Hi, New to this part of the forum

kindofagilr

Hi all,

Ive had my lbm and it's time to sort my finances out, I just did the budget planner on here and according to that we should have £253 a month spare (which we never do) so I think a spending diary is in order.

I have to go out now but I wanted to get the ball rolling, I will post a SOA when I get back.

ETA SOA

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1092.95
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1192.8
Benefits................................ 178.97
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2464.72
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 618.5 (deal runs out in April 2014)
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 115
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 34.71
Telephone (land line)................... 12.5
Mobile phone............................ 50 (contracts up DEC 2010, two mobiles)
TV Licence.............................. 24.25 (goes down to £11 or something in 5 months)
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 58.5 (I am going to downgrade, remove movies and sports)
Internet Services....................... 10 (just started a new 12 month contract with o2)
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 (I am trying to get this down, inc nappies and baby milk)
Clothing................................ 10 (we rarely buy clothes, and get E's clothes in sales)
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 12 (I think this is right? £144 a year, fiat bravo)
Car Insurance........................... 44.64 (inc AA breakdown cover)
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15 (again not sure, I figured £180.00 a year?)
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 6.67 (averaged, me and OH go twice a year for check up)
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 16 (buildings and contents)
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 16.59
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 6.67 (again 2 haircuts each a year lol)
Entertainment........................... 3
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Sky Protect............................. 8.83 (Do I need this? my only fear is mam's sky was always breaking, so I am scared to get rid of it lol)
Total monthly expenses.................. 1512.86

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 113000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 8000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 121000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 98000....(618.5)....6.29
Total secured & HP debts...... 98000.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
M&S Credit Card ...............3000......79.02.....15.9
Lloyds Credit Card.............2126.23...28.44.....15.9
Lloyds Loan....................18401.4...368.3.....0
Abbey Car Loan.................8744......174.8.....0
Asda Credit Card...............2750......112.2.....23
Virgin Credit Card.............1840.7....25........16.6
Total unsecured debts..........36862.33..787.76....-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,464.72
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,512.86
Available for debt repayments........... 951.86
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 787.76
Amount left after debt repayments....... 164.1
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 121,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -98,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -36,862.33
Net Assets.............................. -13,862.33
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Sorry dont know the APRs on the loans.

Like I say our money vanishes so need to do a spending diary

I am hoping to get the groceries down a bit (£40 a month is on baby milk) we've had a bit of a mare with elliot when he was first born, he was in special care and he has taken a while to settle down, used to cry loads all day lol, well he is settling now, so I feel like I can sort my shopping out better as I actually have time to plan meals etc now, so am really hopefully I can get the groceries down, although I think £160 a month isnt too bad? is it? lol

pixiechick_2

Well done on your lbm. A spending diary is a good idea - it's surprising where money just disappears!

3Dogs

Hello and welcome to the DFW Board

To get the full benefit of your SOA, please remember to include your APR's and the expected finish date of any loans. People will then be along to advise you, and these details will help them loads.

Remember when doing a spending diary to write down EVERYTHING as it is amazing how those casual spends add up

Good luck on your journey

Krisp_3

Hey there, and welcome!

Congrats on your LBM - it's the beginning of probably the best thing you'll do for yourself for a long time!

There are loads of helpful people on here, so once you've posted your SOA, you can look forward to getting great, friendly advice!

LuckyBiscuit

Well done, the guy's on here are great and give great advice!!!
I know what you mean about not having the surplus left at the end of the month, that's my plan for this month too - a spending diary!!

Good Luck on your journey!!!

kindofagilr

Thanks guys, just got back, I am going to get all my cc statements etc out tonight and then go through them all in the morning and do a SOA, and deffo going to do a spending diary starting the first of June, then I can get a full month of spending down and see where our surplus money is going (I think its on takeaways lol)

Krisp_3

Yep, we used to keep the local Dominos in business!! And the Chinese. And the fish and chip shop... Ooh, feel sick thinking about it, lol!

kindofagilr

LOL ours is McDonalds and KFC lol

I am trying to sort out SOA now

kindofagilr

Ok first post edited to include SOA

kindofagilr

Does anyone have any advice?

Krisp_3

You've already highlighted the groceries as somewhere you are looking to cut back on, so that's a great start.

I would also think about the £50 a month you've allocated to birthdays, xmas etc. That's £600 a year and quite a large amount, unless you have a large family.

The car insurance/breakdown cover seems quite high too - we spend just about half that amount on our car.

For electricity and gas, have you shopped around for cheaper providers? Are you on a water meter, or is this fixed?

Others will come along - as it's bank holiday it culd be a little bit quieter than normal, but that doesn't mean people won't come along to help soon!

And good luck with the spending diary. It really, really helps!