Sorting out the debts before it's too late!

tiredmomma

So, this is my very first post, although I have been reading diaries religiously for the last few weeks!

I am not currently struggling with my debts, but that is because I have a lot of it on 0% at the moment, but my luck with that will eventually end and if I haven't reduced it quite a bit, I think I will be in trouble...

My main panic is that I am currently expecting another baby (number 4!!) and will be going down to SMP of around £148 a week from January to end of July, so my budget is going to get veerry tight!!

I will post my SOA if I can work out how in a minute.
This is an example of a normal month since I have started tightening our belts, so less takeaways than we were used to, and we were overpaying our mortgage but have stopped that for now to concentrate on bringing down the other debts.

There is no physical fund for Christmas/birthdays but spend around £1400 in total for this. Wasn't sure if I should just split that amount over 12 mths or not?
Same with holidays/going out. I try not to spend more than £100 on days out etc for the kids on shorter school holidays, and £600 on the 6 week summer one, so that's around £1100 a year?

Feel free to let me know where I'm going wrong, and how to fix it!

Thanks!

tiredmomma

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1300
Partners monthly income after tax....... 850
Benefits................................ 240
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2390

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 347
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 114
Electricity............................. 101
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 75
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 30
Groceries etc. ......................... 450
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 21
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 60
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 13
Life assurance ......................... 28
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 117
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 80
Holiday................................. 92
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Nationwide account fee.................. 13
Kid's Savings........................... 60
Total monthly expenses.................. 1904


Assets
Cash.................................... 1700
House value (Gross)..................... 88000
Shares and bonds........................ 1200
Car(s).................................. 4500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 95400


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 52900....(347)......3.29
Total secured & HP debts...... 52900.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard 1..................4095......100.......0
Barclaycard 2..................1997......47........0
Mbna ..........................2085......25........0
argos .........................439.......0.........0
paypal ........................888.......22........0
virgin ........................3912......50........0
Total unsecured debts..........13416.....244.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,390
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,904
Available for debt repayments........... 486
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 244
Amount left after debt repayments....... 242

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 95,400
Total HP & Secured debt................. -52,900
Total Unsecured debt.................... -13,416
Net Assets.............................. 29,084

tiredmomma

I went back over the last 6 months of bank statements because I KNOW I never have £200+ left over every month, and have discovered I have grossly underestimated the clothes budget! It's more like £157 a month!! That has included having to buy 3x full school uniforms as they have been outgrown, and also having to buy baby clothes (haven't got anything from the other kids as youngest is turning 6, and all family members and friends for the last few years have had girls...and we are having a boy!)
Also put the wrong amount for the mortgage, so I've fixed that too.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1300
Partners monthly income after tax....... 850
Benefits................................ 240
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2390

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 347
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 114
Electricity............................. 101
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 75
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 30
Groceries etc. ......................... 450
Clothing................................ 157
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 21
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 60
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 13
Life assurance ......................... 28
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 117
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 80
Holiday................................. 92
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Kid's savings........................... 60
nationwide fee.......................... 13
Total monthly expenses.................. 2031


Assets
Cash.................................... 1700
House value (Gross)..................... 88000
Shares and bonds........................ 1200
Car(s).................................. 4500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 95400


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 56900....(347)......3.29
Total secured & HP debts...... 56900.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard 1..................4095......100.......0
Barclaycard 2..................1997......47........0
Mbna ..........................2085......25........0
virgin.........................3911......50........0
argos .........................439.......0.........0
paypal.........................888.......22........0
Total unsecured debts..........13415.....244.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,390
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,031
Available for debt repayments........... 359
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 244
Amount left after debt repayments....... 115

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 95,400
Total HP & Secured debt................. -56,900
Total Unsecured debt.................... -13,415
Net Assets.............................. 25,085

tiredmomma

weekly shop done. Online to help me stick to my list!
The kids are back at school at the end of the week so I have ordered packed lunch type stuff for them all (youngest has dietary requirements so find it easier to make him a lunch rather than chance it with the free school meal).
£76.17 spent, which should last the week with a couple of trips to the shops for bread and milk.
Bought eldest's blazer for school so that is everyone kitted out for the start of school - £31 for that.
Shouldn't spend for the rest of the day, made a large pot of chilli in the slow cooker, enough to freeze for another day too.

tiredmomma

NSD today which feels good...hopefully will get a few more over the month.
Tomorrow wont be one though, have school snack money to pay, and a new pencil case and PE bag that I have just realised I have forgotten to buy! Will try and keep costs down for those.
Recieved a letter in the post from O2 this morning giving me a £13 cheque for accidentally overcharging on a termination fee in 2014!! Every little bit helps!

