Lessons Learned From Spending Diary- Hannah's SOA- (updated)

Hannah_10

Well folks, this is it. Five weeks of keeping a spending diary and this is what it revealed to me, I am aware it's not exactly optimal but at least it's as honest as I can make it and represents a 28-day month, please be gentle!

• Rent and council tax are at zero as these are paid by state benefits directly to the landlord and council and so I have no need to consider them.
• Water rates is at zero because I am very bad and have not paid them in ages.
• Some traditional categories have been broken down into smaller subdivisions instead. The blue ones would usually be "grocery" and the purple ones would usually be "pet".

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 855.4
Other income............................ 49.38
Total monthly income.................... 904.78

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council Tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 30.58
Gas..................................... 20.78
Oil..................................... 0
Water Rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 26.14
Mobile Phone............................ 4.52
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 15.65
Food.................................... 127.3
Ready To Eat Food, Meals Out and Snacks. 102.5
Toiletries.............................. 22.71
Cleaning and Household Products......... 20.99
Household Goods......................... 64.66
Clothing................................ 20.4
Petrol/Diesel........................... 41.68
Road Tax................................ 10.55
Car Insurance........................... 25.52
Car Maintenance (including MOT)......... 4.52
Car Parking............................. 5.33
Breakdown Cover......................... 5.49
Other Travel............................ 2.71
Childcare/Nursery....................... 0
Other Child Related Expenses............ 13.3
Medical (Prescriptions, Dentist etc).... 3
Pet Insurance/Vet Bills................. 10.16
Pet Equipment eg. Collars, Tags......... 5.56
Pet Food................................ 13.23
Buildings Insurance..................... 0
Contents Insurance...................... 10
Life Assurance ......................... 0
Other Insurance......................... 0
Presents (Birthday, Christmas etc)...... 40.57
Haircuts................................ 9.04
Entertainment........................... 22.37
Holiday................................. 6
Emergency Fund.......................... 12.65
Carer................................... 69.24
Charity Giving.......................... 27.62
Stationary and Postage.................. 15.89
Lottery................................. 4
Total monthly expenses.................. 809.17

Assets
Cash.................................... 220
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 650
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 870

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Electricity Arrears............110.45....20........0
Gas Arrears....................599.03....0.........0
Water Arrears..................463.48....0.........0
Rent Arrears...................624.28....20........0
Bank of Sister.................280.......20........0
BISL (Car Insurance)...........249.03....0.........0
Aviva..........................105.12....0.........0
Moorcroft/Orange...............539.65....0.........0
Old Overdraft..................2268......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........5239.04...60........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 904.78
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 814.66
Available for debt repayments........... 90.12
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 60
Amount left after debt repayments....... 30.12

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 870
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,239.04
Net Assets.............................. -4,369.04



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


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webitha

hi well you can see for yourself that the ready meals could go or at least treat to once a month
and if you take your £220 cash that could get rid of your lecky arrears and aviva in one fell swop knocking 2 debt off straight away, which would be a boost

dont worry all the real experts and know it alls will be up in a few hours so can give you better advice

oh and ive always believed that charity begins in the home so can you stop that til your DF then you can always start again

ViolaLass

Lottery? Charity giving? Present at c£500 a year?

What household goods are you buying for c£700 a year?

Your 'cleaning etc' seems high too. And is there any way your 'stationary and postage' bill can be cut? How come it's so high?

If you're serious about cutting your debts, there are several items here that should either go completely or be cut severely.

