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Want to clear debts but seem to be hitting a brick wall

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  • MrsSippi
    MrsSippi Posts: 287 Forumite
    Hold on, Sorry, only pasted part of it
  • MrsSippi
    MrsSippi Posts: 287 Forumite
    font=courier new]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

    Household Information

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

    Monthly Income Details

    Monthly income after tax................ 0
    Partners monthly income after tax....... 1875
    Benefits................................ 292
    Other income............................ 0
    Total monthly income.................... 2167


    Monthly Expense Details

    Mortgage................................ 635
    Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
    Rent.................................... 0
    Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
    Council tax............................. 170
    Electricity............................. 40
    Gas..................................... 40
    Oil..................................... 0
    Water rates............................. 64
    Telephone (land line)................... 0
    Mobile phone............................ 60
    TV Licence.............................. 13
    Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
    Internet Services....................... 0
    Groceries etc. ......................... 300
    Clothing................................ 0
    Petrol/diesel........................... 160
    Road tax................................ 17
    Car Insurance........................... 35
    Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
    Car parking............................. 0
    Other travel............................ 0
    Childcare/nursery....................... 0
    Other child related expenses............ 0
    Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 25
    Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
    Buildings insurance..................... 27
    Contents insurance...................... 0
    Life assurance ......................... 60
    Other insurance......................... 0
    Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100
    Haircuts................................ 0
    Entertainment........................... 0
    Holiday................................. 0
    Emergency fund.......................... 0
    (Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
    Trust funds............................. 20
    School dinners.......................... 25
    Overdraft............................... 17
    Total monthly expenses.................. 1808



    Assets

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



    Secured & HP Debts

    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Mortgage...................... 150000...(635)......0
    Total secured & HP debts...... 150000....-.........-


    Unsecured Debts
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Credit card....................2800......60........0
    Personal loan..................6678......127.......0
    Total unsecured debts..........9478......187.......-



    Monthly Budget Summary

    Total monthly income.................... 2,167
    Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,808
    Available for debt repayments........... 359
    Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 187
    Amount left after debt repayments....... 172


    Personal Balance Sheet Summary
    Total assets (things you own)........... 0
    Total HP & Secured debt................. -150,000
    Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,478
    Net Assets.............................. -159,478
  • D_M_E
    D_M_E Posts: 3,008 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    SOA is a start, but here's a few comments

    1. Water - is that on a meter, if not have you considere3d one, could be a cheaper option.

    2. Council tax - is this over 10 months? If so, ask council if you can pay over 12 months instead.

    3. Mobile phone - are you anywhere near end of contract, if so look at SIM only deals such as the Three one where you get a lot ofr £5 or £10 a month - not Three themselves but their offshoot one , cannot think what it's called right now but you get a lot of free calls and texts.

    4. Presents - can you cut this in half while you try and make inroads into your debt?
  • MrsSippi
    MrsSippi Posts: 287 Forumite
    D_M_E wrote: »
    SOA is a start, but here's a few comments

    1. Water - is that on a meter, if not have you considere3d one, could be a cheaper option.

    2. Council tax - is this over 10 months? If so, ask council if you can pay over 12 months instead.

    3. Mobile phone - are you anywhere near end of contract, if so look at SIM only deals such as the Three one where you get a lot ofr £5 or £10 a month - not Three themselves but their offshoot one , cannot think what it's called right now but you get a lot of free calls and texts.

    4. Presents - can you cut this in half while you try and make inroads into your debt?

    Thanks for the reply.

    1. Yes, we moved over to a meter a couple of months ago
    2. This is over 10 months. I have asked the council if I can pay over 12 months but they refused.
    3. I am at the end of my contract and pay £20 for a sim only deal. Can make do with an older handset.
    4. This year at least I will probably have to halve as been putting all this onto cc debt so only have £100 now rather than £700 I would usually have. So I will probably have to use the full £100 for the remainder of the year.
  • ReadingTim
    ReadingTim Posts: 4,084 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Can your other half find a better paying job? £1875 per month is an annual salary of £28k or so, which, depending on where you are in the country, isn't very much to support a stay at home mum and 2 kids.

    You might be able to trim your outgoings slightly, but I think you'd probably have greater success if you tried to increase what comes in, rather than what goes out...
  • Willing2Learn
    Willing2Learn Posts: 6,294 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Has the interest been frozen on your two debts as you have them as 0% APR?

    You really need put something away each month for emergencies.

    And you need to be realistic about entertainment. You are going to want to spend a little money on doing nice things for you and your family.

    Does your building insurance include contents too?

    Shouldn't there be an amount for haircuts or do you/family member do these?

    There also needs to be an amount for clothing and car maintenance.
    I work within the voluntary sector, supporting vulnerable people to rebuild their lives.

    I love my job

    :smiley:
  • MrsSippi
    MrsSippi Posts: 287 Forumite
    ReadingTim wrote: »
    Can your other half find a better paying job? £1875 per month is an annual salary of £28k or so, which, depending on where you are in the country, isn't very much to support a stay at home mum and 2 kids.

    You might be able to trim your outgoings slightly, but I think you'd probably have greater success if you tried to increase what comes in, rather than what goes out...

    Believe me he's tried but he's a carpenter/joiner and without a van of his own (which we cant afford at present) he is a bit stuck. He is currently trying to find himself some private work but not sure yet how successful he'll be.
  • tallyhoh
    tallyhoh Posts: 2,307 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    I was under the impression that since 2013 you could spread you council tax over 12 months?
    Tallyhoh! Stopped Smoking October 2000. Saved £29382.50 so far!
  • MrsSippi
    MrsSippi Posts: 287 Forumite
    Has the interest been frozen on your two debts as you have them as 0% APR?

    You really need put something away each month for emergencies.

    And you need to be realistic about entertainment. You are going to want to spend a little money on doing nice things for you and your family.

    Does your building insurance include contents too?

    Shouldn't there be an amount for haircuts or do you/family member do these?

    There also needs to be an amount for clothing and car maintenance.

    Sorry, I'm not sure off the top of my head what the interest was on the loan (but loan was £7,000 and got charged an additional £500 interest and cc is 0%.

    Yes building insurance does include contents.

    I completely agree with your comment about an emergency fund but whatever we use for that takes money away from clearing debts so it's hard sometimes to know what to do for the best.

    We honestly haven't spent anything on entertainment (apart from occasional ice creams which comes out of the shopping budget). We have to make do with free places to visit etc. I'd love to have treats as a family but we simply can't afford it

    Same goes for clothes - I ask grandparents etc for clothes for the girls for Xmas and birthday presents but we have gone without. My husband cuts all our hair and uses a razor on himself so that's all free.

    It is a bit of a dire situation I know.
  • Willing2Learn
    Willing2Learn Posts: 6,294 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Hey - Just thinking about work again. Have you ever considered childminding as a part-time job?
    I work within the voluntary sector, supporting vulnerable people to rebuild their lives.

    I love my job

    :smiley:
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