Any advice appreciated

GeorgeZip

Hi there, I think the time of living in denial is almost upon me.. I'm ashamed to be in the situation I am, I am where I am due to me and only me.

Basically all throughout my 20's I spent money on crap I thought would make me happy to try and compensate for other areas of my life and also then I couldn't see me having a much of future so guess I didn't care. Well I'm in a better place these days and so now need to try and figure out what to do with the money mess I'm in..

I've put up a SoA below from www.makesenseofcards.com for people to comment on. I'm opening myself up here..

To try and explain some of the figures below I commute about 120miles a day round trip, have a company car, live at home so pay a very small amount of rent to my very kind mother.

The debt is many from consolidation over the years and quite frankly poor discipline and choices. I have no considerable assets to show from it as I've tried selling off what I've bought over the years only making fractions back of what I spent out.

About 2 years ago I tried contacting CCCS however they were quite frank in saying that my fuel costs were outside of their allowance and therefore if I couldn't make them fit they couldn't help me.

I appreciate that compared to other people with families, houses etc my plight may seem trivial..

Cheers,

George
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2200

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 250
Management charge (leasehold flat)...... 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 35
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 400
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 50
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1060

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 2000
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2000

No Secured Debt

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
HSBC CC........................9941......320.......0
Capital One CC.................10619.....350.......0
Morgan Stanley CC..............5947......120.......0
Overdraft £800 agrees..........1184......0.........0
Egg Loan.......................16296.....501.......6.73
Total unsecured debts..........43987.....1291......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,200
Expenses (including secure debts)....... 1,060
Available for debt repayments........... 1,140
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,291
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -151

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,000
Total Secured debt...................... -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -43,987
Personal net worth...................... -41,987

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

======== Enter any other useful information below ========

Beerworshipper

Hey GZ,

Well done for posting, you've had a Light Bulb Moment (LBM) and you should be severly proud of yourself for taking your head out of the sand and facing up to reality.:T

Also a big pat on the back for asking for help and for putting your details into an SOA, its all quite sobering isn't it? I remember the first time I wrote down my figures was horrible, like you mentioned in your post, I too accumulated my debt from simply living beyond my means and spending it on good times with very little to show. :mad:


The good news is it can be rectified. And this is the place to come to get all the advice and support you're going to need to get through this.

Ok first things first, I know you've approaced CCCS before, you've been brave enough to come here, how about using some of that new found courage to appraoch them again, you can even initaiate the contacty online and use their online tools to get partway through the process.


Secondly, visit this website: http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

put in the details of your debts and it will work out the best order to pay them back in and will also give you an indication of how long it will take. I know that seeing a debt free debt can sometimes be a shock but try to see it as a motivational tool to beat it.


Thirdly, I see you have approximatel £2000 in bonds and savings. I'm afraid you're going to have to throw this at your debts, basically its likely to be earning less interest in the investment than the interest you'll be paying on your debts. I know you may be thinking you need it for contingencies etc, trust me this is a contingency!


Finally, have you contacted any creditors for your CCA's and claimed back your bank charges etc - every little helps:D Failing that, I see most of them are Credit Card companies, have you tried phoning them and telling them the situation to see if they can reduce or even freeze the interest you are paying, if you don't ask you won't get.


Once again, well doen for putting your hand up and asking for help, you've done yourself a massive favour and its one of the hardest things to do so be justifiably proud of yourself.

Keep coming here for help, this community is wonderful and so giving.

Good luck

tealady

Hi Groceries seem high, have a look at the old style board for cheap meal ideas. Take a packed lunch daily, sarnies from a shop are very expensive. You can make and freeze some sandwiches (don't forget to label them though!).
Also there is a web site somewherre which will tell you who is selling petrol cheapest local to you, it might be worth a look.

christabell

Welcome, and good for you. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. You have come to the right place.

Keeping_Positive

Hi well done for posting.

Definetely can cut groceries probably by half if just for one. Clothes for a while can be cut back as well. What the £50 other travel for?

Good luck
W

tallyhoh

I think the CCCS saying that the petrol expenses are outside their scope is just about the dumbest thing I have heard. They should be allowed to take travel expenses to work whatever the cost. Another organisation not allowed to use any common sense?