Nottoobadyet

Hannah_10 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 855.4
Other income............................ 49.38
Total monthly income.................... 904.78

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council Tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 30.58
Gas..................................... 20.78
Oil..................................... 0
Water Rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 26.14
Mobile Phone............................ 4.52 good!
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 15.65
Food.................................... 127.3
Ready To Eat Food, Meals Out and Snacks. 102.5 Yikes! Thats mad. Cut way back here and you'll see the difference at the end of the month. Try the old style board
Toiletries.............................. 22.71
Cleaning and Household Products......... 20.99
Household Goods......................... 64.66 is this normal? Seems like a lot to me
Clothing................................ 20.4 can you cut back on this for a bit?
Petrol/Diesel........................... 41.68
Road Tax................................ 10.55
Car Insurance........................... 25.52
Car Maintenance (including MOT)......... 4.52 is this enough?
Car Parking............................. 5.33
Breakdown Cover......................... 5.49
Other Travel............................ 2.71
Childcare/Nursery....................... 0
Other Child Related Expenses............ 13.3 what's this for?
Medical (Prescriptions, Dentist etc).... 3
Pet Insurance/Vet Bills................. 10.16
Pet Equipment eg. Collars, Tags......... 5.56
Pet Food................................ 13.23
Buildings Insurance..................... 0
Contents Insurance...................... 10
Life Assurance ......................... 0
Other Insurance......................... 0
Presents (Birthday, Christmas etc)...... 40.57 yikes, is it this high all year?
Haircuts................................ 9.04
Entertainment........................... 22.37
Holiday................................. 6
Emergency Fund.......................... 12.65
Carer................................... 69.24
Charity Giving.......................... 27.62 I think its great that you can find a place in your heart for charity at this time, but maybe you can take a break on this
Stationary and Postage.................. 15.89 again this seems high for every month. do you use particularly posh paper, or are you sending packets?
Lottery................................. 4
Total monthly expenses.................. 809.17

Assets
Cash.................................... 220
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 650
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 870

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Electricity Arrears............110.45....20........0
Gas Arrears....................599.03....0.........0
Water Arrears..................463.48....0.........0
Rent Arrears...................624.28....20........0
Bank of Sister.................280.......20........0
BISL (Car Insurance)...........249.03....0.........0
Aviva..........................105.12....0.........0
Moorcroft/Orange...............539.65....0.........0
Old Overdraft..................2268......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........5239.04...60........- any idea when you will have to start paying the others?


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 904.78
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 814.66
Available for debt repayments........... 90.12
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 60
Amount left after debt repayments....... 30.12

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 870
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,239.04
Net Assets.............................. -4,369.04



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


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Hi there - You're not doing too badly at all considering your low income. I've noted some things that look high to me - good luck!

josephine82

Hannah_10 wrote: »

Well folks, this is it. Five weeks of keeping a spending diary and this is what it revealed to me, I am aware it's not exactly optimal but at least it's as honest as I can make it and represents a 28-day month, please be gentle!

• Rent and council tax are at zero as these are paid by state benefits directly to the landlord and council and so I have no need to consider them.
• Water rates is at zero because I am very bad and have not paid them in ages.
• Some traditional categories have been broken down into smaller subdivisions instead. The blue ones would usually be "grocery" and the purple ones would usually be "pet".

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 855.4
Other income............................ 49.38
Total monthly income.................... 904.78

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council Tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 30.58
Gas..................................... 20.78
Oil..................................... 0
Water Rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 26.14
Mobile Phone............................ 4.52
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 15.65
Food.................................... 127.3
Ready To Eat Food, Meals Out and Snacks. 102.5
Toiletries.............................. 22.71
Cleaning and Household Products......... 20.99
Household Goods......................... 64.66
Clothing................................ 20.4
Petrol/Diesel........................... 41.68
Road Tax................................ 10.55
Car Insurance........................... 25.52
Car Maintenance (including MOT)......... 4.52
Car Parking............................. 5.33
Breakdown Cover......................... 5.49
Other Travel............................ 2.71
Childcare/Nursery....................... 0
Other Child Related Expenses............ 13.3
Medical (Prescriptions, Dentist etc).... 3
Pet Insurance/Vet Bills................. 10.16
Pet Equipment eg. Collars, Tags......... 5.56
Pet Food................................ 13.23
Buildings Insurance..................... 0
Contents Insurance...................... 10
Life Assurance ......................... 0
Other Insurance......................... 0
Presents (Birthday, Christmas etc)...... 40.57
Haircuts................................ 9.04
Entertainment........................... 22.37
Holiday................................. 6
Emergency Fund.......................... 12.65
Carer................................... 69.24
Charity Giving.......................... 27.62
Stationary and Postage.................. 15.89
Lottery................................. 4
Total monthly expenses.................. 809.17

