15
Mar
2024
A question about : In need of some help re Money and Debt!!
Hi everyone,
I'm new to all this and not sure what to do really I have read a few diaries on here recently and made a few changes accordingly and thought it was about time I bit the bullet do to speak and started my own debt free journey as looking at our finances recently and my husband losing his job I was shocked into taking action 
and I'm hoping you lovely people may be able to help.
How do I to about posting a soa on here?
Here is a little about our situation we are married have been for 2 years been together 5 we live in a rented 3 bedroom house with our 3 children a 3 year old an almost 2 year old and a 2 month old we also have a dog sasha and an older dog Karla who is being put down in the next 2 weeks as she isn't well 
we are about Ј8000 in debt at last count but could have increased since last checked
Any help woul be much appreciated thank you
Best answers:
- Hi well done on posting, if you can fill in the SOA on this link
https://www.stoozing.com/msoc/soacalc.php
format for MSE and remove the link at the bottom, people can look over it and help you find ways to save money. - https://www.stoozing.com/msoc/soacalc.php
Fill it in, remove the website link and post it on here - and the lovely people here will advise.
Good luck - Sorry, cross posted with Heffi
- [font=courier new]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 641.24
Partners monthly income after tax....... 445.8
Benefits................................ 493
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1580.04
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 327.99
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 101
Electricity............................. 130
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 32
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 12.5
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 19.51
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 430
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 80
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 30
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 12.56
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 21
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 46
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
pet food ............................... 20
nappies/baby bits ...................... 150
pocket money/school trips .............. 5
school meals............................ 66.3
newspaper/magazines..................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 1663.86
Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
anglian water .................480.28....0.........0
council tax 09-10..............428.24....0.........0
council tax debt ..............610.82....0.........0
vodafone old...................449.8.....0.........0
suffolk housing ...............18.84.....0.........0
debt...........................124.2.....0........ .0
old mobile 02..................184.93....0.........0
old insurance house............165.......0.........0
college........................265.96....0........ .0
hughes rental..................680.67....0.........0
debt...........................244.64....0........ .0
debt...........................195.......0........ .0
grattan .......................1477.71...0.........0
edf energy.....................434.7.....0.........0
wages overpayment old..........277.09....0.........0
vet............................306.31....0........ .0
bt.............................315.71....0........ .0
avon ..........................176.......0.........0
eon elec current sup...........527.98....0.........0
dwp debt.......................71........0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........7434.88...0.........-
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,580.04
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,663.86
Available for debt repayments........... -83.82
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount short for making debt repayments. -83.82
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,434.88
Net Assets.............................. -7,434.88 - sorry for late posting of soa my internet has been down as my 1 year old dog chewed through the wire bloody dog lol gotta love her though :-) but any help on the soa would be much appreciated as according to the information i am overspending by alot x have a nice day everyone
- Are you not making any payments at all towards your debts at the moment?
The good news is that there are some real cutbacks that can be made if you want to.
Your electricity bill is huge (even with no gas) - I pay Ј75 a month for both with hubby and 2 kids in the house.
Again for your groceries and baby bits. I aim for Ј250 a month for us including everything. I don't have baby bits to buy any more but don't think I ever spent Ј150 a month on either of mine.
Your mobile phone cost is also quite high I think (mine is Ј21 a month)...
Some people wiser than me will come along and offer good advice. I know it seems hard when you read it, but people are just trying to help you - promise. - Are you not making any payments to your debts at the moment ? The council tax seems high is it spread over 12 months ? if not maybe see if it can be, is the banding correct for a start ? the groceries is practically your partners wage this can be cut dramatically with meal planning and shopping for cheaper brands etc. Other people will be along soon to help with soa good luck on your journey x
- I agree that is seem you are overspending on groceries/child costs. Try keeping a spending diary and log exactly what you spend. It's boring but massively valuable.
