newbie posting soa

pennies_from_Heaven

Hi all,
I know I'm not in a really bad situation as some other posters on here - but recently my OH has had his ot cut (and threatened further cuts) and it has scared us both into realising we must take control of the debts we have, and get rid of them, as they continue to mount steadily, despite my resolve not to spend. We would be in real trouble if he went onto his basic wage, as a large amount of his income is o/t.
So I have done my soa and posted it below, to give me the motivation to make a start on cutting down our debt. Any comments are appreciated - I have shown my revised grocery outgoings, as once I had taken a record of what we were spending on bits and pieces it was over £600 a month.

Thanks for any comments in advance,
Pennies x

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 650
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2100
Benefits................................ 173.96
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2923.96
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 933.3
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 125
Electricity............................. 39
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 25
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 11.95
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 28
Car Insurance........................... 38
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 30
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 40
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 8.45
Buildings insurance..................... 6
Contents insurance...................... 6
Life assurance ......................... 23.08
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 85
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 12.72
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 2156.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 185000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 187500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 142000...(933.3)....5.39
Total secured & HP debts...... 142000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
natwest loan...................6492.75...196.7.....0
virgin credit card.............8434.59...25........0
tesco credit card..............1393.85...20........0
paypal credit card.............528.96....16........12.9
natwest credit card ...........67.67.....5.........2
Total unsecured debts..........16917.82..262.7.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,923.96
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,156.5
Available for debt repayments........... 767.46
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 262.7
Amount left after debt repayments....... 504.76
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 187,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -142,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -16,917.82
Net Assets.............................. 28,582.18

saintly_2

hi and welcoe, every1 is amazing round here! just 1 ting thats jumps out at me on your SOA, £85 a month for presents!! do you actually see the £504 or does the money fairy pinch it out of your bank account like mine does. start a spending diary, account for every piece of spending even 50p for a choccy bar, you will soon see where you can save.

medical - is this for presciptions if so have a look at prepayment it will work out cheaper.

beanielou

£85 pm for presents is high.
You could cut it down.
Your grocceries are still high~you cxould maybe get them down some more.
Could you do some ebay selling?car boot sale? & get some £££ to pay off your two smallest debts?
Hope it goes well for you

poorandindenial

Hello pennies :wave:

Well done for taking control now, Oh how I wish I had sorted mine a bit earlier!

A few suggestions from me

pennies_from_Heaven wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2 (do you absoutely need both cars????)
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 650
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2100
Benefits................................ 173.96
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2923.96
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 933.3
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 125
Electricity............................. 39
Gas..................................... 50 (phew, £89 per month on energy is quite high - are there any arrears or are you high users? turn of everything when not in use, check you are on the best tarriff at https://www.uswitch.co.uk)
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40 this seems slightly high to me too, but i am a low user on a meter and have no kids but it might be worth looking on uswitch to see if you would be better off on a meter if you aren't already)
Telephone (land line)................... 25 a little bit high, you can get phone, internet and TV from SKY all in one for tess than you pay for this and internet
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 11.95 (i think this is a few pennies more each month now but not much, just 40p or something)
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 with a bit of meal planning/downshifting on brands etc you can probbaly bring this down a bit
Clothing................................ 30 can you use freecycle for the kids clothes?
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 28
Car Insurance........................... 38 have you checked your deal recently? when you switch do so through quidco to get cashback - same goes for all insurances
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 10 (£230+ on cars, could you do without one at all??)
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 30
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 40 (would this cost less if you had a prepayment certificate, is this all prescriptions for one person or lots of different things?)
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 8.45
Buildings insurance..................... 6
Contents insurance...................... 6
Life assurance ......................... 23.08
Other insurance......................... 0 (for all insurances do the check and switch if applicable although all these down here look fine)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 85 :eek: this is HUGE - £1000 a year, you need to cut this back
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 12.72
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 2156.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 185000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 187500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 142000...(933.3)....5.39
Total secured & HP debts...... 142000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
natwest loan...................6492.75...196.7.....0
virgin credit card.............8434.59...25........0
tesco credit card..............1393.85...20........0
paypal credit card.............528.96....16........12.9
natwest credit card ...........67.67.....5.........2
Total unsecured debts..........16917.82..262.7.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,923.96
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,156.5
Available for debt repayments........... 767.46
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 262.7
Amount left after debt repayments....... 504.76 good news - but if you don't have this left at the end of each month, you need to keep a spending diary to see where it is going
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 187,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -142,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -16,917.82
Net Assets.............................. 28,582.18

I reckon you can free up £100-150 and not feel too much of a pinch starting with that presents budget.

All the best hun

pennies_from_Heaven

:rotfl::rotfl:Yes, presents very high - I am just a soft touch when it comes to kids and oh, I have friends who think I should give them more (can you believe that!) I will cut that back and be more creative with less money!
Water rates - we are in the most expensive part of country (allegedly) and have a meter, but can get it down a little probably if we stick to showers only and not the occasional bath!

Cars - need two unfortunately as we live in a rural village with poor transport links and need to get to work - this is a big subject of discussion at the mo, can we go down to one

We thought gas and leccy was quite reasonable!!! Shows you what I know - thanks for that, I will check every room for stuff that can go off, and look on uswitch.

Unfortunately can't get sky internet as no coverage here, (rural area) anyone got any ideas of other providers or where I can look, as I've only checked out the major ones? At the minute we are on talk talk for phone and bt for internet.

In medical I have included optical as we and oh have glasses and lenses.

I think in previous months we have spent on eating out and going into the nearest city to have a sample of high street stores! Also on gorceries etc.

I will go onto the old style board for meal planning tips - thanks for the help!