Its time to sort out this mess!

enthusiasticsaver

Well done. You have cleared almost £2k since December. It will be a struggle to start with when the debt is disproportionately high in comparison to your income but it is going down. Paying extra to the interest charging card is the way to go but you need to get it lower until you are in a position to move it to 0%. Look out for deals on your existing cards to save you applying and being rejected.

You are still using a high percentage of your available credit but at least most of the debt is 0%. The Barclaycard will take a while to come down because the balance is high and interest is being charged. Dropping the monthly payment would be a mistake though.

enthusiasticsaver

Are you dropping the limits on those cards? The Barclaycard was at £9800 in December unless it was over the limit?

mick1234_2

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Are you dropping the limits on those cards? The Barclaycard was at £9800 in December unless it was over the limit?

No they have reduced the amount on the card of available funds, so I was in credit but they reduced it to stop me spending I guess.

mick1234_2

My latest SOA It has new debt I know I was in a situation I needed a car for work.

I am over I am going to try and trim down the food budget and put me into a none negative state,

At the minute one of my biggest bills is gas and electric, over winter I was paying less and then they hit me with a £580 bill I have now agreed with them to pay £140 a month but its such a big bill, I cant move I dont think and even if I do I will still have to pay that debt.


My car insurance renewed and thats another thing that is really expensive but again im sure I will get penalised for moving

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.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2067
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2067

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 401
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 87.32
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 70
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40.87
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12.43
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 75
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 300
Other child related expenses............ 20.8
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 23.53
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 20.5
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 25
Entertainment........................... 85.99
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1642.44


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 135000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 10000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 145000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 106000...(401)......5
Total secured & HP debts...... 106000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclays.......................8250......185.9.....17.43
Nuba...........................3500......34.63.....27.9
Bank of Scotland...............1373......42.03.....27.9
Loan...........................8400......175.......0
Tesco..........................2982.85...43.56.....20.9
Halifax .......................1407......32.27.....27.9
Total unsecured debts..........25912.85..513.39....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,067
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,642.44
Available for debt repayments........... 424.56
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 513.39
Amount short for making debt repayments. -88.83


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

mick1234_2

My free nursery hours start in September so this will help a lot freeing up over £550 a month in childcare fees.

enthusiasticsaver

Most of that debt is now at a really high interest rate. I am also sure that £8400 loan is not 0%. Looks like you have overextended with buying a car you cannot afford. Getting some free hours for childcare will help although I can't see how it will free up £550 as your soa only shows £300. Do you have some deducted from your salary in form of childcare vouchers?

mick1234_2

Hi, yes the loan has interest Im still locating it in the paperwork, I understand completely on the car and for months I was back and forth, I had a 12 year old car that I had spent around £400 on in the first few months of owning it with still lots more issues, I travel a lot with my commute to work and to my childs mothers home which is quite a few miles away, When the hub broke on the car that was kind of the final straw the one main thing I need is the car to be safe, I know it is not a good move in my situation but I was kind of stuck in terms of no other options.

Yes childcare vouchers are deducted from my wage so £243 + the extra I pay per month.

EssexHebridean

OK - let's take a look at this then

mick1234 wrote: »

My latest SOA It has new debt I know I was in a situation I needed a car for work. Perhaps, but you could have definitely gone for something cheaper, no?

I am over I am going to try and trim down the food budget and put me into a none negative state,

At the minute one of my biggest bills is gas and electric, over winter I was paying less and then they hit me with a £580 bill I have now agreed with them to pay £140 a month but its such a big bill, I cant move I don't think and even if I do I will still have to pay that debt. Were you reading the meters monthly and submitting the readings? If so then you might ask the supplier why exactly they let this situation occur rather than asking you for increased payments before this mounted up?


My car insurance renewed and thats another thing that is really expensive but again im sure I will get penalised for moving Have you actually done a comparison on this? Auto-renewing car insurance and similar is generally recognised as a truly fantastic way of throwing money away...

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.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2067
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2067

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 401
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 87.32
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 70
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40.87 Not sure if we've asked before but if you're not metered then this might be a good thing to look into as that bill seems fairly high.
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12.43
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 Yes, you really have to trim that down now - look to the Old Style board on here for inspiration and help.
Clothing................................ 0 This is still not sustainable - even if just pants and socks, you do have to spend here occasionally!
Petrol/diesel........................... 160 can you cut this at all? Is the new car by any chance a bit more economical? make sure you combine journeys where you can and never use the car for trips where you could walk.
Road tax................................ 0 Why zero? New car exempt?
Car Insurance........................... 75 JC on a piece of toast - that is HORRIFIC for a single car! If you haven't done a comparison then just get it done for goodness sake - hopefully you're in a position to either cancel or barter down the policy that has just renewed.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 Is this free with the new car or something?
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 300
Other child related expenses............ 20.8
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 23.53
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 20.5
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 Again, still not sustainable. I just bet you bought your LO a birthday present and intend to buy if only for them at christmas?
Haircuts................................ 25 This on the other hand is too high. Either find somewhere cheaper or get clippers and learn to do it yourself!
Entertainment........................... 85.99 allowing for that shortfall in your figures, what can you trim from here?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 You have to start thinking about getting something here - you've got a child a car and a house and with the best will in the world, shi..stuff happens.
Total monthly expenses.................. 1642.44


