New SOA - Finally got the lightbulb moment

Pontebantam

Afternoon all - finally decided to sit down and get this lot off my chest before things get worse... SOA first :

Wages £2,250.00 £2,250.00
F. Allowance -£412.00 £2,662.00
Smile Loan £230.00 £2,432.00
Mortgage £590.00 £1,842.00
Food £300.00 £1,542.00
Landline £16.00 £1,526.00
Electric/Gas £90.00 £1,436.00
Mobiles £45.00 £1,391.00
Council tax £102.00 £1,289.00
Internet £17.99 £1,271.01
CDCA £30.00 £1,241.01
Louise £160.00 £1,081.01
Diesel £120.00 £961.01
Nursery £120.00 £841.01
Mum n Dad £350.00 £491.01
Smile C Card £138.44 £352.57
Halifax C Card £172.00 £180.57
M&S C Card £113.00 £67.57
MBNA C Card £85.00 -£17.43
Savings £25.00 -£42.43
Sharesave £50.00 -£92.43
Insurances £85.00 -£177.43
Kirsty Fund £40.00 -£217.43
TV Licence £11.00 -£228.43
CTF's £50.00 -£278.43
Sofa £38.50 -£316.93
Pension £25.60 -£342.53
Water £18.00 -£360.53

So - am in the smelly at the moment !

Smile Loan 10749
Smile 6922
MBNA 4270
Halifax 8600
M&S 4543

Total £35084 :eek:
M&S life of balance (3.49% or something silly)
Smile at 11.9%
Halifax at 5.9% life of balance
MBNA to be confirmed
Mum n Dad is for money lent to us in the past
Smile loan at 8% or so
CDCA is wife's old outstanding debt from before we met
Mortgage is in redemption period until 2009 at 5.99% currently (fixed and interest only)
Elec/Gas is on a dual fuel with E.On (powergen originally) - will take a look at this but usage at moment relatively high due to having two small children.
Sofa was 3 years 0% finance (in first year still)
Nursery is for each Thursday, pay a friend £30 to look after them during the day whilst both at work.
Insurances are for car and house
Landline/Internet should reduce a little as gone onto TalkTalk but need to check bill (at work now)
Kirsty Fund - Wife used to have a horse, now loaned it out but pays some towards upkeep as part of agreement

What else... well we have two cars, Louise has one to get to work in Leeds, I need one as I travel in my job...now before anyone laughs too much, I recently qualified as an IFA but i'm not on a great salary yet and no idea how long that will be! Wife selling various things on eBay but can't rely on that (kids clothes are going)

Been struggling for years to get this lot sorted out, for my children's sakes more than anything. Need a fresh pair(s) of eyes to offer some guidance.

Am looking at removing the savings (pointless) and reducing the food bill from £75 a week to £50 a week.

Anything and everything would be appreciated, CTF's are for the kids, don't want to stop them if possible, but will do if needed (rather they have a roof over their heads now then money to spend later on in life)

I'm prepared to do pretty much anything to turn this around - even sell a lung !

Vinny

Shineyhappy

Congrats on posting your SOA I know its a scary thing to do!

You will be getting less interest on the savings that you will be paying on the debts. How much do you have saved?

Have you been to www.entitledto.co.uk or .com, to make sure you are getting any benefits that you are due?

Can you get rid of the mobiles or switch to PAYG?

Pop to the Old Style board to see if you can cut your foodshopping as that would really help.

How much is owed to your parents? When you stop paying them back that will help out loads! I would use the kids CTF money and pay them back when you are debt free.

What is the share save?

tealady

Hi I would get the kids to clear out all their old toys and carboot/ebay them. Check the garage/loft/cupboards whereever and if you cant rtemember the last time you used something then sell it.
Go onto a cashback website and check gas/electric and insurances, you will be surprised what you save there.
Try a spending diary, its an eye opener.
Good luck

dearbarbie

Maybe try cut down that food bill - how many kids?

