Time to take control

Midgetgem82

Hello everyone
I know to some my debt may seem small but to me i feel like im drowning and its time to take control and do something about it. This morning i have written down all my debts for the first time and have come on here for help and hoping that by doing this i will follow through and hold myself accountable. I have filled in an SOA and will copy it below.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 2952.14
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2952.14

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 895
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 28
Electricity............................. 52
Gas..................................... 52
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 32
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 107
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 30
Groceries etc. ......................... 320
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 13
Car Insurance........................... 24
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 28
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)...... 60
Haircuts................................ 30
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
window cleaner.......................... 8
spotify + netflix....................... 23
kids clubs.............................. 133
contact lenses.......................... 18
Total monthly expenses.................. 2096


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
barclay card...................352.9.....10........0
h +m...........................72.89.....18........0
very...........................1825.21...100.......0
next...........................319.56....20........0
argos card.....................698.02....10........0
Total unsecured debts..........3268.58...158.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,952.14
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,096
Available for debt repayments........... 856.14
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 158
Amount left after debt repayments....... 698.14

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,268.58
Net Assets.............................. -1,268.58

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

Heres to holding myself accountable and becoming debt free

enthusiasticsaver

Is that soa accurate? From the look of it you have around £700 spare each month which you obviously don't as you have no savings or emergency fund. You need to know where the other £700 is going and then you can easily get that debt cleared.

The mobile phone amount is high but I don't know how old your kids are so some may be for them. You also need to put the interest rate for the cards down as that makes a difference as to which you tackle first. Do you only make minimum payments?

Midgetgem82

Thank you for your reply. Im sure ive been as accurate as possible on my SOA and am bewildered as to what i am doing with the remaining £700 of my money. I am planning on writing down every expenditure from today so i can assess this situation. Mobile contracts are for 4 phones and will soon be cut down as contracts end and we move to sim only deals.

With regards to interest i think im paying around 29% but will look into this today.

debtfreeforlife

Well done for taking the first step! There's loads of help available here, and you can get that debt under control very quickly.

Re. your SOA, you seem to have nothing against the following expenses:

- Entertainment - no visits to the cinema, magazines purchased, drinks for an evening out, meals out, etc? Entertainment can very easily add up without you realising, so I suspect that a good portion of your £700 is going on this.
- Car parking - you have a car but no money allocated to car parking - even if it's not a regular expense, I presume you occasionally go into town and pay for parking etc. It might be a hard one to allocate monthly but it's one of those expenses that adds up without you realising.
- Car/MOT expenses - you have quite a small amount allocated to this considering that you are doing a lot of miles (based on your petrol/diesel expenses). Could this be where some of your money is going? £28 a month won't pay for new tyres/brake pads etc.
- Landline - is this under your internet services? (if not, your internet is horrendously expensive!)
- Medical - do you get free prescriptions/dental appointments? If not, you need to have something put aside for these. Or at least be aware that that's probably where some of your leftover £ is going!

Midgetgem82

Hi
With regards to entertainment, we very rarely go out. I dont go out alone. I dont drink or smoke so maybe £50 max a month spent that way.
I never pay for parking i live in a town where parking is free
Since owning this car i havent spent out on it yet so havent even thought about mot and the costs involved......very stupid i know. All this is something my ex used to sort.
Landline is indeed covered in internet as its one payment
Medical, i dont pay as i am in reciept of benefits

I am currently going through my bank statements to see where i am spending money

enthusiasticsaver

Going through bank statements and starting a spending diary is a good idea to track where you are losing money. Takeaways, nipping to shops for sweets or extra groceries? You use a lot of fuel considering you don't work. Do you live a way out and have several school runs to do?

enthusiasticsaver

If the interest rate on your debts is 29% the reason the debt is not going down is because £79 or half your debt payments is being paid out on interest. Once you have adjusted the soa to an accurate one of how much you are actually spending it may be worth looking at cutting back on some areas and upping the debt repayments. Unfortunately because you aren't working you aren't likely to be offered 0% deals.

The debt figure is not huge but the interest amounts to almost an extra £1000 a year so clearing the debt sooner rather than later is a good idea.

Midgetgem82

I spend a lot on fuel as we live in a village and have to drive everywhere, several school runs, kids after school clubs, teenagers need running to and picking up from friends houses.

So far today I have sold a couple of things on facebook and paid £55 off my h+m so that's one debt almost cleared. I will be adding more things to sell as the day goes on and all money made will be used towards paying off debts.
I am planning on writing down everything I spend from now on so I can get a true look into what I waste my money on. This I have to say scares me as I've always thought I wasn't that wasteful ��

Midgetgem82

Just checked my H+m account online and that £55 has just paid off that debt ��
Boosted me up a bit. Now on to the next one

enthusiasticsaver

Good start. That £18 monthly payment can go towards your next card which I guess is your next target? Don't forget to close the H and M one so you not tempted to spend on it again.

natsplatnat

Just passing by - you've made a great start, keep it up!


Just one thing noted from your SOA - no contents insurance?