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 135000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 10000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 145000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 106000...(401)......5
Total secured & HP debts...... 106000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclays.......................8250......185.9.....17.43
Nuba...........................3500......34.63.....27.9 Throw every spare penny you can scrape together at this.
Bank of Scotland...............1373......42.03.....27.9
Loan...........................8400......175.......0 Need to put the rate in here so you keep it in mind
Tesco..........................2982.85...43.56.....20.9
Halifax .......................1407......32.27.....27.9
Total unsecured debts..........25912.85..513.39....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,067
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,642.44
Available for debt repayments........... 424.56
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 513.39
Amount short for making debt repayments. -88.83


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

I'm going to be brutal on the car I'm afraid,. It was a mistake. Yes you need a car to be safe, of course you do - in fact we ALL do, it goes without saying, so using that line as some for or excuse doesn't really wash. A car can be safe without costing you EIGHT GRAND that you didn't have. You've put yourself into a real hole here - at least until September you're not going to be meeting your commitments financially. You could have got a £2k car that would still have been perfectly safe and reliable and would not have left you in the red. I know you're saying you can cut back on groceries, but cut back by £90 a month? Really?

As a priority you need to think about getting a bit more organised. Sort that car insurance - either they're having you over or that car you bought is a mistake in more ways than one. Likewise your fuel spend for the car has increased a lot since your original SOA - was that because you underestimated back then or is the new car a bit more thirsty? Start taking regular meter readings and submit them monthly - set reminders on your phone to do so.

The thing that worries me more than anything else with you is the stuff that is still at zero on the SOA - there is now NO slack to take up on this - and yet there still looks to be stuff you're not budgeting for. What happens when you get a non repairable puncture on the car for example? It's not the SOA itself that the biggest concern here - it's that you don't *quite* seem to have grasped the problem, to be honest.

mick1234_2

yes I totally understand, the reason I went for a more expensive car is for the travelling I do, I previously owned a couple of grand car and it had nothing but issues im talking weekly it cost me money every month that i did not have, yes I could of probably got a cheaper one but the risk of issues the older the car is a lot bigger, i do over 1000 miles a month and my boys safety kind of comes before everything else, I guess it scared me that the issues with my old car could of caused a major accident, so I do totally agree with you but I also felt like I was stuck a little, the car I bought is still over 6 years old but it comes with warranty and a little peace of mind should something go wrong.

Insurance I do need to speak with them today ref the cost.
Fuel - I am still trying to work this out exactly it does vary depending on what I am doing but it is around 40 - 50 a week.

I know I need an emergency fund but at the minute I am literally living day by day, my bills are all covered and food i am managing by dipping into bits of credit not what I want to be doing, I am taking this very serious I just cannot put money into things when I do not have it, and no I do not buy clothes, I dont go out drinking my main concern is keeping on top of all my payments and kind of surviving month by month, I will start again trying to trim down my payments. thanks for your advice aswell,

Working_Mum

Hi mick1234
I have caught up on your thread. You seem to be meeting yourself coming back!

Have you done the simple stuff like write down all the direct debits which come out of your bank account and the date they come out? You can arrange to get them paid on the day you have money paid into your account which would mean you pay them and then whatever is left in your account you make that last until next payday - it also means you don't get charged £25 or whatever for the bank charges for returning direct debits unpaid.

Have you done an inventory of all of the food (and toiletries & cleaning products) which is in your cupboards/fridge and freezer? This way you know what you have and what you need to buy from the shops - do you shop with a list??

Meal planning and shopping with a list will save you lots of money!!

When I was really overwhelmed and felt everything was going crazy I used to get up 20 minutes early every day and in those 20 minutes I checked my bank account so had no nasty surprises, updated my spends book from the previous day, made any payments required, ate the frogs, sorted my lunch/snacks for taking to work and started my day calm and balanced.

Slowly you will build an emergency fund but right now I would suggest getting into a stable, calm position so you can see the wood for the trees and build from there.

I would definitely check out the cancellation sitch with your current car insurance provider - take a few minutes inputting your details onto a comparison site and you will be able to see how much you could save by leaving - loyalty means nothing to a lot of these companies. Even if you can't cancel this year you can make a note in your phone/in a dairy a month ahead of renewal next year and you can shop around next time.

Keep posting and good luck!