Also - the payment to your parents? Are you able to come to an agreement to put it on hold while you pay off priority debt or pay less per month?
Maybe use your savings to pay off some debts?

oops_a_daisy

Hi there Pontebantum - I have made some comments next to your SOA in orange but I am afraid that some of them may seem harsh but you need to start acting NOW otherwise you are going to sink deeper and deeper into the doo doo. You can turn it around but both you and your wife need to stop spending on anything that isnt in your SOA.

Pontebantam wrote: »

Afternoon all - finally decided to sit down and get this lot off my chest before things get worse... SOA first :

Wages £2,250.00 £2,250.00
F. Allowance -£412.00 £2,662.00
Smile Loan £230.00 £2,432.00
Mortgage £590.00 £1,842.00
Food £300.00 £1,542.00 - you can reduce this gradually - try reducing by £50 in the first month. Look at the Moneysaving Oldstyle threads for advice.
Landline £16.00 £1,526.00 - hw much will going over to Talk Talk reduce this by ? is this just the cost for land line ? do you have call charges on top of this
Electric/Gas £90.00 £1,436.00 - this is high - look into switching today to reduce this and use cash back websites for switching to make a bit of money
Mobiles £45.00 £1,391.00 - are these on contracts and when so the contracts end ? can you switch to cheaper options whilst still in the contract and then switch to PAYG when the contract ends
Council tax £102.00 £1,289.00
Internet £17.99 £1,271.01 - switch to a cheaper provider
CDCA £30.00 £1,241.01 - how much still owing ?
Louise £160.00 £1,081.01 - is this fuel ?
Diesel £120.00 £961.01 - shop around for the cheapest and try to car share
Nursery £120.00 £841.01 - do you qualify for vouchers ?
Mum n Dad £350.00 £491.01 - as mentioned above can you reduce payments on this and put the money towards higher interest charging debts
Smile C Card £138.44 £352.57 - can you balance transfer any of your C Card debts to a lower APR. Are you still using your Credit cards ?
Halifax C Card £172.00 £180.57 as above
M&S C Card £113.00 £67.57 as above
MBNA C Card £85.00 -£17.43 - as above
Savings £25.00 -£42.43 - throw your savings at your highest APR debts and stop saving till you have paid off your debts. Keep a small amount for emergencies
Sharesave £50.00 -£92.43 - can you cash any of these in to pay off debts and again stop till you have paid off your debts
Insurances £85.00 -£177.43 have you shopped around for these and uses cashback websites to switch
Kirsty Fund £40.00 -£217.43 - is there any way you can get out of this agreement - you can not afford it
TV Licence £11.00 -£228.43
CTF's £50.00 -£278.43 - put these on hold untill you have paid off your debts. Cash them in and pay off your debts then re start in the future when you can afford to.
Sofa £38.50 -£316.93
Pension £25.60 -£342.53 - personal I know but how old are you ? can you freeze this for now and re start int he future when you can afford to ?
Water £18.00 -£360.53

So - am in the smelly at the moment !

Smile Loan 10749
Smile 6922
MBNA 4270
Halifax 8600
M&S 4543

Total £35084 :eek:
M&S life of balance (3.49% or something silly) - can you balance transfer to this card some of your higher c/card debts
Smile at 11.9% - try to BT to lower cards or make this your priority to pay off first as it is your highest charging interest card
Halifax at 5.9% life of balance depending pn what your MBNA card is can you BT to this to lower your interest per month ?
MBNA to be confirmed
Mum n Dad is for money lent to us in the past - see comments above
Smile loan at 8% or so again find out if you can make overpayments on this
CDCA is wife's old outstanding debt from before we met
Mortgage is in redemption period until 2009 at 5.99% currently (fixed and interest only)
Elec/Gas is on a dual fuel with E.On (powergen originally) - will take a look at this but usage at moment relatively high due to having two small children.
Sofa was 3 years 0% finance (in first year still)
Nursery is for each Thursday, pay a friend £30 to look after them during the day whilst both at work.
Insurances are for car and house
Landline/Internet should reduce a little as gone onto TalkTalk but need to check bill (at work now)
Kirsty Fund - Wife used to have a horse, now loaned it out but pays some towards upkeep as part of agreement

What else... well we have two cars, Louise has one to get to work in Leeds, I need one as I travel in my job...now before anyone laughs too much, I recently qualified as an IFA but i'm not on a great salary yet and no idea how long that will be! Wife selling various things on eBay but can't rely on that (kids clothes are going)

Been struggling for years to get this lot sorted out, for my children's sakes more than anything. Need a fresh pair(s) of eyes to offer some guidance.

