SOA - Help and advice needed!

sarah3891

Hi all,

I'm wondering if anyone can help. I recently split up with my long term partner and am now dealing with the financial implications of that. I can 'get by', but to be honest, I'm pretty broke.

Here is my SOA:

Mortgage £1065
Council Tax £60
Utilities £50
Car Insurance £53
Health Insurance £25.93
Buildings and contents insurance £21.04
Mobile £30
Service charges for my flat £55
Mortgage repayment protection £16.02
Income protection £11.38
Life Insurance £19.15
HSBC loan £192.60 (6k left over next 3 years - no PPI)
Egg loan £78.64 (4k left over next 5 years - no PPI)
TOTAL: 1677.76

Income:
Salary: £1400 pcm (after pension and student loan repayment)
Other: £480 from lodger (£300pcm) and evening work
TOTAL: £1880

Doesn't leave a lot for living (all other expenses come out of what's left - no luxuries, just food really!) and as you can easily see, I have no money being saved and have unsecured debts in the region of £10k.

I have recently re-mortgaged and that is the best rate (5.88% 3yr fix) I could get in the current climate, though a hefty jump on my previous payments.

I have a lot of insurances I'm paying out every month and need to see if there is any way I can cut back on these? Any ideas? I know I have health insurance, but having needed it in the past, I am reluctant to let it go.

Obviously the loan repayments are two areas where I could cut back, but I'm not sure by how much?

My main concern is to re-organise my finances so that should I lose my lodger, I can pay all my bills! My next priority is obviously to look at paying off my loans.

I am also looking to try and find a better paid job but things are thin on the ground at the moment.

I have no adverse credit etc, but really need to find ways to cut back.

Can anyone offer me any advice?

Thanks,

Sarah

mrsmortenharket

HI

1st thing that pops out at me is your enormous mortgage in comparrison to your salary.

Also you have lots of different insurances. Make sure you need all of them. Do you have a dependant who would need your life insurance. What about health insurance. We have the NHS. Yeah it can be slow! But its very good & free!

Others who are better than me will be along with more advise soon.

Lisa

mrsmortenharket

Oh & its not a somplete SOA, no food/general spends such as birthdays/xmas dentist hair cuts going out....

RAS

Is the money that you are asking from the lodger remotely realistic? £300? Are you including utilities and are they paying half the Council tax?

sarah3891

Hi,

Yes - they pay half the utilities, and the rental is fair for the area and room.

The mortgage, yes, it's pretty steep. After I graduated, I was lucky enough to be able to put a deposit down on a flat and was offered a graduate mortgage at approximately 6.5 times my salary, which, thinking that I was very grown up and responsible and adult and delighted at the thought of 'owning' my own home, I agreed to.

That's my own fault. The Capital repayment % of each monthly payment has increased as the years have gone on, and my salary has simply not matched that rate.

I am going to sort through all my insurances over the next few days and see what's what. I thought I had my head round them all but I'm going to double check to make sure there's no crossover.

Thanks :-)

Sarah

sarah3891

Oh, and as for the incompleteness of the SOA - I haven't added those things in because they only come out of whatever pennies are left over each month - there are no luxuries......only lots of nights in, and tesco's basics! :-)

RAS

There is some really useful stuff here re insurance.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/

Also when you swap over, check www.quidco.com or the otehr cashback site and see if you can get something to help out.

Tiglet

You didn't say whether your loans include insurance payments (PPI). If they do, you might be able to reclaim this. There should be a link about this on the right of the page.

sarah3891

Thanks Tiglet - no, they do not include PPI. That was probably the one sensible thing I did manage to do!! :-)

sarah3891

And thanks RAS - just been having a look over at that link and there's a load of great stuff there!

cazza35

Hi, sorry to hear of your troubles I know from experience how stressful this situation is. I split from a partner of 10 years and wanted to stay in my flat and went through hell to keep it. luckily I did and sold it for twice what I bought after I met a lovely new partner now my fiance.

Things will get better, I know it won't seem like it at the moment but keep the faith.

On a more practical note, are the loans all your own debt or did your ex contribute to this? If so, and you are still talking, ask him to pay his share. I did this through lawyers and got half.

Lots of luck
Caz x