It's time...!

AnnieG

miffythesmartbunny wrote: »

the present fund is between £30-60 pp so i know i need to cut that down too. i have my cousin's wedding next month and it's pretty standard here to give £100 as a gift! bad times - didn't budget for this. although, i'm trying to think of something i could buy instead that would look expensive(ish) but cost half the price!

Hiya
You can easily cut your present budget, and I'm sure you can do it without anyone noticing.
With regards to the wedding - perhaps you could get some nice champagne flutes and a bottle of posh champers - this would only come to about £50 and would look nice.

miffythesmartbunny

ok so after 3 hours of drawing up a budget... here's our revised SOA

please tell me what you think

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b]

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1513.56
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1424.21
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2937.77

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 650
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 34
Gas..................................... 40 (again, think we're in credit on this but any extra that accumulates from this can chip away at overdraft)
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 60 (£20 partner, £40 for my iphone but will be reduced to £35 in July)
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 7.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 (already taking steps to reduce this but again any surplus will chip away at overdraft)
Clothing................................ 250 (£150 for me...taking things slowly. I'm a spendaholic and usually spend around £250-300 p/m on clothes/makeup etc.)
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 13
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 12.5
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15 (this is for OH's contact lenses)
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 26.8 (2 teacher union memberships)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 145 (incl £32.50 for bdays, £33 for weddings-brother and best friend's weddings coming up, £80 Christmas)
Haircuts................................ 40 £30 me, £10 for OH
Entertainment........................... 200 Eating out, alcohol, dancing
Holiday................................. 150 planning a ski trip in january
Emergency fund.......................... 20
charity................................. 8
Cred Union ............................. 40 whoops, shouldn't have included this-this is included under presents
ISA..................................... 20 OH's saving pot
Club Membership......................... 18
Lottery................................. 18
Counselling............................. 140 temporary
Total monthly expenses.................. 2430.8


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 3500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Graduate Loan..................2900......156.......7.2
Tesco CCard....................1878.6....200.......17.9 min payment is £38 but going to pay 200 to chip away-can't BT to a 0% card because they won't give me credit...see earlier post)
Laser Surgery Finance..........2398.54...55.78.....0
OH's Overdraft.................1350......0.........0
My A&L Overdraft...............300.......0.........0
My Halifax Overdraft...........750.......30........0 £30 charge is for daily overdraft fees-can't move this...see earlier post)
Credit Union Loan..............300.......20........0
Total unsecured debts..........9877.14...461.78....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,937.77
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,40.8
Available for debt repayments........... 506.97
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 461.78
Amount left after debt repayments....... 45.19

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,877.14
Net Assets.............................. -6,377.14

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

katsu

miffythesmartbunny wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b]

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1513.56
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1424.21
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2937.77

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 650
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 34 reduce your usage. Turn things, off, unplug at the socket, only have lights on in the room you are in etc.
Gas..................................... 40 (again, think we're in credit on this but any extra that accumulates from this can chip away at overdraft)
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 60 (£20 partner, £40 for my iphone but will be reduced to £35 in July)
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 7.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 (already taking steps to reduce this but again any surplus will chip away at overdraft)
Clothing................................ 250 (£150 for me...taking things slowly. I'm a spendaholic and usually spend around £250-300 p/m on clothes/makeup etc.) :eek: Where do you wear all these clothes and makeup? You want to go on holidays, why not cut out holiday pictures and put them in your purse with your cards, then ask yourself what you want more - a random lippy/top or that ski break?
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 13
Car Insurance........................... 40
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 12.5
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15 (this is for OH's contact lenses) would he wear glasses instead?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 26.8 (2 teacher union memberships)
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 145 (incl £32.50 for bdays, £33 for weddings-brother and best friend's weddings coming up, £80 Christmas) I spent £180 on 23 people for Christmas. You can totally reduce your spending here. Use bargains (check the grabbit board), sales, 99p type stores and charity shops - and make things if you are crafty.
Haircuts................................ 40 £30 me, £10 for OH Look for a local hardressing college for a cheaper cut. wait another week between visits.
Entertainment........................... 200 Eating out, alcohol, dancing
Holiday................................. 150 planning a ski trip in january
Emergency fund.......................... 20
charity................................. 8 charity begins at home when you are in debt.
Cred Union ............................. 40 whoops, shouldn't have included this-this is included under presents
ISA..................................... 20 OH's saving pot better to clear debts with this instead.
Club Membership......................... 18 what is this?
Lottery................................. 18 clear debts instead
Counselling............................. 140 temporary
Total monthly expenses.................. 2430.8


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 3500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Graduate Loan..................2900......156.......7.2
Tesco CCard....................1878.6....200.......17.9 min payment is £38 but going to pay 200 to chip away-can't BT to a 0% card because they won't give me credit...see earlier post)
Laser Surgery Finance..........2398.54...55.78.....0 are you sure these are all 0%?
OH's Overdraft.................1350......0.........0
My A&L Overdraft...............300.......0.........0
My Halifax Overdraft...........750.......30........0 £30 charge is for daily overdraft fees-can't move this...see earlier post)
Credit Union Loan..............300.......20........0 this will not be 0%
Total unsecured debts..........9877.14...461.78....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,937.77
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,40.8
Available for debt repayments........... 506.97
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 461.78
Amount left after debt repayments....... 45.19

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 3,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,877.14
Net Assets.............................. -6,377.14

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

Try some of these comments and get a spending diary going.

