I’ve got myself in quite a mess

haggyloops

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

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 2

Number of children in household......... 3

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

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 2830

Partners monthly income after tax....... 2000

Benefits................................ 223

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

Total monthly income.................... 5053[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 1590

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 620

Rent.................................... 0

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 202

Electricity............................. 150

Gas..................................... 150

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

Water rates............................. 24

Telephone (land line)................... 20

Mobile phone............................ 55

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

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 40

Internet Services....................... 25

Groceries etc. ......................... 600

Clothing................................ 75

Petrol/diesel........................... 175

Road tax................................ 2

Car Insurance........................... 54

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30

Car parking............................. 5

Other travel............................ 10

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

Other child related expenses............ 100

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 11

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10

Buildings insurance..................... 39

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

Life assurance ......................... 34

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

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 75

Haircuts................................ 20

Entertainment........................... 50

Holiday................................. 50

Emergency fund.......................... 50[b]

Total monthly expenses.................. 4279.25[/b]

[b]

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 0

House value (Gross)..................... 360000

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

Car(s).................................. 3000

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

Total Assets............................ 363000[/b]

[b]

Secured & HP Debts[/b]

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

Mortgage...................... 214000...(1590).....5.7

Secured Debt.................. 21000....(375)......21.49

Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 2613.....(245)......10.8[b]

Total secured & HP debts...... 237613....-.........-   [/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

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

MBNA...........................6057......137.......17.93

Halifax loan...................2648......150.......13.97

PayPal credit..................4997......158.......21.9

Halifax Overdraft..............1000......20........0

HSBC overdraft.................750.......10........0

Friend.........................4000......300.......0

Fund ourselves.................436.......218.......93.7

Newday.........................852.......62........0

PayPal Credit..................1628......59.35.....59.35

Windows loan...................3000......70........0

Novuna.........................5275......326.3.....8.8

Littlewoods....................267.......9.........0

Argos..........................1106......48........34.9

Next...........................2591......140.......24.9[b]

thelegendofyrag

Hi, big hug from here to you too!

Do you have everything, income/outgoings and credit on a spreadsheet at all?
I have mine all set out in a realistic 2 yr debt free plan. Before I was putting all my extra money per month after bills towards my CC but was then spending on them neutralising my debt and never getting anywhere. 

Now, its spread out based on soonest 0% ending whilst giving me cash to spend each month.

In terms of your outgoings and something which I've never looked back on is cancelling Sky, TV Licence and only watching Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Would save you an additional £50 odd a month

Good Luck!

TheAble

So I make it £1707.65 going out per month on unsecured debts?

Overall then you have a £933.9 monthly overspend - your debts are only going to increase at this rate so you'll need to explore areas to trim your spending. Admittedly there's nothing hugely outlandish on there but small efficiencies in each category do add up.

Also double check some of those APRs - I doubt the overdrafts are at 0%. Usually these are one of the most expensive forms of borrowing - 40% is the norm.

Do you really not have contents insurance btw or is this included in the buildings insurance figure? If not you should definitely put this in place.

haggyloops

Morning - yes the contents is with the buildings insurance. I wasn’t sure on a couple of the APRs so left them as but will need to look into them. Thank you 

enthusiasticsaver

The unsecured debts amount to £1707.65 each month and you only have £773.75 spare assuming that soa is correct so I  don't think you can get out of this  without a debt solution like  a DMP. You need to protect your equity so bankruptcy is not an option. 

I read somewhere you have mortgage arrears.  You need to prioritise your mortgage and secured loan above all else so I would contact your mortgage holders to see if they can help you and come to some arrangement.  Forget the unsecured debts and default on them. Your credit record must be trashed already and honestly borrowing more is the worst thing you can do.  You cannot borrow your way out of debt. I hope that secured loan was not for debt consolidation but for future reference never turn unsecured debt into secured. 

You need a clean bank account with a bank you do not owe money to with no overdraft facilities.  The fly in the ointment is your loan from a friend as a DMP done through stepchange (a free debt charity) cannot be included.  The plus is that  interest will be frozen and a monthly payment agreed that you can afford.  Lots of those rates are high and overdrafts are usually 40% so I don't think yours are 0%. I assume the £20 and £10 are the monthly charges. 

