Please have a look - need help!

naomijj

Hi, I have been lurking on here for a while struggling to find my lightswitch! I have finally done an SOA - I will post it at the bottom.
I am trying to find extra work at the moment - got a job application to take into Thorntons tomorrow. I currently work at Argos on Sundays so we have no childcare costs.
DH used to have £150 worth of overtime a week and this has been consistent for 3 years however with the downturn in the industry at the moment this has been cut in the last two months to nothing so we are struggling to adjust.
I know there must be some obvious savings, i am tied into my mobile contract until April but I am looking at reducing the non vital costs of sky etc. I just feel very low with it all and don't know where to start
As well as what you can see below we are at the end of the Overdraft 1000, I wasn't sure how to put it in.
Please be gentle with me I am feeling fragile today
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b]

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1084
Benefits................................ 118
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1402

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 326.6
Secured loan repayments................. 110.8
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 95
Electricity............................. 63
Gas..................................... 46
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 16.65
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 11.61
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 29
Internet Services....................... 19
Groceries etc. ......................... 320
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 60
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 32.71
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
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..................... 12
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 33.88
Other insurance......................... 23.76
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
bank fee................................ 12.95
Total monthly expenses.................. 1309.96

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car................................. 2000 - needed for DHs work
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 112000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 33000....(326.6)....5.49
Secured Debt.................. 10000....(110.8)....14.2
Total secured debts........... 43000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
evans..........................2000......70........19.9
hsbc gold card.................800.......50........16.9
argos card.....................471.......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........3271......120.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,402
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,309.96
Available for debt repayments........... 92.04
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 120
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -27.96

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 112,000
Total Secured debt...................... -43,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,271
Net Assets.............................. 65,729

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.[/font]

**Amy**

Hi

I have added some bits and bobs on your SOA in red below.

As you say you do need more of an income really, however if you make the changes below this could save you a fair bit of money.

Have you got any items you can sell either ebay/car boot or DVDs/books on amazon or play.com?

It might be a good idea to look at the "up your income" board on here.

If you can check your insurances/gas and electricity supplier, you may be able to save some money there. Also if you join www.quidco.com you may be able to save money by going through here to get your insurances etc.

I hope this helps

Amy

naomijj wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1084
Benefits................................ 118
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1402

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 326.6
Secured loan repayments................. 110.8
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 95
Electricity............................. 63 Have you checked that this is the lowest provider? www.uswitch.co.uk
Gas..................................... 46 Have you checked that this is the lowest provider? www.uswitch.co.uk
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 16.65
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 60 Can you reduce this? You need to cut it down to the minimum (even being stuck in a contract you can reduce line rental)
TV Licence.............................. 11.61
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 29 This does need to be cancelled really, or you could look at a package including broadband/landline/tv (sky or virgin?)
Internet Services....................... 19 This does need to be cancelled really, or you could look at a package including broadband/landline/tv (sky or virgin?)
Groceries etc. ......................... 320 This does seem a lot, how many people in your family? Check out oldstyle board for meal planning etc.
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 60
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 32.71 Is this the cheapest one?
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
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..................... 12
Contents insurance...................... 12
Life assurance ......................... 33.88 Is this the cheapest one?
Other insurance......................... 23.76 Is this the cheapest one?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
bank fee................................ 12.95
Total monthly expenses.................. 1309.96

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car................................. 2000 - needed for DHs work
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 112000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 33000....(326.6)....5.49
Secured Debt.................. 10000....(110.8)....14.2
Total secured debts........... 43000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
evans..........................2000......70........19.9
hsbc gold card.................800.......50........16.9
argos card.....................471.......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........3271......120.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,402
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,309.96
Available for debt repayments........... 92.04
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 120
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -27.96

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 112,000
Total Secured debt...................... -43,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,271
Net Assets.............................. 65,729

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.[/font]

tyllwyd

One thing that jumped out at me was your secured debt of £10,000 at 14% APR. That is huge for a secured debt, and it is dragging you down.

It depends a lot on the small print of the loan (is interest front loaded) and what kind of deals you can get, but would it be worth researching the options of remortgaging to combine the loan and the mortgage at a better rate?

savingholmes

You mentioned you worked Sundays so you had no childcare costs - do you get child tax credits? It may be worth checking what you are entitled to.... I think there is a website somewhere.... If your kids are in full time education on your wages I would think you should be getting at least £500 per year?

Naomim

Hi,

Check out https://www.entitledto.co.uk to see if you are claiming all you should be. As you and OH are on low wages I think you probably should get some more.

How many people are in your family? Your food bill looks huge. We are two adults and one child and spend about £220 a month which is high compared to others on here :rolleyes: If you can meal plan and only buy what you need it really does work

Aslo your life assurance is high. Is that with your mortgage? Maybe you can shop around and see if you can get it cheaper.

HTH

Naomi x

naomijj

Hi all - thankyou so much for replying, I am looking at the suggestions and I am going to make a start today trying to cut down the monthly outgoings. The mortgage we have is fixed until after Christmas so I can't add the ten thousand loan to it until that ends but will definitely do it then. I am going to look at the entitled to website too - it never occurred to me that we might not be getting what we should! I will update tomorrow - thanks again for reading and taking the time to reply to me :-)
Naomi x

LoulaBelle

HI there,

Can you speak to your local council and see if you can pay your council tax over 12 months instead of the usual 10? Again I agree that you can probably cut down on your grocery shopping - try buying some of the shop 'own brands' and really meal plan - I did this one week and only spent £40 - usually my bill for groceries is between £70 and £80. It also makes the day easier if you know what you are cooking that evening! How about a couple of bar shifts in the evenings or even cleaning offices in the evenings (cleaning tends to pay surprising well!) even if you don't like it just think of the money and know that its only a temporary thing! Good luck