What's the point???

rluc

Thanks everyone will go through SOA again tomorrow and try and make it all a bit clearer, all advice welcome. Looks like I may have the chance of a fairly big job february so pleased about that!!

rluc

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1500
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1500
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Rent.................................... 350 (I rent a room from a friend so am very lucky that this is all I pay inclusive of all bills otherwise I could not afford to rent in this area)
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 35 ( Am unfortunately locked into a contract for ~ 12 months will see if they can reduce it though!)
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 (Have to get better with this tend to shop from day to day:embarasse but on new years day went out and did a ~ £100 shop so will see how long this will last me!!)
Clothing................................ 20 ( Have added something here)
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
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..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25 ( have big family but will try to cut down on presents)
Haircuts................................ 6
Entertainment........................... 50 ( To be honest just put down a figure here, don't go out much at all and main hobbies are running and mountain biking so free:j )
Holiday................................. 40 ( probably can't afford holidays but like to take the odd easyjet trip to spain to see my parents as they are retired out there )
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 806

Assets
Cash.................................... 150
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 1000
Car(s).................................. 1800
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2950

No Secured Debt
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
LLoyds TSB CC..................10670.....216.......6.9
Barclays CC....................8590......200.......4.9
MBNA CC........................3558......88........0
Total unsecured debts..........22818.....504.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,500
Expenses (including secured debts)...... 806
Available for debt repayments........... 694
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 504
Amount left after debt repayments....... 190
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,950
Total Secured debt...................... -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -22,818
Net Assets.............................. -19,868
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

Okay here we go again. I have tried to seperate out all of the business expenses and reduced the income accordingly, maybe I should look at doing my own accounts, is it difficult to do? have always been a little bit wary of the form even when it comes back filled in from the accountant!!

All in all looking through the SOA I feel a little bit better, especially if I start to make some savings, so will look at the old style boards etc.

This all only works if I can keep my earnings at that sort of level or above so am going to look at ways of boosting business or extra work elsewhere and I think also at going back into full time employment maybe.

TurnaroundSue

Hi once again - was just wondering whether you have used the snowball calculator to make sure that you are paying off the right cards in the right order. Not sure of the link, but hopefully somebody will be along shortly and be able to give this to you.

Also about doing your own accounts, they are quite easy, however, I do sometimes wonder myself whether there is something I have missed and whether I could have claimed more tax back/should be paying more. I know that in my area there is a place I can go which can look over my tax return and it is free of charge, so I am going to pay them a visit and see what they say, but basically I know that no Accountant could save me the £70 what you are being charged. Give it a go and if you find you can't do it then you can always go back to your Accountant.

Glad to see you a feeling a little better and hoping that 2009 will be the year you start to see real returns. Good luck

mummum2

Hi,

I think you're doing fantastically well so far! keep it up and good luck for '09.

tasha-debt

Hi rluc,

Having all your incoming's and out going's written down does make it easier to budget and save money. Im really glad that work is picking up for you and that you are feeling more positive.

Agree about cancelling the accountant, my Dad have cancelled his and now just pays the accountant once a year to go over all of my Dad's books (which my Mum and me keep for him). I think over the year it has saved him about £500ish

Good luck with your money saving, ive started my own quest this year to clear my debts, it is hard but when I see the balance on a debt reduce, it feels like my hard work is paying off.

Tasha

Kimonokawaii

You're going in the right direction with the 7k and by having a good old moan on the forum i works wonders!

It seems like the pain-free savings are underway, few more to make but i think you are definitely in the realms of needing to make painful savings too.

I think your car insurance looks high...it's the same as mine and I'm 25 with 1 year no claims. Check out the cashback sites like moneyexpert.com

Petrol I am stunned!! and your groceries are high.

Holiday, entertainment and presents all need to go! except presents for children, as they won't understand your situation.
I agree you could probably lose the accountant...

ebay is a good start! car boots, paid surveys and loyalty schemes might help out too!

Hope this helps....Good Luck!!!

rluc

Tasha- do you think I am being overcharged then? I basically do my own accounts monthly on the computer then sort all my receipts,invoices,bank statements etc out and then give the accountant two box files once a year! I guess I have not really looked into it properly:embarasse it was just something my ex-wife helped me set up when I first went self employed and I have stuck with them ever since!!

In terms of the other stuff I will start looking at all the more painful stuff asap see what I can reduce.

Bit in the dark about ebay as well, have just set up the account but I am going to have problems as I have no history with them? I guess everyone had so start an account at some point though.

Have just applied for two jobs as well. One contracting on the railways at night (great pay/long hard hours) but would be worth it to clear debt asap.
Another as a service engineer (reasonable pay/fully expensed car etc) might be a good career move to someday get me on the property ladder.
Not sure what the best option is yet just want to try and stay positive and give myself the best chance of sorting all this out
Thanks for all advice/support/ kicks up the backside.

waterwatcher

Ahhh sounds like you need some self esteem and hugs at the moment, it is so easy to be down on yourself when things seem out of control. Get out for some walks, eat well and dont drink too much. Feel better in yourself and you will feel stronger to tackle your problems! would put a fancy symbol thing but haven't worked that out yet! ha ha

tasha-debt

Hey,

I guess the best thing to do is shop around, speak to some different accounting companies and see what their prices are, what they offer etc.

Now you are making a great start on clearing the rest of your debt I think you need to now focus on the future, write some aims, things to work towards in the next 5 years or so. They can be small things such as run a marothon or larger things like start saving for a house deposit.

I think having goals keeps you positive and gives you a focus.

xx

P.s Good luck with the job apps.

TurnaroundSue

I would apply for BOTH jobs and see where you go from there. If you are able to get interviews for them both, then go along and see what each job entails, career prospects, etc etc then if you get a job offer from each job you can then make an informed decision on which one to take - until that point, I don't think you need to worry!

Good luck and personally I think £70 per month is way too high if all they are doing is checking your tax return - I mean I would expect to pay that if they were doing all the work, but just for checking it seems a bit steep to me!! (but having said that I do not know the going rate for Accountants so maybe I better keep my mouth shut:silenced: )