SOA - come and rip me apart

**confuzzled**

We're not in dire straights or anything but I haven't done an SOA for a while and was interested to see other peoples opinions:) As we're expecting our 1st baby in October I'd like to see where we can save the additional now.....our intention is to reduce my pay to what I'd get on maternity leave in July/August(won't actually leave til 29/10, thank god for an easy office job!) so we've already got a strict budget in place that we're used to once bubs arrives:money:
The SOA is filled in to the nearest £ as I can't remember exact figures for some things but I do know what I've put in is accurate enough IYSWIM:)

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 2Only just got my independence so no suggestions of taking it away pls:p
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 965
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1065
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2030
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 612(will reduce by over half in June:j)
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 168
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 91
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 48 paying arrears
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 45
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 40 (will reduce to £30 at end of month)
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 18
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200(give or take:o)
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 20(mine only, DHs is covered by his expenses at work)
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 60(2 policies, me being a new driver)
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 3
Buildings & Contents insurance.......... 16.17
Life assurance ......................... 16 (2 policies)
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 5(probably more if I'm really honst!)
Haircuts................................ 5( no budget as such but divided over year works out at this)
Entertainment........................... 0(we're really quite boring and apart form the odd meal out we tend to have friends over or vice versa and films are downloaded using free Xbox credits;))
Holiday................................. 0(I can only dream:p)
Emergency fund.......................... 0(nothing official but we do have £1k from inheritance lurking in savings)
Total monthly expenses.................. 1424.17

Assets
Cash.................................... 0(we do have £1k as mentioned above but this is going ot be put towards a remortgage when needed)
House value (Gross)..................... 115000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 119500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 108000...(612)......6.7
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 300......(168)......0 (last payment is 08/11 but aiming to pay off by October this year!Fingers crossed!)
Total secured & HP debts...... 108300....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
CCCS DMP.......................38000.....400.......0
RBS overdraft..................152.......40........0 No interest as its an agreed payment:)
Total unsecured debts..........38152.....440.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,030
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,424.17
Available for debt repayments........... 605.83
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 440
Amount left after debt repayments....... 165.83
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 119,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -108,300
Total Unsecured debt.................... -38,152
Net Assets.............................. -26,952
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Tixy

Hi

I would say not bad at all,

Have just put a few comments but nothing serious

**confuzzled** wrote: »

As we're expecting our 1st baby in October Congratulations :j
Monthly income after tax................ 965 assume you've checked if you could get any wtc? probably too high an income but just in case
Water rates............................. 45 looks a little high - is it metered or unmeasured? that said may not be worth switching to a meter if you are starting a family.
Telephone (land line)................... 20 does it include internet?
Groceries etc. ......................... 200(give or take:o)shouldn't need to be more than this :)
Clothing................................ 0 nothing needed as your bump grows?
Car Insurance........................... 60(2 policies, me being a new driver) is OH a named driver? did you see if adding him would decrease the premium? if not might be worth trying next time.
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5 is this enough? it doesn't look much?

RBS overdraft..................152.......40........0 No interest as its an agreed payment:) good - this is nearly gone then? assume you are not using it as you current account anymore?

misscousinitt

Hi and congratulations...

Don't forget that you will get child benefit and hubby should get some child tax credits, so with you current surplus? the drop shouldn't be too bad.

Overdraft will be cleared in August - so £40 extra?
When are the arrears cleared on the gas?
Mortgage dropping will help loads too...
And if you clear your secured debt by October you should be fine.

Only things I would suggest really are: can you get a lower tariff than £30 for your mobile? and maybe you might be able to squeeze a little out of the grocery budget.

Everything else seems pretty much OK.

Good Luck.

x

**confuzzled**

Tixy wrote: »

Hi

I would say not bad at all,

Have just put a few comments but nothing serious

Originally Posted by **confuzzled**
As we're expecting our 1st baby in October Congratulations :j
Monthly income after tax................ 965 assume you've checked if you could get any wtc? probably too high an income but just in case We earn too much:(
Water rates............................. 45 looks a little high - is it metered or unmeasured? that said may not be worth switching to a meter if you are starting a family. unmetered, did look into a meter but we have hugantic gardens on front & back so not worth it for us:)
Telephone (land line)................... 20 does it include internet? whoops yes it does, forgot to add that:o
Groceries etc. ......................... 200(give or take:o)shouldn't need to be more than this :) Until I get my cravings for cake:rotfl:
Clothing................................ 0 nothing needed as your bump grows? Only minmal which will be bought as cheap as poss, luckily I have a [STRIKE]fat[/STRIKE] sister who still has most of her maternity wear:D
Car Insurance........................... 60(2 policies, me being a new driver) is OH a named driver? did you see if adding him would decrease the premium? if not might be worth trying next time. Adding him would actually increase my insurance??? Go figure huh?
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5 is this enough? it doesn't look much? should be I have a wonderful mechanic father who helps a LOT and refuses to let us pay for parts:D
RBS overdraft..................152.......40........0 No interest as its an agreed payment:) good - this is nearly gone then? assume you are not using it as you current account anymore? Definitely not!!! Thieving beggars:mad: That should be gone by July too, possibly earlier with cashback payments etc:)


