SOA - need to cut back, but how?

Tizzi

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax.....................0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2000
Benefits............................................. 100 - child tax credit/family allowance
Other income............................ ........0
Total monthly income.................... 2100

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ ........770 - 10 yrs left, 34k interest-only: 3 yrs left
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... ............0
Management charge ....................... 0
Council tax.................................. .116
Electricity..................................... 37 - capped with gas on recent deal
Gas.............................................. 35
Oil................................................ 0
Water rates................................. 27.41
Telephone (land line)..................... 22 - tesco all incl calls
Mobile phone............................... 10 - 2 x PAYG
TV Licence................................ 11.61
Satellite/Cable TV......................... 20 - just reduced to this basic package
Internet Services........................... 16
Groceries etc. ............................. 280 - 2 adults, 1 child. Need to reduce somehow.
Clothing........................................ 10 - rarely spend cash on clothes. Mainly use survey vouchers & buy in sales
Petrol/diesel.............................. ...100
Road tax....................................... 20 - have 2 cars, 1 old banger for commute, other on finance is family car
Car Insurance.............................. ...30
Car maintenance (including MOT).... 20
Car parking...................................... 0
Other travel..................................... 25 - bridge toll
Childcare/nursery.............................. 0
Other child related expenses.............. 10
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc)..... 5
Pet insurance/vet bills........................ 20 - total 3 pets
Buildings insurance........................... 37
Contents insurance........................... 47
Life assurance ................................... 99 - 2 people
Other insurance................................. 46 - redundancy & health friendly society
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)........ 10
Haircuts.............................................. 18
Entertainment........................................ 5
Union Subs........................................... 5 - forgot to change this from 'Holiday'!
Emergency fund.................................. 30
Total monthly expenses.................. 1882.02

Assets
Cash.................................... 500
House value (Gross)..................... 190000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 7000
Other assets............................ 6000
Total Assets............................ 203500

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 84000....(770)......0
Total secured debts........... 84000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card....................1800......50........0 - debt always card-tarted to 0%
car finance....................5000......105.......0 - DH's debt, not sure of APR% atm
Total unsecured debts..........6800......155.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income........................... 2,100
Expenses (including secured debts).......1,882.02
Available for debt repayments.............. 217.98
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 155
Surplus(deficit if negative)................. 62.98

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 203,500
Total Secured debt......................... -84,000
Total Unsecured debt...................... -6,800
Net Assets.................................... 112,700

It feels like we’ve had this credit card debt forever! And every month, we’re using our other ‘emergency’ credit card to ensure we don’t go overdrawn. We don’t end up overdrawn, and pay off the card in full the next month without fail, but we always seem to be only just keeping our heads above water.

The insurance policies are very important to my husband, who’s older than I am and very anxious that his family be protected should anything happen to him. We’ve just reduced his life assurance/critical illness policy by £40/month by taking out a new policy as he’s now been a non-smoker for 2 years.

We need to clear the credit card and save as much as possible, as next year we’ll be having to put about 6k of new debt onto a credit card again. Our house has old fashioned windows that are very unsafe for a young child, and we’ve got through this summer without needing to replace them but by next summer they’ll be too dangerous for us to put off any longer. Plus the endowment policy, which matures in 3 years, will have a roughly £16k shortfall on current projections (we’ve looked into the mis-selling route, but we’re not eligible to claim, alas).

So, we need to be making savings and clearing debts, but can’t seem to get anywhere. Returning to work is not an option for me (for various valid reasons) at the moment, so any debt clearing needs to come from cutting back rather than an extra salary.

Could you please cast an eye over my SOA (which I cannot get to post neatly lined up, for some reason) and let me know where (and how!) I can make more savings?

Thank you very much!

kazwookie

Hi

Well done for posting up.

My only comment at the moment is are you claiming enough benefit? there is a list / caculator somewhere which tells you what you are entitled to.

I am sure someone will be alone with a link for you.

The bridge tolls? buy a season ticket or / and get your DH's company to pay towards it.

MrOrchard

Thanks for posting, it looks like you already run a pretty tight ship!

Here's my twopenneth though:

£280 a month is a hell of a lot on food for 3 people a month. Try Lidl, Aldi and aiming for the "value" options, which are made in the same factories as the more expensive own brands (and labels) but don't "fit" the mold (eg baked beans), You can probably reduce this by over £100 a month.

Shop around for insurance now - you don't have to wait until renewal time, see what's out there now.

Your Electricity looks like it could use some work, I started turning everything off at the socket when it wasn't in use and my bill dropped almost 80%, make sure you have energy saving bulbs in and that lights are off when you're not in the room.

Like I said, you look like you run things pretty well, but there's always room to trim!

scaredy_cat

can you switch your building and contenct insurance to a new provider? some are doing free contents ins when you take their building ins.

Tizzi

Thanks for the replies! So, it's the insurance, electricity and food bills that really need work, then?

We get only the basic child tax/family allowance, and aren't eligible for any more than that. The tolls we get a pre-pay tag, and so get a 7% discount, but his employer definitely won't help out with the toll payments.

