Hi, Im nolongerindenial about my debt issues

nolongerindenial · 12 March 2010 at 11:53AM

Today, I have took the most positive step ever in my life and finally admitted I have a problem which needs addressing. I can not stop spending money (on useless tat)!

I am looking to address this, I am a 26 year old male who has too many defaults, too many cars and an amount of debt which I feel would cripple a small african nation :rotfl:

Today I have taken the steps to sit down and write out what we owe, and this thread is going to be my motivation to get all of this paid off no later than my 30th birthday.

Firstly for the debts

Natwest Loan: Approx £13500 outstanding (took out in april/may/june 07, not sure of APR as natwest have lost the agreement, I dont even know if its secured or not) Defaulted on this account
Natwest Overdrafts totalling: £5000
Natwest CC: £339.85
Toyota Finance: £1470.22 - Secured on a Car which is for sale, with an arrears of 286.30
Egg Credit Card: £1,119.96
Alliance & Leicester: £2500

This gives a total debt of £22,810,04.

All credit cards have been cut up / accounts closed and as such I have no access to increase my debts.

Now I am self employed working B2B and as such my income can go from as high as £3500 pcm to as low as 800 pcm which makes setting up arrangements and sticking to them rather difficult

Unfortuantely recently my wife's pay dropped due to her being on maternity.

My plan is to try and up my game at work, through a couple of products which are due to launch this month and sell sell sell all of the stuff I do not need to keep me earning money, and this is the bit that probably in the wrong forum - how do I keep my creditors sweet whilst I pick off the smaller debts to pay off one by one (I am hoping the sale of the car will pay off Toyota/Egg/Natwest CC) leaving me just one credit card to pay off and the loan?

I try to keep my spirits up as my work suffers when there down but its getting harder to get up, and going from a newish car (now 7 years old) to an old banger (over 15 years old) may be a great move in terms of reducing my debt to under £20000, but it is not making me feel that good as a father.

Stephy13 · 12 March 2010 at 12:08PM

Well done on realising your debt needs to be dealt with. That in itself is an achivement. I will follow your progress. Hopefully selling the car will be the kick start to solving your debt problems.

Everyone on here is so lovely they will give great advice.

Stephy
x

nolongerindenial · 12 March 2010 at 12:52PM

Ok, Im not one of those people to start doing challenges, however I do have a load of tat (read valuable goods to the right people)

Already listed 3 items today on eBay, and thats without even getting up from this seat to find them, take photo's of them and list them

Just looking around my desk for more tat that can go

Tis a shame that my barcode scanner only works on that old laptop of mine, as it is needed for selling some of our products and keeping an eye on stock - or that would be another £50 of my debt (but a new barcode scanner would cost £80 so isnt worth it:) )

nolongerindenial · 12 March 2010 at 12:57PM

Ooh finds another old (but working) laptop on my desk, right thats going on ebay now

Its now listed, and another minor update (I hope to update this thread daily)

I have my wife on board with trying to sell things, pulling things out of cupboards we didnt know we had, and the plan is to use ebay for 1-2 months whilst we make some space in the house and clear debts with that, whilst this is in progress put up a number of websites and use my Internet Marketing skills to earn some more income whilst work is slightly slow

That and chase people who owe me money harder!

nolongerindenial · 13 March 2010 at 12:56AM

I have made another step, I have worked out what a SOA is and completed one based upon the absolute worst case scenario's of our income, and it scary reading

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 4

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 900
Partners monthly income after tax....... 492
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1392

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 665.9
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 440.0000000000001
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 96
Electricity............................. 28
Gas..................................... 38
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 11.75
Mobile phone............................ 100
TV Licence.............................. 35
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 23
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 16
Car Insurance........................... 60
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 100
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 140
Haircuts................................ 1.25
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2374.9

Assets
Cash.................................... 147
House value (Gross)..................... 100000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 104647

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 112000...(665.9)....6.7
Secured Debt.................. 13500....(297)......8.9
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 1500.....(143)......16.9
Total secured & HP debts...... 127000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Egg............................1119......30........29.9
Alliance Leicester.............2500......89........29.9
Total unsecured debts..........3619......119.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,392
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,374.9
Available for debt repayments........... -982.9
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 119
Amount short for making debt repayments. -1,101.9

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 104,647
Total HP & Secured debt................. -127,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,619
Net Assets.............................. -25,972

nolongerindenial · 13 March 2010 at 1:26AM

These figures are based upon our worst month to date of me trading, in a good months I clear in excess of £1900 per calender month, howeve I have realised it is always best to work on the worst figures.

Now to try and work out a plan.....

moo2moo · 13 March 2010 at 9:15AM

TV licence is £12 a month not £35

Curious as to why you have four cars. Can you get rid of some of them?

Do you really need cable TV?

£60 in car insurance seems a lot for a 30 year old.

You simply can't afford to spend £1680 a year on presents. Thats more than enough to clear your Egg card. Buy less for fewer people.

