Help!

tbaker31

DCFC79 wrote: »

When is the phone and tv contracts due to end ? Savings can be made here.

Phone ends in July 2019. TV ends in May 2019. Agreed we are already looking at making savings there.

So you dont need haircuts, or entertain yourselves eg cinema, evenings out ?
Should really have something in the emergency fund. What would you do if an appliance breaks down or the needs tyres or brakes ?

No I cut my own hair to save money, Don't have time or money to entertain ourselves with 2 children. Have been putting money in emergency fund but then I end up using it to pay off debt quicker.

DCFC79

tbaker31 wrote: »

No I cut my own hair to save money, Don't have time or money to entertain ourselves with 2 children. Have been putting money in emergency fund but then I end up using it to pay off debt quicker.

Cut your own hair Good

Willing2Learn

tbaker31 wrote: »

… Have been putting money in emergency fund but then I end up using it to pay off debt quicker.

An Emergency Fund is an essential component of all monthly budgets. It prevents having to use credit when something unexpected crops up, such as car maintenance, broken washing machine or the fridge packs up etc etc

enthusiasticsaver

Whilst I understand trying to get rid of the Barclaycard so you only have one card to focus on the high rate of interest on the MBNA means you should be focusing on that one as the Barclaycard is interest free. I strongly suspect you don't have £346 free if you did then paying that would clear the MBNA card in less than a year. Emergency savings are a must really or otherwise you will be tempted to use a credit card and if you are trying to clear debt you should not be spending on the cards at all.

enthusiasticsaver

I think the reason you are struggling to get more credit to move the MBNA is because of the high HP. Did you really need to spend almost £20k on a car? You could have got a really reliable one for half that cost.

tbaker31

Willing2Learn wrote: »

An Emergency Fund is an essential component of all monthly budgets. It prevents having to use credit when something unexpected crops up, such as car maintenance, broken washing machine or the fridge packs up etc etc

I completely agree and I think it is important that I try and put money aside as much as possible

tbaker31

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Whilst I understand trying to get rid of the Barclaycard so you only have one card to focus on the high rate of interest on the MBNA means you should be focusing on that one as the Barclaycard is interest free. I strongly suspect you don't have £346 free if you did then paying that would clear the MBNA card in less than a year. Emergency savings are a must really or otherwise you will be tempted to use a credit card and if you are trying to clear debt you should not be spending on the cards at all.

Agreed, in hindsight I should have paid off MBNA but I was banking on being able to move it to another card or pay off in other means so I wanted to pay off Barclaycard first.

I also agree that Emergency savings are important

tbaker31

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

I think the reason you are struggling to get more credit to move the MBNA is because of the high HP. Did you really need to spend almost £20k on a car? You could have got a really reliable one for half that cost.

In hindsight yes, I agree it was probably a bad idea but I had a bad finance agreement on car before. Have discussed giving the car back but unsure if that is a good move. Was tempted to cut my loss and start again with a more affordable car

tlc678910

Hi,
If you can pay some chunky amounts off the Barclaycard they will probably send you some balance transfer offers through the post and available to see in your Barclaycard online account under offers and transfers.
Tlc

EssexHebridean

OK - treating this "cold" so others may already have mentioned some items. comments in red as usual

tbaker31 wrote: »

Here is my SOA:

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................ £2024.11
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0 This is just because you're not including her income here, yes?
Benefits................................ 0 Have you checked your entitlement here?
Other income............................ £400
Total monthly income.................... £2424.11

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. £378 As others have said - ouch.
Rent.................................... £500
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. £155
Electricity............................. £45 Read the guides on energy saving to reduce this (and the gas too) - if anyone is wandering around indoors in short sleeves or shorts then turn the thermostat down a few degrees because it's too warm. Turn lights off when you leave a room, don't leave things on standby, Boil water in the kettle rather than on the hob for cooking, try to use the oven for multiple things at once.
Gas..................................... £45
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. £54
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ £55 This is high - when the contract comes up look for a better deal - keep current phone and go SIM only would save you a fortune here
TV Licence.............................. £13 Sure about this? They're not usually round sums like this.
Satellite/Cable TV...................... £65 Ring 'em and haggle - you'll get this cheaper
Internet Services....................... 0 No internet or bundled with TV?
Groceries etc. ......................... £100 This is half the food bill, yes? If so if you're doing 2 adults & 2 kids on £200 a month at the moment you're doing reasonably well - is this definitely accurate? Check for other odd spends not being accounted for - a McD's out here, a takeaway there, odd coffees etc also need adding here
Clothing................................ £50 Reduce this - you manage on what you have (pants & socks only to be bought when NEEDED, not wanted) kids stuff can come from charity shops or eBay
Petrol/diesel........................... £400 Read Martin's guide to driving economically, never use the car when you can walk, try to combine journeys.
Road tax................................ 0 Nothing at all? Zero rated car?
Car Insurance........................... £34
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 Something needs to go here unless the deal you have to purchase the car is a "covers everything" one
Car parking............................. 0 Never? You never have to pay to park anywhere?
Other travel............................ 0Nobody ever gets the bus, uses the train for a night out because there will be drinks, hops in a taxi home from somewhere?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0 No childcare costs, activities to pay for, equipment etc that they need?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... £14
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... £100 This is too high - halve it at least while you still have debt.
Haircuts................................ 0 I see you've said you do your own, but the kids?
Entertainment........................... 0 Not realistic - there's always something, even if it's just taking the kids out for a treat.
Holiday................................. 0 You never go away at all? Not even to visit family for a weekend?
Emergency fund.......................... 0 Something needs to go here
Total monthly expenses.................. £2008


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. £15000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ £15000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... £19091....(£378)......3.99% I see there's already been discussion about this - hopefully by the time that car dies (because obviously you're not considering changing it any time soon, are you?) you'll have been in a position to save for a few years for a reasonably priced replacement.
Total secured & HP debts...... £19091.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
MBNA...........................£3870......£50........27.9% That's not a nice interest rate
Barclaycard.......................£746.......£20........0% How much longer is this on 0% for?
Total unsecured debts..........£4616......£70........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... £2,424.11
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). £2,008
Available for debt repayments........... £416.11
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... £70
Amount left after debt repayments....... £346.11Where does this go currently, then?

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... £15,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -£19,091
Total Unsecured debt.................... -£4,616
Net Assets.............................. -£8,707


**it is worth noting I am making more than the minimum payment on the Barclaycard in order to pay it off quicker**

I think this SOA is possibly clouding the issues a bit here as from what has been said it appears it's not accurately portraying the situation in relation to what things are costing. I agree that one that reflects the full picture would be better - but if your OH isn't happy for her income to go out there that's understandable.

Giving the car back might be an option but it needs really careful consideration as you say - you need to think how you're going to pay for a replacement. (clue - "a loan" is the wrong answer here!) Hindsight is a marvellous thing as you've realised now - the key here is definitely to learn from it for the future.

As you're renting aim for an Emergency Fund of £500 to start with - this will help to cover things like something unexpected on the car needing fixed, for example.

You've made a really good start here - and just getting a few more facts and figures straight will help you move on as you need to I reckon. You need to think about budgeting ahead for stuff that you pay for annually, and also to make sure that you're being realistic about things like food. Let's see the revised SOA when you've done it and we'll see where you're at!