SOA - any advice?

SoniaM_2

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1670
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 223
Total monthly income.................... 1893

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1086
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 95
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 19
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 29
Telephone (land line)................... 16.99
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 17
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 10
Clothing................................ 2
Petrol/diesel........................... 260
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 15
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 8
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 5
Contents insurance...................... 4
Life assurance ......................... 6.25
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 40
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1728.24

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 183000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 185500

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 173000...(1086).....5.5
Total secured debts........... 173000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdraft......................1000......0.........11
Overdraft......................1500......0.........11
Loan...........................15000.....223.......5.5
Total unsecured debts..........17500.....223.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,893
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,728.24
Available for debt repayments........... 164.76
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 223
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -58.24

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 185,500
Total Secured debt...................... -173,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,500
Net Assets.............................. -5,000

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.
I've filled this out completely honestly, and it's not looking good. Any ideas on how i can cut back expenditure? All the bill things (Sky etc) are in min contracts so can't cancel. Thanks.

lucielle

Hi Sonia, well done for posting. Its pretty scary seeing it all written down but at the same time therapeutic. A few things jump out at me you only have £10 for groceries, is that right? Council tax can you apply to pay that over 12 months? Ditch the satellite as you can't afford it and think about getting a set top box. Hair cuts-do you get your hair cut every month for £40? Think about being a model and getting it cheaper. Is your mobile on pay as you go if not can you change it? Hope this helps.
L

Poppy9

Have you got the right amount in for food? £10 is less than £2.50 per week.

The only other biggy beside your mortgage is petrol costs. Assuming you can't cut back on this.

Have you thought of taking in a lodger to help with your mortgage costs? Renting a room out could get you another £300 per month depending on where you live.

isgman

Almost £52 on Phone / Mobiles.. yet only £10 on Food, Do less talking and more eating.. Could you cut down on the Mobile Phone, I take it your Fuel bill is so high due to your location. well done for posting your SOA, you have made the 1st steps, Good Luck

Burlesque_Babe

£10 on food, £2 on clothes but £40 on hair? I'm guessing you are slim and wear just bikinis all year but have fab hair

I would cut (nice pun?!) the hair money - students on the NVQ course charge around £10 for a colour and a bit less for a cut if you are a model at your local Adult Learning centre. Where I work is always looking for models and the tutor is always there.

redsquirrel80

Is the extra income on top of your salary (£223 at the moment) something you could increase?

Sky - phone them up and tell them you can't afford it, they will more than likely offer you a reduced package, they'd rather you paid them something!

As others have said your grocery figure is tiny! If you really are only spending £10 a month I want to know how!

getmore4less

The thing that stands out is the mortgage this is a lot more than is sensible for the salary.

You can break even with some small tweeks to the SOA but the food does look very low so it may not be possible.

One obvious thing to do is go interest only(<£800 @5.5%) for a while(about 1year) to pay off the high cost overdraft debt and build up an emergency fund.

Then from your now proper balanced budget overpay the mortgage or loan based on what you can afford not what a full repayment loan requires.

SOA adjustments, in addition to what others have allready said,

If single drop the life cover you don't need it.

car costs don't look right, for the fuel costs, servicing will be higher than what you have.

Cut the mobile, get a free one with cash back deal.

Tv, land line, interenet should be able to do this for £20 or less pm(currently £34)

EAT more £10 is low probably a typo and you meant £100 which is ok.

Track spends to make sure this a realistic SOA.


Longer term you need to increase the income to get this mortgage paid off, but I would focus on a ballanced budget first and interest only to hit the high cost debt is the first thing to do.

SoniaM_2

Hi all. Thanks for advice. I posted this then had to run off and realised I've missed some rather critical information!! Sorry!

Right. Split from hubby last year, hence massive mortgage (taken out with both incomes). Tied into fixed deal until April next year. Planning on getting house on market in Feb so max chance of selling as close to end of deal as poss. Have tried going to interest only but don't have anything else in place so they won't go for it. Tried payment holiday, but LTV too high so can't do that either.

I have a new boyfriend, who can't afford to help with bills, but his contribution is food, so actually my £10 a month is accurate - he gets the rest.

The £223 income is from ex to cover the loan repayments. No scope to increase! (struggle with getting this to be honest..) Current job means it's not very realistic to take on another job - I've looked into this but just can't find anything in the area that will fit with the hours i work.