Assets
Cash.................................... 220
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 650
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 870

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Electricity Arrears............110.45....20........0
Gas Arrears....................599.03....0.........0
Water Arrears..................463.48....0.........0
Rent Arrears...................624.28....20........0
Bank of Sister.................280.......20........0
BISL (Car Insurance)...........249.03....0.........0
Aviva..........................105.12....0.........0
Moorcroft/Orange...............539.65....0.........0
Old Overdraft..................2268......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........5239.04...60........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 904.78
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 814.66
Available for debt repayments........... 90.12
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 60
Amount left after debt repayments....... 30.12

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 870
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,239.04
Net Assets.............................. -4,369.04



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


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Hi Hannah

The spending diary is so useful, isn't it? and a bit shocking too!
I think its pretty clear where you can make savings but I've listed a few below:

Food.................................... 127.3
Ready To Eat Food, Meals Out and Snacks. 102.5
Toiletries.............................. 22.71
Cleaning and Household Products......... 20.99
Presents (Birthday, Christmas etc)...... 40.57
Charity Giving.......................... 27.62
Stationary and Postage.................. 15.89


If you eat meals out a couple of times a month, why not put this into your entertainement budget and keep it aside from your food? At least you budget for it then, and you know that the money is there.
Food wise- I budget about £100 a month and this includes toiletries. Maybe look in your cupboards at the toiletries you have got and make a pledge only to buy when you need to?

If it were me I would stop the charity donations and concentrate that extra money on paying off your debts. You could volunteer your time instead of your money? I.e help out at a charity shop, volunteer to help at charity fun runs etc?

Presents is a big one- If you could half that at least then that would help. It is possible to buy little things for people but still feel like you are being generous.

Maybe your next step now would be to work out a 'budget' SOA based on your spending diary above, and see how you get on? You are doing a great job on so little income, so, well done so far!

p.s and 12% of your debts paid off :j

amiehall

Am I right in saying your water arrears are building up by the day now? If I were you I'd get in touch with them and start making a monthly payment to them as this is a big priority. Even if it's just stopping charity donations and using this money for the water company, it'd be a great start.

dancingfairy

Hi - well it's a great start - you can see what you've got to tackle from that. Easy savings would be to give up the lottery and the charity (you can restart when you are in a better position?).
Food is obviously a key area for you - I don't know what your disability is and whether it means you can't cook (ie arthritis/mobility issues)/lack of energy etc but maybe try bulk buying where possible and when things are on offer, maybe try cooking 2 meals and freezing half ie spaghetti bolognese as it won't cost much more and you could get 2 meals out of it.
What's household goods?
I think I might be tempted to use half of your emergency fund to pay off the electric arrears - that's one less debt then and the 20 you were paying to that could be a start to paying for the water or something else.
Maybe presents you could look into maybe making/baking presents or getting them in the sales or when on special offer?
Good Luck
df

beanielou

Hi Hannah

Charity begins at home~You really cannot afford this amount a month.
Presents are very high as are eating out.
Can you cut down on some of these?

Hannah_10

To answer some questions...

Other child related expenses= I'm expecting, due in October. This is for baby things.

Household goods= carpets/flooring, curtains, furniture, DIY, bed linens, kitchenware, cookware and other "goods" needed to furnish a home. To be specific last month I bought bedspread/bedlinens, teapot, crockery, a jelly mould, bottle brushes, a large canvas picture (for £7)- except the bottle brushes all were in at least a 33% off sale or second hand. Still got three rooms to lay or finish laying flooring in and need 2 6ftx4ft book cases (waiting for a bargain in the classifieds).

The £220 cash is from the health in pregnancy grant (£190) and a few more quid from me. I plan to use it to pay the remaining car insurance as this is the only one I can save by paying early. I could do that today actually.

