DFW newbie needing advice!

niccatw

Hi,

I possibly had a light-bulb moment before now but kept allowing myself to be blinded by the fear and that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach!
So here's my SOA,

Monthly incomings
Net salary: £1,100
Flat-mates rent: £ 250
Total: £1,350

Monthly outgoings
Mortgage: £539.80 (fixed rate until June 2009)
Council tax: £191 (I think this is right, includes £107 towards arrears of £1,100 and awaiting confirmation of monthly total)
Gas and Electricity: £58 (Scottish Power, price protected until Oct 2008)
Contents insurance:£20.36
Factors: £19 (this takes the place of my buildings insurance)
Life assurance: £33.34
TV licence: £12
Landline: £15 (BT option 1)
Mobile: £15 (Os simplicity contract to get cheap broadband)
Broadband: £7.50 (O2, new contract. Just cancelled Tiscali at £17.99 p/m)
Diesel: £50 (work as a community therapist so difficult to reduce this amount! Although I am trying!) The car itself is leased through work so I've no other outgoings on the car
Food: £120
Professional fees: £34
Total: £1,115

Debts
1. Royal Bank of Scotland personal loan: Total - £19,299.35, 66 months to go. 10.1% Pay £288.05 per month
2. Barclaycard credit card: Total - £703. 0% until Dec '08. Currently trying to pay £60 per month but it's getting more and more difficult.
3. Student Loans Company: Total - £6410.64 @ 4.80%. Pay £108.49 per month (I have another set of student loans, for which £70 comes straight form my wages).
4. HBOS ovedraft: total - £1000. They're not currently asking for this back but as it's a student account and the overdraft is due to be reviewed in May 2008, I'll likely have to start paying then! Curently 0%
5. Co-op overdraft: total - £300. Currently being reduced by £20 per month until Oct 2008.
6. Royal Bank of Scotland overdraft: total - £250. They're not currently asking for this and it's my main account. Ultimately I'd like a smaller safety net but it's the least of my worries right now!
Debt total payments per month: £476.54

If I add this to my outgoings, I get £1591.54 which is obvioulsly not sustainable on my salary!

I think I've got everything I know down as accurately as I'm able! I seem to have been scraping by until the last couple of months when my bank didn't pay my mortgage so I was charged by the mortgage company once, the bank at least three times before the payment was made and everthing snowballed from there...

Some days I'm optimistic about it, other days I'm still on the computer at 11pm at night wondering what to do!!! I'm currently doing some mystery shopping and looking into a second job. I get confused about tax and second jobs and I'd also need to clear it with my boss (I work for the NHS so being allowed a second job won't be a problem I just need to let them know).

Any advice would be gratefully received!

Thanks

bestmumof3

Why are your flat-mate's contiution so low?

Does he/she contribute towards any of the bills eg Council Tax/TV Licence?electricity etc?

niccatw

He's a student so he doesn't contribute to the council tax. And he doesn't use the phone or the internet so he doesn't contribute to that either.
So far he hasn't contributed to gas/elec but that's my fault for chopping and changing providers. Now it's all sorted he will be...
And I can't realistically ask for more rent given where I'm living. I do keep an eye on this but would rather have the certainty of that amount than the possibility of having an empty room.

~Beanie~

I've got a second job, I just pay full tax (22%?) on the whole lot. Not worth it sometimes but I couldn't really live without it.

Do you need life assurance? I am single with no dependants and have therefore cancelled my life assurance and mortgage protection. I don't care what they do with my house if and when I die, there is more than enough equity to repay the mortgage.

My BT is only £12 per month for option 1, I know it's only £3 cheaper but £3 is £3!

What are factors?

Wow, that mortgage is steep! I earn roughly the same as you yet my mortgage is less than half (I most likely live in a cheaper area). Is there any chance of selling up and getting somewhere cheaper? I know I could never do that but its just a suggestion!

You also don't have anything in your SOA for car maintenance (tax/insurance/MOT etc)

Ditto clothes / haircuts / dental / additional expenses (birthday pressies etc). You need to include these in your budget as well.

Do you not have buildings insurance?

I understand about the lodger, mine is a friend recently seperated from her Hubbie and she only pays me £25 per week as she can't afford more. The way I see it, I probably pay about £10 per week extra in gas/electric so I'm still £15 better off...

niccatw

I think the life assurance is a term of my mortgage but I'll double check that!
My mortgage is so high as I only bought in the last 6 months... I was in the process of settling when the interest rate went up! If I sold up now, I'd lose a lot of money as there's not much equity (but on the plus side, it's not gone down in price!).
Factors are responsible for lots of flats in Scotland, they look after the communal areas, such as the roof, stairwells etc. They take the place of buildings insurance.
My car is leased through work so it comes straight from my wages and they pay for insurance, tax, servicing... just not the fuel.
At the moment I'm not paying out for clothes, birthdays (I've started baking people basic sponge cakes!) haricuts etc, but that's because I don't have any money to... I'd hazzard a gues at £70 ish a month, that's including money for christmas pressies!