Help me with getting debt free :-)

cheesecake88

Hi everyone, 
Please see below my SOA. Can anyone see any parts where we can make a saving. 
We are a family of 5. Children aged 17,15 and 12.
We have 4 pets. Dog, 2 cats and a Leopard Gecko. Holiday's is correct, we are not planning on going on holiday's until debts are paid. The children have A levels and GCSEs this year which will take priority. We own our car - but it's old and falling apart so we need to start saving for another. 
Food might look high but we are a neurodiverse household and my youngest will only eat certain foods. We both work from home most of the week. On paper we are doing good 1k left over each month but we want to get some of the debts down to get them gone asap. We need to be realistic too. Can anyone help with suggestions on what we could do? 

[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................ 1960 (this will increase in 5 months to 2156)

Partners monthly income after tax....... 1870

Benefits................................ 241 Child Benefit

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

Total monthly income.................... 4071[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 630

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

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

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 144

Electricity............................. 240

Gas..................................... 140

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

Water rates............................. 59

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

Mobile phone............................ 110

TV Licence.............................. 14

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 18

Internet Services....................... 28

Groceries etc. ......................... 800

Clothing................................ 50

Petrol/diesel........................... 80

Road tax................................ 25

Car Insurance........................... 30

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

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

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

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

Other child related expenses............ 20

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

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 25

Buildings insurance..................... 30

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

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

Other insurance......................... 20

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100

Haircuts................................ 50

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

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

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

Total monthly expenses.................. 2808[/b]

[b]

Assets[/b]

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

House value (Gross)..................... 130000

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

Car(s).................................. 700

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

Total Assets............................ 130700[/b]

[b]

Secured & HP Debts[/b]

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

Mortgage...................... 114000...(630)......4[b]

Total secured & HP debts...... 114000....-.........-   [/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

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

Tesco..........................2100......63........21

Halifax........................640.......17........0

Paypal.........................1930......75........0

very...........................900.......25........0

Next ..........................1620......80........0[b]

Total unsecured debts..........7190......260.......-  [/b]

[b]

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]

Total monthly income.................... 4,071

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,808

Available for debt repayments........... 1,263

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 260[b]

Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,003[/b]

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]

Total assets (things you own)........... 130,700

Total HP & Secured debt................. -114,000

Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,190[b]

Net Assets.............................. 9,510[/b]

[i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com. 

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

Grumpelstiltskin

Firstly you need to find where the lost £1000 is going each month.

You need to go through your bank statements with a fine toothcomb, keep all receipts and regularly check them.

When you know the result of that you could pay your smallest debt off in a month.

As you realise on paper you have no problems so the sooner you are on top of your spending the sooner you can sort your debt out.

cheesecake88

800 has come from going from part time to full time in my job. The extra 200 I was spending on silly things like eating out and games for the children. We are not going to be eating out anymore. We want to try and save some money while repaying our debts so we can save for a new car. I am just looking for a good plan to do this. 

Emmia

What does £120 a month entertainment cover? £110 on mobiles seems high - how many phones does this cover? Are you paying off handsets as part of a contract? Or are you out of the minimum term so the handset(s) are paid off?

Grumpelstiltskin

Your children are old enough to be told no more spending on rubbish you need them onside.

A DMP is not the answer as you have enough income to pay the debts, it will just be a change of mindset and have everyone cooperating, you could easily reduce the amount spent on presents and entertainment.

Naomim

I agree, you need to find this £1000 as that's a lot of money leaking out of your account every month. 
Pet insurance looks low for a dog & two cats. Nothing for parking? I admit I don't spend much on parking but there's probably at least £5 a month. 
Do the kids do any outside activities? £100 in clothing isn't much for three growing teenagers either. Do the kids get pocket money at all? 

cheesecake88

Emmia said:

What does £120 a month entertainment cover? £110 on mobiles seems high - how many phones does this cover? Are you paying off handsets as part of a contract? Or are you out of the minimum term so the handset(s) are paid off?

