My SOA and plan

pipsi_2

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1200

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 300
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 35
Electricity............................. 35
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 9
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 77
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 35
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 916


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Store card.....................182.12....30........18.9
Credit card....................210.......20........20.4
Student overdraft..............1585......20........9.9
credit card....................1066.59...15........0
Credit card....................809.......16........0
DWP............................351.81....15........0
Housing benefit overp..........140.......20........0
Total unsecured debts..........4344.52...136.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,200
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 916
Available for debt repayments........... 284
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 136
Amount left after debt repayments....... 148

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -4,344.52
Net Assets.............................. -2,344.52

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

I'm self employed so my income changes drastically each month, a couple of months ago the income from my business was £890 this month it'll be around £1800 next month, who knows?

If i have money left over at the end of the month i put it towards my debts although inevitably something always crops up, eg this month i had to buy a new power cable for my laptop which cost £80. My overdraft only has interest on the balance over £1000. If i have extra money but i'm not sure if i'll need it in a month or two i tend to pay it off my student overdraft because i know i can then use money up to my limit of £1600 in an emergency.

The order i've listed my debts is the order i plan on paying them off. I plan on paying the store card off first even though it has a lower APR than the credit card that is accruing interest because i also have insurance on the card.

I haven't bought clothes in a long time but i'm desperate for a new pair of shoes. My Mum is always commenting that i need new stuff but i don't see it as a priority. I smoke as well but there isn't an option to put the cost of that in the calculator, i'm cutting back with a view to stopping, i smoke about 40 a week at the moment. I go out occasionally with friends and spend about £20 a month occasionally more if i've got some spare cash. I've tried cutting this out but found that i was spending all of my time home alone which was making me increasingly depressed. When i do go out i meet my friends after they've had dinner and just join them for drinks and then seem to nurse one drink for a long time, i prefer to take the car or walk and rarely get taxis after a night out.

Some people might say my food bill could be cut but at the moment i spend as little as i can, i have some health issues which dictate what i can and can't eat and sometimes settle for just one meal a day because i can't afford anything more.

My mobile bill looks high but i have two phones, one for personal use and the other for the business, the contract together cost £35 per month, i have insurance for my work phone which is £7 per month and the rest is made up from 08 numbers, occasional web browsing when i'm away from my computer for a long time and need to quickly check my emails for work. I use alternatives to 08 numbers where possible.

Again some may comment that my petrol bill is high but it's all driving i do for my business and only about 10% of it is personal use. Wherever possible i time things so that i'm not doing lots of driving back and forwards, eg arranging to interview someone when i'll be in that area already and doing my food shopping on the way back from seeing a client when i pass a supermarket.

Although i've only listed one person in my household, i live in a shared house with three other people but obviously we don't share finances so i haven't put them in.

I currently set aside £130 per month to pay back my debts, i pay more than the minimum payments on the cards that have a minimum payment. The two credit cards at the bottom of the list are in arrangements to repay so no longer accrue interest.

The DWP and Housing Benefit overpayments are from when i was unemployed, i was paid a couple of months of housing benefit in error after i set up my business and the DWP payment is repayment of a social fund loan i received.

I don't have any control over the companies we use for utility bills as the bills go to my landlady and then we each pay her a 1/4 each. I'm constantly having a battle with my housemates over the use of electricity, one of them is terrible for leaving lights on and going out with the tv and gas fire switched on in the sitting room.

I have also applied for working tax credits and should get a letter stating how much i am entitled to in the next week or so. However when i get this the money will be going away for my tuition fees for uni into a savings account.

Geebee

Hi Pipsi, You seem to be doing what you can and i'm not good at advising on SOA's. One thing that does strike me though, the house is shared with 3 others, and yet you pay £300, if you are all paying this, the landlady must be coining it in!. Also council tax, x 4 seems a lot, but admittedly i dont pay council tax so wouldnt know what the average is.

Some of the outgoings do seem a bit high but you have explained the reasons for this.

I'm hoping someone else will be able to advise you with this. A lot of people here can seem to really see opportunity to cut back, I cant unfortunately.:(

GB

LandyAndy

Are you declaring your income to the HMRC? You should have an allowance for your tax bills and self employed NI contributions in the SoA. On your level of income you should allow say £75 per month.

tasha-debt

I wonder if you should seperate the costs that are for business in to a business account, such as petrol, your work phone etc...... then re-do your SOA for your personal spends. I think you would pay the business costs then pay your self a wage.... I may be wrong though. Also do you put money up each month for your tax etc?

And if you dont mind me asking where abouts do you live as my Friend rents a room in a 2 bed flat just outside london for £350 bills included, wonder if you could find some where cheaper to live.

But other than that it looks like you have a plan.

Good Luck

Tixy

Hi

It seems like you have a lot of business expenses in your personal budget.

It might help if you do a seperate budget for business, starting with your sales then deducting all your business costs, such as mobile, some of the vehicle, fuel costs etc, the laptop costs if that is a business laptop and then deducting the tax you will need to pay.