Mobile is £35 a month and still under min contract. Sky ditto. Just changed to Talk talk for internet & phone (connected yesterday) so gone down from £30+ a month to £16.99.

Car servicing is low as that's what boyfriend does - i only have to cover cost of parts - he does the work! Wish I could reduce petrol - but do 55 miles round trip to work and back. Don't use the car for anything else though.

Hair - I know that's expensive but that really is my only luxury. I haven't bought clothes, cosmetics or anything else for 'me' since last christmas, and I'm not likely to. (I used to be very excessive (when with ex & had his income as well) so have a wardrobe full of stuff I can wear. Should keep me going for a good couple of years!) It's £80 every 3 months for a cut and colour, and £30 for a trim every 6 weeks. That's probably expensive but I had a mega bad experience with a cheap hairdresser a few years ago and I really struggle to trust anyone enough to touch my hair for me. Probably just a phobia I need to get over - but it's taken me years to get this far. Not ready to do that yet.

The life cover is only for £100k, and will be ditched when the house is sold - it doesn't cover the whole mortgage but it's the only cover I've got for that.

I guess my real question to you experts is - I know my outgoings are more than I can afford - but untilI can sell the house (which is too expensive for me to run on my own I know) is there anything else i can do?

Poppy9

Is the value of your house (£185k) the value before the current drop in prices or a realistic price now? Given you have a £173k mortgage and the cost of selling etc. you are probably going to end up in negative equity. What happens when you sell the house, who picks up the loss, you and ex equally or is it just you? If you and ex still joint owners is it right you've been left with keeping up the mortgage? If you'd walked away at the time of split too what would have happened to the house?

If your boyfriend is living with you then just buying food is not enough of a contribution to your living costs. If he can't afford to pay more than the food bill then you have to get yourself a lodger.

Staciep88

SoniaM wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1670
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 223
Total monthly income.................... 1893

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1086 could you switch to interest only for a while until you sort yourself out?
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 95 is this over 10 months? If so, change it to 12 months
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 19
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 29
Telephone (land line)................... 16.99 do you need this seeings as you have a mobile?
Mobile phone............................ 35 can you lower this?
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 17 you dont need this
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 10
Clothing................................ 2 ?
Petrol/diesel........................... 260 very high
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 15
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 8
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 5
Contents insurance...................... 4
Life assurance ......................... 6.25
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15 too much
Haircuts................................ 40 too much
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1728.24

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 183000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 185500

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 173000...(1086).....5.5
Total secured debts........... 173000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdraft......................1000......0.........11
Overdraft......................1500......0.........11
Loan...........................15000.....223.......5.5
Total unsecured debts..........17500.....223.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,893
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,728.24
Available for debt repayments........... 164.76
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 223
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -58.24

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 185,500
Total Secured debt...................... -173,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -17,500
Net Assets.............................. -5,000

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.
I've filled this out completely honestly, and it's not looking good. Any ideas on how i can cut back expenditure? All the bill things (Sky etc) are in min contracts so can't cancel. Thanks.

just a few ideas there

SoniaM_2

Thanks guys.

Ex walked away and left me with the house - full responsibility. Fortunately I (just) managed to persuade him to still pay the loan, so no way he will pay any more. Yes he's still legally part owner with me, and jointly liable for mortgage, but doesn't pay anything towards it.

Boyfriend can't afford to pay any more - food is all he can do at the moment.

I've not been able to find a lodger - I've looked at that before and not had any interest.

Petrol is stupidly high, but I don't really have a choice on that - that's just getting me to work and back.

Presents - I'll be honest that was a guess just to put something in there. I reckoned about £200 over the year for Xmas & birthdays.

I'm crossing everything I've got that the house value is about right. In our area so far the prices haven't dropped. The market's slowed right down, but not dropped. I don't know what else I can do if I can't sell it - even if I take a loss I'll just have to find a way of dealing with it. I can't afford to stay there regardless. And the thought of coming off the fixed deal terrifies me cos there isn't enough equity for me to get another deal - I'll be stuck with SVR.

I know there's a lot of hope and stuff involved in this, but I really don't see another way of looking at it. I can't afford to stay in that house, but can't sell it until next year )penalties on leaving fixed deal just too high).