About charity, I lost a child last year, she was nine (PLEASE no sympathy- I REALLY do not want that- it hurts). I find it hard to adjust to not mothering someone and so have taken up sponsoring a child in the third world. I find that helps me a lot. I could cut the rest of the charitability as it's all £1 here and some change there, except the £12p/m DD for child sponsorship as without some practical outlets for my sense of pointlessness and suplusness I wouldn't be here now. £12p/m is the lowest it can go.

I dunno why the cleaning products are so high, it includes bog roll and soap powder but it's still a lot, it's funny how it all adds up isn't it.

Postage is another one, some of that is eBay (see other income), some was my nephews birthday present and some was recorded letters. I wouldn't imagine it's always going to be that high.

There is no need whatsoever for the ready to eat food category, it's all a sandwich here and a coffee there- I will be investing in a lunch box and flask later! That was the real shock of the excercise! :eek:

Clothing is hard, I am well over 6ft even when not pregnant so primark is out. In fact most of the inexpensive places are out (except for t-shirts and underwear). That spend was for 3 pairs of maternity shorts, 1 maternity top and some sunglasses (I broke the only pair I had) from eBay. Maternity clothes has been a big expense lately- even second hand.

Car maintenance. Had a guess at £5 a calender month, which is £4.45 per 28 days. That's £60 a year which is about right provided it passes it's MOT as except that it's reliable and just needs oil/screenwash/20p for the garage air line here and there.

Presents really are that high all year. Two reasons, firstly the government give me a whopping amount for care... it equates to £1.81 an hour! Obviously I can't retain a carer on that, so what happens in practice is I have a delightful boyfriend who ends up with all the embarassing bits - like fishing me out the bath when I am stuck again (the trouble is you never know when it'll happen!) This, naturally, gets rewarded with good humour, bad jokes and many little treats. So he alone works out at about half of that. If we're being soft about it, it's because I appretiate him but in the cold hard maths of it all he's also a lot cheaper than "professional" care! The other half is spoilling the nephews and my friends children, because it's better than standing in the toy aisle of Tesco crying eh. Will have to make a deliberate effort to do this even more frugally, I didn't expect it to be so high either.

Water arrears are indeed accumulating, I have an appointment at the start of September about trying to get on a scheme which will match my arrears repayments, so in effect half the debt. I'm gonna wait and see what happens with that.

The Moorcroft/Orange one is in dispute about the amount- currently with the FOS.

The old overdraft is a few months from going statute barred, so I am letting it.

The gas arrears is waiting for E.On to sort out a £5 p/w charge on the meter. They seem to be having trouble making that work. If they still haven't got thier finger out when I finish paying the electric arrears I'll have it put on the electric meter too. Their complaints people are investigating it, it might be a fault in my meter.

BISL car insurance is a mistake, it is also being paid, currently at £27.72 pcm (or £25.52 per 28 days). I have taught myself to think of it as a debt as I can save £30 by paying it off early (doing it in a minute).

The emergency fund is a bit mislabelled really. In reality it's worked out backwards, not forwards. I had to get a locksmith out this month (£37.95) and so I estimated roughly how much a year I end up spending in various small crises like this and came to a figure of £12.65 a month.

Thank you everyone who's replied so far.

EDIT: Oh and Aviva was run up in error (automatic renewal went to old house). I have written to them to say- look I've moved, write to the new house so I can then pay you... They haven't replied.

dancingfairy

It sounds like you're having an expensive time of it lately then what with new clothes and having to furnish the house etc. As long as you're aware of what you're spending and not going overboard then that's the main thing (which it doesn't sound like you are but house furnishing could get out of control if you're not careful ) - perhaps you can even plan to recoup some of the costs later on - by selling the maternity clothes, etc (dependng on whether you think you will be wanting any more of course).
Good Luck - you seem to have things under control.
df

dancingfairy

OOO - does that mean that you can pay your car insurance off and cross of one of you debts and update your signature? how exciting :j - one less to tackle and you will have an extra bit of money to put towards the next one. :j
df