tiredmomma

yesterday was definitely not an NSD!
On top of school payments of £12, there was clothes and baby essentials to buy equalling £60, £10 for DD's best friends birthday present and £55 to fill up the car with petrol. Now everyone is back on their normal routine, the petrol should last at least 2 weeks, school shopping is definitely completed, and I am almost done in terms of baby shopping too, so hopefully I can spend as little as possible now and concentrate on paying some of this off as quick as I can.
On a positive side, I have £22 in my PayPal from an Ebay sale, and £12 has move to payable on TCB so along with £13 from the O2 cheque, that's £47 extra this month so far.

clearmydebts

Hi TM,

Popped in to say hello! What's your plan of action re: paying down the debts. I'm sure someone with more SOA experience will be along in a while but immediately what struck me was your clothing budget per month and also your holiday budget.

tiredmomma

truth be told, I have no idea how I'm going to do it! I am hoping that physically seeing the amounts of money I am spending, racking up on a daily basis, is going to put me off and stop me buying!
The holiday budget is definitely one I can work with I think. Need to look for more free stuff to do through the school holidays, everything gets so expensive when you need to multiply it by 3!
Clothes I dont know, I try and only buy from sales etc most of the stuff is from supermarkets/primark. The uniform costs kill me every year, and the eldest is 13 and is currently growing like a weed, so he needs a whole new wardrobe quite regularly.

savingholmes

tiredmomma wrote: »

I went back over the last 6 months of bank statements because I KNOW I never have £200+ left over every month, and have discovered I have grossly underestimated the clothes budget! It's more like £157 a month!! That has included having to buy 3x full school uniforms as they have been outgrown, and also having to buy baby clothes (haven't got anything from the other kids as youngest is turning 6, and all family members and friends for the last few years have had girls...and we are having a boy!)
Also put the wrong amount for the mortgage, so I've fixed that too.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1300
Partners monthly income after tax....... 850
Benefits................................ 240
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2390

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 347
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 114
Electricity............................. 101
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 75 - this seems high - would a meter help?
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 60 - any way to get this down by moving to sim only and buying phones outright in future and nursing them along as long as you can - DH and I paying £6-7 each... per month
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 30
Groceries etc. ......................... 450 - if you go on the old style board - they have grocery and food cupboard challenges that can help with getting this down - it is possible - although it is my biggest vice too so accept it is hard.
Clothing................................ 157 What you spend now and what you could get away with reducing it to are not the same. My sis has young kids and she buys clothes by the bag on f/b bay etc and that seems to be the cheapest way. My MIL outright asked people for their grandkids clothes so I barely had to buy mine anything until they were about 10 - no I'm not kidding
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 21
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 60 - What is this? any chance of reducing?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 13 Are you renting? If it is a mortgage you need buildings too or is this joint?
Life assurance ......................... 28
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 117 - If this is what you stick to then this is potentially fine - but you wrote earlier you normally spend £1400 at Chistmas - this is unaffordable for me - and between my OH and I we earn almost twice what you do... Perhaps needs revisiting. We said we would only buy for my siblings kids and our parents for example. DH and I also agree our spends on each other eg £10 / £50 or more depending on the circumstances at the time. I would see you as being close to debt emergency with having another baby on the way so would see this as a much higher priority than Christmas spends...Up to you though
Haircuts................................ 0 - Really? I think allowing some £ for this unless you really cut each other's hair is a must
Entertainment........................... 80 Could you cut this a little more or look at the Make £10 a day challenge for ideas on how to fund this and fund gifts
Holiday................................. 92
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Kid's savings........................... 60 Is this savings fr emergencies or literally for the kids - as right now you would probably be better off throwing it at the debt and getting some peace of mind back
nationwide fee.......................... 13 Make sure you are really getting value for £ from this and not just paying on auto-pilot. Is this a packaged bank account? Was it mis-sold?
Total monthly expenses.................. 2031


Assets
Cash.................................... 1700 - good to have an emergency fund - congrats
House value (Gross)..................... 88000
Shares and bonds........................ 1200
Car(s).................................. 4500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 95400


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 56900....(347)......3.29
Total secured & HP debts...... 56900.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard 1..................4095......100.......0
Barclaycard 2..................1997......47........0
Mbna ..........................2085......25........0
virgin.........................3911......50........0
argos .........................439.......0.........0
paypal.........................888.......22........0
Total unsecured debts..........13415.....244.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,390
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,031
Available for debt repayments........... 359
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 244
Amount left after debt repayments....... 115

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 95,400
Total HP & Secured debt................. -56,900
Total Unsecured debt.................... -13,415
Net Assets.............................. 25,085

Hope that helps

savingholmes

Good luck on your journey. Establishing savings pots for annual costs helps too. Once you get in the swing of things - you will start doing some of the good stuff on auto-pilot. Congrats on your pregnancy too.

enthusiasticsaver

You are on relatively low incomes so when you go on maternity leave I think your income will be even lower. Why are you paying nothing to the Argos card? I would attack that and the PayPal initially so you only have the four cards to think about and close the cards down. I don't think you can afford the kids savings with the debt totalling what looks like a whole years salary for you and I would definitely ditch the packaged bank account.

Presents, entertainment, clothing and holiday can all be reduced.