SOA, ummm

OrkneyStar

nuttylou wrote: »

incHousehold Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4 +2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1808.94 This consists of: £892.75 NHS Bursary, £238.40 Child benefit, and £677.79 Child Tax Credits.
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1808.94
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 300 includes £100 arrears payment
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100 arrears
Electricity............................. 55
Gas..................................... 40
Oil.....................................
Water rates............................. 90 includes arrears
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 75 includes payment for laptop used for uni which is only comp in the house.
Groceries etc. ......................... 500 need to reduce, even with the amount you are feeding- even £50 shaved off would help.
Clothing................................ 60Inlcuding uniforms/shoes for 4 children & plus all other clothing. charity shops for everything except school essentials (eg named jumper etc) but even then try freecycle/freegle etc- or try asking around etc
Petrol/diesel........................... 80 this seems high with only one of you working!
Road tax................................ 31.6 for 2 cars
Car Insurance........................... 133.63as above ridiculous!
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 16.6as above
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 68child maintenance payments
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 12.5contact lenses
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 58.3£50 each child for bdays/xmas
Haircuts................................ 5haircuts 6 monthly for me
Entertainment........................... 33incl £13,00 subscriptions for midwifery journals, and £10.00 family activities, £10.00 for school trips/outfits for plays etc etc cuts the journals- I see your reply about this.....I managed a degree and a PhD using only journals from the library- most decent Uni libraries have them all, or can order them.
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 1690.75

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Fashion world..................800.......68........NaN The only active credit I have
CCJ............................330.......32.5......0
CCJ............................261.62....5.........0
CCJ............................99.11.....2.........0
Total unsecured debts..........1490.73...107.5.....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,808.94
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,690.75
Available for debt repayments........... 118.19
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 107.5
Amount left after debt repayments....... 10.69
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,490.73
Net Assets.............................. -1,490.73



Right so I also have £7880 of debt to 17 other creditors that are not 'live' accounts and are with various debt copllection agencies. Ideally id like to start paying these off. Most importantly I need to save money to pay my rent arrears which are £1800 odd and I have a posession order.

Added some comments ?
You cannot afford two cars, no matter how you try to convince yourself! The insurance is crippling you!
Your DH needs to get a job, any job, as he needs to pay his way!
All the best!

Pollycat

asp746 wrote: »

£500 on good shopping is cheap for 2 adults and 4 children. There's one adult and 2 teenagers in my house and i spend £400 a month. Aswell as tesco/asda i also shop at heron and places like that so i'm as careful as much as i can. Kids just seem to eat me out of house and home and you can't deny them food

I think £400 is quite a lot to spend - even on 'good shopping'.

There's 2 adults in our house and between May 2006 and Dec 2009 (44 months) I spent less than £200 per month on food - that includes food, cat food, cleaning stuff and beer/wine.
The figure was actually £169.80 pm but we do have a few holidays a year so £200 is a fair figure.

We don't eat rubbish food, I never buy pre-prepared dishes, all my food is cooked from scratch and I know exactly what is in it, unlike the precooked stuff unless you scrutinise the packaging.

I do a big shop usually once a month then regularly pop into our local Tesco Metro and Somerfield to check for bargains and reduced items.

I hardly ever pay full price for anything, it's always bogof and I store it until I need it (jars/tins/loo rolls etc).

My freezer is packed with home made bolognaise, chilli, shepherds pie bases, mashed potato, veg that I've blanched and frozen.
The other day I bought 1.5kg of brussell sprouts (45p) which took a while to prep and blanch - but much cheaper than buying ready frozen.

Today's dinner is one-dish sausage casserole with mushrooms, peppers, tinned tomatoes & potatoes.
Yesterday was Tuna Risotto, tomorrow is turkey mince shepherds pie with mushrooms.

So my point is you CAN eat well without spending a lot - it does take some work but it IS do-able and if money is tight it's one way to cut back.

nuttylou

Pollycat wrote: »

I think £400 is quite a lot to spend - even on 'good shopping'.

There's 2 adults in our house and between May 2006 and Dec 2009 (44 months) I spent less than £200 per month on food - that includes food, cat food, cleaning stuff and beer/wine.
The figure was actually £169.80 pm but we do have a few holidays a year so £200 is a fair figure.

We don't eat rubbish food, I never buy pre-prepared dishes, all my food is cooked from scratch and I know exactly what is in it, unlike the precooked stuff unless you scrutinise the packaging.

I do a big shop usually once a month then regularly pop into our local Tesco Metro and Somerfield to check for bargains and reduced items.

I hardly ever pay full price for anything, it's always bogof and I store it until I need it (jars/tins/loo rolls etc).

My freezer is packed with home made bolognaise, chilli, shepherds pie bases, mashed potato, veg that I've blanched and frozen.
The other day I bought 1.5kg of brussell sprouts (45p) which took a while to prep and blanch - but much cheaper than buying ready frozen.

Today's dinner is one-dish sausage casserole with mushrooms, peppers, tinned tomatoes & potatoes.
Yesterday was Tuna Risotto, tomorrow is turkey mince shepherds pie with mushrooms.

