Pipo's SOA - your feedback please

pipo

Hi MSEs,

I thought I would post mine and my OH's 'future' SOA on this forum as we are buying a house so I’d like to know if it will stack up. The mortgage and insurance figures under the first section are for the best deals we could get (based on what we think is the top of our budget and required insurances as suggested by our IFA) and the bills are based on our current outgoings.

I have completed the MSE budget planner and here are our monthly expenditure results. Please feel free to dissect and comment as you see fit, as I may have over- or (more likely) underestimated many things. I'm not easily offended so please be as harsh as you like!

Here goes nothing! Figures are based on monthly spends:

Mortgage / Rent - £787.00
Buildings & Contents Insurance - £42.04
Council Tax - £99.33
Water Rates / Meter - £21.90
Gas Bill - £23.00
Electricity Bill - £38.00
Internet Bill - £65.00
HOME TOTAL = £1,076.28

Mortgage Payment Insurance - £58.07
Mortgage Term Assurance - £12.74
INSURANCE TOTAL = £70.81

Food & Household Shopping = £160.00
Eating Out = £50.00
Drinks for Home - £21.65
Drinking Out - £368.05
Smokes = £5.00
Meals at Work - £43.30
EATS TOTAL = £648.00

AA / RAC Membership - £13.28
Rail / Bus / Coach / Taxi - £20.00
Car Maintainence - £83.33
Car Insurance - £76.00
Car Tax - £35.00
Petrol / Diesel / Gas - £173.20
TRANSPORT TOTAL = £400.81

Car Loan Repayments - £290.00
Credit Card Repayments - £150.00
Other Loan Repayments - £350.00
REPAYMENTS TOTAL = £790.00

Mini Cash ISA's - £100.00
SAVINGS TOTAL = £100.00

DVD / Video Rental - £5.00
Book / Music / Films / Games - £1.67
TV Licence - £12.12
New Clothes - £100.00
FUN TOTAL = £118.79

Cost of Christmas - £50.00
Cost of Birthdays - £33.33
Other Big One Offs - £41.67
BIG ONE OFF TOTAL = £125.00

Newspapers / Magazines - £8.66
Haircuts - £70.00
ODDS TOTAL = £78.66

TOTAL (COMBINED) MONTHLY SPENDS: £3408.35 :eek:

Our combined take home pay is £3269pcm, excluding bonuses and mileage tax relief allowances (both are quite significant sums). Currently the expense v income result has a £117 deficit which i'm hoping to get into black without using those monies as i would rather they go into the rainy day fund.

Thanks for looking.

pipo

lollypopswater

Pipo, it may be better if you complete the SOA and format it for MSE. I can't post links but sure someone will soon.

Meantime, the drinking out budget really jumps out!! Can you not have friends round to your lovely new house, dinner parties etc?

Also the internet at £65 is a lot, I pay £13.50 for mine a month? Also your car insurance, mine is £16 per month, are you young or have you had a bump?

Check your mortgage payment insurance as well, I have a policy with Ant which pays out a lump sum rather than covering my mortgage and is £27.90 pm.

Also if you post your full SOA we could see if there is are ways for you to pull in your belts a bit more then snowball your debts and have lots left over as you have no debt repayments.

LPW

saver03

pipo wrote: »

Hi MSEs,

I thought I would post mine and my OH's 'future' SOA on this forum as we are buying a house so I’d like to know if it will stack up. The mortgage and insurance figures under the first section are for the best deals we could get (based on what we think is the top of our budget and required insurances as suggested by our IFA) and the bills are based on our current outgoings.

I have completed the MSE budget planner and here are our monthly expenditure results. Please feel free to dissect and comment as you see fit, as I may have over- or (more likely) underestimated many things. I'm not easily offended so please be as harsh as you like!

Here goes nothing! Figures are based on monthly spends:

Mortgage / Rent - £787.00
Buildings & Contents Insurance - £42.04
Council Tax - £99.33
Water Rates / Meter - £21.90
Gas Bill - £23.00
Electricity Bill - £38.00
Internet Bill - £65.00 Is this correct as that is extortionate?? Ours in £10
HOME TOTAL = £1,076.28

Mortgage Payment Insurance - £58.07
Mortgage Term Assurance - £12.74
INSURANCE TOTAL = £70.81

Food & Household Shopping = £160.00 Is this for 2 adults? Could be a lot less. Go to old style board and start to meal plan
Eating Out = £50.00 Has to go!
Drinks for Home - £21.65 Should come out of your shopping budget
Drinking Out - £368.05 Needs to be cut down
Smokes = £5.00
Meals at Work - £43.30 Take a packed lunch and add it to shopping budget
EATS TOTAL = £648.00

