Had a really bad year, SOA, please be gentle

honeybee1234

Statement of Affairs & Personal Balance Sheet

Summary

Monthly Budget Summary	Amount(£)
Total monthly income	1,415
Monthly expenses (incl. HP & secured loans)	1,408.67
Available for debt repayments	6.33
UNsecured debt repayments	552.33
Amount short for making debt repayments	-546

Personal Balance Sheet Summary	Amount(£)
Total Assets (things you own)	11,985
Total Secured & HP Debt	-0
Total Unsecured Debt	-14,016.83
Net Assets	-2,031.83

Household Information

Number of adults in household	1
Number of children in household	0
Number of cars owned	1

Income, Expense, Debt & Asset Details

Income	Amount(£)
Monthly income after tax	0
Partners monthly income	0
Benefits	1415
Other income	0
Total monthly income	1415

Expenses	Amount(£)
Mortgage	0
Secured/HP loan payments	0
Rent	720
Management charge (leasehold property)	0
Council tax	45.85
Electricity	80
Gas	0
Oil	0
Water Rates	30.45
Telephone (land line)	0
Mobile phone	14.85
TV Licence	12.93
Satellite/Cable TV	0
Internet services	48
Groceries etc.	160
Clothing	0
Petrol/diesel	160
Road tax	11.02
Car Insurance	25.26
Car maintenance (including MOT)	0
Car Parking	36
Other travel	0
Childcare/nursery	0
Other child related expenses	0
Medical (prescriptions, dentists, opticians etc.)	17.5
Pet Insurance/Vet bills	0
Buildings Insurance	0
Contents Insurance	6.81
Life Assurance	0
Other Insurance	0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc.)	0
Haircuts	0
Entertainment	0
Holiday	0
Emergency Fund	0
Son's phone	10
Gym	30
Total monthly expenses	1408.67

Secured & HP Debt Description	Debt(£)	Monthly(£)	APR(%)
Mortgage	0	(0)	0
Secured & HP Debt totals	0	-	-

Unsecured Debt Description	Debt(£)	Monthly(£)	APR(%)
Car payment	10491	228	0
Laptop	227	25.26	0
Next	620	33	23.9
Klarna 2	48	48	0
Klarna 1	111	111	0
Clearpay	56.83	56.83	0
La Redoute	39	5	39.9
Very	303	4	0
Argos	1696	31.24	29.9
Aqua	229	5	0
Capital One	196	5	0
Unsecured Debt totals	14016.83	552.3299999999999	-

Asset Description	Value (£)
Cash	0
House Value (Gross)	0
Shares and bonds	0
Car(s)	11985
Other assets (e.g. endowments, jewellery etc)	0
Total Assets	11985

Hi all

My SOA for your perusal.

I've had a really bad year. I left the family home last year with only the clothes on my back and the car. I managed to find a rented house with the children, whose dad took them away one weekend and hasn't let me see them since. I was made redundant, my mental health declined, and I've been going through a domestic violence case. I used to be quite on the ball with money but I've really not handled it well the last few months.

A few notes... 

The car is on finance. It's very important to me, it's my lifeline. I struggle with agoraphobia and it facilitates me getting out of the house feeling safe. The finance was taken out whilst I was still in the family home. 

The Clearpay and Klarna all only have one payment left due at the start of April. 

The laptop is fixed monthly payments, the last one is due in December. 

I haven't found the APRs yet for everything but Very is currently 0%.

Im pretty sure Virgin are overcharging me as on my last contract it says £32 per month until July 2020 and I haven't changed anything since that contract. This is the 200 broadband, Mixit TV and basic phone package. With only me in the house I don't need that speed broadband and I barely watch TV so I may enquire about this.

The petrol is to drive my partner to and from work, and we go to the gym, he has offered to give me £80 a month once the gym is reopened. I use my gym membership 4-5 times a week and it's the only thing I really do.

17.50 is contact lenses, I have x2 more payments to pay for my last order. 

