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What have I missed off my SOA?

I don't think I have ever put an SOA up before so am going to attempt one now.

I have been on this site for 9 months now and it has helped me immensely. I know there is still work to be done and with some more effort I could save even more money in some areas to put towards my debt but finally I have the feeling of being in control, I feel so much happier and am sleeping better.

I owe about £8500 now but when I 1st found this site it was just over £13000 so I'm very proud of myself. I was just about managing to make my min payments and was getting very stressed over this as my debt wasn't going down as the min payments was mainly interest.

Anyway, here is my SOA:

Take home pay: about £920.

Rent £225
Council tax £19.50
Cable tv, phone and broadband £15
Gas + electric £20
Water £10
Health insurance £4.50
Credit card repayments £450-500
Mobile £20
Food shopping £30
Alcohol £20
Takeaways £25
Lunch/snacks at work £20
Toiletries (quite hard to work out, approx £10)
Communal shopping £5

I don't think I have left anything major out or have I? It often helps having neutral eyes look at something.
Quite a few things on the SOA are non negotiable as I live in a shared house and we have just changed our gas/electric supplier.
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Comments

  • jcr16
    jcr16 Posts: 4,185 Forumite
    do u have a car ? if so what about petrol , car tax , insurance etc etc.
  • ti1980
    ti1980 Posts: 1,528 Forumite
    I don't have a car so none of those expenses that are associated with one.
  • maybe clothes, christmas & birthdays?

    and do you have any travel costs as you haven't a car?
    'Butterflies and zebras and moonbeams and fairy tales, thats's all she ever thinks about riding with the wind' - Little wing, Jimi Hendrix
  • ti1980
    ti1980 Posts: 1,528 Forumite
    I knew there was more that I hadn't thought about.

    I don't really spend a lot on clothes anymore as there is only so much I can wear at one time. I'm not sure how I could work that out to a monthly figure as I definitely don't buy some every month. I last spent about £60 on clothes and that was in August. The time before that was either late January or early February when I needed new work shoes I think.
    At a very rough guess it averages out at about £10 per month for clothes.

    Christmas I only buy for my mum, not even my bf and she normally gives me money which is often approx the amount that I spend on her. This year I spent £30 and she gave me a cheque for £40 so I ended up being £10 up!
    Birthdays I normally only get a card for someone apart from mum and bf so that probably averages out at under £5 per month.

    I bought an annual bus pass as it worked out loads cheaper and that doesn't run out until June, thats all paid for until the end of June.

    Those things hadn't even crossed my mind so thanks for that Moonbeam682. That has added on another £15-20 to my monthly outgoings.
  • How about the Tv licence ?
  • ti1980
    ti1980 Posts: 1,528 Forumite
    The tv license was split between us and that was paid off in one go and runs out in either Sept/Oct, can't remember exactly when.
  • If you are planning to buy another annual bus pass in June I would add it to your SOA or you will have to find the whole amount in June.

    Just divide the cost of it by the number of months of pay you have left ie £200 divided by 6 = £34 a month (approx) then when you have bought it you can adjust the figure ie £200 divided by 12 = £17 approx.

    Same goes for your half of the tv licence thats due in September.

    sorry to be adding things on but its best to be prepared :)

    If you need any help with reducing the costs on your SOA I would advise you posting a new thread as I can see that there could be some savings made & people are here are brilliant at doing that!
    'Butterflies and zebras and moonbeams and fairy tales, thats's all she ever thinks about riding with the wind' - Little wing, Jimi Hendrix
  • ti1980
    ti1980 Posts: 1,528 Forumite
    My bus pass will cost me £34 per month unless I become a student again in which case I could get one for about £15 per month!
    I can't even remember how much the tv license was. It is split between 4 of us so works out about £3 per month for my share or is it more? How much are tv licenses these days?
  • £30 a month on food? Is that your weekly amount? Should it be £120?
    Wendy
  • standard tv licence is £126.50

    your share would be 31.62

    £4 a month x 8 months = £32 (for septembers licence)

    then £3 a month x 12 months = £36

    have rounded the figures up slightly to make it easier :)
    'Butterflies and zebras and moonbeams and fairy tales, thats's all she ever thinks about riding with the wind' - Little wing, Jimi Hendrix
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