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Finally got my finger out, please be nice!
Catapillerry
Posts: 19 Forumite
I've been in a really bad place with my finances for over 4 years now. I can honestly say that I hadn't looked at my bank account for over a year, and really had no idea what was going on. It drove me into some extremely dark places.
However, last year, I was made redundant from my job of 20 years. I got something else almost right away, and it's driven me to get my finger out. I took a decent couple of roles (contracting) and now I'm about to start the permanent job I wanted.
Perversely, that terrible news has made me face up to stuff, and now I know what my finances look like, and how much I actually owe.
I realise there are people in much, much worse situations than me, but I hope you can help.
It's not pretty, and there are some real mistakes in there, but somehow I've always managed to keep paying everyone on time, and my credit score is very high. Because of my very high borrowing, even though I have good credit, I cannot consolidate due to affordability. But I really want to start getting this sorted.
However, last year, I was made redundant from my job of 20 years. I got something else almost right away, and it's driven me to get my finger out. I took a decent couple of roles (contracting) and now I'm about to start the permanent job I wanted.
Perversely, that terrible news has made me face up to stuff, and now I know what my finances look like, and how much I actually owe.
I realise there are people in much, much worse situations than me, but I hope you can help.
It's not pretty, and there are some real mistakes in there, but somehow I've always managed to keep paying everyone on time, and my credit score is very high. Because of my very high borrowing, even though I have good credit, I cannot consolidate due to affordability. But I really want to start getting this sorted.
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Well done for facing it, that's the hardest bit. Can you fill in an SOA and post it here? https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php then people can see where you're at and make suggestions on the best way forwardDebt was £15,903 😬 Now £2718.14 £0 😲🥳2
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As Greencat says - the toughest bit is saying "I need help" so well done for that. The SOA will help get everything set out in one place so you can clearly see all your outgoings against income. You need to ensure it's as open and accurate as possible, and it must reflect the situation you are in right now - not what you think you "should" be spending.
Not being able to consolidate is a very good thing - as it almost never works. Chances are, however bad you think you're situation is right now, had you gone the consolidation route in 5 years time you would be in an even bigger hole, so consider that one a lucky escape.
Congratulations on your new job - and I'm glad it's brought your finances into focus for you. From here on, the only way is up!🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
Here's my SOA.
Some notes on it - I haven't included my wife's income, as I want to keep that separate. It might not be the right thing to do and might not help you much, but for personal reasons that's what I've done.
Her wage goes into a joint account that pays for food, entertainment (which is pretty much nothing), fuel and some clothing.
She has a NEXT account but there are no big outgoings in there or loans.
Mobile phone seems high but I pay for my daughters at university, and another expense might be sending money to her soon.
Gas and Electric is currently reasonably low but we know the situation there.
Lease car is down as a loan because that's how it looks on my credit report.
