My SOA- advice and help welcome

tirlittan

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1000
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1000

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 220
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 19
Electricity............................. 12
Gas..................................... 12
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 9.95 Water+TV licence paid together
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 25 New starting from September,was avarage £40
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 7 Includes Internet
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 23
Petrol/diesel........................... 56
Road tax................................ 11
Car Insurance........................... 41.26
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 5
Other travel............................ 10
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 19.5
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 14.5
Haircuts................................ 4
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 11
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Hobbies................................. 20
Books,magazines,CD's etc................ 6
Household and personal hygiene.......... 14
Takeways,eating out,snacks.............. 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 745.21

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 600
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 600

No Secured Debt

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Student Loan...................11048.....100.......9
Virgin Credit Card.............1699......25........0
Barclaycard....................600.......13........0
Loan from family ..............120.......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........13467.....138.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,000
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 745.21
Available for debt repayments........... 254.79
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 138
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 116.79

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 600
Total Secured debt...................... -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -13,467
Net Assets.............................. -12,867

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

======== Enter any other useful information below ========

e.g. the number of adults & children in the household, the number

of cars included in the SOA or anything else that may be useful.


Hi all,
I'm a newbie here and still find some of this bit confusing.I share a house with 4 other people, that's why bills are quite cheap (?).I've based my calculations on the avarage from last 12 months, so some things are probably cheaper at the moment and some more expensive.

My student loan is from another country. On 31.08.08 it will be £11,047.79 and from this interest is £2,243.00. Interest has accumulate because the first year I needed to start paying my loan back,they send the information to an old address of mine and I didn't know I had to start paying the loan back before the first year had gone.

My Baclaycard is on 0% till January '09 and Virgin credit card till September '09.

I know my food bill for single person is huge and absolutely ridicilous and I know this is one of the main things I need to sort out.Sometimes I really don't understand how I can go through so much. Recently I've been getting closer to £80/month. But I still spend loads on snacks (mainly chocolate,crisps and fizzy drinks),some takeways,eating out and drinks. Don't actually go out much at all,but last year before Xmas was a heavy time and so it's bumbed the spending higher. Just admitting to my snack addiction is embarassing and sometimes I can go couple of months without buying anything. But I do boredom eat, especially at work.

I'm starting a new job next month closer to home and I'm going to walk to work every day. Parking is difficult where I start working so that'll help and it's only 20minute walk (during summer I've cycled to my present job a few times). New work being close to home and living in a city plus my debts have made me wonder if I could actually do without a car for awhile(maybe till next summer,maybe for longer). This is something I've only recently started to seriously think about so no decision yet and not before I change jobs.

If I'm going to sell it and depending how much I will get for it, I was going to set enough money a side so I can pay my Barclaycard back before 0% deal ends (but not before) and with the rest, pay a bit more of my student loan. What do you think?

I shall also start a new hobby, which will be £15/month plus possibly carry on with badminton which will be £8-16/month depending if we play singles or doubles. My hobbies are the most important thing to me, like a life line I could not do without so I will always budget for them.

Gosh, it's late (had a long busy day) and I'm starting to loose the plot writing this,so I shall stop now. If anyone wants any more information,just ask and any ideas/hints/tips are more than welcome. I've been reading lots of threads and it's a helpful place out there.

Just one more thing, I've just applied and been accepted for the A&L bank account with £100 cash back but nothing's been set up yet.

Thanks for reading.

penguin83

Hi Tirlitan - didnt want to read and run but I am useless with SOA so just wanted to welcome you to DFW. Its pretty quiet at this time but hopefully there will be some experts along in the morning.

x x

Horace

If the grocery amount is just for you then cut it down, go over to Moneysaving Oldstyle for tips on meal planning and grocery challenges. Stop buying takeouts and snacks - take sandwiches to work and make your own food instead it will be more wholesome. Look if you have a snack addiction Lidl is best as you can buy a multi pack of crisps (24 bags) for £1.79 or thereabouts.

Household stuff I would have put under groceries - go and buy this kind of stuff (and groceries) in Lidl.

Keep a spending diary noting down everything you spend, from a bar of chocolate to a takeaway. Take part in the challenges on here e.g. make £10 a day - £2 savers club (these soon mount up).

Cut back on your hobbies and entertainment, presents can be bought relatively cheaply or made - look at the Special Occasions board for tips.

What is the Other Travel? I am confused because you have a car.

Can you not have a clear out and get rid of old CDs, etc - flog them on ebay to make a bit of extra money.

HTH

sparky0107

Welcome,
Just bumping you up 'til the experts come along

tealady

Hi. Do you have access to a freezer? If you do then batch cook and you will always have a meal ready. If you like takeaways them make them yourself, the Old Style board has loads of recipies.
Snacks and drinks, get in the habit of carrying minimum amounts of cash so you don't have the money to spend on them.
Hope this helps.

tirlittan

Thanks guys for your replies already.

I guess if I would do a SOA from last six months expenditure it would look a bit better,especially for food and snacks, because I have made a conscious effort of bringing the expenses down. I’ve also started cooking cheaper (but nicer) food for less thanks for my BF. And I did not buy any snacks for 2 months but this has now started again (I go through periods of addiction .

I’ve been doing an expenditure diary since April 2007 so can pretty accurately tell where my money’s gone, but that hasn’t always stopped me spending it on things I shouldn’t L . But recently I’ve become ever more determent to sort my debts out and I do find this site really motivating, which is why I want to share my problems.

Unfortunately, as I live in a shared house, there’s not enough freezer space to do batches of food. But I am getting better and more strict with my food so I am on the way to resolving this particular issue.

Though the expenditure for entertainment seems big, it’s mostly because I went to Glastonbury this year. I know I didn’t really afford to go, but I just started dating my BF and also I’ve always wanted to go. (Yes, I know, if you can’t afford it – don’t do it.) Otherwise it’s the occasional cinema, I think I’ve only been to one gig this year, and occasional theatre trip with discounted tickets.

Other travel is occasional taxis (probably two this year, I usually walk home) and last month when I went to see my friends it was actually cheaper to go by train (book tickets beforehand) than by taking my car.

I’ve already identified a lot of stuff to flock on Ebay. Just need the time to flock them off and I want to read a bit more about it first so I get my money’s worth. Hopefully this happens next week.

Thanks for help.