A few questions for my SOA

niteuk

Hi,

Thanks for the previous assistance that you guys gave to me. It was very helpful. I am now putting the finishing touches to my SOA and have a few questions.

1) I live with my girlfriend, and both of our names are on the tenancy agreement (we rent). I pay the full rent amount every month, and she pays roughly half of that into my account. Sometimes it's a little more, sometimes a little less - she pays many of the bills such as gas and water, and we're trying to save for an eventual wedding and children. How should I record this on the SOA?

2) I have a number of musical/studio items that I would consider essential - I'm a musician, studying Music at the Open University. These items are things like a few guitars, stage piano, mixing desk, etc. None of them are worth more than £500 individually. I also own two PCs, one of which is used for music software and the other for programming (working towards getting Microsoft accreditation). Should I declare these as tools of my trade? Losing them would prevent me from the possibility of a higher income in the future.

3) Forgot to add this one. I'm paying monthly fees towards my Open University course. As I'm still undertaking the course, I see that as a necessary expense. Should I declare it as such in section 7 (outgoings)?

tigerfeet2006

niteuk wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for the previous assistance that you guys gave to me. It was very helpful. I am now putting the finishing touches to my SOA and have a few questions.

1) I live with my girlfriend, and both of our names are on the tenancy agreement (we rent). I pay the full rent amount every month, and she pays roughly half of that into my account. Sometimes it's a little more, sometimes a little less - she pays many of the bills such as gas and water, and we're trying to save for an eventual wedding and children. How should I record this on the SOA? You put the joint household bills down in full and your personal expenses on the SoA. Then you put your full income down and there is a space that says 'does anyone else contribute?' Here you put the amout your OH contributes to the joint household expenses(not her full income.) You cannot show savings on your SoA.

2) I have a number of musical/studio items that I would consider essential - I'm a musician, studying Music at the Open University. These items are things like a few guitars, stage piano, mixing desk, etc. None of them are worth more than £500 individually. I also own two PCs, one of which is used for music software and the other for programming (working towards getting Microsoft accreditation). Should I declare these as tools of my trade? Losing them would prevent me from the possibility of a higher income in the future. There is no need to mention them IMHO. The OR is looking for items that will fetch more than £1k at auction. [/quote]

HTH