AA / RAC Membership - £13.28
Rail / Bus / Coach / Taxi - £20.00 What is this for?
Car Maintainence - £83.33
Car Insurance - £76.00
Car Tax - £35.00
Petrol / Diesel / Gas - £173.20
TRANSPORT TOTAL = £400.81

Car Loan Repayments - £290.00
Credit Card Repayments - £150.00
Other Loan Repayments - £350.00
REPAYMENTS TOTAL = £790.00

Mini Cash ISA's - £100.00
SAVINGS TOTAL = £100.00

DVD / Video Rental - £5.00
Book / Music / Films / Games - £1.67
TV Licence - £12.12
New Clothes - £100.00 Has to be cut down
FUN TOTAL = £118.79

Cost of Christmas - £50.00
Cost of Birthdays - £33.33
Other Big One Offs - £41.67
BIG ONE OFF TOTAL = £125.00

Newspapers / Magazines - £8.66
Haircuts - £70.00 This is very expensice
ODDS TOTAL = £78.66

TOTAL (COMBINED) MONTHLY SPENDS: £3408.35 :eek:

Our combined take home pay is £3269pcm, excluding bonuses and mileage tax relief allowances (both are quite significant sums). Currently the expense v income result has a £117 deficit which i'm hoping to get into black without using those monies as i would rather they go into the rainy day fund.

Thanks for looking.

pipo

I have added my comments in red. There are many places you can make significant cut backs. Well that is what I think anyway!

pipo

lollypopswater wrote: »

Pipo, it may be better if you complete the SOA and format it for MSE. I can't post links but sure someone will soon.

If anyone can post the links for me that'd be great!

lollypopswater wrote: »

Meantime, the drinking out budget really jumps out!! Can you not have friends round to your lovely new house, dinner parties etc?

I know, i know. Was trying to be realistic but also remember that the figures are for 2 people.

lollypopswater wrote: »

Also the internet at £65 is a lot, I pay £13.50 for mine a month? Also your car insurance, mine is £16 per month, are you young or have you had a bump?

Re internet: It's Virgin media TV and broadband. It includes Skysports so i don't go to the pub too often.

Re car insurance is for 2 people. My share of that is £40, as my car is used for business so the mileage bumps up the insurance. Oh, and i've only passed my test 4 years ago as i've been reliant on lifts since then. My OH also does a lot of mileage so her insurance is also high. The saving grace is that my personal miles are paid for by my company.

Thanks for your comments!

savingholmes

pipo wrote: »

Hi MSEs,

I thought I would post mine and my OH's 'future' SOA on this forum as we are buying a house so I’d like to know if it will stack up. The mortgage and insurance figures under the first section are for the best deals we could get (based on what we think is the top of our budget and required insurances as suggested by our IFA) and the bills are based on our current outgoings.

I have completed the MSE budget planner and here are our monthly expenditure results. Please feel free to dissect and comment as you see fit, as I may have over- or (more likely) underestimated many things. I'm not easily offended so please be as harsh as you like!

Here goes nothing! Figures are based on monthly spends:

Mortgage / Rent - £787.00
Buildings & Contents Insurance - £42.04 - shop around using quidco or similar - should be able to get from about £20-25
Council Tax - £99.33
Water Rates / Meter - £21.90
Gas Bill - £23.00 (I would be surprised if your gas and elec wasn't more but you haven't said how many rooms this is for)
Electricity Bill - £38.00
Internet Bill - £65.00 our internet and phone bill is less than £30 via TalkTalk go via a cashback site may be paid up to £50 to go with them...
HOME TOTAL = £1,076.28

Mortgage Payment Insurance - £58.07 I think about £30 would be more realistic? Perhaps try and get via cashback site rather than mortgage provider
Mortgage Term Assurance - £12.74
INSURANCE TOTAL = £70.81

Food & Household Shopping = £160.00 If this is just for 2 with meal planning you may be able to get this down - see old style board
Eating Out = £50.00 Try and halve this
Drinks for Home - £21.65
Drinking Out - £368.05 This is extremely high - perhaps aim for a once a month spend of more like £50!
Smokes = £5.00 Try and give up?
Meals at Work - £43.30 sandwiches / take in a salad
EATS TOTAL = £648.00

AA / RAC Membership - £13.28 shop around via cashback sites - Martin has article on this may be able to get cheaper
Rail / Bus / Coach / Taxi - £20.00 whats this for
Car Maintainence - £83.33
Car Insurance - £76.00
Car Tax - £35.00
Petrol / Diesel / Gas - £173.20
TRANSPORT TOTAL = £400.81

Car Loan Repayments - £290.00
Credit Card Repayments - £150.00
Other Loan Repayments - £350.00
REPAYMENTS TOTAL = £790.00

