Newbie on the block

inpursuitofhappiness

Hi all, I have been thinking of joining for some time and as you will see I have taken the plunge.

I have been an idiot with cash and now find myself in what feels like unsurmountable debt. I am lucky in that my OH pays the bills not listed here e.g. petrol etc. I can't tell him the extent of the debt because he really will flip his lid. It is not the first time I have got into this sort of problem.

I am terrified that in the current climate and taking into account I can only just afford the minimum payments that I will go under.

I am planning to go through the house for ebay-able things. That seems the best bet for now.

Am delighted to be open (at least with you guys) ..:j

Here is my SOA.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2347
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 800
Total monthly income.................... 3147

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1818
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold flat)...... 0
Council tax............................. 177
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 36
Telephone (land line)................... 30
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 56
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 232
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2546

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 265000
Shares and bonds........................ 250
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 269250

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 255000...(1818).....7
Total secured debts........... 255000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Cahoot.........................8585......175.......15.9
Lloyds.........................9602......198.......9.9
Egg ...........................6434......137.......9.51
Credit card....................4500......90........16.9
overdraft......................3750......0.........13
Total unsecured debts..........32871.....600.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,147
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 2,546
Available for debt repayments........... 601
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 600
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 1

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 269,250
Total Secured debt...................... -255,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -32,871
Personal net worth...................... -18,621:eek:

~Beanie~

Life assurance ......................... 232 :eek: :eek:


Is that correct? It's VERY high, what on earth does that cover???

10past6

~Beanie~ wrote: »

Life assurance ......................... 232 :eek: :eek:


Is that correct? It's VERY high, what on earth does that cover???

I've also noted that, OP your spending more on life insurance than groceries, is that correct?

LilacPixie

welcome to the board.

One thing i would say is look at your insurances. Are they as low as they possible could be?? Could you get a better deal elsewhere. £232 for life assurance a month is huge!! Also have a look at your utilities but to be honest i'm presuming you have a largeish house so they are probably ok but look to switch anyway. even if you only say 1p a year if you go thru a cash back site like quidco you could get £60 cash back.

ANy chance of you upping your income a little?? overtime?? 2nd job anything really because every little helps. Also have a look at the 0% credit card deals. I think barclaycard are offering 0% for 14 months on tranfer up to 5k. Virgin similar. over a year at no interest could really help you attack these debts.

CLAPTON

do you pay the full mortgage payment... does your OH contribute equivalently to other bills?
what sort of rate are you paying on the mortgage .. even on 240k mortgage it seems very high

its going to be very difficult to deal with these debts without involving your OH...you have a good salary but will need to stop spending..who will you explain that?

inpursuitofhappiness

Thanks everyone...
The insurances are high. There are several of them the figure given is the combined figure. They are for various term assurances to cover the mortgage. I have looked into reducing them before but drew a blank. The amount for groceries is given as that figure as that is all I have left at the end of the month. My OH often pays for some of the groceries too. My job does give overtime but I am on for a payrise this year and so that may help. I am definitely going to look into the 0% deals. I think that may be the best start with the ebay things too. I'll let you know how I get on .. x

Baybee1984

Welcome to the forum, well done on taking the plunge and dealing with ur debts and good luck!

Welshlassie

inpursuitofhappiness wrote: »

Hi all, I have been thinking of joining for some time and as you will see I have taken the plunge.

I have been an idiot with cash and now find myself in what feels like unsurmountable debt. I am lucky in that my OH pays the bills not listed here e.g. petrol etc. I can't tell him the extent of the debt because he really will flip his lid. It is not the first time I have got into this sort of problem.

I am terrified that in the current climate and taking into account I can only just afford the minimum payments that I will go under.

I am planning to go through the house for ebay-able things. That seems the best bet for now.

Am delighted to be open (at least with you guys) ..:j

Here is my SOA.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2347
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 800 what is included in this, is it guaranteed every month?
Total monthly income.................... 3147

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1818 that's a hell of a mortgage, can you go interest only for a bit until you have your other debts under control?
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold flat)...... 0
Council tax............................. 177 is this over 10 or 12 months?
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 35
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 36
Telephone (land line)................... 30 have you checked this is the cheapest you can get it?
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 56 check this is the cheapest
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 232 Check whether you actually need all the insurances and as you may be double covered?
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2546

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 265000
Shares and bonds........................ 250
Car(s).................................. 4000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 269250

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 255000...(1818).....7
Total secured debts........... 255000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Cahoot.........................8585......175.......15.9 are these the min payments for all of them?
Lloyds.........................9602......198.......9.9
Egg ...........................6434......137.......9.51
Credit card....................4500......90........16.9
overdraft......................3750......0.........13
Total unsecured debts..........32871.....600.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,147
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 2,546
Available for debt repayments........... 601
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 600
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 1

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 269,250
Total Secured debt...................... -255,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -32,871
Personal net worth...................... -18,621:eek:

Put your figures into a snowball calculator and check you are paying the debts off in the right order as putting your available finances to the right debts in the right order can really make a difference to how quickly you can pay them off.

Well done on starting to sort this out and good luck

Sammy_Girl

Hello :hello:

Can you break down the insurance cover, i.e what does each one cost. OH and I bought our house last year and took the buildings and contents insurance, insurance to pay off mortgage if one of us dies, and illness cover for OH as he is self employed. This all came to £200 :eek: . Obviously we weren't MSE'ers then!! Now, we are paying £15.00 per month on buildings and contents, £45.00 cover if one of us dies, and £13.00 cover for OH if he gets sick/injured and cannot work. This is a total of £73, and is much better cover that what we had earlier. This cover is for a £210,000 value house. I read through the insurances section on MSE and took Martin's advice - 100% worth it.

BTW, my OH was totally unaware of all of my debts, but i came clean when we were getting a joint mortgage as my credit history was not good. I was scared to tell him and his family, but they have been so supportive. I contribute £450 towards bills and mortgage, and OH deals with everything else. I make it clear that I want to pay my own debts out of my money, and he seems happy with that. As soon as I'm debt free I will contribute a lot towards housekeeping. Your OH might be more understanding than you think. If you make it clear that you are not asking him to bale you out and that you have sought advice, I'm sure he will be very understanding.

Sammy x