Advice needed please.

brassmonkey_2

Been reading on here for a while and have finally plucked up the courage to post my finances as I am getting stressed about an upcoming event that is going to put a strain on me and my family. So firstly here is a list of my outgoings and incomings:-

CAR 189.27
WATER 47
HOMECARE 28
TV CARE 6.99
GAS & ELECTRICITY 80
MORTGAGE 1030
CREDIT CARD 110
LIFE 27.8
CREDIT CARD 16
MORTGAGE 2 708
BUILDINGS 31.84
BUILDINGS AND CONTENTS 28.61
LIFE 11.77
MOBILE 65
TV LICENCE 11.61
PHONE, TV & INTERNET 55
COUNCIL TAX 124.56
BEDROOM FURNITURE 30
OVERDRAFT INTEREST 91.5
FOOD 350
FUEL 180

Total: £3222.95

Incomings:

PAY 2600
RENT 575
CHILD BENEFIT 125.4
CHILD TAX CREDITS 225

Total: £3525.40

So I know that doesnt look too bad, my income is more than my outgoings. However, come December the fixed rate on Mortgage 2 (which is the property we recieve the rental income for) ends and as a result that payment is going to increase to £850 based on todays rate. I dont think remortgaging is going to be an option because that property is in negative equity so we are stuck with it.

I am also stressed because even now we are not repaying our debt, just making min payments and the situation will be worse come december. If the tenants decided to vacate I would fall flat on my face as i have no contingency whatsoever.

Also my pay of 2600 isnt guaranteed, I am self employed so sometimes i could get a bit less or a bit more, however, being self employed i have left myself no money for the tax bill or the accountant so i am starting to see the sh*t hitting the fan so to speak.

I am married with 2 children, i am the sole provider as my wife is a stay at home mum, My eldest has only recently started preschool.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

MrsTinks

I can see several points that can be cut back but just to make it all a little easier can you put it all into this format for us? Just easier to work with
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

andan

Hi brassmonkey and welcome to the thread, not great with advice but just looking at your SOA, your mobile bill is very high is there any way you can cut that or change to a cheaper contract.

Also the food bill can be cut, i suggest going on the old style board where they have loads of ways to cut your shopping bill and can show you ways of making cheaper meals.

Have you looked at changing your gas and electricity supplier and making sure you do basic things like not leaving things on standby and not having the hot water switched on all the time.

Also, is there anyway your wife could do things like surveys on the internet or do some mystery shopping, alternatively a small job like doing peoples ironing. Have a look on the up your income board for other ways of making a little extra.

Best of luck with it all and well done for posting, especially while you have time to do something about it before December comes.

brassmonkey_2

andan wrote: »

Hi brassmonkey and welcome to the thread, not great with advice but just looking at your SOA, your mobile bill is very high is there any way you can cut that or change to a cheaper contract.

Also the food bill can be cut, i suggest going on the old style board where they have loads of ways to cut your shopping bill and can show you ways of making cheaper meals.

Have you looked at changing your gas and electricity supplier and making sure you do basic things like not leaving things on standby and not having the hot water switched on all the time.

Also, is there anyway your wife could do things like surveys on the internet or do some mystery shopping, alternatively a small job like doing peoples ironing. Have a look on the up your income board for other ways of making a little extra.

Best of luck with it all and well done for posting, especially while you have time to do something about it before December comes.

I am always looking for ways to cut my shopping bill, we have started meal planning and that has brought it down already luckily.

we have also recently changed gas and electricity supplier so now paying by direct debit for duel fuel all managed online which has saved us. Havent even thought about standby stuff etc, so will defo start doing that.

The mobile bill is high because it is 2 contracts for me and wife but my wife's ends in novemberish so that will defo be cut.

Numpty_Monkey

brassmonkey please read this,
Hi everybody.


Over the last few weeks we have had a number of "troll" attacks on the boards.