Mini Cash ISA's - £100.00 - prioritise debt first unless this is used to cover emergencies
SAVINGS TOTAL = £100.00

DVD / Video Rental - £5.00
Book / Music / Films / Games - £1.67
TV Licence - £12.12
New Clothes - £100.00 a month??? Perhaps try to cut down to more like £20-30 a month. If you are already stocked up on clothes you could prioritise debt some more. I probably spend £200-300 per year on clothes and shoes for a family of 4
FUN TOTAL = £118.79

Cost of Christmas - £50.00 scrap - use the Make £10 a day challenge to generate money for this
Cost of Birthdays - £33.33 scrap - use the Make £10 a day challenge to generate money for this
Other Big One Offs - £41.67
BIG ONE OFF TOTAL = £125.00

Newspapers / Magazines - £8.66 Is there a cheaper way of getting these perhaps using clubcard tokens or whatever? Do you really need them?
Haircuts - £70.00 Have your hair done less often? Perhaps use a hairdressing school? In either event perhaps aim for average cost of aobut £30 per month
ODDS TOTAL = £78.66

TOTAL (COMBINED) MONTHLY SPENDS: £3408.35 :eek:

Our combined take home pay is £3269pcm, excluding bonuses and mileage tax relief allowances (both are quite significant sums). Currently the expense v income result has a £117 deficit which i'm hoping to get into black without using those monies as i would rather they go into the rainy day fund.

Thanks for looking.

pipo

I've made some suggestions - I think you can easily shave hundreds of pounds off your budget. You could then use this money to pay off your debt quicker and lighten the load you are carrying. Good luck! I also suggest you join the Make £10 a day challenge as a way of funding luxuries!

doodledo_2

pipo wrote: »

Hi MSEs,

I thought I would post mine and my OH's 'future' SOA on this forum as we are buying a house so I’d like to know if it will stack up. The mortgage and insurance figures under the first section are for the best deals we could get (based on what we think is the top of our budget and required insurances as suggested by our IFA) and the bills are based on our current outgoings.

I have completed the MSE budget planner and here are our monthly expenditure results. Please feel free to dissect and comment as you see fit, as I may have over- or (more likely) underestimated many things. I'm not easily offended so please be as harsh as you like!

Here goes nothing! Figures are based on monthly spends:

Mortgage / Rent - £787.00
Buildings & Contents Insurance - £42.04
Council Tax - £99.33
Water Rates / Meter - £21.90
Gas Bill - £23.00
Electricity Bill - £38.00
Internet Bill - £65.00 - does this include sky or similar as this is huge
HOME TOTAL = £1,076.28

Mortgage Payment Insurance - £58.07
Mortgage Term Assurance - £12.74
INSURANCE TOTAL = £70.81

Food & Household Shopping = £160.00
Eating Out = £50.00
Drinks for Home - £21.65
Drinking Out - £368.05 - this is very high
Smokes = £5.00
Meals at Work - £43.30 - Pack lunch??
EATS TOTAL = £648.00

AA / RAC Membership - £13.28
Rail / Bus / Coach / Taxi - £20.00
Car Maintainence - £83.33 - this seems high
Car Insurance - £76.00 - this is high - can you downgrade your car or is it because of your age?
Car Tax - £35.00
Petrol / Diesel / Gas - £173.20
TRANSPORT TOTAL = £400.81

Car Loan Repayments - £290.00
Credit Card Repayments - £150.00
Other Loan Repayments - £350.00
REPAYMENTS TOTAL = £790.00

Mini Cash ISA's - £100.00
SAVINGS TOTAL = £100.00

DVD / Video Rental - £5.00
Book / Music / Films / Games - £1.67
TV Licence - £12.12
New Clothes - £100.00 - definately an area which can be cut
FUN TOTAL = £118.79

Cost of Christmas - £50.00
Cost of Birthdays - £33.33
Other Big One Offs - £41.67
BIG ONE OFF TOTAL = £125.00

Newspapers / Magazines - £8.66
Haircuts - £70.00 - every month this is very high
ODDS TOTAL = £78.66

TOTAL (COMBINED) MONTHLY SPENDS: £3408.35 :eek:

Our combined take home pay is £3269pcm, excluding bonuses and mileage tax relief allowances (both are quite significant sums). Currently the expense v income result has a £117 deficit which i'm hoping to get into black without using those monies as i would rather they go into the rainy day fund.

Thanks for looking.

pipo

Have stuck a few of my comments in on your SOA in red in my personal opinion if you are serious about paying off your debts there are several areas you could cut considerably.

beanielou

Drinking out even for two peeps is really high.Car main is really high as is mortgage protection.

epsilondraconis

FYI, the SOA link is:

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

Our combined take home pay is the same as yours, our mortgage is approx the same as yours, our council tax is more than yours; however we save £600 per month. Either we have boring lives, or you can cut back a bit!