So my point is you CAN eat well without spending a lot - it does take some work but it IS do-able and if money is tight it's one way to cut back.

I agree, I think this is where I am going to save some money!
I am looking at this as a starting point. I did have sky & BT but have cut them off as they are non essential IMHO. I Have a PAYG mobile as does OH. I think its the grocery shop where I can save most. The car going is NOT an option for me. x

Pollycat

nuttylou wrote: »

I agree, I think this is where I am going to save some money!
I am looking at this as a starting point. I did have sky & BT but have cut them off as they are non essential IMHO. I Have a PAYG mobile as does OH. I think its the grocery shop where I can save most. The car going is NOT an option for me. x

Over to the Old Style board then - lots of great tips, cheap ways of cleaning, recipe ideas etc.

For me, menu-planning is mega-important.
If I know what meals I'm going to be cooking for the coming week, it makes it easier to decide what shopping I need.
For example, mushrooms in tuna risotto, sausage casserole, shepherds pie = large box of mushrooms, cheaper than buying smaller amounts.

I just wondered what sort of meals your OH usually cooks.

nuttylou

Pollycat wrote: »

Over to the Old Style board then - lots of great tips, cheap ways of cleaning, recipe ideas etc.

For me, menu-planning is mega-important.
If I know what meals I'm going to be cooking for the coming week, it makes it easier to decide what shopping I need.
For example, mushrooms in tuna risotto, sausage casserole, shepherds pie = large box of mushrooms, cheaper than buying smaller amounts.

I just wondered what sort of meals your OH usually cooks.

if I am at uni then I cook fresh meals when I get home. If I am on nights I can do the same, If Im on long days I tend to get some crap his cooked ie pizza, burgers, sausages, kievs. That is bad I know and I could probably make some savings by doing a fresh meals and freezing them for those times.

Pollycat

nuttylou wrote: »

if I am at uni then I cook fresh meals when I get home. If I am on nights I can do the same, If Im on long days I tend to get some crap his cooked ie pizza, burgers, sausages, kievs. That is bad I know and I could probably make some savings by doing a fresh meals and freezing them for those times.

I think your OH needs cooking lessons. :cool:

Seriously, you can make cheaper and better burgers than you're probably buying.
Sounds like you've got scope to make savings on your grocery bills.

And (off the subject, I know) if your OH is at home all day - why are YOU cooking when you get home?

firesidemaid

as you are doing a lot already, could you not hand over the shopping budget, meal-planning, cooking etc to your OH? i do not have kids, but there are lots of folks on here who do who have published meal plans etc on here and manage a great deal on a small budget.

another thought i had, is that if you are at work etc for more than one daynight in a row or you are on-call is there not somewhere you can stay at work to reduce the petrol costs? could you use the time not at home to fit in your studying and then when you are at home help with some batch-cooking etc?

do you claim tax back on any professional/essential subscriptions etc? x

LilacPixie

could you OH grow some veg in tubs in your garden?? We eat ALOT of fruit/veg too I found going to lidl/aldi for fruit and veg helped as did buying local in season produce. Do you live rurally??

picasso2

Just a quickie re the journal subscriptions. I have studied for various post grad nursing qualifications at university and have never bought one journal . Universities issue you with an Athens account and you can get free online access to all journals around the world. There is really no need to pay for this. If you do not have an Athens account ask at your university library . I believe there are a few ways of getting the account if your university really don't provide it , maybe through your union (and you must be in a union as a student midwife).
Hope this helps.

niccatw

Hi Nuttylou

I think you're doing quite well with what looks like a tough budget! I agree with you that the groceries might be the easiest place to start to cut back!

If there are any decent charity shops near you, I'd definitely suss them out. I very rarely shop in "real" shops any more. The trick is knowing your labels, you'll get Asda, Tesco, Primark etc. as cheap in those shops. But if you find kids labels, Gap, M&S, Debenhams etc., snap them up!

Could your OH perhaps fit some mystery shopping in whwn he's out and about with the kids. Given where it looks as though shop, chances are, he wouldn't need to go out of his way as he'll be there anyway. Ok, it's not much, but £10 here and there always helps!

Also, can you access your midwifery journals online through your uni Athens account? Got to admit I always got two subscriptions (I'm a speech and language therapist) when I was a student, now I'm working, I cancelled one and take the other into work as it "clutters up" my wee flat Don't miss the one I cancelled as I can get in it online (the other I get as it's part of my membership, so it needs paid anyway!)

And hopefully, in a few years, when you qualify (assuming you work for the NHS) you might qualify for a lease car - you only pay personal mileage, they pay the rest!

Good luck in both your course and in your debt free journey. I know it's tough and sometimes you wonder where the light is, but hopefully you feel more in control just having sorted out the paperwork and doing your SOA. That is itself helped me put the little extra I had to my debt, wheras before that I though, what difference is a fiver going to make? Truth is, quite a lot actually; for my confidence in tackling my debt and because all those little amounts do add up eventually!

Which reminds me, I have a coppers piggy bank, a silver tin and £1 jar too... they might also help...