Statement of Affairs - time to take back control

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

stand_free said:

Hi,

I've finally taken my head out of the sand and put together my SOA. Some bad decisions when I had my own small business have led me to this point but it's time to take charge now. 

I am on an emergency tax code currently and that should be sorted out shortly. 

I plan to use the majority of my savings to clear down some of the credit card debt and then transfer the rest onto a 0% card so that there is only one payment. I have also identified ways of cutting my spending as well. 

I moved back with my parents when I had to relocate for a new job, clearly that is not a long term option but for now it will help. 

[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......... 0

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

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 2100

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

Benefits................................ 0

Other income............................ 0[b]

Total monthly income.................... 2100[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

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

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 296

Rent.................................... 200

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 0

Electricity............................. 0

Gas..................................... 0

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

Water rates............................. 0

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

Mobile phone............................ 45 

TV Licence.............................. 13.25

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0

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

Groceries etc. ......................... 300

Clothing................................ 25

Petrol/diesel........................... 210

Road tax................................ 12

Car Insurance........................... 32

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25

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

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

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

Other child related expenses............ 0

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

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0

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

Contents insurance...................... 0

Life assurance ......................... 15

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

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10

Haircuts................................ 7.5

Entertainment........................... 120

Holiday................................. 0

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

Experian................................ 15

Gym..................................... 120[b]

Total monthly expenses.................. 1445.75[/b]

[b]

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 1855

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

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

Car(s).................................. 18000

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

Total Assets............................ 19855[/b]

[b]

Secured & HP Debts[/b]

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

Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0

Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 25578.5..(296)......9.9[b]

Total secured & HP debts...... 25578.5...-.........-   [/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

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

BOS Card.......................2384.91...37.77.....11.9

RBS Card.......................1236.1....32........21.9

RBS Loan.......................13459.8...475.......16.9

Paypal.........................988.46....39.55.....21.9

Fintern Loan...................4416.82...201.......15[b]

Firstly - CONGRATS ON BEGINNING YOUR PATH! 

Comments below, I hope they help! 

Mobile: Can you reduce this in any way? I have a SIM only deal with EE thats £10 a month, unlimited calls and texts and 10GB Data 

TV Licence - Do you really need this? If you tend to watch more "Catch up" TV and nothing on the BBC then you dont need it 

Groceries - OUCH! I spend £400 a month for a family of 5 with 2 dogs and cleaning products. Meal plan is the key, try downshifting goods (My kids cannot tell the difference in most cases) 

Diesel - Have a look to see if you can cut this by other forms of transport for smaller journeys, or combining journeys 

Entertainment? What does this include? Look for deals  

Experian? You can use the MSE tool for free - its with experian 

Gym - OUCH! Can you move Gyms or look at a different pricing structure? Do your work have any discounts? (For example, my work have gymflex) 

enthusiasticsaver

Well done on getting rid of the Paypal card.

Regarding the BOS card a 5% BT fee will cost you £61 and the saving on interest will be approx £10 per month so it will take 6 months before the saving on interest will cancel out the fee.  If you only intend carrying on with the £32 per month then it may be worth it so given you do not have enough to overpay significantly that is a decision which could go either way. Is the HP for the car and can you hand it back?  Why is it £25K when the car is only worth £18k? 

The soa has the bottom summary missing so it has not added up the unsecured debts and subtracted it from your income.  I make your outgoings (assuming no TV licence or Experian) as coming to £2202.82 so given your income is only £2100 you have a problem. 

The groceries will have to reduce as will the entertainment and when the mobile is out of contract you can move to SIM only which is cheaper.  The gym is unsustainable with your level of income and outgoings regardless of whether you use it or not. You can cancel clothing and not buy anything for 6 months to a year and maybe ask for clothes for christmas or birthday. At this stage I cannot see how you could afford to move out of your parents house should you have to. 

TheAble

RAS said:

stand_free said:

Brie said:

Well done on getting started on this. 

And living with your folks explains the low rent and a number of other things too which was going to be my first question.

Second question - why are you paying for a TV license?    Did your folks not have one? And not watch live TV?

£25 a month for clothing?  Not a lot over all but is it really necessary while you're clearing debts?

£15 for Experian?  Why??

And £120 a month for the gym?  Is this a long term contract and something you actually use?  And another £120 for entertainment??  Now these 2 things may be what makes living with your parents bearable - been there, done that myself - so if that's the case then I suggest you stick with it.

Is there a 0% card you can get or is there an offer on one of your current CCs?  I wonder if with the level of debt you have now if you would be successful in getting another card given that the provider will just assume (rightly or wrongly) that you will just use it for spending rather than to reduce your monthly payments overall.

As for eliminating the debts - you've probably sussed already that hitting the ones with the highest interest is that right place to start.  So nuke Paypal and then RBS.  Meanwhile I'd suggest asking for settlement values for both Fintern and the HP just in case there's something that might be done with those.  

Best of luck with it!!!

Morning,

TV License was posted by mistake, but either way it’s been cancelled as has Experian this morning.

I’ve also nuked PayPal with savings, so it’s gone. 

I have an offer to balance transfer the entire RBS card into my other existing card for 11.9% with a 5% fee. I know that’s not ideal but at least it would cut down the cost of payments as I can’t get a 0% card. 

I have asked about switching my gym contract but I use it regularly anyway. 

Every little bit helps.

So now you tackle the 16.9% card relentlessly.

Why not tackle RBS card first and save the 5% fee? I don't really see the point of paying out £60 and then working on a different card.

stand_free

DrEskimo said:

Others have discussed your food bill and gym bill (does your job offer gymflex through salary sacrifice?), but I don't think you've detailed what the secured HP loan is for? Is this for the £18,000 car?

Although it is for >£25k, so would indicate you are massively upside down if it was for the car.

The original loan for the car was £25k, it’s now down to £18k and the value of the car is currently £17k. That’s what I was offered this afternoon as a part exchange so there is negative equity in it just now. 

Grumpy_chap

stand_free said:

The original loan for the car was £25k, it’s now down to £18k and the value of the car is currently £17k. That’s what I was offered this afternoon as a part exchange so there is negative equity in it just now. 

In your SoA, you appear to show the car loan as still having a balance of a little over £25k.  Does that mean the payments have not been maintained, or have you not updated the settlement figure in the SoA?

stand_free said:

Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 25578.5..(296)......9.9[b]

If you are seriously willing to consider releasing funds from the car, you do not have to do a direct trade in with the supplier of the replacement car.  
Shop about for the best sale value.  What will WBAC, Motorway, Arnold Clark, Cazoo, local Dealers offer?

DrEskimo

stand_free said:

DrEskimo said:

Others have discussed your food bill and gym bill (does your job offer gymflex through salary sacrifice?), but I don't think you've detailed what the secured HP loan is for? Is this for the £18,000 car?

Although it is for >£25k, so would indicate you are massively upside down if it was for the car.

The original loan for the car was £25k, it’s now down to £18k and the value of the car is currently £17k. That’s what I was offered this afternoon as a part exchange so there is negative equity in it just now. 

As above, be good to reflect the current value of the loan today, and the current value of the car. Being £1k upside down is not as bad as it first appeared, and as Grumpy points out, shop around as you may be able to get close, or even greater than the current settlement from other traders/garages/brokers.

For me that would be an obvious place to start. You have far too much debt in expensive metal and it's costing you a lot per month. Selling this and getting a cheap run around would reduce a lot of your overall debt and free up some money to start tackling the other debt.