SOA - Help!

madeforidiots

Hi

I've just done an SOA and found a massive shortfall in my amount that I pay out versus my wages.
Is there anything that I could reasonably cut back on?

I've tried to cut on my mobile bill, but that's stuck in a contract at the moment.

Thanks


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 780
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 780

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 255
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 50
Electricity............................. 15
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 70
TV Licence.............................. 50
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 25
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 80
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 33
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 13
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Savings................................. 40
Wedding Fund............................ 100
Total monthly expenses.................. 751


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
LloydsTSB......................1050......98.02.....24.9
Capital One....................1150......40........29.9
H Samuel.......................800.......20........29.9
Argos..........................750.......65........29.9
House of Fraser................400.......65........29.9
Total unsecured debts..........4150......288.02....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 780
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 751
Available for debt repayments........... 29
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 288.02
Amount short for making debt repayments. -259.02

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,150
Net Assets.............................. -4,150

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

HappyMJ

madeforidiots wrote: »

Savings................................. 40
Wedding Fund............................ 100

There is no need to have any savings when you have debts. When the debts are paid you can then start to save towards your wedding.

madeforidiots wrote: »

TV Licence.............................. 50

The T.V License is £145.50 per year which is only £12.13 per month

365days

Hi there,

A couple of things I can see. You are saving £140 a month and have debt at crippling APR's. I don't know when wedding is but I would say use some of this money to pay your debts off. I've seen so many people on here, and in 'real life' see the stress of debt ruin relationshps and marriages.

If you rent why do you pay buildings? I presume it's a mistake and you mena contents. I have buildings and contents for £15 so you can probably reduce this.

Have you rung the phone company and asked if they can reducethe tariff.

Any chance you and partner can move in together and share rent...bills etc? Give you a better chance of paying it back and saving for the big day?

Siouxsie32

Hi

I know what you're going through, I just did one of these this afternoon and posted it on here. There'll be loads of good advice along in a minute.....that's what happened to me!

In the mean time, I notice you pay £50 for your TV licence - did you mean £5 or do you owe them money from previous years or am I really out of touch?

Also, is £70 how much the contract is or do you have a cheaper contract and pay more because you exceed your allowance?

One more thing, as a short term measure, do you have anything you could sell on ebay? I do this every month to top up my wages because I have a shortfall too!

RAS

madeforidiots wrote: »

Thanks


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 780
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 780

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 255
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 50
Electricity............................. 15
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 70 - even if you are in a contract try and argue for a reduced package
TV Licence.............................. 50 - ?? this is £12 per month
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 25 - get rid ASAP.
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 80 - inadequate probably
Clothing................................ 0 - never?
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 33
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 13
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Savings................................. 40 - pay off the debts first
Wedding Fund............................ 100 - you simply cannot afford this (you need to pay Samuels off first).
Total monthly expenses.................. 751


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
LloydsTSB......................1050......98.02.....24.9
Capital One....................1150......40........29.9
H Samuel.......................800.......20........29.9
Argos..........................750.......65........29.9
House of Fraser................400.......65........29.9
Total unsecured debts..........4150......288.02....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 780
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 751
Available for debt repayments........... 29
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 288.02
Amount short for making debt repayments. -259.02

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,150
Net Assets.............................. -4,150

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

How much have you got in the savings and wedding fuund?

You look to be in shared rental?

You can get this close - with the debt just being covered, but you need to boost your income from car-boots, e-bay, amazon anything.

Tixy

madeforidiots wrote: »

Hi

I've just done an SOA and found a massive shortfall in my amount that I pay out versus my wages.
Is there anything that I could reasonably cut back on?

I've tried to cut on my mobile bill, but that's stuck in a contract at the moment.

Thanks


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 780
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0 are you entitled to any working tax credits?
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 780

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 255
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 50
Electricity............................. 15
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 70 is the contract actually £70? or are you using extras of items that are costing more? which supplier are you with and how far into the contract? have you asked (begged) them to drop you down a tariff?
TV Licence.............................. 50 presume a typo?
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 25 cancel or threaten to leave and see what deal they'll give (usually do half price deal for at least 6m)
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 80
Clothing................................ 0 never anything?
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 33
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 13
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 ? nothing
Haircuts................................ 0 ?nothing?
Entertainment........................... 0 ? nothing
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Savings................................. 40 cannot afford stop immediately - how much do you have saved?
Wedding Fund............................ 100 cannot pay for this with that shortfall (sorry)
Total monthly expenses.................. 751


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
LloydsTSB......................1050......98.02.....24.9
Capital One....................1150......40........29.9
H Samuel.......................800.......20........29.9
Argos..........................750.......65........29.9
House of Fraser................400.......65........29.9
Total unsecured debts..........4150......288.02....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 780
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 751
Available for debt repayments........... 29
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 288.02
Amount short for making debt repayments. -259.02 need drastic changes

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,150
Net Assets.............................. -4,150

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

Hi - I've put a few comments above, some of which I know repeat other advice. How many hours do you work? Can you increase your earnings? more hours at work? or overtime? a second job? Anything you can sell to make some money to reduce your debts. Are you entitled to any benefits help such as tax credits or even housing benefit?
Have you tried earning online by doing surveys/reviews? have you looked into mystery shopping and similar money making ideas?

madeforidiots

Hey and thanks everyone :-) Yes, slip of concentration re TV licence, so that's £12.13 a month and it is contents insurance.

My mobile phone provider has already downgraded it (it is a mobile + dongle deal fixed till 2011)

I understand the Savings Vs debts, but my fear is that if I use it to pay off my debt, I won't see any savings straight away (it's only £400 so far) so it'll make a dent just not wipe anything out. That and I won't be able to earn it back as quickly as I spent it.

I've already sold 1 games console (a wii is available!) and I'm trying to sell my dvds and books.

I do really want to clear my debt, but I think I'll have to make tough decisions.

Tixy

Well even if it is just £400, you could pay of house of fraser and save £65 per month.
Even if you decide not to use that £400, you simply do not have the money to save anymore at the moment. Have you stopped spending on the cards you have? are they cut up yet? Do you also have an overdraft not included in the list?

re dvds and books good that you are trying to sell not sure how you are trying to sell them but as well as ebay try amazon and green metropolis to compare prices.

madeforidiots

Yes, I've stopped spending on the cards, not only are they cut up but I have notified the providers that I do not wish to use the cards for spending any more. Once they're cleared, they're being cancelled.

No overdraft, I've already got rid of that!

I'm using an independent store here that takes DVDs + books, sometimes they do and sometimes they don't, but I'll look down the whole eBay / Amazon etc avenue.

scottishblondie

I understand the need to save, but in your shoes I'd use the savings to pay off some debt right now, and there isn't any point in saving more at the moment. It is costing you money to put anything aside, and also accounts for over half of the shortfall on your SOA.

As an example, if you were to use the £400 to pay off the House of Fraser card right now you would save yourself about £30 in interest compared to paying it off at £65 a month for 7 months. It doesn't sound like a lot, but the same £400 in a savings account for 7 months would only make you £5 at 2.8% interest. In my brain that means you will have lost £25.

I'd suggest you look at the snowball calculator (I think it's stickied on the board) to see how much paying your cards off at this rate is going to cost you, and help you figure out how best to clear them.

365days

If you use the 'snowballer'...I can't remember the link...some one will post it for you I am sure. You will see how that £140 will have a HUGE difference in payng your debts down.

Really..trust me...try it. It will amaze in a kind of Oh My God scary but good sort of way!