Semi-Newbie, SOA, any advice or tips welcomed :)

ZarZar1990

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Basically I'm very lucky that I live at home, board free, I've done this SOA just for me, I'm not currently paying car ins. as its been paid up for this year, I'm renewing next month, but hopefully getting family to chip in for my Christmas present.
No elec or gas as I live at home, I do buy a lot of my own food, diesel is accurate, MOT is free because my stepdad owns a garage and takes care of it.
Put 60 down for road tax as I owe it this month.
Extra income is bonus at work, I usually come out with around 50 quid extra, sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less, just trying to be average.
Entertainment costs etc change each month, I'm not planning to go out at all this month, giving my purse a break for Christmas.
£50 a month on xmas presents is for this month and next.

Anyway I've tried to be as in-depth as I can, if you take time to have a look I really appreciate it, and any tips, tricks, or money saving advice will be taken very gratefully, I'm quite new to MSE and I'd love to learn to be as savvy as the rest of you guys.

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 390
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 50
Total monthly income.................... 440

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 40
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 60
RAC ........................... 5
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 15
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)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 350


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1300
Other assets............................ 400
Total Assets............................ 1700

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................650.......94........24.9
O/D............................250.......0.........10
Next Card......................140.......16........26.49
Total unsecured debts..........1040......110.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 440
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 350
Available for debt repayments........... 90
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 110
Amount short for making debt repayments. -20

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,700
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,040
Net Assets.............................. 660

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

tori.k

hello ZarZar and welcome
I think its great that you have decided to "nip it in the bud" before you debt becomes a real problem, shop from your wardrobe for a while and your books should balance.
get your friends together and do a temple of tat, i often do this with clothes, books & dvds.
you could really do with getting rid of the next store card asap as the apr is massive
use QUIDCO and make some money back on your car insurance when its due.
Get creative for christmas make it token gifts,
best wishes

Tixy

Hi Zarzar

Whilst on paper it looks like you are on an overspend for this month if you really don't spend anything on entertainment this month you should be able to finish this month at a breakeven, so your debts should not get any bigger.

By next month you won't have the road tax figure but I guess might have a bit more for entertainment but again should be able to breakeven. Then in the new year it would seem like you can start to make headway into your debts.

If from January you start putting aside a small amount each month for next times road tax and for next years presents budgets (say £10 and £15 respectively) then you would actually show as a £65 surplus each month.

If you pay all this towards your debt (starting with your next card) then you could have things in a much better position in no time.

Plus next year you won't have to suddenly find the money for road tax or presents so you should hopefully be less stressed about money.

Looking at what you do spend have you tried dropping your mobile down 1 tariff (if you are in contract). You may be able to save £5 to £10 without noticing a difference in the number of calls & texts you make.

Could you make any cutbacks on the food you purchase? is this food whilst you are out and about, sandwiches, coffee shops, restaurants & pubs or is it food you buy in and eat at home?

Do you have any old clothes/books/cds you don't use you could sell on ebay or amazon or carboot? Party type dresses will go well at this time of year (I'm assuming you are female!)

How many hours do you work? Are you also at college or similar? Can you increase your hours or look to get a second job - you could look for temporary jobs at shops/bars in the run up to christmas - even if you did just a couple of shifts a week from now til christmas that could pay for all your christmas presents & partying.

Do you do any online reviews/surveys/free scratchcards etc? These can net you a small amount each month once you are up and running.

Good luck

ZarZar1990

Hey guys, thanks for the FANTASTIC suggestions

Tori- yeah I am using Quidco , got almost £11 on there at the moment

Tixy- Yeah I'm on dooyoo and valued opinions, and really good idea about the small savings!
Also Yeah I'm a student, working 16 hours p/w with the odd extra 3 hour shift put in here and there, so sometimes 19 hours p/w.
My hourly rate is not too bad £6.10 p/h so looking for another job isn't really an option, cos at my age its a good wage seen as minimum is £4.80ish, I will have tons more hours over christmas though, the two weeks I'm off college over Christmas I work 42 hour weeks usually, as well as bank holiday pay.
(I've done this for the 3 years I've been a student)
I mean I shouldn't have got in this position, it was just stupidity with money really, the good news is that this year because I'll be a MSE I'll hopefully be able to use my xmas pay to pay off almost all of my debt (aside from the interest free O/D).
I can't go down on my tariff as I'm locked in unfortunately...
And the ebay idea rocks, I've just ran it past my best friend, who is not in debt but always struggling for money, and we're gonna do it together on my ebay account
Thanks a lot!

RAS

Try amazon for books and CDs?

ZarZar1990

Thanks for the advice guys