I agree that you should be using your savings towards the debt & you should be able to cut your mobile phone, internet, grocery & clothing bill by at least half.

Why does your internet cost so much, what is included?

Try comparison sites to get the best deals & always use a cashback site.

What did all the money go on? is there anything you can sell? Have a look through ebay for ideas, people want all sorts of stuff. You seem to spend a lot on clothes, any good items that can be sold?

The other posters have made some very good suggestions:D

falady

hi george,

Well done on your lightbulb moment.

I would echo the other posters about reducing your food bill and internet costs. The moneysaving old style board is very good for meal ideas and budgetting.

I also notice that you have included any costs for presents, holidays, entertainment etc. Is this realistic?

Could you shopa round for a new mobile contract - there are a lot of good deals at the moment.

Good luck.

Ali

chevalier

GeorgeZip wrote: »

George
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2200
Any chance of upping your income? ie second job, mystery shopping, doing online survey etc?

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 250 would your mum drip this a bit until you are straight? If she dropped it to £200 this would mean you are not in deficit any more

Mobile phone............................ 40can you ask your current supplier to move you onto the lowest tariff
Internet Services....................... 35
Groceries etc. ......................... 200does this mean you and your mum are getting doubles of things like tea coffee loo rolls etc? If so then maybe it would help you both if you shopped together and both saved on this.
Clothing................................ 50You need to stop this for now, and really look at your wardrobe, mix and match different things to make new outfits etc
Petrol/diesel........................... 400 any chance that you could get some of this as expenses?
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 50
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1060


Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
HSBC CC........................9941......320.......0
Capital One CC.................10619.....350.......0
Morgan Stanley CC..............5947......120.......0
Overdraft £800 agrees..........1184......0.........0
Egg Loan.......................16296.....501.......6.73
Total unsecured debts..........43987.....1291......-

You need to find out the APR's for all of these to give you a better idea as to where to throw your money. Have a look at the snowball calculator on www.whatsthecost.com to give you a debt free date.

You can also sign up for a free trial for Experien via www.quidco.com to see what your credit score is. (just have to remember to cancel before the month is up). If it is pretty good, then even now you may find you can get some of any high APR debt balanced transferred onto lower APR cards. That way you can be paying more off the capital each month. Or is there any space on any of your cards (with a lower apr) that you could balance transfer the higher APR cards to?
quote]

does your mum know the extent of your debts? She may be able to offer you moral support if nothing else.

good luck
chev

dhassen

Hi george,

I wonder if your company would let you change your current car for a different, cheaper to run one?

4littleone

Hi George,
welcome :beer: .
A couple of things stood out to me. Firstly the company car. Do you make a fixed trip to work every day, ie do you work at one office on a permanent basis? If so, you should ask about opting out of the company car system and having monthly travel vouchers instead. It's cheaper for the company so they are normally fairly receptive to this.
If you opted out you would be much better off financially each month and could use public transport plus put the extra savings towards your debt.
One way to do it is to get a bike, cycle to and from train stations etc.

Whats the "other travel" for? Can this be cut or reduced?

The grocery bill seems high to me. I feed my household for £130 a month. That's 2 adults and 2 kids. Have a look on the old style board for tips on recipes etc.

Good luck!

RedDino308

Hi George,

1 Mobile Phone. If you are near the end of your contract then phone them up and put the screws on to get a lower rate. You may be able to bring it down by £30/month.

2 As a company car user you are probably getting hammered for tax as well as the poor mileage allowance. Is it worth looking at giving it up and leasing a car or motorbike instead?

3 Diesel/Petrol. £400/month indicates that you do a lot of miles - well over the 2400 or so for commuting to work. It is definitely worth getting a diesel if you don't have one already.

4 Your internet bill is quite high. You may be able to trim that substantially.

5 Try keeping a spending diary. Simply write down everything you spend your money on. That'll help you see where everything goes and you'll subconsciously start spending less.

6 If you have collected loads of junk over the years then have a look at eBay (or similar). People are wiling to pay silly money for what you might consider rubbish.

Oh, and don't give up