in an alternative therapy which I do on the side but this is not money I can relie on as it's not regular.

CanadianDream

I wish you good luck!


Where are you planning to go on holiday?

Dinglehopper31

we are gong to the US for a couple of weeks, We have family to visit

Dinglehopper31

ok so here is my SOA....
Mine and my husband pay is after childcare vouchers come out and after money into share schemes come out. The figures are a bit different to when I did it the other day but think I was using an old budget spreadsheet.

I know Birthdays and weddings come around with notice but with Maternity leave, getting used to part time wages, we have been living month to month really. But this month we have been hit with a big birthday, hen/stag dos and paying the balance on the destination wedding accommodation so its been tight! Then we have to start thinking about christmas!!! arhhhhhh

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1406
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2074
Benefits................................ 82.8
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3562.8

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1009
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 149
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 45
Telephone (land line)................... 26.5
Mobile phone............................ 81
TV Licence.............................. 147
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 390
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 90
Road tax................................ 185
Car Insurance........................... 187
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 200
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 185
Childcare/nursery....................... 66
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 8.5
Buildings insurance..................... 180
Contents insurance...................... 30
Life assurance ......................... 12.25
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 32.98
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 3144.23


Assets
Cash.................................... 3492
House value (Gross)..................... 320000
Shares and bonds........................ 8000
Car(s).................................. 6000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 337492


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 240000...(1009).....0
Total secured & HP debts...... 240000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................4300......98........0
Loan...........................6800......165.......0
Total unsecured debts..........11100.....263.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,562.8
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,144.23
Available for debt repayments........... 418.57
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 263
Amount left after debt repayments....... 155.57

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 337,492
Total HP & Secured debt................. -240,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -11,100
Net Assets.............................. 86,392


Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i]

Debtslayer

You need to fill out a full SOA so we can offer best advice
With that amount of money you should have left over each month you need to see where it's going and address why you're in debt.

Dinglehopper31

Where do I get a full SOA?