We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Sitting at a crossroads!

2»

Comments

  • momentoftruth
    momentoftruth Posts: 9 Forumite
    First Post
    Emmia said:
    momentoftruth said:
    momentoftruth said:
    I hope I've done this right!

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

    Monthly Income Details[/b]
    Monthly income after tax................ 2600
    Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
    Benefits................................ 0
    Other income............................ 0[b]
    Total monthly income.................... 2600[/b][b]

    Monthly Expense Details[/b]
    Mortgage................................ 500
    Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
    Rent.................................... 0
    Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
    Council tax............................. 100
    Electricity............................. 75
    Gas..................................... 75
    Oil..................................... 0
    Water rates............................. 0
    Telephone (land line)................... 0
    Mobile phone............................ 50
    TV Licence.............................. 0
    Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30
    Internet Services....................... 40
    Groceries etc. ......................... 200
    Clothing................................ 50
    Petrol/diesel........................... 200
    Road tax................................ 15
    Car Insurance........................... 60
    Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
    Car parking............................. 0
    Other travel............................ 0
    Childcare/nursery....................... 0
    Other child related expenses............ 0
    Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 5
    Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
    Buildings insurance..................... 20
    Contents insurance...................... 5
    Life assurance ......................... 0
    Other insurance......................... 15
    Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
    Haircuts................................ 5
    Entertainment........................... 50
    Holiday................................. 50
    Emergency fund.......................... 50[b]
    Total monthly expenses.................. 1675[/b]
    [b]

    Assets[/b]
    Cash.................................... 0
    House value (Gross)..................... 120000
    Shares and bonds........................ 0
    Car(s).................................. 1000
    Other assets............................ 0[b]
    Total Assets............................ 121000[/b]
    [b]

    Secured & HP Debts[/b]
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Mortgage...................... 12000....(500)......3[b]
    Total secured & HP debts...... 12000.....-.........-   [/b]

    [b]Unsecured Debts[/b]
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    DMP............................43000.....58........0[b]
    Total unsecured debts..........43000.....58........-  [/b]

    [b]
    Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
    Total monthly income.................... 2,600
    Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,675
    Available for debt repayments........... 925
    Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 58[b]
    Amount left after debt repayments....... 867[/b]

    [b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]
    Total assets (things you own)........... 121,000
    Total HP & Secured debt................. -12,000
    Total Unsecured debt.................... -43,000[b]
    Net Assets.............................. 66,000[/b]

    [i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.
    Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]
    My fixed rate mortgage also ends soon so I'm looking at repayments of approx £750 per month instead
    These all look like very round numbers - you may want to go through your bank / card statements over the last year to get more accurate figures.

    Some thoughts
    You have satellite/cable... But no TV licence? Is the mobile a contract with a handset being paid off, or are you out of contact so could switch to a cheaper SIM only deal.

    You've got £50 a month of emergency fund, but no savings?


    You allegedly have £925 left over every month - where is that money going? If you threw a lot of that at debt payments you'd have this cracked in a few years.
    They were rough estimates done before I went to work this morning
    I don't watch live tv so don't have a tv licence so use disney/netflix instead.

    It's paying off a phone, I've one year left on my contract then I'll be going to sim only so that'll save a bit.

    I was paying £800 a month to stepchange but lowered it last month to see if I could get better settlement offers between the money I've saved and money being lifted to me next year as I was hoping if I can get decent offers (50%)  then that would wipe the debt away as I've heard they're unlikely to give you and discounts if you seem to be paying off large parts of the debt. Though if this is going to take a while to get decent offers then I may be better just going back to trying to pay through step change as much as I can, I'm not sure what's best!
  • Emmia
    Emmia Posts: 6,389 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    momentoftruth said:
    Emmia said:
    momentoftruth said:
    momentoftruth said:
    I hope I've done this right!

