Can I afford to keep my house?

vw_campervan_mum

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
This is my SOA. These would be my payments if I split up from my boyfriend. The house has high running costs. Extra due to Brit Gas putting up gas & elec monthly payments. I have tried to guess my lowest spends on items like clothes. Any advice gratefully accepted
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1666
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 389
Total monthly income.................... 2055

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 520
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 200
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 68
Gas..................................... 87
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 22
Telephone (land line)................... 13
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 250
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 35
Car parking............................. 17
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 20
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 35
Life assurance ......................... 35
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 1919


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 111200


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 80000....(520)......5.09
Secured Debt.................. 10000....(200)......7.4
Total secured & HP debts...... 90000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
yorkshire cc...................3091......80........0
Total unsecured debts..........3091......80........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,055
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,919
Available for debt repayments........... 136
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 80
Amount left after debt repayments....... 56

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 111,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -90,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,091
Net Assets.............................. 18,109

property.advert

vw_campervan_mum wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
This is my SOA. These would be my payments if I split up from my boyfriend. The house has high running costs. Extra due to Brit Gas putting up gas & elec monthly payments. I have tried to guess my lowest spends on items like clothes. Any advice gratefully accepted
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1666
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 389
Total monthly income.................... 2055

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 520
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 200
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 68 why so high ? do you owe money ?
Gas..................................... 87why so high ? do you owe money ?
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 22
Telephone (land line)................... 13
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20 how is this tied into your telephone. £20 just for internet seems high.
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 this is where you can cut back. I can easily manage on half this.
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 250 are you sure ? at 40mpg and £6 per gallon you are driving 1667 miles a month. Are you really driving 350+ a week ?
Road tax................................ 0 really ?
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 35
Car parking............................. 17 no other option ?
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 20
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 35 sounds mega high. I did mine for around £100 and then got cashback.
Life assurance ......................... 35 how much, for how long, age etc ? 40 year old, 400k, £30/35 a month.
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30 cc is more important than Xmas.
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 50 cut back until cc paid off
Holiday................................. 50 cut back until cc paid off
Emergency fund.......................... 50I agree you have to have something but better to pay debt back on the cc than save this
Total monthly expenses.................. 1919


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000 based on ? would it be independently valued at this ?
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 111200


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 80000....(520)......5.09 are you tied to this ?
Secured Debt.................. 10000....(200)......7.4 what is this for ?
Total secured & HP debts...... 90000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
yorkshire cc...................3091......80........0
Total unsecured debts..........3091......80........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,055
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,919
Available for debt repayments........... 136
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 80
Amount left after debt repayments....... 56

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 111,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -90,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,091
Net Assets.............................. 18,109

You are around 80% LTV which should give you a better rate than 5.09% and 7.4%. If you got the best rate, of 2.5% or so, the interest only repayments would be £188 a month instead of £720. Pay down a few hundred a month off the balance and your repayments go down but you have the flexibility you need.

Your petrol and your food and the big ones but your £50 here and there all mount up.

What is your credit rating like ? If you don't know, get your reports. If you have a good rating, I'd remortgage.

PAMDILL

Is your child under 16? Have a fresh look at Child Tax Credits once you separate you may be due more once you are on your own.

Also if you are not tied into a mobile phone contract shop around for new deals like sim only.

Personally for my petrol I found that Asda was the cheapest in my area and took out one of their credit cards so I can get an extra 1p per litre off at the pump. May not seem like much but works out about 40p a fill x 52 weeks. I make sure and pay the card off every month so I am not paying interest.

Tixy

Hi

vw_campervan_mum wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
This is my SOA. These would be my payments if I split up from my boyfriend. The house has high running costs. Extra due to Brit Gas putting up gas & elec monthly payments. I have tried to guess my lowest spends on items like clothes. Any advice gratefully accepted
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1666
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0 won't you get child benefits?
Other income............................ 389 is this maintenance?
Total monthly income.................... 2055

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 520
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 200
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100 is this after the 25% discount? don't forget you will be able to claim this.
Electricity............................. 68 do you have arrears? very high for 2 people. Try switching to a cheaper provider and making sure you get the cheapest tariff (usually the paperless one)
Gas..................................... 87 again do you have arrears?
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 22
Telephone (land line)................... 13
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20 look for cheaper, should be able to get combined with telephone for £20
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 For 2 people £180 should be okay (£150 doable at a push)
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 250 how many miles do you do? do your drive efficently? are you driving a campervan?
Road tax................................ 0 ? do you have a classic car
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 35
Car parking............................. 17 any cheaper alternatives? is this at work or at home?
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 20
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 35 Is this B&C? shop around, should be able to get for less on that house value.
Life assurance ......................... 35 Shop around in case you can get cheaper
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 0 never?
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 1919


