making sense of finances so that I stop buying stuff!! SOA

sheba

Okay, so here goes my full and frank confession, may you forgive my sins

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2100
Benefits................................ 120
Other income............................ 120
Total monthly income.................... 2340
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 340
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 79.1
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 125
Electricity............................. 33
Gas..................................... 38
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 35
Mobile phone............................ 55
TV Licence.............................. 11.95
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 37.5
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 35
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 14
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 48
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 11
Buildings insurance..................... 40
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 16.32
Other insurance......................... 25.5
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 120
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 200
Emergency fund.......................... 40
driving test fees (putting away future). 30
driving lessons......................... 88
childrens accounts...................... 40
husband tobacco......................... 40
husband work cash-mags/misc............. 40
magazine subsciption.................... 2.75
charitable donations.................... 16
Total monthly expenses.................. 2251.12

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 113500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 56000....(340)......0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 79.1.....(79.1).....0
Total secured & HP debts...... 56079.1...-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
mbna...........................4260......10........0%
egg money......................2300 (clear monthly)0%
son savings....................1000......0.........0%
Total unsecured debts..........7560......10.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,340
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,251.12
Available for debt repayments........... 88.88
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 10.00
Amount left after debt repayments....... 78.88
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 113,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -56,079.1
Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,560
Net Assets.............................. 49,940
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

sheba

Loooooooooooooooooooong time lurker, very occasional poster- just wanting to get it all down in black and white so that when I think of buying something I can see that it is better spent on egg credit card and paying son back, so some info in case you are wondering.
Me and Lovely Hubby 2 sons, 1 of almost 19 (-he pays £120 board a month-bless him), and littlest 15.

I know there's alot that could be trimmed off expenses and put towards getting straight- mainly food- could fairly easily go down to £200 month so gonna.
Rest are things don't really want to skim off- unless lowering utilities etc, of course- have never missed a payment and am only pushed to face up to handbag/shoes/clothes problem as always clear egg debt monthly but had to borrow from son last month to do so (and will again this month) but after that should be fine (ps- son doesn't know he 'has' this money so it's not a problem debt- but don't like owing- ergo posting on here,
sorry very garbled and incoherent post- just learning to get around

lilian1977

Hi Sheba

You need to add in the APR on the MBNA debt if you don't pay that one off monthly? And if you're clearing the Egg debt monthly that needs to go in as a monthly payment.

Other than that....your mobile bill is very high, can you switch to SIM only?

£200 a month for holiday savings? That's incredibly high, as is your entertainment, clothing and presents spend. Try some of the challenges you'll find here like Gift Neutral and the £100 clothing challenge.

Hope that's helpful, good luck x

sheba

So... after payed egg this month (from Son's savings -effectively swapping the debt from one source to another) I WILL:
spend as little on food as poss without kids complaining to childline
stop frivalous spends- (developed a bit of a habit in tha past year, having been so frugal since kids born- got excited by actually having some cash left over every month and lost my head!!)
continue to use airer (have for past 2 months) instead of tumble dryer to offset fuel usage in this cold winter.

Next month my HP payment stops as have only 1 payment of 79.10 left for sofas- so then more for sons/mbna and back to paying off egg monthly and they will pay me approx £180 cashback so that will go to debt (also 2 months of H2O and council tax to chuck at debt- coolio!!)

can't think of anything else excapt ebay some stuff and a job lot to get rid of clutter!!

sheba

mbna is at 0% but not sure for how much longer that stands for- really want to get some more off of it- but will prob transfer it to another 0% card soon- to avoid potential interest- I've always said I don't do interest!!!!!

sheba

yep we spend at least £500 on each boy at chrimbo- is a fialing- but could have worst ones!! and hols- we go to center parcs in Jan and cornwall in summer for 2 weeks- so I thought 2400 a year for that was fairly economical!! I also thought a budget of 600 a year clothes budget for me hubby and 15 year old boy (who is prone to peer influence when it comes to clothes- we do compromise-but it is a compromise so trainers upto £50 a pop and at least twice a year- and he's grown 2 inches since chrimbo so...) was fairly good? Am I deluded?

Horace

Instead of making monetary donations to a charity, why not give them some old clothes, toys etc? Sell the shoes and handbags that you no longer wear or use on EBay.

The way to stop spending is to leave the credit cards at home - make a list of what you need (look through the cupboards and freezer) it helps you cut down on silly spending e.g. shoes and handbags etc. Keep a spending diary so you can see where money is being frittered away.

Ditch the mobile and have PAYG or SIM only - your bill is way too high. Your entertainment bill is also high - so borrow CDs, DVDs and books from your local library.

HTH

sheba

if you are reading this... you can see it's not all toooo bad, but what would solve it all very easily would be for me to get a job, and this is where I really need help. I graduated in 2004 and have been doing voluntary work since 2005 with Notts YOT but really need to make that move into paid work... but am at aloss as to where to start. I am an almost 39 yr old woman with a degree and a work history of shop/ pub jobs- really don't know what jobs to go for (also hindered by my inability to drive but working on that0 weather permitting!!!)- can anyone advise as to any good agencies to help get a job- jobcentre not interested in me cos I am not on benefits!

sheba

mobile is for 2 phones- mine is approx £25 a month and out of contract now- so need to sort that- and sons £25 a mh in contract till May-(I added extra £5 to cover monthly blips)- will go over to payg then- £100 entertainment is high, but for a weekly visit as a family to our climbing centre where we are members so don't really want to cut back on that as good for us all.

lilian1977

Sheba, I'm not being rude but it does sound a little bit like you don't actually want to make any changes?

sheba

Hi lillian, well, its just as I said in post #2 - really just want to show myself the facts so that I stop getting tempted to spend needlessly- and am willing to try to lower utilities and food bill etc but not to compromise on lifestyle things as I see that if I could get a job then all would be fine- and have really spent years being mega frugal when kids were little and were in financial dire straits- now more of a reality check is all- for me to show Hubby, in print, the facts. I do know I could cut telly/ mobiles/ climbing/ holidays/ christmas/ driving/ charities etc but I don't really feel the need to at mo. Just using this as a self motivation tool- but I am grateful for any suggestions and an eye on whether utilities etc are too high etc