This will give you a true net income figure to put at the top of your personal budget and will also ensure you are getting tax relief on all the costs you can, and will help you see if you are eligible for tax credits.

pipsi wrote: »

Rent.................................... 300 Is this competative for a house share in your area? especially with the high utilities?
Council tax............................. 35
Electricity............................. 35 This is really high if you are paying £140 per month between you all. Do you actually see the bill the landlady gets? Are you sure she is only charging what she pays?
Gas..................................... 30

Car Insurance........................... 77 have you shopped around for this? it looks really high. Do you have points? or is this to do with your age?
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10 considering your mileage is this sufficent for MOT, service, new tyres etc?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 35 Is this all prescrip? would a prepayment cert help you reduce this?
Haircuts................................ 0 if you have haircuts then do remember to budget for them.
Entertainment........................... 0 Budget for your cigs & nights out here.


I'm self employed so my income changes drastically each month, a couple of months ago the income from my business was £890 this month it'll be around £1800 next month, who knows? What is the minimum you have earnt? £890? is this after tax?

If i have money left over at the end of the month i put it towards my debts although inevitably something always crops up, eg this month i had to buy a new power cable for my laptop which cost £80. Is this a business cost?
My overdraft only has interest on the balance over £1000. If i have extra money but i'm not sure if i'll need it in a month or two i tend to pay it off my student overdraft because i know i can then use money up to my limit of £1600 in an emergency.

The order i've listed my debts is the order i plan on paying them off. I plan on paying the store card off first even though it has a lower APR than the credit card that is accruing interest because i also have insurance on the card.

I haven't bought clothes in a long time but i'm desperate for a new pair of shoes. My Mum is always commenting that i need new stuff but i don't see it as a priority. If you budget £5 per month this will help ensure you can buy a couple of things a year or new shoes.
I smoke as well but there isn't an option to put the cost of that in the calculator, i'm cutting back with a view to stopping, i smoke about 40 a week at the moment. What does this cost - you can add in a new line to the calculator or put the figure in entertainment. I go out occasionally with friends and spend about £20 a month occasionally more if i've got some spare cash. Put this in the calculator I've tried cutting this out but found that i was spending all of my time home alone which was making me increasingly depressed. When i do go out i meet my friends after they've had dinner and just join them for drinks and then seem to nurse one drink for a long time, i prefer to take the car or walk and rarely get taxis after a night out.

Some people might say my food bill could be cut but at the moment i spend as little as i can, i have some health issues which dictate what i can and can't eat and sometimes settle for just one meal a day because i can't afford anything more. £100 is not bad, but it should allow you to eat more than once a day.

My mobile bill looks high but i have two phones, one for personal use and the other for the business, the contract together cost £35 per month, i have insurance for my work phone which is £7 per month and the rest is made up from 08 numbers, occasional web browsing when i'm away from my computer for a long time and need to quickly check my emails for work. I use alternatives to 08 numbers where possible. Split the business cost out seperate.

Again some may comment that my petrol bill is high but it's all driving i do for my business and only about 10% of it is personal use. Wherever possible i time things so that i'm not doing lots of driving back and forwards, eg arranging to interview someone when i'll be in that area already and doing my food shopping on the way back from seeing a client when i pass a supermarket. Are you ensuring you are getting tax relief on these car costs? have you spoken to your accountant about the best way for do this?

Although i've only listed one person in my household, i live in a shared house with three other people but obviously we don't share finances so i haven't put them in.

I currently set aside £130 per month to pay back my debts, i pay more than the minimum payments on the cards that have a minimum payment. The two credit cards at the bottom of the list are in arrangements to repay so no longer accrue interest.

The DWP and Housing Benefit overpayments are from when i was unemployed, i was paid a couple of months of housing benefit in error after i set up my business and the DWP payment is repayment of a social fund loan i received.

I don't have any control over the companies we use for utility bills as the bills go to my landlady and then we each pay her a 1/4 each. I'm constantly having a battle with my housemates over the use of electricity, one of them is terrible for leaving lights on and going out with the tv and gas fire switched on in the sitting room.

I have also applied for working tax credits and should get a letter stating how much i am entitled to in the next week or so. However when i get this the money will be going away for my tuition fees for uni into a savings account.

**confuzzled**

pipsi wrote: »

I'm self employed so my income changes drastically each month, a couple of months ago the income from my business was £890 this month it'll be around £1800 next month, who knows?
so on the months you earn less than the £1200 you've put in the SOA what happens?? Do you save money from the 'good' months to bump it back up to £1200? if not then you should really base your SOA on the lowest amount you've had coming in since you became self-employed then any surplus is seen as a bonus and you could possibly save half spend half? this will help you to pay off debts and also save for the quieter working months so you can still pay all your bills without any problems:)

If i have money left over at the end of the month i put it towards my debts although inevitably something always crops up, eg this month i had to buy a new power cable for my laptop which cost £80. My overdraft only has interest on the balance over £1000. If i have extra money but i'm not sure if i'll need it in a month or two i tend to pay it off my student overdraft because i know i can then use money up to my limit of £1600 in an emergency.
As above it would really help to a have seperate a/c with some money saved from the good months to help soak up these unexpected costs..they soon add up and it shouldn't leave you wondering how the next payment is going to be paid

Btw your lanlady must be raking it in! Have you spoken to her about looking at different(cheaper tariffs for gas & leccy?) don't see why you should be paying through the nose coz she's a lazy bint:p:D

The only fault with your SOA I can see is you NEED to add in the cigs & other little extras! Stick it in entertainment if you have to! But seems you're doing what you can which is FAB! although your car insurance is high(i assume this is to do with age?) but when it's up for renewal don't forget to shop around and go through a cashback site for that little bit extra.

