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SOA - please help me trim it!

Hi

I feel a bit of a fraud posting here as my only debt is a small balance transfer on a 0% card that I will have paid off by the end of the year, however I am finding myself with more month left than money every single month by about 2 weeks in, no matter how hard I try and budget. I have always had great advice from this forum so thought I would ask for help here.

A few notes. I have no payments in the mortgage/council tax/insurance/TV license columns as my husband pays those, I have not included his income. I claim the full amount of childcare vouchers so my income has been reduced by that amount.

The holiday savings fund is a composite of lots of savings pots - £10 a month for a future Disneyland Paris trip, £20 a month for a weekend away for our anniversary, £20 a month for my husband's 40th birthday, £20 a month for Butlins this year, £20 a month for Center Parcs next year, £10 a month for my 40th birthday. These small savings pots will mean we can have a holiday every year without ending up in debt.

So, any more ideas please? We do not want to cut down our Sky package (we don't have movies or sports) as we don't really have anyone to babysit so TV is our main evening entertainment! We are on the cheapest deal we can find for gas and electric and are signed up to the MSE cheap fuel thing. I am locked in on my phone deal until August 2014.

Thanks in advance.

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.................... 1

Monthly Income Details

Monthly income after tax................ 935.37
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 81.2
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1016.57


Monthly Expense Details

Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20.99
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 38
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 43
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 100
Childcare/nursery....................... 100
Other child related expenses............ 40
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)...... 5
Haircuts................................ 30
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 115
Emergency fund.......................... 60
Charity................................. 5.5
ISA..................................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 937.49



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
Halifax balance trans..........460.......35........0
Total unsecured debts..........460.......35........-



Monthly Budget Summary

Total monthly income.................... 1,016.57
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 937.49
Available for debt repayments........... 79.08
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 35
Amount left after debt repayments....... 44.08


Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -460
Net Assets.............................. -460


Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

Comments

  • simeyb
    simeyb Posts: 212 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hello! No problem being on the DFW forum even though you don't have much debt - it's also about staying debt free, which we all aspire to!

    I guess the issue for me is that your OH's income and expenditure doesn't feature on here. To form a true picture of the family's in's and out's it is so much better to pool resources, at least for your SOA if not in reality. Our cash flow position increased massively as my OH gets paid a week before me and so pooling means we in effect get paid every three weeks so there's less month to get to the end of - doesn't mean we have any more money that before, but by pooling our resources we are less likely to dip into cards etc towards the end of our months.

    But even where you are paid both at the end of the month, a combination of your income and expenditure would give us the best insight to comment on.
  • lilian1977
    lilian1977 Posts: 5,188 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Thanks. I will get the details and update the SOA.
  • gfplux
    gfplux Posts: 4,985 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Hung up my suit!
    So you very roughly have £10 a week to spend after all your listed expenses. So to make this last only spend £10 a week and your money will last from payday to payday.
    There will be no Brexit dividend for Britain.
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