Your debt is £34600 and if you pay £750 per month out of the £773.75 you have spare each month you will be debt free in less than 4 years.  No more borrowing or cards or loans though. 

That is what I would do in your position. 

Martico

I agree with enthusiasticsaver - it looks like there's just too much to "trim" from your budget to be able to pay down the debt by regular means.

However, first of all please get on top of your budget. Work out what your monthly spends truly are: you say you're putting £50pm into an emergency fund, but have no cash in hand, which makes me think the SOA is aspirational. I suspect that lots of money is leaking all over the place. Keep a spending diary, work out how to budget within your means, otherwise you'll fall back into the same habits. Good luck

haggyloops

Ok thank you, I needed to hear that. To be honest a great deal of the debt is due to being an alcoholic and I am now in recovery - hence why I need to get my head out my !!!!!! and get sorted. This all makes sense - terrifying but makes sense. Yes the SOA is what I stick to now so I guess aspirational in some respects as I was too busy messing up my life to think rationally. Thank you everyone. My credit rating is surprisingly ok at the moment but guess that won’t remain! Thank you for taking the time to help me xx

haggyloops

Oh and the original secured loan was for building work so that actually has a reason for existence - the rest not so much. 

haggyloops

Oh - just one more question, my husband is reluctant to go into a dmp with me. Can I do this alone for my debts only? 

craftingmad

Little changes really can add up to big things and your salaries are both good so you CAN get yourselves out of this if you really want too. Promise.

As others have said your main priority should be clearing your mortgage arrears. Have you spoken to your lender and is it possible to come with up with a payment plan so these can be cleared as quickly as possible?.

Small actions really do add up so just from a quick glance there are a few things you could do to free up some extra money to be thrown at your debts:-

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 2

Number of children in household......... 3 How old are the children? Could you and/or your partner get a little extra job to help bring in some cash?

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

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 2830

Partners monthly income after tax....... 2000

Benefits................................ 223

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

Total monthly income.................... 5053[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 1590

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 620

Rent.................................... 0

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 202

Electricity............................. 150

Gas..................................... 150

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

Water rates............................. 24

Telephone (land line)................... 20

Mobile phone............................ 55  Could you switch to a lower tariff? Or downgrade a phone if included?

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

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 40  Could you get rid of this and use freeview if you have a smart tv?

Internet Services....................... 25

Groceries etc. ......................... 600 This seems really high - take a look on the threads for ways to help cut this. It works out as £120 per week each for food - I spend £120 for a family of 4 including dog food

Clothing................................ 75 - wear what you have and commit to not buying any clothes if at all possible (even if only for a set period of time say 6 months)?

Petrol/diesel........................... 175 - this seems very high for one car. Do you cover lots of miles for work? Could you claim any of this back? Could public transport be an cheaper option?

Road tax................................ 2

Car Insurance........................... 54 - again this seems really high? Have you used price comparison sites to see if you can better deal when renewal comes around?

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30

Car parking............................. 5

Other travel............................ 10

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

Other child related expenses............ 100

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 11

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10

Buildings insurance..................... 39

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

Life assurance ......................... 34

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

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 75 - could this be cut? Explain to your kids and family etc

Haircuts................................ 20 - could you each go longer in between haircuts (or forgo them altogether)?

Entertainment........................... 50 - could you do some free activities to help reduce this cost?

Holiday................................. 50 - this money could be better used towards debts maybe? Maybe use a holiday as an incentive to go on once debts have been paid?

Emergency fund.......................... 50[b]

Total monthly expenses.................. 4279.25[/b]

[b]

I find challenges really help me stay focused and add a bit of fun to the money saving process. There are so many on this so take a look through and see what catches your eye. Its great knowing that every penny you manage to save will help towards getting the debts down. 

You could also try and earn a little bit extra by selling unwanted items online or at car boots etc, doing surveys in your spare time (this also helps me stop spending money online as I'm busy rather than browsing), starting a  small business doing something you love etc? Check out the boost your income board and see if you can come up with more ideas. 

I'm not going to lie it is not going to be easy but as has been said - no debt is unfixable so you can do this. We all have your back.  The main thing is that you have acknowledged your problems and you are now prepared to do something about them - which is the biggest hurdle crossed already.

Good luck and keep us posted about your progress x