Were do I start ??

Lee_Watkins

Hi all,

Would anybody be so kind to start the ball rolling for me, Tell me what info you would need and then help me put a plan together so I one day can be debt free.

Thanks In Advance.

NUFCnutter

I would start by following this link http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=821791

Fill in your SOA (Statement of Affairs), print it up on here and then let the good people of this forum help you. Good luck

MrsTinks

Or you can use this one depending on your preferences

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

waddy_2

i used mrs tines link and its real easy, get going!!!!

Lee_Watkins

Monthly income after tax................ 1300
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1300

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 382.34
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold flat)...... 0
Council tax............................. 81.7
Electricity............................. 38.25
Gas..................................... 38.25
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 27.74
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 11.61
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 25
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 37.8
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..................... 11.79
Contents insurance...................... 11.79
Life assurance ......................... 43.12
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
car..................................... 82.33
staff loan.............................. 60.95
xbox.................................... 8.85
laptop.................................. 33.42
Total monthly expenses.................. 1024.94

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 6000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 116000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 56593....(382.34)...5.99
Total secured debts........... 56593.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................1350......100.......0
Total unsecured debts..........1350......100.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,300
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,024.94
Available for debt repayments........... 275.06
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 100
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 175.06

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 116,000
Total Secured debt...................... -56,593
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,350
Personal net worth...................... 58,057

janken

Just read your chart and would question your figures.

Do you eat?
You have a car but no road tax or fuel??

You are doing the right thing but you have to be completly honest

Good luck


KEN

Lee_Watkins

I have just added my figures as my wife would pay for fuel, food ect and I pay for all bills so I would not take hers into account, would I ?

OberonSH

I think it depends on how your finances are set up - if everything's separate, then show the figures you will actually have to pay out for. If not, take it as a family thing, and show both sets of income, and both sets of expenditure.

Plus make sure wife is okay with paying the bills!!

A bonus to doing it together would be that if Mrs Lee bobs over the Moneysaving Oldstyle board, she can pik up hints on how to spend less on groceries etc, and thus have more money all round to chuck at debt - surely one partners debt is a shared problem?

Billy-no-Money

If this SOA is accurate, you can clear the debt no problem. If you want to clear it faster, how about dropping the Sky package down to a basic one (I assume your broadband is with Sky so don't drop it altogether), and think about the £100 for entertainment - seems a bit high.

I'm still not convinced though - without knowing the arrangement with your wife it's difficult to comment, and it's not clear how the card debt's built up, nor how fast it built up.

Is the real problem that you've spent on the card but don't really know where it went? Impulse purchases maybe?


It looks like you've identified a potential problem in good time; work on refining your budget, clear the debt, then continue to budget after the debt's gone and you should be OK.

If your card debt is rising, and you're only young, deal with it now! If you don't, you'll be like me in twenty years (see my signature )

Lee_Watkins

Thanks for your reply.

The credit card is on a 0% balance transfer and we pay £100 a month off it and we dont use it anymore (just paying it off).

dancingfairy

Mortgage................................ 382.34
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold flat)...... 0
Council tax............................. 81.7
Electricity............................. 38.25 have you checked to see if you are on the cheapest - check out uswitch - turn off lights,low energy bulbs, turn things on standby off etc.
Gas..................................... 38.25 ditto
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 27.74
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 11.61
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 25 do you really need this - could you downgrade?
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 37.8
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..................... 11.79
Contents insurance...................... 11.79
Life assurance ......................... 43.12 does this cover everything you expect it too and can you get the same cover cheaper?
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 100 you could cut this down
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
car..................................... 82.33 ? what exactly? spare savings/mot?
staff loan.............................. 60.95 apr? min payment? amount owed?
xbox.................................... 8.85 apr? min payment? amount owed?
laptop.................................. 33.42 apr? min payment? amount owed?

There is definitely a bit of scope here for cutting back. When renewing insurances etc you need to make sure you shop around for the best deals.

Also have you tried keeping a spending diary for all those miscelaneous papers/pints/cd's/bottled water/fizzy drinks/cigarettes/ odd choc bars etc? It is horifying how much you can spend without thinking you have spent anything.
I must have spent about £70 this month and I've bought a couple of magazines, a hot choc, a couple of newspapers, fathers day card and gift, etc - I don't even feel like I've bought anything