Please be nice. I've been in a very bad place.[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]Household Information[/b]Number of adults in household........... 4Number of children in household......... 1Number of cars owned.................... 2[b]Monthly Income Details[/b]Monthly income after tax................ 2700Partners monthly income after tax....... 0Benefits................................ 0Other income............................ 0[b]Total monthly income.................... 2700[/b][b]Monthly Expense Details[/b]Mortgage................................ 603Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0Rent.................................... 0Management charge (leasehold property).. 0Council tax............................. 206Electricity............................. 100Gas..................................... 150Oil..................................... 0Water rates............................. 57.15Telephone (land line)................... 0Mobile phone............................ 130TV Licence.............................. 13.37Satellite/Cable TV...................... 40Internet Services....................... 30Groceries etc. ......................... 0Clothing................................ 20Petrol/diesel........................... 50Road tax................................ 15Car Insurance........................... 40Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20Car parking............................. 0Other travel............................ 0Childcare/nursery....................... 0Other child related expenses............ 0Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 8Pet insurance/vet bills................. 5Buildings insurance..................... 9Contents insurance...................... 9Life assurance ......................... 23Other insurance......................... 45Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0Haircuts................................ 0Entertainment........................... 0Holiday................................. 100Emergency fund.......................... 0[b]Total monthly expenses.................. 1673.52[/b][b]Assets[/b]Cash.................................... 0House value (Gross)..................... 390000Shares and bonds........................ 0Car(s).................................. 8000Other assets............................ 0[b]Total Assets............................ 398000[/b][b]Secured & HP Debts[/b]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APRMortgage...................... 130000...(603)......0[b]Total secured & HP debts...... 130000....-.........- [/b][b]Unsecured Debts[/b]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APRZopa Loan......................8732......266.......6Creation Fin (Sofa)............1278......25........0Virgin Money cc................6901......104.8.....17Very...........................1455......100.......29Halifax........................475.......15........20Nationwide CC..................745.......30........20New Day (AO)...................888.......35........0PayPal.........................2416......101.......20[b]Total unsecured debts..........22890.....676.8.....- [/b][b]Monthly Budget Summary[/b]Total monthly income.................... 2,700Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,673.52Available for debt repayments........... 1,026.48Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 676.8[b]Amount left after debt repayments....... 349.68[/b][b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]Total assets (things you own)........... 398,000Total HP & Secured debt................. -130,000Total Unsecured debt.................... -22,890[b]Net Assets.............................. 245,110[/b][i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]0 -
The mobile bill is high even if paying for 2 or 3 phones. Do you know when the contracts end so that you can change them straight away?
I think you need to save a bit of an emergency fund, maybe using the holiday money for a few months?
In terms of debt I would prioritise those with apr's over 20% to begin with. If you do truly have £349.68 left every month you could even clear the Halifax one within a couple of months just to feel good that one is gone.
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Thanks for this.draiggoch said:The mobile bill is high even if paying for 2 or 3 phones. Do you know when the contracts end so that you can change them straight away?
I think you need to save a bit of an emergency fund, maybe using the holiday money for a few months?
In terms of debt I would prioritise those with apr's over 20% to begin with. If you do truly have £349.68 left every month you could even clear the Halifax one within a couple of months just to feel good that one is gone.
I should say that the income is from next month in my new job. My previous one only just covered all this.
The phone is a lot, but is 3 contracts of £40 a month. I guess that's a luxury but not much I can do about that till next year when a couple expire.
The holiday is not something I put by every month but I thought I should, considering in the past I've just used a credit card for them.0 -
Have you looked to see if you are eligible for a 0% credit card? As many of your debts have a high APR. Not recommending consolidation but if you can reduce the interest then your payments actually make more of a dent. The important thing is to stop using the old credit availability one paid off.2
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That’s great Catapillerry, you’ll have some money left over after everything is paid to throw at your debts, plus there are a few things in your SOA you could possibly trim down on to make an even bigger impact
well done, you’ll be on your path to debt freedom soon Debt was £15,903 😬 Now £2718.14 £0 😲🥳0 -
I don't think £250 is that great for gas and electric. See if you can turn anything off, so leaving lights on in empty rooms, check thermostat etc etc.
What is the £45 other insurance? Can you cancel that?
What about he £40 satellite TV? You've got Internet so how about cancelling that for a while? It's another nearly £500 a year off your debts.
You say your wife pays for food. Its there a reason she's not paying towards more household expenses? Maybe it's worth reviewing the situation with her?Debt at highest: £8k. Debt Free 31/12/2009. Original MFD May 2036, MF Dec 2018.0 -
As far as the soa goes the mobiles is high as others have said but there is not much you can do if they are under contract but be aware when the contracts expire. Getting rid of the cable TV gives you another £40 to put towards the debt. You should really save for emergencies so you are not tempted to put more on credit cards especially as you are paying interest and quite high interest on some of the cards. As you are paying £35 each month to Very in interest I would tackle that card first. I think you should explain to your wife that you cannot afford a holiday this year and put the £100 towards emergency savings and the surplus of almost £350 monthly towards overpaying the debt. Then pay minimums to New Day and repay the cards in order of the most expensive first so as I say, Very, then Halifax, Nationwide and Paypay and finally Virgin. There are snowball calculators on here which will tell you how long before the debt is gone. If you can move any of the cards to 0% that will help you too.Catapillerry said:Here's my SOA.
