Can I make any changes?

GolfR

Hi everyone

I used to have a lot of ‘all over the place’ debt (loan of 10k, balance transfer of £4000, argos card £900 amongst others) but I’ve worked hard and paid pretty much all of these debts off over the last year. So I’m uploading my SOA to see if there’s anything I can do better. A few comments I want to point out - my second loan is new as I bought my new for me car a couple of weeks ago. I won’t be selling this for a cheaper one as I’ve gone from an expensive ish performance car to a cheaper car and it bit me on the behind so I’ve part ex’d it for my new car. Also, cars are my main hobby so this is non changer. 

Also, I know the pet thing is a lot. My dog is a breed with a lot of known health problems (he’s alright so far thankfully) and the insurance is £58 a month. I wish this was cheaper however I chose the most reputable company for him and I wouldn’t feel safe saving the money in a side account in case I ended up with a 4k+ bill I couldn’t afford.

Mobile phone will be down to £20 after another three payments of £36.50 to Apple for my interest free phone and I have no plans to change my phone in the near future.

My monthly income changes depending on my shifts however it’s on average 2k. I sometimes get universal credit as I am a single mother but the amount isn’t even worth mentioning due to my wage so I’ve left that as £0. I have £500 in savings which I am hoping to build on now that my last non loan debt (apart from my iPhone) was paid off this month.

So here is my SOA. Thanks for any replies.

[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 1

Number of children in household......... 2

Number of cars owned.................... 1[b]

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 2000

Partners monthly income after tax....... 0

Benefits................................ 140

Other income............................ 200[b]

Total monthly income.................... 2340[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 0

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0

Rent.................................... 500

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 113

Electricity............................. 40

Gas..................................... 28

Oil..................................... 0

Water rates............................. 40

Telephone (land line)................... 0

Mobile phone............................ 57

TV Licence.............................. 13

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 62

Internet Services....................... 0

Groceries etc. ......................... 200

Clothing................................ 20

Petrol/diesel........................... 150

Road tax................................ 13

Car Insurance........................... 40

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50

Car parking............................. 0

Other travel............................ 0

Childcare/nursery....................... 0

Other child related expenses............ 50

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 95

Buildings insurance..................... 0

Contents insurance...................... 5

Life assurance ......................... 0

Other insurance......................... 0

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50

Haircuts................................ 0

Entertainment........................... 40

Holiday................................. 40

Emergency fund.......................... 0

Professional fees....................... 26[b]

Total monthly expenses.................. 1632[/b]

[b]

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 500

House value (Gross)..................... 0

Shares and bonds........................ 0

Car(s).................................. 12000

Other assets............................ 0[b]

Total Assets............................ 12500[/b]

[b]

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts[/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Loan 1.........................11936.....362.......3.1

Loan 2.........................10336.....191.......3.5

Iphone.........................110.......37........0

Harvey’s sofa..................690.......18........0[b]

Total unsecured debts..........23072.....608.......-  [/b]

[b]

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]

Total monthly income.................... 2,340

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,632

Available for debt repayments........... 708

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 608[b]

Amount left after debt repayments....... 100[/b]

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]

Total assets (things you own)........... 12,500

Total HP & Secured debt................. -0

Total Unsecured debt.................... -23,072[b]

Net Assets.............................. -10,572[/b]

[i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]

natlie

Hi, You have really similar income to me and I get £500 a month in Universal Credit have you tried applying? 
Nat

TheAble

Given your initial comments about pets and cars I can't see much to trim other than the satellite TV.
Double check your benefits as well, as has been suggested.

MovingForwards

Is your council tax spread over 12 months instead of 10?

Can you get a cheaper TV package or swap to internet and freeview, maybe Netflix or some other provider? That would shave half the cost off.

Are your professional fees payable to a regulator or union fees? The former are tax deductible.
If you have to wear a uniform for work and wash it at home, that's also tax deductible. There's a thread on MSE somewhere about it.

Where do you buy your fuel? If a supermarket, have you got a loyalty card? If so, save all your points up for year end and use it to pay for Christmas day food, or whatever festival you celebrate throughout the year.

GolfR

Thanks for your replies. natlie - I applied for UC about 20 months ago and I was having a few hundred until my pay rise of £2500 pa this year and now I get small odd amounts. This month I’m having £16. I don’t know if it makes a difference that I pay into a large nhs pension but I’ll look into this, thanks.

MovingForwards - yes it’s spread over 12 months. I’d prefer to pay it over 10 but this year they changed it to 12 for some reason and I never got round to phoning them to change it. I’ve been looking at changing to plusnet and Netflix from sky today, I’ve just come out of contract so now is the ideal time, I’ve worked out I’ll save £34 a month! The fees are to a union and to the NMC. Thanks to Martin Lewis I applied for the tax deductible thing last year and got about £500 in a rebate so I’ve exhausted that option. I tend to buy my fuel from Tesco, I never thought to save my vouchers for Christmas time, what a good idea!

Thanks again all.

CarolynCh

I think you have listed your iPhone payment (£37) twice - once in the monthly expense details and then again in the unsecured debts section.

Singlespeeder

"Also, I know the pet thing is a lot. My dog is a breed with a lot of known health problems (he’s alright so far thankfully) and the insurance is £58 a month.

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 95

"

Any reason for this discrepancy? Surely not £58 insurance AND £37 bills?

GolfR

Carolyn yes you’re right I did add it twice, my sim only is £20 pm. Singlespeeder - I pay pet health club which is £17 pm and his food is roughly £25-£30 a month. I raw feed and he has on average one pack a day at £1 each - the cheapest most decent quality one I can get.

Andyjflet

I cant really take this seriously on a debt board when you have taken a loan for a car, under whatever circumstances. You are obviously struggling or you wouldnt be here. Use your hobby to fix other peoples cars and sell the car, pay off the loan and buy a banger for cash would be my strong advice. 

Smashingitnow

You have a lot of 'non-neogtiables' meaning you are going to be repaying this debt for years, unable to buy a house (which means you will need to keep working to pay rent until you die), and unable to contribute to your children's university costs (or help them financially in other ways).
You have an iphone, an expensive car, and an expensive dog (that we know about...I am guessing there are other expensive things, hence the debt).  You also spend 600 pounds a year on gifts. These are nice.
But my question is when do you plan to pay off the debt to enable you to provide for your children's future needs and your old age? You have a good salary but at the rate you are going, it will take four years to pay off the debt, and if you then only save at the same rate, it will take you another four years to save a house deposit...will you still be young enough to get a 25 year mortgage in eight years' time?
You say you paid off some debts, but then you got the car loan...meaning your debt has not decreased. You are stuck permanently in a situation of paying interest and being unable to save.
So given this, your non-negotiables must signify or represent something VERY important to you, certainly more important than long term financial security for you and your children.
And so I think many people on this forum will struggle to suggest changes you can make, as it's rather an 'elephant in the room' situation. Saving twenty quid on groceries won't change the scenario above. Selling the car and getting a cheaper one, would.

TheAble

On a separate note I would recommend buying some life insurance, given that you have children.