As for being a farther and driving an old banger I'm sure your children would rather be transported around in that than spend their formative years hiding from the baliffs.

dealwithdebtdot · 13 March 2010 at 9:43AM

nolongerindenial wrote: »

I have made another step, I have worked out what a SOA is and completed one based upon the absolute worst case scenario's of our income, and it scary reading

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 4

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 900
Partners monthly income after tax....... 492
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1392

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 665.9
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 440.0000000000001
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 96
Electricity............................. 28
Gas..................................... 38
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 11.75
Mobile phone............................ 100 - This seems high can you reduce it in anyway...or plan to when contracts end?
TV Licence.............................. 35 ?
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 23
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 You can cut this down! if you and your partner meal plan, there is loads of stuff on the Old Style boards for insperation.
Clothing................................ 0...with a baby? they need clothes, and they keep growing...certainly charity shops can be helpful here!
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 16
Car Insurance........................... 60
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 100
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 140 You can defo cut this down!
Haircuts................................ 1.25 That seems very cheap for 2 people.
Entertainment........................... 0 Life with no entertainment at all can be pretty dull, there is a lot you can do for free, but not budgeting or planning for anything, may lead to a 'oh blow it all' situation! Its important to have little things to look forward to along the way.
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2374.9

Assets
Cash.................................... 147
House value (Gross)..................... 100000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 104647

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 112000...(665.9)....6.7
Secured Debt.................. 13500....(297)......8.9
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 1500.....(143)......16.9
Total secured & HP debts...... 127000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Egg............................1119......30........29.9
Alliance Leicester.............2500......89........29.9
Total unsecured debts..........3619......119.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,392
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,374.9
Available for debt repayments........... -982.9
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 119
Amount short for making debt repayments. -1,101.9

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 104,647
Total HP & Secured debt................. -127,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,619
Net Assets.............................. -25,972

Have added some comments, get those cars gone, and whack the money off the CC's!

Well done on making the step...!:j

nolongerindenial · 13 March 2010 at 9:49PM

Ooops, I appear to have made some mistakes on that, presents are £140 a year not a month

Also I am 26 and my wife has had a few bumps and that is the cheapest we could get the insurance on the car, we currently have cars up for sale unfortunately no bites at the moment.

I have managed to reduce the contract £15 a month I believe - however havent had a new bill yet to confirm this, however as I use my phone mainly for (sole trader) business and regularly get close to the flext limits on minutes use I can not cut my side of the bill down, however when my wifes contract ends in october that will be reduced to £60 a month.

As for the Hair cuts, My Mother in law is a hairdresser and cuts my wife's hair free of charge, unfortunately she doesnt have the hair sheers barbers use and as such I goto the barber far to infrequently (about once every 3-4 months) and pay to get it cut.

Our TV License will drop down to £12 a month in september, unfortunately we got into arrears with our license and have to catch up with the payments hence it is 3 times the cost of a normal one

Our Entertainment is the Sky Packages we subscribe to, and it was already listed elsewhere, we rarely go out as we currently can not afford to whilst business picks up again.

Clothing:
Currently we are still using all of the freebies given to us since the birth of our child, our only costs are Nappies, cotton balls and Food - as we manage to get free wipes for his bum - unfortunately he goes through one tub of food every 4-5 days, we did have to buy colief for his collic - however have now managed to get that on prescription (£9.99 a bottle which only just lasts a week :eek:), tomorrow will be our first week shopping since we have finally opened our eyes to the fact we are broke, so it will come down massively

I will try and recompile a new SOA without any faults as I appear to have made mistakes in my eagerness to push forwards!

On the upside, today I made £25 selling some car parts, which paid for my petrol for my work expedition to hull today to finish some work for a client, which means hopefully I should have some money to put to one side shortly to start a debt pot:T

nolongerindenial · 13 March 2010 at 10:28PM

I believe this is correct, I hope I havent made any more obvious errors

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 4

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 900
Partners monthly income after tax....... 492
Benefits................................ 100
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1492

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 665.9
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 143
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 89
Electricity............................. 28
Gas..................................... 38
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 11.75
Mobile phone............................ 100
TV Licence.............................. 35.62
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 23
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 16
Car Insurance........................... 60
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
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..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 11.66
Haircuts................................ 1.25
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1843.18

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 100000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 104500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 112000...(665.9)....6.79
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 1500.....(143)......16.9
Total secured & HP debts...... 113500....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Natwest Loan...................13500.....297.......NaN
Egg ...........................1119.9....31.81.....26.9
Alliance & Leicester...........2600......80........0
Santander......................400.......14........0
Natwest CC.....................340.......7.........29.9
Total unsecured debts..........17959.9...429.81....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,492
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,843.18
Available for debt repayments........... -351.18
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 429.81
Amount short for making debt repayments. -780.99

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 104,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -113,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,959.9
Net Assets.............................. -26,959.9

nolongerindenial · 15 March 2010 at 1:05PM

Onto Day 4 of our new life.

So far we have managed to avoid going shopping eating what is in the house, and typically we know when we are shopping for mon-fri rather than sat-fri we spend 30-40% less. Although I think its a hopeless task as we need to go shopping today instead.

My wife is currently working out what we are, going to eat for the next 5 days, as well as trying to give us a nice clean environment to live/work in.

As for my £10 a day challenge, I am already doing quite well, as based on existing bids on items I have listed on ebay, and car parts I have already sold, my rolling average for the 10 days of the listing will be £7.72, and I have a couple of people should they turn up coming to look at the car tomorrow with a view to buying it, and more people after car parts off me on weds evening.

I have also been reading a lot of threads, and one of the things I have picked up on is setting 3 sets of goals for the next 12 months.

A. The Dream Goal, extremely difficult to achieve, but possible with a lot of hard work and luck
B. The Tough Goal, Difficult to achieve - but possible with hard work only
C. The Simple Goal, Baby steps in the right direction.

Now for what I am setting myself:

A: Debt Free by the end of 12 months. To do this I need to pay off on average £2,350.83 per calender month over the next 12 months.
B: Half my debt in the next 12 months. To do this I need to pay off an average £1175.42 per mont
C: Catch up with all payments over the next 12 months. I will need to pay an average of £800 a month to manage this over the next 12 months.

I am targetting A, however wont be too disapointed if I get either B or C.

Hi, Im nolongerindenial about my debt issues

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