SOA, what am I missing? Anyone help?!!!

Nelmer

Evening All,

Hubby and I are determined to tackle our debts head on next year....and for the foreseeable future!.....I have been going through our SOA and have started to put a few changes in place but I can't see any others.

Could anyone possibly suggest some further adjustments to help us cut our debt? any help gratefully appreciated x

2 adults, 2 teenagers

Incomings:
Wages: 2,913

Outgoings:
Moblie phone (2 x contracts until Apr) 40
Water 37
TV license 12
Contact lenses 15
Southern Elec 57
Southern Gas 32
Council tax 125
TV, phone, broadband 80
Food & petrol 550
Student bus pass 55
Football subs 20

Mortgage 687
HSBC loan 315
Natwest loan 224
CC payments 350

Leaving 304

This then pays for the usual school trips, occasional nights out etc.

The debts are:
Overdraft 13.35% £994 (joint)
Citicard 5.83% (lob) £3,991 (me)
Natwest 13.9% £5,062 (hubby)
Egg 17.9% £3,184 (hubby)
Halifax 0% (until 23 Dec 2007) £1,634 (me)
HSBC Loan (end Dec 2011) £15,417 (me)
Natwest Loan (end Aug 2013) £15,434,85 (hubby)


I have tried speaking to Halifax about extending the 0% but they will not consider it until closer the expiry date.

Hubby's credit rating is not great so it's really difficult to get a card with a decent rate or limit. My rating is really good and i usually get a £5k limit.


Checked gas and electric and with lowest provider.
Reduced mobile phone tariffs to £20 per month each (lowest can get on current contract).
Phone, tv and broadband with Virgin media, don't have BT line (old house owner plastered it into the wall but not sure where!).
Working on reducing the food bill but with 1 v.active teenager this is proving quite a challenge! Have started shopping online instead of instore (don't pick-up 'extras' that way) and use vouchers etc where possible (Tesco-but don't use clubcard points to pay for shopping!).
Been arguing with hubby's ex-wife for 3 years over the mortgage (their kids) so can't change that until resolved.

If anyone can come up with anything else please please please let me know

Thanks for looking

theunknownstuntman

Hi Nelmer, here i am as promised to hold your hand! (if your hubby doesnt mind!)

The wise heads on here will help you out, but well done!

Stunty

Gemmzie

How old are your teenagers? Do you get child benefit for them? Child tax credit?

perfectlypoor

Are you on a contract for virgin media,could they offer you a better price, maybe call them and ask what they can offer or you will think about going elsewhere

CLAPTON

There's not quite enough detail :

can you say

a. do you both work ?
b. do you claim all the benefits due
c. how much on petrol
d. how much on food
e. you need to break down where the 304 goes so you can see if you can save anything here. You need to know how much you spend on things like
car insurace/tax/mot/servicing/RAC/AA/repairs,
clothes ,
kids pocket money,
socialising
any holidays, trips tc
what about xmas and birthday presents etc etc.
f. how did you come to be in debt to the tune of 45k?
g. are your debts increasing, staying the same or decreasing?
h. is there scope for increasing income.. parttime jobs, overtime?

Nelmer

Hi Stunty, thanks - Hubby doesn't mind...in his words "if someone else is doing it it saves me bothering"!!!!!!

Thank you everyone else - in answer to all the questions:
kids are 16 and 13, 16 year old at college and has part time job (so no pocket money!)
Child benefit is being claimed, about £120 a month that we leave in a separate account for car tax, insurance, birthdays etc
Child tax credits - stopped at the moment, have ongoing 'argument' with HM Customs about payments between me moving in and them actually paying attention to our letters 2 years later and stopping the 'single parent' payments. At some point in the future we will hopefully get a resolution on this

Thanks for the suggestion on virgin media, no contract so will ring them tomorrow

Thanks for the extra questions Clapton, made me think even more! Answers are:
a both working full time
b all benefits claimed
c petrol is about £140 a month (£100 in my car for travel to and from work and £40 in hubbys) - hubby uses Tesco discount coupons and I always buy at Sainsburys for points and they are cheapest in our area
d about £100 a week on food, looking into this further to see where I can cut
e will do analysis for £304 this month to see where it goes. Will dig out details on insurance etc and post later
f reason for debt (bear with me) hubby had loan when i met him. he was out of work for 4 months and we didn't have tenants in my house so 1 wage two sets of bills, alot went on credit. kids went to live with hubby's ex-wife last year (lived with him for last 10 years) but then she 'kicked' them out at the beginning of the summer with the clothes on their back and not much else so we had to find new clothes, school uniform, shoes etc etc and no cash so all credit (story longer and waaaay more complicated but you get the general idea).
g debts seem to just be staying the same at the moment as we are covering minimal payments and not much else
h neither of us get overtime. I'm taking 2 professional exams before christmas so not really any scope for me to get another job until after christmas, hubby is starting to look

thank you so much for looking:j

chevalier

my comments are in blue

Nelmer wrote: »

Evening All,

2 adults, 2 teenagers

Incomings:
Wages: 2,913 good wage but you could also do surveys, mystery shopping, selling stuff on ebay, books on amazon or green metropolis to raise more cash.