When I was short on money I used to run through my receipts and give each item a quick classification (food, treat, toiletries, cleaning, alcohol etc) and then add it up and put in a spreadsheet. I could soon see that I bought way too many toiletries most of which didn't get used and that I could cut back on food cost by prepping from scratch (onion + can of tomatoes + dried herbs is a lot cheaper than a jar of pasta sauce etc).
There are other ways you could cut back (eg Sky TV) and your electricity does look expensive, can you change tariff?
Good luck - Hi everyone it has been a while since my first post on here so thought id update i am now divorced with my 3 children. i have been doing really well on clearing my debt and taken the advice on board of all who posted i still read the debt free diaries when i get the chance and i am looking now to reduce my food bill so i can save for a fmaily holiday to disneyland in the next couple of years as its not cheap lol now going to post a new SOA any advice would be great
- Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1539.58
Other income............................ 300
Total monthly income.................... 1839.58
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 10
Electricity............................. 100
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 37
Mobile phone............................ 37
TV Licence.............................. 30
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 32
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 70
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 15
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 14
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 10
Holiday................................. 10
Emergency fund.......................... 20
nail course ............................ 150
grattan................................. 40
Total monthly expenses.................. 1145
Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
provident......................800.......160...... .0
hughes.........................300.......20....... .0
grattan old ...................1340......4.........0
old mobile ....................400.......4.........0
Total unsecured debts..........2840......188.......-
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,839.58
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,145
Available for debt repayments........... 694.58
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 188
Amount left after debt repayments....... 506.58
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,840
Net Assets.............................. -2,840 - Grattan is a catalogue, I think.
HBS x - I echo what BedsitBob has said above about the SOA, it's good advice.
Find all your information for the debts as there is a good chance none of the above are 0% and we will then be able to support you with more accurate answers based on the APR. I know provident is normally quite costly being representative 399.7% APR and if yours is anything near this then I would say IMHO, overpayments on this would be a priority given the amount of disposable income you have left.
Hope this helps
DB - hi thanks for getting bak to me.
the extra Ј300 is csa if my ex husband pays some moths he does others he doesn't i live on my money coming in then if his comes in bonus it goes on paying off debts and the children.
i'm currently with eon for both on a pay as you go meter so i spend Ј25 a week elec as my cooker is also electric and 10 or so a week gas but mainly building credit up for winter use.
seeing the Ј69 a month for sky and mobile ill see what i can do about downgrading both until the contracts end.
tv license is new so bills will be high for first 6 months then Ј13a month.
i will look on the old style board and style if i cant cut my spending on food ect.
as for transport my son has a lot of hospital appointments and being autistic he cant deal with the noise or crowds so its all taxis although i do have a great cab company who do me wonderful deals as i use them alot
grattan is a catalogue i'm in credit now so i don't class it as a debt.
yes bedsit bob all of these are old debts that have frozen all interest and charges to which none of them have added any money on since i last did a SOA so alls good on that front. - i also have Ј100 in the emergency fund as only started this again a few months back as needed a new washing machine mine blew up, was really nice to go out and buy outright no worries no stress just how i like it
- Since they are all 0%, you are in a great position to clear these, in double quick time.
Assuming you really do have over Ј500 left each month then, without even cutting back on anything, you can easily have them gone by the end of the tax year.
If you put aside Ј400 per month (of the ~ Ј507 you have left), you would be in a position to pay them all off, in 5 months.
That's you debt free by march next year. - First of all, sorry things didn't work out with your ex ......
Food is high so a trip to the Old Style board is well worth it - also, try the grocery challenge each month as it's a real eye-opener!
Do you actually have the Ј500 spare each month?
If so, then I'd personally try to have a few very frugal months & get rid of the remaining debts once & for all OR stick a good proportion of that away for emergencies / start building that holiday fund
If not, then keep a spending diary for a couple of months to see where it's going (another eye-opener!)
Nail course @ Ј150 / month seems a lot?
How long is this for?
(if future career then great)
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