Some notes on it - I haven't included my wife's income, as I want to keep that separate. It might not be the right thing to do and might not help you much, but for personal reasons that's what I've done.
Her wage goes into a joint account that pays for food, entertainment (which is pretty much nothing), fuel and some clothing.
She has a NEXT account but there are no big outgoings in there or loans.
Mobile phone seems high but I pay for my daughters at university, and another expense might be sending money to her soon.
Gas and Electric is currently reasonably low but we know the situation there.
Lease car is down as a loan because that's how it looks on my credit report.
Please be nice. I've been in a very bad place.[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]Household Information[/b]Number of adults in household........... 4Number of children in household......... 1Number of cars owned.................... 2[b]Monthly Income Details[/b]Monthly income after tax................ 2700Partners monthly income after tax....... 0Benefits................................ 0Other income............................ 0[b]Total monthly income.................... 2700[/b][b]Monthly Expense Details[/b]Mortgage................................ 603Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0Rent.................................... 0Management charge (leasehold property).. 0Council tax............................. 206Electricity............................. 100Gas..................................... 150Oil..................................... 0Water rates............................. 57.15Telephone (land line)................... 0Mobile phone............................ 130TV Licence.............................. 13.37Satellite/Cable TV...................... 40Internet Services....................... 30Groceries etc. ......................... 0Clothing................................ 20Petrol/diesel........................... 50Road tax................................ 15Car Insurance........................... 40Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20Car parking............................. 0Other travel............................ 0Childcare/nursery....................... 0Other child related expenses............ 0Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 8Pet insurance/vet bills................. 5Buildings insurance..................... 9Contents insurance...................... 9Life assurance ......................... 23Other insurance......................... 45Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0Haircuts................................ 0Entertainment........................... 0Holiday................................. 100Emergency fund.......................... 0[b]Total monthly expenses.................. 1673.52[/b][b]Assets[/b]Cash.................................... 0House value (Gross)..................... 390000Shares and bonds........................ 0Car(s).................................. 8000Other assets............................ 0[b]Total Assets............................ 398000[/b][b]Secured & HP Debts[/b]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APRMortgage...................... 130000...(603)......0[b]Total secured & HP debts...... 130000....-.........- [/b][b]Unsecured Debts[/b]Description....................Debt......Monthly...APRZopa Loan......................8732......266.......6Creation Fin (Sofa)............1278......25........0Virgin Money cc................6901......104.8.....17Very...........................1455......100.......29Halifax........................475.......15........20Nationwide CC..................745.......30........20New Day (AO)...................888.......35........0PayPal.........................2416......101.......20[b]Total unsecured debts..........22890.....676.8.....- [/b][b]Monthly Budget Summary[/b]Total monthly income.................... 2,700Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,673.52Available for debt repayments........... 1,026.48Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 676.8[b]Amount left after debt repayments....... 349.68[/b][b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]Total assets (things you own)........... 398,000Total HP & Secured debt................. -130,000Total Unsecured debt.................... -22,890[b]Net Assets.............................. 245,110[/b][i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]
I am not sure why you arrange your finances so that your wifes income does not go towards the bills. Does she know the amount of unsecured debt that you are holding? You would deal with this a lot quicker if you use both salaries to address the debt and get straight. It is a good thing you did not get a consolidation loan as that never helps and just kicks the can down the road if bad spending habits have led to debt in the first place. You can sort this but only if you prioritise repaying the debt and work together.I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
Click on this link for a Statement of Accounts that can be posted on the DebtFree Wannabe board: https://lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php
The 365 Day 1p Challenge 2025 #1 £667.95/£500
Save £12k in 2025 #1 £12000/£124501 -
It has been a good start sorting out figures. You have explained about your wife's wages, but can the other adults contribute something?Aiming to make £7,500 online in 20220
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