Outgoings:
Moblie phone (2 x contracts until Apr) 40
Water 37do you have hippos in your toilet cisterns? If not then you can ask your water co for them, and they save 1 litre a flush.
TV license 12
Contact lenses 15i gather you can get contacts on the net for about £9 so worth a look? Or could you go back to glasses for the time being and save the whole cost
Southern Elec 57ouch are all appliances not left on stand by, what about lights left on in rooms when no one is there? Eg a tv left on standby uses almost as much electricity as when it is on properly.
Southern Gas 32Check that your heating thermostat is set at about 21 degrees, and rediscover jumpers! Also if you hot water is scalding and you need to add cold to use it, then you can save money by turning down the water temp
Council tax 125you can ask for this to be over 12 months not 10
TV, phone, broadband 80this seems a lot, can you down grade your service at all
Food & petrol 550you mention that you spend £100 a week on food, this equates to£433 a month. I have two young children, 2 adults and 2 cats and we eat well for £250 a month. I appreciate that teenagers can be hoovers, but I am also still buying nappies, so it might even out a bit. You have already cottoned onto the online shopping. Not only are you not tempted but it saves your time too.
However another trick I did, was to pin up a till receipt, and circled anything that got thrown away. It was eye opening to see how MUCH in money I was throwing in the dustbin. Now there is very little waste (our dustmen love us only 1 small dustbin bag a week!), and I have saved loads.
And of course there is the meal planning, and using this to write the shopping list! Gives me more discipline when I do go to a store.
Student bus pass 55
Football subs 20

Mortgage 687is this repayment or interest only
HSBC loan 315
Natwest loan 224
CC payments 350

Leaving 304others have suggested a spending diary. I am sure you could save money out of this. Plus as clapton has mentioned you need to factor in the yearly costs so that you can be putting away the money for the car tax etc.

This then pays for the usual school trips, occasional nights out etc.

The debts are:
Overdraft 13.35% £994 (joint)
Citicard 5.83% (lob) £3,991 (me)
Natwest 13.9% £5,062 (hubby)
Egg 17.9% £3,184 (hubby)
Halifax 0% (until 23 Dec 2007) £1,634 (me)
HSBC Loan (end Dec 2011) £15,417 (me)
Natwest Loan (end Aug 2013) £15,434,85 (hubby)


Phone, tv and broadband with Virgin media, don't have BT line (old house owner plastered it into the wall but not sure where!). You can get a gizmo from homebase or similar, that measures electical current. I think you could use this to trace the wiring?

Been arguing with hubby's ex-wife for 3 years over the mortgage (their kids) so can't change that until resolved.Sorry why does this in any way include the ex. Is she still paying something towards it?

If anyone can come up with anything else please please please let me know

Thanks for looking

hope the above is food for thought
chev

millionaire_in_training

Hi Nelmer. Welcome. I am with Virgin and I get my broadband, TV and phone for £30 per month. I also have 2 sim cards which DD and I use for £10 each per month so £50 in all. The sim cards allow 300 texts and 300 any network calls per month so it's a damned good deal. Obviously these are not the top packages but would save you £70 per month if you switched. Hope this helps and good luck x

Nelmer

Thanks chevalier.

Just started to discover the joys of ebay so will be getting up in the loft soon to clear out more stuff.

Thanks for the suggestion on the 'hippo' something i will be ringing up for on monday! we are in the process of trying to re-educate the kids that all lights do not need to be left on and steros don't need to be left on standby with the pretty lights flashing! We have been with southern elec for just under 12 months so we are still trying to find the best monthly 'budget' payment so it averages over the year. hubby has decided he is going to check all the radiators tomorrow as our heating is quite high but the radiators don't seem to be very hot (thanks for highlighting that!). didn't realise you could get contact lenses on the net....will be going for a surf shortly!

Currently working my way through recent food receipts and am sitting at the laptop reviewing meal ideas for the coming week to order the shopping for monday evening! Like the suggestion on circling things thrown away....might be a bit of an eye opener!

Mortgage is repayment, ex-wife's name is still on the house and mortgage at the moment. She was paying half the mortgage as her contribution to the kids 'up keep' but she stopped when i moved in but is refusing to remove her name from the house until we buy her out (she's not lived here for 10 years, not paid any mortgage payments or child support for 4 and wants us to give her half the current value of the house!!!!!)

Much food for thought, thanks for looking

christabell

Well done you for getting started on your budget and reducing your debt. Your 16 year old, is he able to claim the education maintenance allowance?
Have you thought of using the Snowball calculator to assess which cards to pay off first?
Do you have monthly payment plans for your gas, electricity and water bills?
Does your central heating boiler need serviced? On these dark nights, draw your curtains early, this will make your home warmer. Have you the thermostatic valves on your radiators, and long life bulbs in your lamps etc?
When cooking do you fill your oven and cook more than one meal at a time?
Lunches? Do you make your own, or eat at a cafeteria?
A slow cooker is a great way to cook the less expensive cuts of meat. Have you checked for recipes on the Old Style board?

That's about all I can think of now, may I wish you the best of luck, and remember each day you are a day closer to your Debt Free Day.

tealady

Hi and welcome Dont forget to do daily clicks (sites like Pigsback, moneybackmadness et al - theres a thread somewhere). There is a site where you can check out the cheapest petrol in your area as well. I would also look how many journeys you make in the cars, if they are a mile or less try walking. Shopping online might help as it removes some of the temptation (Personally I gave up as the two supermarkets I tried delivered items I would never buy) Also a spending diary is a must.
You could also try telling the ex due to negative equity in the property she owes you!!
Good luck