Hope they give you some ideas.

miffythesmartbunny

thank you katsu for taking the time to reply, i appreciate it

yip...agree with the electricity-i don't really actively try to reduce it at the mo, so will keep this in mind.

you're right about my spending on clothes etc. - it's ridiculous! mind u i have downgraded to primarni to get more value for my money lol but seriously though, i'm cutting back on this slowly but surely. also, that's a great suggestion about holiday pic in my purse-i really do love my holidays most of all but i just have no will power and that should definitely help.

club membership is for my OH for his GAA club...it's his life! he would not even contemplate cancelling that! lol

charity payment is for the dog's trust...i've only signed up to it 2 months ago. should i really cancel this? i'd feel bad!

laser surgery is 0% as is my OH's overdraft (still classified as a graduate!) and so is my £300 A&L overdraft (except only for the first year...opened it 2 months ago)

oops...forgot to say i don't know what interest rate is for credit union loan-need to check that.

my only real concern from my budget is that i'm not paying anything off my £750 halifax overdraft...should i just leave that be and pay the £30 charge until i get the other debts cleared off? I need to pay something towards my £300 A&L overdraft because i've redirected my salary back into my halifax account so i'm afraid when A&L don't see my salary going in, they're going to demand it all back in one go. lastly, £20 a month to pay off credit union loan is hardly going to make a dent-should i up this?

miffy x

NorthernLas

I like the idea of holiday pictures in your purse!!! Could you put them where you normally put your cards?

What I mean is could you leave your cards at home and draw out cash for your spending on clothes/makeup once a week? Are you open to doing it once and see if it makes a difference handing over cash?

For me it is much harder than handing over a card. If you think you will be tempted, put the card in a plastic bag then in a tupperware box and fill it with water and then put it in the freezer

If you have clothes that you no longer wear, could you sell them on e-bay and put towards your highest interest debt? (or specifically one of the overdrafts with daily charges)

NorthernLas

If you can save £50 from shopping, £200 from food and the £50 left, then you can clear the A&L overdraft, Halifax OD and credit union loan in around 4 payments. OK, baby steps go for halfing A&L and make in-roads into Halifax as well!

Tixy

I think its good you have an honest SoA now but hopefully you will be able to chop down those clothes costs and presents over time.

Perhaps have a go with the snowball calculator (either whatsthecost or the same site as the SoA) to see the difference it will make to your debt free debt if you pay £461 or £500 or £550 per month. Sometimes seeing how much interest you can save can really motivate you.

You can't change everything overnight but gradual changes will all add up (if I was going to really scare you I could suggest you looked at the £100 clothes challenge - thats spending no more than £100 on clothes in total over the year:eek: ). Okay so I am never going to manage that either - or even try but there are people on here who can manage it. Have you considered selling some of your old clothes & accessories on ebay? this makes you feel rather good, and clears out the wardrobe so you can see what you own better - NB not so you can buy too much more stuff;)).

Good luck.

miffythesmartbunny

hi northernlas! i think you're right about the cash vs card issue. it's definitely more daunting when you see the cash physically disappear from your hand rather than from the bank balance that i don't keep track of lol

LOL at putting the card in plastic bag/tupperware box with water and freeze it - desperate times call for desperate measures. i won't rule it out!

and yeah i never thought of that...if i make savings on clothes/food shop i could whack that off the overdrafts/credit union loan good thinking batman...er...batgirl?? lol

tixy you nearly made me choke on my tea there...£100 on clothes for the year?! NO WAY! fair play to anyone who can do that but that sounds awfully awfully hard.

i've always thought about selling stuff on ebay-i usually bung it into local charity shop who have probably made a fortune from my wares lol is it complicated to set up a seller account? how do i know what postage costs are etc.?

so...my key priorities from my SOA are 1. reducing the food shop to £240 (trying to be realistic with £60 p.w. initially-online shopping should help with this) 2. reducing the clothes spend to £100 3. reducing the amount i spend on presents maybe to £30 p.p. would be realistic?

thanks again everyone, i really appreciate your help with this. i just hope to god that i can stick to the budget-i need a couple of months without any surprising expensive outgoings to roll this out...fingers crossed!

miffy xxx

Tixy

Have a read The 2010 crazy clothes challenge (I think some will allow themselves to also spend the proceeds of any old clothes they sell to make it easier, and some don't include shoes & accessories). I wouldn't dare say how much I spend on clothes - it never appeared truthfully on my SoA!! But cutting down is good I tell myself.

There is a whole board on ebay and they'll talk you through all the issues - i think they have a beginners guide - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=40