£120 entertainment. 

This is an estimate. My partner takes the children out every Saturday, mostly swimming sometimes the cinema etc. Swimming is only around £15 but cinema is a little bit more expensive so I put £120 to cover everything. 

£110 is steep for mobiles. Three are sim only for the children, Me and Other half have a £40 contract each. However, one of the expensive ones is finishing in September so I can change this to sim only. 

Emmia

cheesecake88 said:

Emmia said:

What does £120 a month entertainment cover? £110 on mobiles seems high - how many phones does this cover? Are you paying off handsets as part of a contract? Or are you out of the minimum term so the handset(s) are paid off?

£120 entertainment. 

This is an estimate. My partner takes the children out every Saturday, mostly swimming sometimes the cinema etc. Swimming is only around £15 but cinema is a little bit more expensive so I put £120 to cover everything. 

£110 is steep for mobiles. Three are sim only for the children, Me and Other half have a £40 contract each. However, one of the expensive ones is finishing in September so I can change this to sim only. 

You need to be precise about the "entertainment" I suspect it is imprecision which is leading to you leaking £1k a month across various categories.

cheesecake88

Emmia said:

cheesecake88 said:

Emmia said:

What does £120 a month entertainment cover? £110 on mobiles seems high - how many phones does this cover? Are you paying off handsets as part of a contract? Or are you out of the minimum term so the handset(s) are paid off?

£120 entertainment. 

This is an estimate. My partner takes the children out every Saturday, mostly swimming sometimes the cinema etc. Swimming is only around £15 but cinema is a little bit more expensive so I put £120 to cover everything. 

£110 is steep for mobiles. Three are sim only for the children, Me and Other half have a £40 contract each. However, one of the expensive ones is finishing in September so I can change this to sim only. 

You need to be precise about the "entertainment" I suspect it is imprecision which is leading to you leaking £1k a month across various categories.

£800 on the £1000 comes from increasing my wages. I haven't had that income previously. 

Grumpelstiltskin

cheesecake88 said:

Emmia said:

cheesecake88 said:

Emmia said:

What does £120 a month entertainment cover? £110 on mobiles seems high - how many phones does this cover? Are you paying off handsets as part of a contract? Or are you out of the minimum term so the handset(s) are paid off?

£120 entertainment. 

This is an estimate. My partner takes the children out every Saturday, mostly swimming sometimes the cinema etc. Swimming is only around £15 but cinema is a little bit more expensive so I put £120 to cover everything. 

£110 is steep for mobiles. Three are sim only for the children, Me and Other half have a £40 contract each. However, one of the expensive ones is finishing in September so I can change this to sim only. 

You need to be precise about the "entertainment" I suspect it is imprecision which is leading to you leaking £1k a month across various categories.

£800 on the £1000 comes from increasing my wages. I haven't had that income previously. 

You still need to know exactly where your money is going, like I said save receipts and check bank every few days to see where and how much you are spending.

cheesecake88

Grumpelstiltskin said:

cheesecake88 said:

Emmia said:

cheesecake88 said:

Emmia said:

What does £120 a month entertainment cover? £110 on mobiles seems high - how many phones does this cover? Are you paying off handsets as part of a contract? Or are you out of the minimum term so the handset(s) are paid off?

£120 entertainment. 

This is an estimate. My partner takes the children out every Saturday, mostly swimming sometimes the cinema etc. Swimming is only around £15 but cinema is a little bit more expensive so I put £120 to cover everything. 

£110 is steep for mobiles. Three are sim only for the children, Me and Other half have a £40 contract each. However, one of the expensive ones is finishing in September so I can change this to sim only. 

You need to be precise about the "entertainment" I suspect it is imprecision which is leading to you leaking £1k a month across various categories.

£800 on the £1000 comes from increasing my wages. I haven't had that income previously. 

You still need to know exactly where your money is going, like I said save receipts and check bank every few days to see where and how much you are spending.

Thank you, I will keep a spending diary for a week and see what happens.