I almost wish in a way that we were doing something really extravagantly wrong with our budgeting, so that we could have a lightbulb moment, cut back on that area and suddenly have loads more free cash each month. As it is, it seems like we're almost getting it right, which is good, but also means that we're down to squeezing the last pennies out of the budget each month...

simongregson

Tizzi wrote: »

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax.....................0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2000
Benefits............................................. 100 - child tax credit/family allowance
Other income............................ ........0 This is about right ^^^
Total monthly income.................... 2100

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ ........770 - 10 yrs left, 34k interest-only: 3 yrs left
Secured loan repayments................. 0 ^^^Will this go down in 3 years?
Rent.................................... ............0
Management charge ....................... 0
Council tax.................................. .116
Electricity..................................... 37 - capped with gas on recent deal
Gas.............................................. 35
Oil................................................ 0
Water rates................................. 27.41
Telephone (land line)..................... 22 - tesco all incl calls How many calls do you make - we use https://www.1899.com and the basic BT 10.50 a month package, and pay a flat 5p for non-weekend calls, it could save you a few quid a month if you are a light phone user
Mobile phone............................... 10 - 2 x PAYG Try to reduce calls to a minimum, see if you can make a top up last a few months
TV Licence................................ 11.61
Satellite/Cable TV......................... 20 - just reduced to this basic package get rid of this as soon as you are out of contract and get a freeview box, they are only about 15 quid now and no ongoing fees
Internet Services........................... 16
Groceries etc. ............................. 280 - 2 adults, 1 child. Need to reduce somehow. This is very high. As suggested, make a list of all your meals and stuff you need to buy, then go and get just what is on the list. Cook from scratch. try using less meat, substitute 1/2 of the meat for a tin of beans like borlotti beans, cheaper and better for you!! Discover Lidl/Aldi etc.
Clothing........................................ 10 - rarely spend cash on clothes. Mainly use survey vouchers & buy in sales This is low already
Petrol/diesel.............................. ...100
Road tax....................................... 20 - have 2 cars, 1 old banger for commute, other on finance is family car Your car on finance is costing you a lot each month. It's probably not practical to get rid of it, but find out when its paid off and try to avoid replacing it. You can buy a reliable 2nd hand car like a Ford Mondeo for around £1700, often they have only been driven as company cars and are in good condition. Avoid the car supermarket or dealers!
Car Insurance.............................. ...30
Car maintenance (including MOT).... 20
Car parking...................................... 0
Other travel..................................... 25 - bridge toll
Childcare/nursery.............................. 0
Other child related expenses.............. 10
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc)..... 5
Pet insurance/vet bills........................ 20 - total 3 pets
Buildings insurance........................... 37
Contents insurance........................... 47
Life assurance ................................... 99 - 2 people This is very high, I understand that your husband is older but you have to weigh up the risk with managing to keep yourself above water in the here and now.
Other insurance................................. 46 - redundancy & health friendly society Again, assess the likelihood of unemployment, it may or may not be worth the money, remember that if you build up some savings you could cover a couple of months out of work. Do you make a yearly 'profit' on your health plan?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)........ 10 This is actually quite low, do you spend £120 on christmas, birthdays etc etc?
Haircuts.............................................. 18
Entertainment........................................ 5
Holiday................................................ 5 Again, this is £60 a year. Do you spend this little?
Emergency fund.................................. 30 How much have you built up? Could you use this one month to avoid using the 'emergency' card, to get yourself back onto your budget?
Total monthly expenses.................. 1882.02

Assets
Cash.................................... 500 Could this be used to pay down your zero % card before the 0% runs out?

Hope that helps. You seem to be doing OK generally and don't have a huge debt, and have good equity in your house.

Burlesque_Babe

dump the sky package and get a freeview box to free £20 a month. Also very high food costs - pop over to Old Style and look to start meal planning/using everything up first/batch cooking etc.

Tizzi

Oops, reading Simongregson's reply I realised I forgot to change 'Holiday' to 'Union subs'. £60 per year on holidays would be a bit optimistic for a family of 3! Have edited my first post accordingly.

The mortgage will go down in 3 years, but not by the full £34k, as there's currently approx £16k shortfall. Sigh. So, some reduction, but not all.

I'll have a look at the calls we make, and see if we're better off as we are or would be better changing. I do tend to make long calls to my family though... We're fairly thrifty with the mobile phones, and top-ups last us more than a month each because of the packages we're on.

We do spend only a little on birthdays and Christmas as a family, but you're right - I have underestimated that. Possibly by up to a third, I guess. Gah, and that makes my SOA even worse.

I'll have to talk to my husband again about the insurances. He's very attached to them though, and is convinced that the second we cancel them he'd keel over from a heart attack or something, and we'd be totally stuck. :rolleyes:

milliemonster

Does your husband pay into a work pension? as if so if he did keel over the pension would pay out anyway so if you have this the extra insurances are an extravagance you don't really need

Gemmzie

How about going to the lowest Sky package and getting their free broadband, should save £20 fairly easily.

Insurances are very high

ajaney

If you need energy saving bulbs, head to Morrisons who are doing 5 for 50p - yes, 5 phillips low energy bulbs for 50 pence! They last ages & use 11 watts instead of 60 - this could start saving you money straight away. If you have dimmer switches, you can get 2 lower energy bulbs suitable for dimmer switches for £3, taking consumption from 60 watt to 42 watt - not quite as good but every little helps.

The Insurance seems high. Have you tried moneysupermarket.com to shop around? If you do switch, check out the moneyback sites like greasypalm.com. I know it is very important to be covered but it does seem over the odds. My other half took his out at 35 for £100,000 & pays £20.15 as a smoker with direct line.