Mobile is Tesco, contract ends November 2020.

Also have outstanding childminder bill of approx £400, she is very kind and letting me pay this as and when I can afford.

Thankyou and apologies for formatting, I'm on my phone. 

Magsmx5

Does your partner contribute towards the household bills? Could you not suggest that your partner pays for the petrol to get to and from work. Phone Virgin get a cheaper package. In light of the fact that the gym is closed, you can save £30pm. Contact Stepchange and they will help you set up a Debt Management Plan. Once Clearpay and Klarna are paid, this will free up £200pm. 

You will also need to set up a more realistic budget that includes an amount for clothing, entertainment, presents and most important an emergency fund. Good luck with your journey. 

Aaleigha1

I too think partner should be paying for his share of the fuel to get to work
I know  the present it would be hard to find a little job can you work up to 15 hours without losing benifit 
see if there is any typing work going on the internet 

also are you crafty with supplies if so get making sell on facebook market place later ask cafes hairdressers etc if they will display your work for a % of sales that has worked well for me I have been doing it for a month and have made 50 quid under the present circumstances if you do well then perhaps open and etsey shop or folksy more uk based 
just try really hard tio find something you can do to get some extra cash in 

Retireby40

Is the £1400 a month just what you receive in benefits?
I take it your partner doesnt live with you if your saying 1 adult in the household?

Why are you taking your partner to work if they dont live with you? Can they not use the way they did before or public transport?

Can your partner not move in with you or vice versa to reduce rent payments?

honeybee1234

Magsmx5 said:

Does your partner contribute towards the household bills? Could you not suggest that your partner pays for the petrol to get to and from work. Phone Virgin get a cheaper package. In light of the fact that the gym is closed, you can save £30pm. Contact Stepchange and they will help you set up a Debt Management Plan. Once Clearpay and Klarna are paid, this will free up £200pm. 

You will also need to set up a more realistic budget that includes an amount for clothing, entertainment, presents and most important an emergency fund. Good luck with your journey. 

Thankyou. My partner doesn't live with me which is why he doesn't contribute towards the bills. He used to contribute towards petrol but we temporarily split, now we're together again he's going to contribute £20 each week.
I'll be contacting Virgin tomorrow for sure. Agree about a more realistic budget... That's definitely what I want to achieve. 

honeybee1234

Aaleigha1 said:

I too think partner should be paying for his share of the fuel to get to work
I know  the present it would be hard to find a little job can you work up to 15 hours without losing benifit 
see if there is any typing work going on the internet 

also are you crafty with supplies if so get making sell on facebook market place later ask cafes hairdressers etc if they will display your work for a % of sales that has worked well for me I have been doing it for a month and have made 50 quid under the present circumstances if you do well then perhaps open and etsey shop or folksy more uk based 
just try really hard tio find something you can do to get some extra cash in 

The job would help. I am actually in the LCWRA (?) group for Universal Credit so I get an amount for that, my mental health has really been a stumbling block during the last few months. I'm under the care of mental health services, just to clarify why I'm not currently working. I also am awaiting the outcome of a PIP claim but not sure on when to expect anything with that at the moment. 
I'm incredibly uncrafty unfortunately, but I will be ebaying in a bit as I have a few bits I know will sell and I enjoy it 🙂

honeybee1234

Retireby40 said:

Is the £1400 a month just what you receive in benefits?
I take it your partner doesnt live with you if your saying 1 adult in the household?

Why are you taking your partner to work if they dont live with you? Can they not use the way they did before or public transport?

Can your partner not move in with you or vice versa to reduce rent payments?

Yes, it's £1400 in benefits. You're right, I live on my own.
I take him to work as it helps him out. He used to get a lift from a colleague but they've left now. He used to give me petrol money, we temporarily split but are together again now, so he's going to give me £20 a week towards petrol.
He can't move in as he can't afford to contribute as he has other expenses. He lives in his family home. It's something that hopefully will happen but not for a while yet. 

middleclassbutpoor

You don't need a DMP at this stage. 
You have a few steps in terms of reducing your outgoings and with your last payment on a few things, you should be £250-300 better off in April. 