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 111200


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 80000....(520)......5.09
Secured Debt.................. 10000....(200)......7.4
Total secured & HP debts...... 90000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
yorkshire cc...................3091......80........0
Total unsecured debts..........3091......80........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,055
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,919
Available for debt repayments........... 136
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 80
Amount left after debt repayments....... 56

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 111,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -90,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,091
Net Assets.............................. 18,109

It looks to me like its doable. You are only showing a small surplus but it looks like you have missed off child benefit and have overestimated costs in some instances. I think you could end up with a surplus of nearer £200, which would suggest you could manage and even cope with an increase in interest rates.

vw_campervan_mum

Thanks for your help. I can see a few basic errors I have made,
- food and petrol is what we spend now - so think could probably do £150 for each. Car is gas guzzling freelander. Tho petrol is offset by cheap cost of purchase. It was an ebay bargain.
- just paid road tax - massive £190 but yes need to put on monthly amount for next year.
- Parking is to rent space from farmer as no space with my house
- guessed council tax as £133 now
- Yes I get child benefit. Have never included this in budgets as its been a saved up safety net. This SOA includes things like that tho so should go on.
- £389 is maintenance for my daughter and this will end in 6 years when I will definitely need to downsize.
- internet includes phone calls - only line rental to BT
-Gas has gone up because we used so much over this winter. Also sewn in by British Gas as didnt realize needed to opt put til too late. However when checked they have put electricity down to £49 Hooray!
- House insurance is buildings & contents but still hope to get down on renewal in July.
- Children needs to go up to £150 as also send £100 per month to son at Uni.
- Probably will crack and go to hair dresser at some point! So adding £30 pm.
- Will keep £50 holidays as mainly travel to family/sons who live away.
- Will also keep presents as usually things needed by children
- Loan was taken out for old debts and house maintenance - has another 5 years to go. This is only half amount.
- Mortgage is sewn in til end May next year with £6000 penalty. Have had quotes from HSBC but rates not much different to re-mortgage. Can you really reduce to 2.5%??? Also have costs eg. solicitor, arrangement fees. Have thought of going to financial adviser about benefit of re-mortgage as find it hard to get my head round.

After recalculated had £172 left per month.

Looks possible but very tight to me. Wish I could pay off more debts before we split as will be much harder after. Need to find extra work as I only do 4 days at moment.

vw_campervan_mum

Thanks for that will check out tax credits. I always try to get cheapest petrol as car uses so much But that was amount for 2 cars so should be able to do much better!

DarkConvict

I would strongly put any excess money against paying off the CC, 0% doesnt last forever and ideally you want it paid before the 0% ends.

Jesthar

vw_campervan_mum wrote: »

Looks possible but very tight to me. Wish I could pay off more debts before we split as will be much harder after. Need to find extra work as I only do 4 days at moment.

Heya campervan mum, and welcome!

Well, now is your chance! You can still start to make the savings, especially on things like petrol and food, and put the extra money towards your credit card debt. The sooner that is paid off, the more free cash you will have.

For amazing ways to save money on your food bill, check out the Money Saving Old Style section of the forum - I kid you not, there are people over there who can feed a family of four for a month on under £200 a month, some for even less!

~Jes

the_cat

vw_campervan_mum wrote: »

- Yes I get child benefit. Have never included this in budgets as its been a saved up safety net. This SOA includes things like that tho so should go on.

Does this mean you have an emergency fund stashed away? If so, when the interest free period on the credit card finishes, pay off as much as you can with the fund. At a very last resort, you can always use the credit card in a really dire emergency

Raggs_2

You say 172 left over each month looks tight, but remember you also have 50 going into an emergency fund each month, so you are already getting prepared for surprises. The credit card will need to be reduced obviously.

Jesthar

the_cat wrote: »

Does this mean you have an emergency fund stashed away? If so, when the interest free period on the credit card finishes, pay off as much as you can with the fund. At a very last resort, you can always use the credit card in a really dire emergency

the_cat has a very good point - if you have savings, use them to pay off your card when it is not 0% interest. You will still have the card for emergencies, but you won't be paying all that interest! Better to be debt and interest-on-the-debt free than have savings if the interest rate on the savings is lower than the debt, and no way will you ever get a savings account with an interest rate anywhere near that of a credit card.

~Jes