Another SOA from a Newbie needing advice!

~Beanie~

Hi

I'm new to these boards and have been advised to come over here and post a SOA. Well now that I've actually found out what one is, here goes...

Income
Salary £1050
2nd job £200

Total £1250

Outgoings
Mortgage £220
Council tax £55
Gas £50
Electric £25
Water £15
House Ins £22
Mortgage protection / life Ins £33
Car insurance £27
Home phone £12
Broadband £16
Mobile £30
Food £100
Petrol £50
Pet Ins £9

Debt Repayment:
Egg Loan (£4030) - £197
Egg Card (£3000) - £65
Capital one card (£2500) - £60
NatWest Visa (£700) - £30
Next Directory (£300) - £30
Catalogue (£300) - £20
Debt Recovery Co (£450) - £20

Total outgoings - £1086

AMOUNT LEFT OVER - £164

Obviously this doesn't go far, there is additional expenditure of one kind or another every month (birthday presents to get, cat's vaccinations to pay for, car tax to buy etc). My credit rating is rubbish due to some missed/late payments so I can't switch my credit cards to get a cheaper deal. Egg have just cancelled my credit card (along with 1000's of others!) so that could be a blessing really!

The gas and electric are on pre-pay token meters, they were like that when I moved in so I agreed to keep them so that it would help me budget. Am I still able to shop round for a better deal with pre-payment meters? I am single with no dependants, do I need mortgage protection/life insurance?

My 5 year fixed rate mortgage also comes to an end in September and I am petrified that my bad credit rating will prevent me getting another deal and that my mortgage payments will increase massively, which I can't afford.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

sparky0107

~Beanie~ wrote: »

Hi

I'm new to these boards and have been advised to come over here and post a SOA. Well now that I've actually found out what one is, here goes...

Income
Salary £1050
2nd job £200

Total £1250

Outgoings
Mortgage £220
Council tax £55
Gas £50
Electric £25
Water £15
House Ins £22
Mortgage protection / life Ins £33
Car insurance £27
Home phone £12
Broadband £16
Mobile £30
Food £100
Petrol £50
Pet Ins £9

Debt Repayment:
Egg Loan (£4030) - £197
Egg Card (£3000) - £65
Capital one card (£2500) - £60
NatWest Visa (£700) - £30
Next Directory (£300) - £30
Catalogue (£300) - £20
Debt Recovery Co (£450) - £20

Total outgoings - £1086

AMOUNT LEFT OVER - £164

Obviously this doesn't go far, there is additional expenditure of one kind or another every month (birthday presents to get, cat's vaccinations to pay for, car tax to buy etc). My credit rating is rubbish due to some missed/late payments so I can't switch my credit cards to get a cheaper deal. Egg have just cancelled my credit card (along with 1000's of others!) so that could be a blessing really!

The gas and electric are on pre-pay token meters, they were like that when I moved in so I agreed to keep them so that it would help me budget. Am I still able to shop round for a better deal with pre-payment meters? I am single with no dependants, do I need mortgage protection/life insurance?

My 5 year fixed rate mortgage also comes to an end in September and I am petrified that my bad credit rating will prevent me getting another deal and that my mortgage payments will increase massively, which I can't afford.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Hiya beanie,
Do you have any percentage rates to hand to add to the CC & loans, are any CC's interest free? The good people on the forum will need these figures to try and give you some advice

fatbelly

Hi Beanie

Your SoA makes it all look quite comfortable, so i suspect we're missing some bits. What about Car Road tax (make it a monthly equivalent), MOT and maintenance (suggest £200 per year as a ball-park figure), TV licence, clothing (allow £5 per person per week)

Are you really only spending £100 per month on food? Even if you are single, that is low. Keep a spending diary and make that entry 'food and housekeeping' so it includes newspapers, cigs, drink, cleaning materials etc)

It would be helpful to list credit limits for the cards and APRs for all the debts.

Why do you think you have a bad credit rating? Have you missed min repayments?

Is your bank account in credit?

And don't panic!

fb

cupid_s

Hi and welcome

Few points I noticed:
do you need a home phone? you have a mobile costing £30 so I would either get rid of the house phone or keep house phone but swap to a PAYG mobile costing £10 a month.

We don't have mortgage protection of life insurance. If you're on your own you could just get rid.

The old style board will help you cut down on the £100 a month food. We spend not much more than that for 2 people and a cat.

Finally do you really need a car? If you sold it you could pay a lump sum off your loans and it's costing £77 a month not including car tax and services/repairs.

~Beanie~

Cheers for the answers...

No, my bank account is not in credit. I have an overdraft of £700 which is up to its limit every month. I have tried to find the interest rates on my CC's but all I can see on my statements are monthly rates and not annual ones. With the exception of Egg - Egg CC = 26.9% and Egg Loan = 7.66%

I have missed payments, late payments, you name it. Plus one credit card (Citi Card) was transferred to a debt collection agency last year so this shows as a default straight away.

I am behind at the moment with my capital one card - I missed a payment and so they wanted double the next month, which was £150 which I hadn't got. This incurred late payments fees which pushed me over my limit so add an overlimit fee to that as well. It's like a snowball, they add charges on every month and I can't afford to pay these as well as the interest so I get more the next month!

NatWest Card and Egg are upto date with payments.

I definately only spend £100 per month on food, some weeks I live on beans on toast as I can't afford to go shopping! Newspaper bill is £2.10 per week, I've given up smoking recently and go out about once a fortnight, spending £25.

Other bits I've possibly missed:

Car Tax = £10
Car Maintenance etc = £17
Clothing = £20 (new clothes, what are they?)
TV Licence = £11.25

I know this is all of my own making, I have never been able to manage my money since the day I started work at 17. I am 40 this year and has finally realised it is time to sort myself out!

~Beanie~

Sorry cupid, your reply wasn't there when I posted my answer...

I only have the home phone for the internet access, I don't use it to make calls. I would rather cut my leg off than get rid of my only source of entertainment (and debt councelling!). The internet and phone calls (free evening and weekend) are via Tiscali but I still have to pay BT line rental.

Unless I get REALLY destitute, I need my car! It's not worth that much but I was without it for 3 days last week - it takes 1 1/2 hours to get to work and the same home, bus fare is more expensive than the petrol and I've almost a mile walk at either end of the journey.

Karmacat

Hi Beanie

Welcome to mse! These are my thoughts on your soa, and the above comments:
- fuel costs are a bit high - what kind of place do you live in? How long are you in? I work from home in a 3 bed semi, and I pay less than you do. Are you sure you want to continue with the prepay thing - its the most expensive way to pay.
- mortgage protection/life ins - is this a repayment vehicle or actual insurance? Not that I'm recommending you get rid of it, but I *am* recommending you look closely at whether you really need it. I don't have any life insurance other than what comes automatically with my repayment vehicle (an endowment, groan...) because I have no dependents.
- £30 a month on your mobile? Thats a lot! There must be a better deal out there, and/or you need to cut back a bit.
- food at £100 - I can see someone's described that as low for a single person - I disagree, I spend that. Admittedly, I'm vegetarian, but there are still things I buy organic, like eggs and root vegetables. And I can't eat wheat, which is by far the cheapest carbohydrate, so it evens out. If you were really desperate, you could probably cut this a little further.
- as somebody else has said up above, there are probably other car costs you havent included. Are you sure you need a car?
- £9 pet insurance - I hope thats a dog, not a cat, otherwise you're being done! Oh, just seen its a cat - maybe I'm out of touch with the premiums, but I'd check this.
- cupid s has made some of these points too, more succinctly.

Action to take, apart from looking at the above:
- look at cashback sites (quidco, in particular) for what purchases you do make - they gave me £65 last month for renewing my insurance.
- can you rent out a room? If you have a one bed place, that will be difficult, but maybe if you're desperate enough, the layout would permit two bedsits that share your kitchen and bathroom, if you know what I mean.
- look at the board called Up Your Income, from the main forum board, it could show you some quick ways of getting a little bit more.

I have to go, I'm working in about 10 mins, but keep posting, get those interest rate details, and see what others have to say this evening - good luck, and keep posting.

~Beanie~

Hi KarmaCat

My gas bill is higher as is freezing at the moment, once spring comes and the heating gets switched off it will virtually halve as it will only be heating the hot water (cooker is electric). I'm not bothered about being in pre-pay but would I be able to switch? I thought they credit scored you and I'd definately fail that.

Mortgage Insurance is definately only for protection, I have a straightforward repayment mortgage. I reckon I will cancel this (the insurance, not the mortgage!). Last time I got made redundant I did agency work so couldn't claim off it anyway.

I will definately check out a better deal on a mobile (possibly even PAYG) once my contract expires in about 6 months.

I will check out cheaper cat insurance as well, and also car insurance as everyone tells me I am overpaying on that (expires August).

Thanks for all the tips, it is nice to know that others want to help me. I know that there are others in a far worse state than me but I still worry.

ultra_violet109

I have just got pet insurance for my dog and found argos was quite cheap - try there :-)

calleyw

I spend approx £100 a month to feed two adults who like food which means big portions.

We have beans on toast once a week because we have busy and have to be somewhere at a certain time but that is not something that is standard.

We have roasts on a sunday. I take my lunch to work everday. We have spag bog using a steak mince.

We don't live off ready meals or rubbish. We hit out target for 5 a day virtually everyday. If you have local supermaket scout it out for reduced to clear that is what I do. Means we eat better for less money.

Yours


Calley

~Beanie~

Thanks for all the advice I received, since I last posted I've managed to make some cuts:

- Got a cheaper deal on the pet insurance, now £6pm
- Will try the same for car / house insurance when renewal comes round (and will buy via Quido!)
- Cancelled mobile contract and gone back to PAYG, don't reckon I'll pay more than £10 per month (only use for texts really)
- Signed up with 2 mystery shopping sites so hopefully will get small amount of extra income
- Kept a spending diary and realised I spent nearly £50 on rubbish last month, this months target is to halve that!
- Signed up to various cashback sites, only another £2 to go on Pigsback before I can get a £10 voucher!
- Am currently looking at whether I really need the mortgage protection, £32 per month seems a bit steep to me. I am single with no dependants so if I die, they can sell my house.

This site is great, I wouldn't have done any of this if I hadn't come on here - thanks guys!