What is a Troll? A troll is a person that posts deliberately provocative, nasty or hurtful comments on threads. They may be a person with no previous connection to the board or someone that has created a pseudonym to get their point made.

If you should get a comment made on any thread you post asking for help and advice please realise this comment is not directed at you personally.
We really are all a lovely bunch here (oops, modest, sorry) so please ignore these nasty comments and continue to post here as normal.

what should i do if i get a comment made on my thread?

firstly do not respond to the comment as this invariably is what the person wants. At the bottom of the post, on the left hand side is a red "warning" triangle. Click this and then "send" the message that comes up. This will report the message to abuse who will review it's content and delete it.

The person we had this morning was particularly vile and nasty and please believe me is an extreme rarity here.
Above all PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE THE BOARDS. THIS SITE IS AN ASSET TO SO MANY, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT FEELS THE WORLD IS FALLING IN ON YOU. THERE IS SUCH A WEALTH OF ADVICE HERE TO BE HAD THAT THE COMMENTS OF ONE MUST NOT DETER YOU FROM AVAILING YOURSELF OF THE KNOWLEDGE HERE!!!!

It is testament to the work that martin has done and continues to do that so many people give their time knowledge and experience freely to others, without judgement, to lift people out of the depths of debt crisis

PLEASE DO NOT LET THE ACTIONS OF THE MINORITY RUIN THAT.

brassmonkey_2

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2600
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 350.4
Other income............................ 575
Total monthly income.................... 3525.4

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1738
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold flat)...... 0
Council tax............................. 124.56
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 47
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 65
TV Licence.............................. 11.61
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 25
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 350
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 180
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..................... 60.45
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 39.57
Other insurance......................... 35
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2791.19

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 325000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 7500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 332500

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 323000...(1738).....5.9
Total secured debts........... 323000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................5600......110.......15.9
credit card....................800.......16........18.32
car loan.......................8400......189.3.....10.4
overdraft......................7800......91.75.....18.4
bedroom furniture..............1400......30........0
Total unsecured debts..........24000.....437.05....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,525.4
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 2,791.19
Available for debt repayments........... 734.21
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 437.05
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 297.16

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 332,500
Total Secured debt...................... -323,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -24,000
Personal net worth...................... -14,500

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

======== Enter any other useful information below ========
The mortgage payment is divided between 2 properties as below:

Owe - 188000 worth 190000 pay - 1030 - 5.9%
Owe - 135000 worth 125 - 130000 pay - 708 - 5.9% until December

As you can see havent included anything like clothing entertainment, kids stuff, car tax etc etc

Numpty_Monkey

Hi brassmonkey sorry about my first post but you had a "troll" that has now been deleted , well done for still posting:T

maybe a few cut backs on the groceries bill
have a look on the OS board
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=33

Mobile phone is a bit high have you looked at a new contract?
Satalite internet landline have you looked at a multi package Sky/virgin?

welcome aboard :A

brassmonkey_2

Numpty_Monkey wrote: »

Hi brassmonkey sorry about my first post but you had a "troll" that has now been deleted , well done for still posting:T

maybe a few cut backs on the groceries bill
have a look on the OS board
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=33

Mobile phone is a bit high have you looked at a new contract?
Satalite internet landline have you looked at a multi package Sky/virgin?

welcome aboard :A

we are defo looking into ways on cutting back on food shopping, we have started meal planning which has saved us a lot so far but still much room for more savings.

Mobile phone is 2 different contracts for me and wife, wife's one ends in november so that will half that at least.

I am currently on a multi package with virgin, i just divided the costs approx across the phone tv and broadband but still there is potentially some room for savings there too.

MrsTinks

OK - question number 1: When is the tenancy agreement up for renewal on the 2nd property? Your rental income is WAY lower than the mortgage cost - This worries me. Is rental value particularly low in that area for some reason?

Food - This HAS to come down... We don't eat much value food but rather quite high end food because we're foodies and we don't have any other vices etc... Between the Mr and I we spend about £120 a month. If I had to I could get that down to about £75 I reacon and STILL have people round for dinner once a week.

