Updated SOA - can it be improved?

banwa

Hello everyone,

I posted our SOA in January and you lovely folks made some great suggestions which I have implemented, we had a complete overhaul and it means we have paid £5000 of since then. :j

I know we are in a reasonably comfortable position and feel lucky that we can make good inroads into the debt but you guys were so good at helpng the first time that I feel we could do with your help again refocusing. We want to live our lives but I also want to get this debt cleared and want to strike the right balance. Last month we upped the entertainment budget to £100 per month, because when we become debt free we want to have kept our friends.:) We most do cheap stuff like the pub quiz, or going to friends/having them here. We had lunch out in April too (with a voucher of course).

I've completely overhauled our finances, we super balance transferred the horrible overdrafts, and moved everything else apart from the two car loans to 0%. I haven't done anything to them because we are so close to the end we might as well just sit them out, and the APRs are okay. One of our 0% deals has just run out, don't know if we should tranfer it to another 0% card we have (it would be 3%) or just pay it off as soon as we can (shoudl be gone in 2-3 months, the interest in this time would be less than the 3% fee).

Anyway, do you think we could/should cut back any further?



Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0 (but 4 visiting stepchildren)
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1421
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1863
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3284
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 642
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 88 10 months @£105
Electricity............................. 73
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 28
Telephone (land line)................... 22
Mobile phone............................ 11 *2 mobiles - mine is v cheap through work, neither of us big users
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 32 *husband won't give up sky sports
Internet Services....................... 13 *rubbish exchange can't get the internet/phone/sky packages until 2011
Groceries etc. ......................... 380* doing grocery challenges - this feeds 2 adult, 2 cats, 4 stepchildren (2 adult, 2 teenagers) when they visit, and includes all alcohol etc
Clothing................................ 40* this is the average for last 4 months, I think normally it is a bit less
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 22.5
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40 2 cars, service repairs mot
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 300 * child maintenance on 3 children (1 is grown up)
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 25 2 cats £40 each vaccination, £13 insurance, plus flea & worm treatment
Buildings insurance..................... 4* by going through topcashback
Contents insurance...................... 4 * ditto
Life assurance ......................... 23
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60 *4 stepchildren b'days, Christmas, 5 nephews
Haircuts................................ 22
Entertainment........................... 100 *sometimes less, our friends are pretty understanding and we normally do cheap stuff
Holiday................................. 342 ***
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Charity................................. 19
Gym..................................... 45 *tied in until November
Total monthly expenses.................. 2545.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 125000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 128200

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 106000...(642)......3.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 106000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Car loan 1.....................888.......148.......11 *last payment Oct
Car loan 2.....................835.......155.......8 *last payment Sep
Credit card 1 .................4103......50........0* until July 2011
Kitchen loan...................1731......158.......0* until July 2011
Credit card 4..................1535......20........0* until Mar 2011
Credit card 3..................700.......50........18.9
Credit card 2..................2388......25........0 * until Mar 2011


Total unsecured debts..........12180.....606.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,284
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,545.5
Available for debt repayments........... 738.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 606
Amount left after debt repayments....... 132.5
*will be £474 in Aug when hol is paid for
£630 from Oct when 1st car paid for
and £778 from Oct when 2nd car paid for
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 128,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -106,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,980
Net Assets.............................. 9,220
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.[/FONT]

*** the holiday is the amount we have to pay up until and including the holiday which is in August. £770 to pay and £600 spends, means it is costing us £342 until Aug - does that make sense?

I also have a question about the snowball calcuator. It says I should tackle credit card 1 first, but I think I should clear the one we are paying interest on first. I calculated that if I pay cc3 off first that we would pay about £35 in interest over the next 15 months, but the snowball calculator says the cheapest way would still cost us £90 in interest. (it has you tackling the largest standard APRs first and doesn't take into account the 0% periods). A major flaw I think. Do you think we should tacke those we are paying interest on now first?

Anyway, all thoughts welcome :A

Tixy

Hi

Which snowball calculator did you use? the make sense of cards one or the whats the cost one? I thought they did take account of the promotional deals? I agree you should definitely clear the interest charging one first.

Whilst things look quite tight at the moment, with only just over £100 spare I can see that things should pick up later in the year. Yes you could cut back a bit further in some areas but I don't think you are doing bad at all (and well done on paying off so much debt already).

Only comment I would make is have you checked elec is with the cheapest supplier? is your house heating all elec?

Burlesque_Babe

the few bits I can see are

-to stop giving to charity (do some work as a volunteer instead/raise money by doing Race for Life or something similar),
- reduce the hair cuts to every 2 months and have it done by hairdressing students (I have mine done and it is £7.50 for a cut and blow dry) -cut back on the entertainment, £100 a month is still high for every month
- reduce electricity by turning everything off, including stuff on standby

well done on clearing the 5k, excellent.

banwa

Tixy wrote: »

Hi

Which snowball calculator did you use? the make sense of cards one or the whats the cost one? I thought they did take account of the promotional deals? I agree you should definitely clear the interest charging one first.

It was the make sense of cards one. I don't know if I am doing it wrong. I'm glad you agree, it's what I think I will do. Would you transfer it or just pay it off over a couple of months?

Whilst things look quite tight at the moment, with only just over £100 spare I can see that things should pick up later in the year. Yes you could cut back a bit further in some areas but I don't think you are doing bad at all (and well done on paying off so much debt already). Cheers, it has felt really good doing it. In the first three months we really did cut back, that's how we paid it. This is the 'relaxed budget'. Perhaps we have relaxed too much :rotfl:?

Only comment I would make is have you checked elec is with the cheapest supplier? is your house heating all elec? I think it is very high too but we have tried twice now to change and it went worng at the final hurdle both times (they just sent a letter saying they can't provide us after all - v strange ). Maybe it's time to try again

Thanks Tixy :A

banwa

Burlesque_Babe wrote: »

the few bits I can see are

-to stop giving to charity (do some work as a volunteer instead/raise money by doing Race for Life or something similar), I do do other charoty stuff too, and if it was an impersonal DD to RSPCA or something similar I would consider stopping but I currently sponsor a child in Zambia. If I stopped it would feel too much like I was abondoning him. I can't do it. £19 is a drop in the ocean of our debt, and our income for that matter
- reduce the hair cuts to every 2 months and have it done by hairdressing students (I have mine done and it is £7.50 for a cut and blow dry). It has taken me £15 years to find a hairdresser who does my (v difficult and wild) hair the way I like it. This is cut and highlight every 3 months. The compromise we made on haircuts is I do my husbands. I hate doing it but I'm okay at it and then I feel justified in paying for mine.;)

-cut back on the entertainment, £100 a month is still high for every month. You're right, we need to be a bit more imaginative. Are there any good cheap entertainment threads?
- reduce electricity by turning everything off, including stuff on standby - again you're right, we're a but slack when it comes to this I think



well done on clearing the 5k, excellent.

Cheers for taking time to read, keep the suggestions coming