Good luck to you x

gonzo127

something that jumped out at me, you have a £2000 car yet are spending £77 a month (£924 a year) to insure it, have you got any points? had any acidents? as these seems a massive amount to be spending, have you looked into dropping your insurance to third party only or third party fire and theft to try and save some money?

take into account any excess costs if you do write the car off when working out if you will be better off, if you think a £2000 car will give you ~£1500 if you write it off, if you then have a excess oif 400-500 which some companies do have you would only get £1000 from them which is the same amount that you are paying out a year to insure it!

pipsi_2

Geebee wrote: »

Hi Pipsi, You seem to be doing what you can and i'm not good at advising on SOA's. One thing that does strike me though, the house is shared with 3 others, and yet you pay £300, if you are all paying this, the landlady must be coining it in!. Also council tax, x 4 seems a lot, but admittedly i dont pay council tax so wouldnt know what the average is.

Some of the outgoings do seem a bit high but you have explained the reasons for this.

I'm hoping someone else will be able to advise you with this. A lot of people here can seem to really see opportunity to cut back, I cant unfortunately.:(

GB

We live in a big town house on the outskirts of a city, the rent total £1200 for us all (we have separate contracts) it's actually really cheap for the area. The couple who own the house are away for a year so they wanted people who would look after the place which is why it's comparatively cheap. I reckon their mortgage is about £1000 a month so they're aren't making a massive profit after they pay for other stuff relating to the house too. I put some of the cost down as a business expense as i work from home a lot so that helps as it off-sets my tax bill a bit, same goes for utilities, council tax, water and car costs. The council tax again is because of the value of the house, it's in the right banding.

pipsi_2

LandyAndy wrote: »

Are you declaring your income to the HMRC? You should have an allowance for your tax bills and self employed NI contributions in the SoA. On your level of income you should allow say £75 per month.

Yes all of my income is declared to HMRC, because of the expenses relating to my business my tax bill is relatively low and i actually got a refund from last year as i had set up the business during hte year and had paid more than i needed to before i became self-employed. I pay my NI contributions every quarter, the last bill was for £31.20.

pipsi_2

tasha-debt wrote: »

I wonder if you should seperate the costs that are for business in to a business account, such as petrol, your work phone etc...... then re-do your SOA for your personal spends. I think you would pay the business costs then pay your self a wage.... I may be wrong though. Also do you put money up each month for your tax etc?

And if you dont mind me asking where abouts do you live as my Friend rents a room in a 2 bed flat just outside london for £350 bills included, wonder if you could find some where cheaper to live.

But other than that it looks like you have a plan.

Good Luck

It's really hard to separate the costs out, obviously i do for my expenses so one mobile bill goes down on my expenses as does a proportion of rent, utilities etc, i use the mileage method for my car costs for my tax return. I don't pay myself a wage, i just get whatever is left each month after paying stuff that goes down as expenses, the money i spent outside of work is minimal so i manage to get by like this. Once the business grows i bit i will pay myself a monthly wage and then leave whatever is left in the account i use for business transactions.

I live on the outskirts of Newcastle, my rent is comparatively cheaper than other options around here. The only cheaper options i've come across tend to be really grotty student type accommodation. The house is well maintained and looked after and i've had minimal problems with my landlord, plus it's in a safe area which is important. I have one of the bigger rooms in the house so i'm benefiting a bit as we all pay the same regardless of room size, i use my room as an office for my business as well so need the space.

pipsi_2

Tixy wrote: »

Hi

It seems like you have a lot of business expenses in your personal budget.

It might help if you do a seperate budget for business, starting with your sales then deducting all your business costs, such as mobile, some of the vehicle, fuel costs etc, the laptop costs if that is a business laptop and then deducting the tax you will need to pay.

This will give you a true net income figure to put at the top of your personal budget and will also ensure you are getting tax relief on all the costs you can, and will help you see if you are eligible for tax credits.

My business doesn't have sales, it's a service business, a % of most of my outgoings go down as a business expense eg car, rent utilities etc. It;s easier for me to put it down as it is on the calculator here as just putting my profit and % of personal costs from rent etc will look weird to other people. I get tax relief on the all the things i'm entitled to, if for example i'm out longer than i thought i'd be and end up buying a sandwich i put this down as a business expense as i'm able to claim for things such as lunches when out carrying out my business dealings. Things like the cost of my new power cable will also go down as a business expense (well a % of it anyway as i also use my laptop for personal stuff).

The only truely separate business and personal stuff i have is my two phones. All of the other stuff is spilt (well apart from stationary costs and stuff like that which just go in expenses i've not included stuff like that on my SOA)