Good luck...

Deep_In_Debt

Other than what the others have said - you can read newspapers and magazines on line for free. I know it doesn't seem much...but every little helps I guess.

Can you get a tv, internet and phone package?

theoretica

Just a few points to add in addition to what has been said above.

pipo wrote: »

Hi MSEs,

Mortgage / Rent - £787.00
Buildings & Contents Insurance - £42.04 keep a very sharp eye on this and don't let them renew it with increased premiums every year- it is already high
Council Tax - £99.33
Water Rates / Meter - £21.90
Gas Bill - £23.00
Electricity Bill - £38.00
Internet Bill - £65.00
HOME TOTAL = £1,076.28

Mortgage Payment Insurance - £58.07
Mortgage Term Assurance - £12.74
INSURANCE TOTAL = £70.81 read the small print here and your work sickness pay policies- how likely is it to pay out? I chose to 'self insure' and work towards a years worth of mortgage payments in savings as that worked out cheaper for me than paying on insurance I would only be able to claim on for a year.

Food & Household Shopping = £160.00
Eating Out = £50.00
Drinks for Home - £21.65
Drinking Out - £368.05
Smokes = £5.00
Meals at Work - £43.30
EATS TOTAL = £648.00 I would suggest you divide this up differently- £160 to £200 would be generous for essentials. Eating out, buying food at work, drinking and smoking are luxuries and I think should be mentally classed as FUN together with sports TV.

AA / RAC Membership - £13.28 no-one has commented on this yet, it seems very high. Have you read http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/roadside-recovery ?
Rail / Bus / Coach / Taxi - £20.00
Car Maintainence - £83.33 rather high, are you being kind to your car/using a good independent mechanic?
Car Insurance - £76.00
Car Tax - £35.00
Petrol / Diesel / Gas - £173.20
TRANSPORT TOTAL = £400.81

Car Loan Repayments - £290.00
Credit Card Repayments - £150.00
Other Loan Repayments - £350.00
REPAYMENTS TOTAL = £790.00

Mini Cash ISA's - £100.00
SAVINGS TOTAL = £100.00

DVD / Video Rental - £5.00
Book / Music / Films / Games - £1.67
TV Licence - £12.12
New Clothes - £100.00
FUN TOTAL = £118.79

Cost of Christmas - £50.00
Cost of Birthdays - £33.33
Other Big One Offs - £41.67
BIG ONE OFF TOTAL = £125.00

Newspapers / Magazines - £8.66
Haircuts - £70.00
ODDS TOTAL = £78.66

TOTAL (COMBINED) MONTHLY SPENDS: £3408.35 :eek:

pipo

pipo

Thank you to all who put their tuppence in.

1. Clothing allowance i thought was a bit high. I'm still wearing t-shirts from 5-6 years ago so i guess it will have to go down to luxuries. Make £10 a day sounds interesting.
2. Same goes for Eats & Drinks. It's kind of easy to get carried away sometimes, especially under the influence and everyone around you splashing the cash. I might try and cut out all alcohol in May to see how that goes. Meal planning is not practical as we're both away a lot, and on varying dates etc. We may try using a monthly pot and sticking to it each month.
3. Insurances were all quotes and haven't been taken up yet. I still have time to shop around so thanks for alerting me to this. :j
4. I put an annual figure of £1000 for both of our cars' maintenance. We have a family friend for a mechanic and he charges mates' rates but the figures was to compensate for unexpected repairs. How do I put a more realistic figure to this? We do look after our cars but things just go wrong from time to time.
5. Haircuts. Mine is just £10 and currently mrs is getting hers done by a mate who charges £20. Thing is, she's a bit partial to Tony & Guy who charge extortionate amounts IMHO.
6. Newspapers & magazines not really needed but they get bought every now and then, especially as holidays for us will revolve mostly around camping after our one last big summer hols of 2009.
7. Can't downgrade car unfortunately as work requires cars used for business to be less than 6 years old.
8. The rail/bus/coach/taxi is generally for taxis if we've been out somewhere that needed a taxi ride home

All in all it looks like we're just gonna have to be sensible when it comes to our social lives. Once we get our house (which is now in the conveyancing stage) we know what our priorities are anyway, and as long as the mortgage & relevant insurances, bills and food are paid for, everything else is a luxury.

Loans and CCs set to disappear by mid-2011 (sigh) but ideally we'd like to put money away for overpayments so that date comes sooner.

Many thanks again to all. Will keep an offline diary in May to see how it compares to our current SOA and will post again on here. :T

Cheers.