SOA -some advice needed please

sharpe106

It is good that you are starting working on it together. Once you have completed an combined SOA and budget you will know what your actually situation is and be able to see what areas can be trimmed and work out the best way forward.

Karonher

It seems daunting now, but once you have the expected debt free date it will be a relieve to know there is an end. The next step will be to find out ways to bring it forward.

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Well done on working together and I'm glad your husband is on board, probably best to do it quickly over the next day or two to get a clearer picture.  A lot of finance companies are offering payment breaks because of the Covid thing, maybe they'll give you the benefit of the doubt for the few months you've missed and you can catch up (if your budget supports this).  I get the impression that once you've looked at your joint finances, there will be some wriggle room to sort all this out

lulu79_2

Thank you all. I'll keep you updated if that is ok. I really value your advice so far.

natlie

Hi,
I think you should reconsider your SOA to make sure its accurate and give SC the correct budget, your Birthdays/Christmas pot seems low I include mothers day/cards/fathers day and the occasions including possibility of having to eat out, this was an area where i was getting caught out. Groceries seems really low, does this include all cleaning products etc, worth doing a review of receipts for a month. Clothing, do your children start back to school soon? its worth setting up a uniform fund if they do shoes, bags, coats, uniform for 2 are expensive. 

If you make any extra cash from selling things put it into your emergency fund not towards your debt, you should be saving a good lump for emergencies, I am setting a goal for £5000 but realistically would like £9000 (3 months living costs and bills) just in case 
Nat 

lulu79_2

Hi,

Just an update on my situation. My husband and I have worked together on budgets and bills and both agreed our financial set up was very much based on historical circumstances. We have looked at all the household finances and we are in the process of moving them to the joint account so we can each transfer money from our own accounts to cover the bills. I've gone through all my DD from bank account and PayPal payments that were recurring - some I had no idea so I've been brutal with those. Same with subscriptions that were taken out for the trial period and not cancelled - school girl error there. My mobile phone contract (EE) was at the point I could upgrade and I really wanted to as my phone screen has been damaged for some time BUT after spending much time going over options I have gone with a SIM only deal for £15 a month so a reduction from my £33 a month. My daughters contract was £11 and that is now £7 so I feel really happy about that. I was also advised of a broadband deal with EE of £24 a month. We have been with BT for ages and have been trying to get the cost of the package lowered. We currently pay £53 but I forgot that includes the BT box. I spoke with DH yesterday as I think we can ditch the box as our tv should have freeview so if this is the case that will be another saving!
Car wise - I had a good call with the finance company last week and was surprised to hear I have a number of options available to me. My account has been on hold for 5 months so I have that "missed payments" to make up but I am past the half way mark on my agreement so could terminate the contract and hand the car back paying off the missed payments either in full or setting up and agreement to pay off over a number of months. Or I could sell the car - either privately or to a dealership. My car value is roughly the amount of money left on my agreement so if I sold it that would pay it all off and I wouldn't have monthly cost of £195 plus the missed payments. DH has just recently paid off his car finance so he is saving £150 every month so in practical terms - it makes sense for me to not have my car and we have 1 car. But, DH car is 2 door, 1 year older than mine and 10K more miles on the clock. My car is 4 doors so makes it a tad easier with kids (although no car seats to worry about as they just need a booster). So we have to make the decision about that but I was so relieved with the options.
I managed to pay and additional £100 to the Shop Direct account this week as and DH is happy to help me pay off that and Next as he has some spare money due to no car payment. Then that leaves the biggies - the CC and loan.
I know I still have a lot of work to do but I fee so much more in control of finances, glad we have a proper idea of what we pay out what account it should come from. I'm also much more aware of what we spend - do we need it (my mobile for example). Also looking at lots of things to sell - just need to get things listed!

Appreciate any advice or comments. Without posting on here I would still be stuck in my own wee world worrying away.

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Sounds like you've been really busy and made loads of progress
If you're feeling brave, you could post your new family SOA on here, so that people can advise?
On your new budget, do you have enough money to cover your expenses and start paying down your debts?
On your original SOA you had Opus, RBS loan, RBS CC and a barclaycard.... if this is still the case, you could snowball and start paying these off.  If your OH is covering shop direct and next then that's a help.  So RBS and Barclaycard would be the next priorities as they have high APRs, could you move these to 0%.
Great news with the phone and car.  Ideally, if you can just have one car that will save you a lot.  It makes sense to keep your husband's if it's paid off, I'd probably just tolerate the inconvenience of the 2 doors.
Good luck and keep posting

enthusiasticsaver

A quick add up of what I would consider to be household bills including the £290 groceries figure comes to £1411 with you paying the bulk of it so the division of expenses needs to be sorted either by you going joint  or your husband taking over some of the bills or the mortgage. Your debt repayment comes to around £1000 a month without the car finance or the maintenance costs and savings for clothing, gifts, hair, entertainment etc.  So  even with your husband paying more towards the bills and with those interest rates on your debts I think I would lean towards a DMP.  This depends on how much your husband earns.  I personally would give your car back or sell it and save £195. Alternatively you could sell your husbands car as that is now free from finance and use that to pay off the missed payments on your car and some of the other high interest debts depending on how much it raises.