Struggling and feeling down about it...

Willing2Learn

Do you really have £139/month for debt repayments or is that an aspirational SOA?

If you do really have £139/month available then you could start to snowball those debts. Plus you have another £125/month when your mobile contract ends in September and you go SIM-only. That is £264/month with which you could start a debt snowball...

You have approx £4,950 owing on the unsecured loan and £2,400 owing across both cards. That is £6,350 in total unsecured debt. Your snowball would take 24 months to clear the unsecured debt. By which time you will also have repaid the majority of your car loan too. Then your options start to increase.

Have a read of the Dave Ramsey article how-the-debt-snowball-method-works for some inspiration

DigitalDevil

Willing2Learn wrote: »

Do you really have £139/month for debt repayments or is that an aspirational SOA?

If you do really have £139/month available then you could start to snowball those debts. Plus you have another £125/month when your mobile contract ends in September and you go SIM-only. That is £264/month with which you could start a debt snowball...

You have approx £4,950 owing on the unsecured loan and £2,400 owing across both cards. That is £6,350 in total unsecured debt. Your snowball would take 24 months to clear the unsecured debt. By which time you will also have repaid the majority of your car loan too. Then your options start to increase.

Have a read of the Dave Ramsey article how-the-debt-snowball-method-works for some inspiration

Thanks, I’m not familiar with the “snowballing” thing (personally, “snowballing’ is generally a bad thing...) I’ll take a look at the article now

katsu

Did you buy anything you could sell to help you clear the debts?

EssexHebridean

Let's take a look - comments in red:

DigitalDevil wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1350 Is there any scope to increase this at all? Overtime, any impending likelihood of promotion that you could apply for for example?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1350

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 300 How long to go on this?
Rent.................................... 250
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 140 How long until you can get out of the contract on this? That cost is horrific!
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0 You need to budget at least "essentials" money here.
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 12 Do you pay this monthly? If so then you need to budget to buy the annual on renewal as they charge a premium for monthly payments - then budget monthly to set aside 1/12th of the cost for the next year.
Car Insurance........................... 50 Check that you're getting the best deal on this when you reach renewal
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 Is this all included in the deal you have for the car? If not you must budget for something here.
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)...... 0 Sure you never buy any presents for anyone? Not even your parents?
Haircuts................................ 0 Either it's shaved, or it's long, or you need a figure in here.
Entertainment........................... 10 Is this realistic? It sounds unlikely
Holiday................................. 0 You never even go off for a long weekend with friends?
Emergency fund.......................... 0 Budgeting a small amount saved here each month would be a good way to set habits for the future
Total monthly expenses.................. 812


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...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 0........(300)......0 How much longer on this and what's the total outstanding?
Total secured & HP debts...... 0.........-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................0.........275.......0 You need the totals outstanding and the APR's in all of these
Credit Card....................0.........62........0
Credit Card....................0.........62........0
Total unsecured debts..........0.........399.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,350
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 812
Available for debt repayments........... 538
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 399
Amount left after debt repayments....... 139

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 0

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

First thing you need to do is to get the SOA completed fully - then you'll have a better idea of what your surplus is.

Are you still using credit cards? Again if so, that needs to stop. Find the exact figures for the loan - you need to have a proper handle on things if you're going to tackle them effectively I'm afraid.

You will be in a far better position once that phone contract ends. Personally I'd make a diary note to call them in a month to tell them that you will be needing to drop to SIM only and what deals can they offer you ready for the end of the contract....have a nice cheap comparison from someone like Plusnet or GiffGaff ready to throw at them - they may be prepared to price match AND let you switch there and then to retain you.

Are there any options to you to get out of the car finance? that's a lot of spending to come on that, when things are already tight. How long was the deal for?

[Deleted User]

How much debt are you in in total?

Think it's best to get all that on here so that people can advise you better.

Good luck and try not to panic, we have all been there.

Dxxx

MallyGirl

The car is the killer - £362 plus unknown amount for maintenace and yet you only do enough miles to cost you £50 in fuel. You must really love that car if it is worth blowing a third of your take home on it - do you really love it that much???

DigitalDevil

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Let's take a look - comments in red:



First thing you need to do is to get the SOA completed fully - then you'll have a better idea of what your surplus is.

Are you still using credit cards? Again if so, that needs to stop. Find the exact figures for the loan - you need to have a proper handle on things if you're going to tackle them effectively I'm afraid.

You will be in a far better position once that phone contract ends. Personally I'd make a diary note to call them in a month to tell them that you will be needing to drop to SIM only and what deals can they offer you ready for the end of the contract....have a nice cheap comparison from someone like Plusnet or GiffGaff ready to throw at them - they may be prepared to price match AND let you switch there and then to retain you.

Are there any options to you to get out of the car finance? that's a lot of spending to come on that, when things are already tight. How long was the deal for?

Monthly Income; There is no option for overtime (typical 9-5), I have no formal qualifications so don’t have the appropriate means to apply for better paid work.
HP Loan; 36 months remaining
Phone; Ends in September
Clothing; Don’t buy any new clothing
Road Tax; It’s paid monthly, IIRC it’s something like £160 spread or £140 upfront.
Insurance; Was renewed last month via comparison website.
MOT; No MOT as car is too new, servicing included in HP package.
Presents; We aren’t really a “gift” giving family and have always just exchanged cards.
Hair; I usually get it cut every 12-16 weeks by a friend who is a barber for free.
Entertainment; £10 covers Spotify, I have access to Amazon Prime and Netflix through other people’s accounts and my “rent” includes Sky Q Multiroom/Internet.
Holiday; Haven’t been on Holiday for over 5-6 years, Friends now go on Family holidays with wives/children.

The CC’s have been chopped up for a few months now so are not able to increase. Both are poor rates at around 30%.

I would have to reach out to the Loan company for specific details, the loan was over 60 months at 3-6% apr IIRC (like I say, would need to check the exact details.

I’m unsure what you mean by options to get out of the car finance.

MallyGirl wrote: »

The car is the killer - £362 plus unknown amount for maintenace and yet you only do enough miles to cost you £50 in fuel. You must really love that car if it is worth blowing a third of your take home on it - do you really love it that much???

There is no maintenance requirement on the car (service agreement and no MOT as it’s too young), the £50 fuel covers my personal use, I travel for work (Scotland and Northern England) so my fuel costs are covered via work.

JayRitchie

DigitalDevil wrote: »

There is no maintenance requirement on the car (service agreement and no MOT as it’s too young), the £50 fuel covers my personal use, I travel for work (Scotland and Northern England) so my fuel costs are covered via work.

What type of car do you have? Any option to get a company car if you mainly use it for work? Or could they provide one when you need it?

DigitalDevil

JayRitchie wrote: »

What type of car do you have? Any option to get a company car if you mainly use it for work? Or could they provide one when you need it?

Unfortunately not, cars or car allowance are only available to the management team so I don’t qualify.

JayRitchie

DigitalDevil wrote: »

Unfortunately not, cars or car allowance are only available to the management team so I don’t qualify.

Ok - understood, but what happens if you don't have a car?