Am looking at removing the savings (pointless) and reducing the food bill from £75 a week to £50 a week.

Anything and everything would be appreciated, CTF's are for the kids, don't want to stop them if possible, but will do if needed (rather they have a roof over their heads now then money to spend later on in life)

I'm prepared to do pretty much anything to turn this around - even sell a lung !

Vinny

Others have mentioned above that you start a spending diary ( you and your wife ) your SOA does not include anything for birthdays, Christmas, car maintenance, house maintainance, hair cuts, dental, prescriptions, going out, holidays etc etc. How do you pay for these things ? do you both take sandwiches to work ? do the kids have school dinners ? Cut backs can be made but it is going to be hard. Sorry if I am a bit blunt and please do not take any advice on here personally. Well done on your light bulb moment, you will get all the support you need here.

xoopsx

Pontebantam

To answer a few posts ...

1: 2 kids - she's a year and a half old, he's 3 years old on Tuesday

2: Am going to be speaking to my parents shortly - going to take a lot of courage as she's helped us out of the smelly before and it has got worse again.

3: Am in contract at moment on the mobile's so not an option at the moment.

4: Sharesave scheme is Centrica, got 4 and a half years to go yet !

5: Savings are at about £1500

Thanks all so far for your comments/suggestions

Vinny

redsquirrel80

Pontebantam wrote: »

3: Am in contract at moment on the mobile's so not an option at the moment.

Have seen a few people on here say they've called their mobile company and said they can't afford the monthly payments, and have managed to negotiate to go onto a different contract with lower montly rate - worth a go I reckon

Pontebantam

No offence taken

I'm 31 so plenty of time to restart pension payments

Right - no costs mentioned for payment of extra's - well that will add another £200 at least per month

Sharesave only recently started so will have to look at if it can be stopped.

Have looked at getting another job part time on an evening/night alongside work - after all if i can bring costs down in terms of outgoings, I still need to make a bit more in order to start eating into the debts themselves!

Vinny

oops_a_daisy

Pontebantam wrote: »

To answer a few posts ...

1: 2 kids - she's a year and a half old, he's 3 years old on Tuesday please ignore my comment above about school dinners then

2: Am going to be speaking to my parents shortly - going to take a lot of courage as she's helped us out of the smelly before and it has got worse again. Do your sums and go to your Mum with the facts so that you can show her that you are trying. How much do you owe ?

3: Am in contract at moment on the mobile's so not an option at the moment. you can sometimes still go onto a cheaper package whilst in a contract - phone the providers and ask to go onto a lower tariff

4: Sharesave scheme is Centrica, got 4 and a half years to go yet ! can you cash it in early and cancel

5: Savings are at about £1500 as mentioned above keep some back for emergencies and throw the rest at your most expensive debts

Thanks all so far for your comments/suggestions

Vinny

have a look at whatsthecost.com/snowball to work out how long it will take to pay off your debts

is there any way you can earn more ? have a look at the threads on here for tips

xoopsx

oops_a_daisy

Pontebantam wrote: »

No offence taken

I'm 31 so plenty of time to restart pension payments

Right - no costs mentioned for payment of extra's - well that will add another £200 at least per month sorry about pointing that one out but that is where you tend to find your money goes. It is very easy to treat the kids or buy an expensive cup of coffee etc etc but it all adds up. A spending diary helps to make you think before you spend and your SOA will only work if you stick to it.

Sharesave only recently started so will have to look at if it can be stopped.

Have looked at getting another job part time on an evening/night alongside work - after all if i can bring costs down in terms of outgoings, I still need to make a bit more in order to start eating into the debts themselves! good luck but remember your family and your health

Vinny

as well as Ebay you can also sell DVD's and books on Amazon ( its easy even I can do it )

xoopsx