Use the amount that you have to start clearing the other debts and start snowballing the debt by wrapping up the monthly payments.  

Find out your APRs and then complete a snowball calculator 
https://lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/snowball-calculator.php

However as an example -
April: You clear the Klarna and Clearpay which is £215 you can apply to your debt. 
May: Use the £215 could pay off La Redoute and Capital one off - which clears up another £10 for June. 
June: Use £225 to pay off the laptop which then frees up the £25 more 
July: Use £250 to pay off Aqua... 

Clearly if you can add more to your overpayment through paying less from your monthly outgoings or creating more income through selling, this will speed up the snowball.  

The good news is that you have caught yourself before you need to speak to a debt charity. 

Set a budget and work it.  

honeybee1234

middleclassbutpoor said:

You don't need a DMP at this stage. 
You have a few steps in terms of reducing your outgoings and with your last payment on a few things, you should be £250-300 better off in April. 

Use the amount that you have to start clearing the other debts and start snowballing the debt by wrapping up the monthly payments.  

Find out your APRs and then complete a snowball calculator 


However as an example -
April: You clear the Klarna and Clearpay which is £215 you can apply to your debt. 
May: Use the £215 could pay off La Redoute and Capital one off - which clears up another £10 for June. 
June: Use £225 to pay off the laptop which then frees up the £25 more 
July: Use £250 to pay off Aqua... 

Clearly if you can add more to your overpayment through paying less from your monthly outgoings or creating more income through selling, this will speed up the snowball.  

The good news is that you have caught yourself before you need to speak to a debt charity. 

Set a budget and work it.  

Thankyou. I was hoping I could get through this mess without having to take formal steps and it feels like that's realistic now. I have a to-do list for tomorrow. I'm also thankful that I have final payments due in April that will free up money going forward. Looking forward to getting things done in the morning, I feel positive now 🙂

Magsmx5

glad you glad you are feeling more positive and hopefully some of the suggestions have helped . The first step is always the hardest, but you have taken that now so although it won’t be easy and at times will be stressful, you are on the way to a debt free future. 

honeybee1234

Magsmx5 said:

glad you glad you are feeling more positive and hopefully some of the suggestions have helped . The first step is always the hardest, but you have taken that now so although it won’t be easy and at times will be stressful, you are on the way to a debt free future. 

I'm feeling very focused, and if I'm being honest, slightly obsessed with money at the moment! Taking the step of doing my April budget and facing my problems has made me want to not hide, as I know things will get worse otherwise and I can bring this back if I am acting now and keep on top of it.
I'm finding it impossible to get through to Virgin, understandably, so I've messaged them and am awaiting a response. 

I contacted Klarna, who have suspended my payments, a £43 one I didn't know was on there 😕 for a month, and the rest until mid-May. I plan to divide these up between April and May, I think this is the best option?
Any thoughts welcome. 

I've emailed Clearpay about dividing up my payment between April and May as technically it's two separate payments, half and half, but I had to suspend March's payment, so it's two payments due together in April. Waiting to hear back from them. 

I spoke to the car finance company about a payment holiday for one month, which would need to be authorised, but could be done in May. There would be a £50 fee, I can't remember if I pay this directly or it gets added to the loan. So this is an option if desperately needed. 

Obviously as a helpful previous poster pointed out... No gym membership this month ☺️ Hadn't clocked that when I did the budget! 

I've changed my son's mobile payment from £10 to £6 per month because he simply doesn't use his data. It's only £4 difference... but it's £4 more I have and I'm all right with that 😁

I'm also going to see if I can reduce my Tesco mobile at all today. 

Just noticed the car parking amount... That's entirely for the gym so I'm going to scrap that for this month.