Thanks for the suggestions Tixy:D Think I will have to try harder with food and will definitely start batch cooking for those night I CBA'd:o Think thats how we're at around £200p/m for groceries:o

gonzo127

one thing i noticed is road tax, £120 for a year is pretty amazing for 2 cars! my Mondeo alone is ~£200 make sur eyou have got this right, check on the emissions of each car you own as to what your tax band actually is and then budget for that!

next one mobile, you are reducing it by £10 shortly however do you still need £30 on a tarrif how many mins and texts do you need etc? 3 have a offer for £10 a month with 75 mins and unlimited texts

car insurance - what type of policy do you have for yourself? is it fully comp, third party fire and theft or just third party? how much is the car worth? i know silly questiosn but sometimes you have to consider how much the car is worth and how much your insurance is + excess if you write it of at any point, a lot of the time for first time drivers in bangers third party only is the best option

**confuzzled**

misscousinitt wrote: »

Hi and congratulations...

Don't forget that you will get child benefit and hubby should get some child tax credits, so with you current surplus? the drop shouldn't be too bad.

Overdraft will be cleared in August - so £40 extra? Thats the plan
When are the arrears cleared on the gas? August-ish we think:)
Mortgage dropping will help loads too... tell me about it, can't wait, the difference will be syphoned off into our savings account and will be used to pay off the secured debt and will then begin saving again for the remortgage deposit:)
And if you clear your secured debt by October you should be fine.

Only things I would suggest really are: can you get a lower tariff than £30 for your mobile? and maybe you might be able to squeeze a little out of the grocery budget. Contract phone is coming to an end this month I think and DH will be going onto that O2 sim only deal thing for £20p/m(?) as he uses his phone loads(its an iphone, need I say more?!)

Everything else seems pretty much OK.

Good Luck.

x

Thanks guys:) I feel really positive now, think I was getting into the 'debt not moving fast enough' drudgery of debt busting:o
It looks so simple down on paper....well computer screen anyway:D

Tixy

Mmmm - cake is probably essential when you are pregnant with cravings. Can you crave delicious homemade cake instead though (might be good for the nesting instinct as well as the cravings??). There is a receipe somewhere on MSE for a 5min mini chocolate cake - I think you microwave it!

Next time you go for insurance do you have anyone else you could try putting as a named driver (my Mother was on mine for years despite not living at the same address) and it was always a little cheaper (well until she turned 60 when suddenly they wanted a huge chunk extra - clearly 60year olds lose their ability to drive safely overnight!)

**confuzzled**

gonzo127 wrote: »

one thing i noticed is road tax, £120 for a year is pretty amazing for 2 cars! my Mondeo alone is ~£200 make sur eyou have got this right, check on the emissions of each car you own as to what your tax band actually is and then budget for that! *ahem* I'm a bit of a daddys girl so mine gets paid for via my fabulous father:o:o

next one mobile, you are reducing it by £10 shortly however do you still need £30 on a tarrif how many mins and texts do you need etc? 3 have a offer for £10 a month with 75 mins and unlimited texts
he needs plenty! I tried him on PAYG the other year...ended up paying double what he paid on contract! UNfortunately I can't get him out of the habit of not thinking before he picks up his phone so now we just concentrate on damage control for it:)

car insurance - what type of policy do you have for yourself? is it fully comp, third party fire and theft or just third party? how much is the car worth? i know silly questiosn but sometimes you have to consider how much the car is worth and how much your insurance is + excess if you write it of at any point, a lot of the time for first time drivers in bangers third party only is the best option

Both policies are fully comp(DHs includes business insurance too) I had a look at 3rd party F&T for mine but it was only £5 difference which is pennies over the year, my car is worth £500ish and the annual insurance is £400...thank god it took me years to pass my test eh?:rotfl:


Tixy how odd that they bumped up your Mums insurance when she hit 60! FIL is 71 and his is still around £200p/a mark! but he does share his car with MIL whos only mid 50's, she might lower it?? god only knows how, shes known for blowing up cars:rotfl::rotfl:
Theres not really anyone I could put on my policy tbh, my family are all 'Oop Norf' and I wouldn't feel right asking the ILs iyswim:o

Ooo will look for that recipe:drool: Homemade cake is better and BIL has been on at me to bake some more for when we go for dinner...not had the energy recently.....I know what I'm doing at weekend:D:D

rupe34

hey fuzzled - well done on putting your SOA up - VV brave:T:T

**confuzzled**

rupe34 wrote: »

hey fuzzled - well done on putting your SOA up - VV brave:T:T

Thanks Rupety Rupe Rupe I'm pleasantly surprised at the comments tbh...thought I'd be shredded:o:rotfl:

When you doing yours??? :rotfl: