The Best of Intentions ... Budget Help!!!

LilacPixie

We use seperate bank accounts.

We have three accounts. One main and 2 basic accounts with no borrowing facitilies.

The main account receives our wages and the direct debits all exit this account. We have a standing order to transfer our weekly food budget to one of the basic accounts and we transfer the monthly equivelent costs of car tax/mot birthdays and christmas into the third account.

The idea is that the surplus from our SOA is still sitting in our main account at the end of the month for paying off a debt of transfering to savings

LilacPixie

One think i have to add is even although you have paid some stuff outright you should still allocate money for the renewal in your SOA. Otherwise come your renewal date you will have no means to pay and it will end up going onto your creditcards.

A sad fsct is you do not rack up 8k of credit card debt if you truely have £700 spare a month.

firesidemaid

this is what we do, but everyone finds what works for them.

write down all your total bill costs monthly (use maximums rather than minimums).

for annual costs, split them into 12 too and put that money away into a 'bills savings' account (earn money on it!) - o/wise when the annual bill comes along you will overspend your budgets.

the money that is left we divide into a 'slush' fund to cover emergencies, debt overpayment and spending money each per week/month. when our spending money is gone it's gone - think about what is important to you.

have stopped using the credit card (best thing ever) and try to use cash for everything. online banking is a must for me too to keep a tight reign on things. i also document how much has gone from the slush fund too.

good luck x

Nikkei

Ok I've had a closer look at things and have redone the SOA again, taking a closer look the credit card debt is closer to £9000 not good! I've made some amendments as per your suggestions and on some have possibly been not so frugal so any suggestions welcome. I feel sick just looking at all of this! here goes...

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 950
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1750
Benefits................................ 65
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2765

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 836
Secured loan repayments................. 325
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 93
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 14
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 30
Car Insurance........................... 60
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 159.8
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 30
Buildings insurance..................... 30
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 67
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 100
Nikkei Diet ............................ 160
Nikkei Scrapbook (last month)........... 45
Ian Catering ........................... 12
Dogs Trust ............................. 10

Total monthly expenses.................. 2443.00

Assets
Cash.................................... 400
House value (Gross)..................... 135000
Shares and bonds........................ 500
Car(s).................................. 2500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 138400

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 146000...(836)......5.9
Secured Debt.................. 25000....(325)......11.9
Total secured debts........... 171000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
CREDIT CARDS...................9000......0.........15.9
Total unsecured debts..........9000......0.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,765
Expenses (including secured debts).......2443.80
Available for debt repayments........... 321.20
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ 321.20

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 138,400
Total Secured debt...................... -171,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,000
Net Assets.............................. -41,600

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

iwilldoitthistime

Just a thought, but how do you only spend £100 per month on groceries? We also have one child and could NEVER live on so little for groceries!

I will follow your posts closely because you seem to mirror my problems - apart from the fact Ive got childcare costs too!

good luck!

LilacPixie

i'm presuming the £100 on groceries is because you are £167 on a special diet for yourself?? if thats the case it explains why.

dancingfairy

Mortgage................................ 836
Secured loan repayments................. 325
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 93
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 14
Mobile phone............................ 50 how many if this? 1 mobile or 2? not bad but could be cut down slightly I think.
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21 hmmm - might be worth ditching?
Internet Services....................... 0 none at all or is this in with something else?
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 0 you must buy some - we need an annual figure divided by 12 otherwise you are just kidding yourself
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 30
Car Insurance........................... 60
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0 really?
Other travel............................ 159.8
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 30
Buildings insurance..................... 30
Contents insurance...................... 0 you really should have this you know.
Life assurance ......................... 67
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 0 what never? annual amount divided by 12 here please.
Entertainment........................... 0 hmm really?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 100 where does this go? do you have some money saved up at all? if it is getting spent- on what?
Nikkei Diet ............................ 160 you are spending 260 a month on food - is it really worth paying out for your special diet??
Nikkei Scrapbook (last month)........... 45
Ian Catering ........................... 12 what's this for??
Dogs Trust ............................. 10 what's this??


Also where's your spare 300 a month going?? You need to do a spending diary and work out where it's all going. You need to prioritise what's important to you - debt busting or a new lipstick/top/cd/dvd/sandwich out/pint at the pub etc. You can definitely turn it around from here. Just think how great you will feel when it's all paid off and the fact you will be able to save the money for a fancy car/holiday etc and not spend it on debt repayment. It will require a change in mindset but you can do it. Set yourself little targets and you will become addicted to getting the best deals and bargains (shopping around) and saving yourself money at every opportunity.
Good Luck
df x

ixwood

Is this what have been spending, or what you'd like it to be?

You need to figure out where the debts come from and be realistic with the spending to get a proper picture and then improve from there.

Nikkei

Hi everyone, more answers

Mobiles- cost is for two partner is currently reducing his down until £20 a month. Have spoken to my phone provider can not reduce cost currently. I also get my Internet free as signed upto ornage when broadband was free and then upgraded when contract was over to maintain free broadband.

Clothing/Diet - Diet has been a hard one as I know it's alot of money to spend but I also know it works and if I lose the weight I won't need to buy any more clothes for a long time as I have tons in the draws with labels on for two sizes smaller than I am and with this diet I should be able to achieve a drop in two dress sizes within two months as well as exercising.

Car Parking - I have free parking at work and it's free to park in chester after 3.00pm in a certain car park so no money needed for this (thank god for small mercies!)

Contents Insurance - included in the buildings figure as I don't know whats allocated to what part.

Haircuts - accounted in emergency fund - am waiting for my hair to grow as was cut too short last time.

Entertainment- Sky is our entertainment and the home gym and the scrapbooking and we also have prepaid annual zoo membership. We don't really go out anymore due to having a little one and busy jobs

Emergency fund - Hoping not to have to use this at all, but have it there as it's it's a seperate account from everything else and it means if I have to buy something or go somehwere in an emergency then I have a little money available. If anything used in a month then we will just top it up to £100

Ian Catering - Hubby is a (hunky :-)) fireman and they all contribute to a catering fund for tea coffee toast etc. This isn't optional

Dogs Trust - Our charity of choice- We donate it on behalf of our son as we've always had dogs and are pet lovers and it makes me feel good to give a little something back.

I am beginning to feel a little bit more empowered. I can and will do this with the help and support you're all giving. Thank you XXXX

Nikkei

Lilac Pixie, sorry I missed your post, £100 is the amount on groceries whether I'm on a diet or not. Alot of it is down to the veg boxes I get from the local farm as it has around £30 of veg all for a £5 and then all we buy on top of that is meat and fish, I make home made pizzas -cheaper than store bought, make soups and stews and salads also making things like Gnocchi with a cheese sauce and bacon to feed three is less than £3.00 a meal. I can bake aswell so we don't buy cakes and biscuits I make them for cheaper than we could buy and I also buy in bulk some things, we also grow some of our own things like sweetcorn, tomatos, lettuce and have fruit trees and bushes that helps.