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

    Monthly Income Details[/b]
    Monthly income after tax................ 2600
    Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
    Benefits................................ 0
    Other income............................ 0[b]
    Total monthly income.................... 2600[/b][b]

    Monthly Expense Details[/b]
    Mortgage................................ 500
    Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
    Rent.................................... 0
    Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
    Council tax............................. 100
    Electricity............................. 75
    Gas..................................... 75
    Oil..................................... 0
    Water rates............................. 0
    Telephone (land line)................... 0
    Mobile phone............................ 50
    TV Licence.............................. 0
    Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30
    Internet Services....................... 40
    Groceries etc. ......................... 200
    Clothing................................ 50
    Petrol/diesel........................... 200
    Road tax................................ 15
    Car Insurance........................... 60
    Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
    Car parking............................. 0
    Other travel............................ 0
    Childcare/nursery....................... 0
    Other child related expenses............ 0
    Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 5
    Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
    Buildings insurance..................... 20
    Contents insurance...................... 5
    Life assurance ......................... 0
    Other insurance......................... 15
    Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
    Haircuts................................ 5
    Entertainment........................... 50
    Holiday................................. 50
    Emergency fund.......................... 50[b]
    Total monthly expenses.................. 1675[/b]
    [b]

    Assets[/b]
    Cash.................................... 0
    House value (Gross)..................... 120000
    Shares and bonds........................ 0
    Car(s).................................. 1000
    Other assets............................ 0[b]
    Total Assets............................ 121000[/b]
    [b]

    Secured & HP Debts[/b]
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    Mortgage...................... 12000....(500)......3[b]
    Total secured & HP debts...... 12000.....-.........-   [/b]

    [b]Unsecured Debts[/b]
    Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
    DMP............................43000.....58........0[b]
    Total unsecured debts..........43000.....58........-  [/b]

    [b]
    Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
    Total monthly income.................... 2,600
    Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,675
    Available for debt repayments........... 925
    Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 58[b]
    Amount left after debt repayments....... 867[/b]

    [b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]
    Total assets (things you own)........... 121,000
    Total HP & Secured debt................. -12,000
    Total Unsecured debt.................... -43,000[b]
    Net Assets.............................. 66,000[/b]

    [i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.
    Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]
    My fixed rate mortgage also ends soon so I'm looking at repayments of approx £750 per month instead
    These all look like very round numbers - you may want to go through your bank / card statements over the last year to get more accurate figures.

    Some thoughts
    You have satellite/cable... But no TV licence? Is the mobile a contract with a handset being paid off, or are you out of contact so could switch to a cheaper SIM only deal.

    You've got £50 a month of emergency fund, but no savings?


    You allegedly have £925 left over every month - where is that money going? If you threw a lot of that at debt payments you'd have this cracked in a few years.
    They were rough estimates done before I went to work this morning
    I don't watch live tv so don't have a tv licence so use disney/netflix instead.

    It's paying off a phone, I've one year left on my contract then I'll be going to sim only so that'll save a bit.

    I was paying £800 a month to stepchange but lowered it last month to see if I could get better settlement offers between the money I've saved and money being lifted to me next year as I was hoping if I can get decent offers (50%)  then that would wipe the debt away as I've heard they're unlikely to give you and discounts if you seem to be paying off large parts of the debt. Though if this is going to take a while to get decent offers then I may be better just going back to trying to pay through step change as much as I can, I'm not sure what's best!
    The money saving option would be to drop Disney/Netflix and have a TV licence. It is about half the cost at £174.50 per year rather than £360 per year you're estimating on Disney/Netflix.
  • sourcrates
    sourcrates Posts: 32,050 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts I've been Money Tipped! Name Dropper
    Anyway, back to your original question of how to tackle the future settlement process.

    I would start planning now, get laying the foundations, keep your payments low for now, this will be more of a marathon, than a sprint, and its so important how you address this, do it right, and it could save you 1000`s.

    When it comes the time to negotiate, it should coincidently coincide with say, a drop in hours at work, or a long term illness that is affecting you, you may be facing redundancy shortly, or your rent has risen out of all proportion to your income, whatever it might be, try and be creative, as you will need leverage to use against them otherwise they have no incentive to accept your offer.

    However you word it, you must make them think that the deal you are offering represents the best return they can hope to get, as a pose to say 5/6 years of regular payments.

    Never divulge how much lump sum you have, they will ask the source of the funds, so it could be a family friend say, or redundancy money, don`t tell them its a gift from the bank of mum and dad, as they will hold out for more thinking mum and dad will pay what`s asked of them.

    And of course CCA requests are a must before you do anything else, why waste money on a debt that may be unenforceable, when it could go to clear the ones that they can produce paperwork for.

    Look on it as a challenge, take your time, be consistent and you will get the result you want.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free wannabe, Credit file and ratings, and Bankruptcy and living with it 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.For free non-judgemental debt advice, contact either Stepchange, National Debtline, or CitizensAdviceBureaux.Link to SOA Calculator- https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php The "provit letter" is here-https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.3K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.7K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.4K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 601.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.6K Life & Family
  • 259.2K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.
Update Your Picture