Water rate seems high too - are you on a meter - are there any arrears?

Petrol Diesel - is this for work? if it is can you not claim this back against tax?

Insurance - that's a lot of insurance... is this all needed and is it the best deal? Check for better offers and change using quidco for cashback.

Your other half is a stay at home mum - is there no way she can get even a part timejob? Maybe Avon or something she can do around the kids? You need a second income if you can at all get it as your SOA doesn't include lots of vital stuff like kids clothes (charity shops and freecycle!), car tax/maintenance and so on.

brassmonkey_2

MrsTine wrote: »

OK - question number 1: When is the tenancy agreement up for renewal on the 2nd property? Your rental income is WAY lower than the mortgage cost - This worries me. Is rental value particularly low in that area for some reason?

Food - This HAS to come down... We don't eat much value food but rather quite high end food because we're foodies and we don't have any other vices etc... Between the Mr and I we spend about £120 a month. If I had to I could get that down to about £75 I reacon and STILL have people round for dinner once a week.

Water rate seems high too - are you on a meter - are there any arrears?

Petrol Diesel - is this for work? if it is can you not claim this back against tax?

Insurance - that's a lot of insurance... is this all needed and is it the best deal? Check for better offers and change using quidco for cashback.

Your other half is a stay at home mum - is there no way she can get even a part timejob? Maybe Avon or something she can do around the kids? You need a second income if you can at all get it as your SOA doesn't include lots of vital stuff like kids clothes (charity shops and freecycle!), car tax/maintenance and so on.

The tenancy agreement is already onto a rolling contract, the rent is quite low in that area and 575 was actually a good price to achieve, however we never bought that property as an investment, it was meant to be our family home and at the time we took out a 100% mortgage and then some more to sort out some unexpected problems hense the now negative equity. However there was no work for me in that area so we had to move and because we were tied to the mortgage decided to rent and cut our losses. But what we didnt account for was when the rate gets hiked up this december, unfotunately we with northern rock too which means higher than normal.

Food- I forgot to mention included in our food shopping is stuff like cleaning stuff, toiletries, washing up powder, nappies etc also it has to feed me, my wife, and my 2 kids. But will defo try.

water - not on meter yet, although will be v soon. this is what they estimated our usage to be, no arrears.

fuel - yes this is for work, and yes i can claim 40p per mile against tax, however this isnt extra money in hand so to speak.

insurance - yes its a lot but needed, buildings insurance for rented property, buildings and contents for our property, life insurance we took out to cover the mortgage on rented property and life insurance to cover this property unfortunately we paid for car insurance last year on the credit card and thats due in october so thats gunna be another monthly addition soon.

my wife - unfortunately she cannot drive so getting to many places to work would be difficult, we dont live near any family so the additional childcare costs plus the drop in tax credits might make it not worth while. She is looking into some potential things from home, she applied to AQA but didnt get accepted, also teletech if something comes up in the area.

MrsTinks

If your wife can't work then would looking into child caring be a possibility? I knwo she'd need some qualifications etc but not having kids this isn't my area of expertise... I would say it's worth looking into though. If you live in an area with loads of people with dogs then what about dog walking? Good for keeping fit and round here the going rate is about £7.50 for 45 minutes. That's £37.50 a week for 45 minutes walk a day... imagine if she can find 3 or 4 regular dogs to walk...
If she wants work there is always a way Even if it's taking in peoples ironing!

Fuel - I know it's not cash in hand, BUT it will be very important come tax time!

Food etc - definitely get your wife on the OS board there is oodles of advise - also think about changing the little 'un to washable nappies - much much cheaper.
If you get your shopping from Tesco there are also loads of vouchers for money off around (and there is a £5 off £30 spend in Tesco in the News of the World today I think it is... so £0.95 for the paper and £5 off voucher... hey it all helps!)