SOA - Please be nice!

Debtfreein2011

Hi All,

Below is my SOA. I am new to this board but have been lurking for a long time.

I realise we have a fairly high income between my partner and I, and that our debts should be able to be cleared fairly easily, but it's currently not happening so I have made the step signing up to the forums, posting statement of affairs and starting a spending diary(only last week though).

I know we can save a lot more money than we are currently but would be greatful for your thoughts.

I am really embarassed even posting when I read some of the other stories on here as it's ridiculous we're in debt on the money we earn, but the fact is that we are and I think taking this step of posting will help me to do something about it.

Thanks for reading.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1400
Benefits................................ 80 Child Benefit
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4680
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1267
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 151 10months
Electricity............................. 42 Since lightbuilb moment have recently changed gas and electricty supplier. Swicthover currently going through.
Gas..................................... 70
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 38 We're on a meter and this is what they say we need to pay (they have recently put it up - any ideas on finding out if this is right? I do not think we use a ridiculous amount of water, so can't see where the bill is coming from).
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 80 My contract is up soon and will be switching. Fiance just changed contracts for an iPhone so can't negotiate out of his for some time.
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60 INcludes line rental, TV, Broadband and calls. Didin't realise how much we were spending on calls on the landline until last week when I actually looked at the bill! Around £15 a month on average which is ridiculous when we both get lots of free minutes in our mobile contracts.
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 350 Am now shopping online since last week!
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 200 Fiance needs to drive to work
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 160 My commute to London
Childcare/nursery....................... 750 OUch!
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 30 Includes contents.
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 200
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 3620

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 250000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 253000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 210000...(1267).....5.99
Total secured & HP debts...... 210000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdraft......................3000......0.........0
Tesco..........................2500......50........0
Personal OD....................400.......0.........0
MBNA Virgin....................4500......45........0
Santander......................1600......33........0
Personal OD....................1400......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........13400.....128.......-
APRs are not correct but will need to look into this. Two out of the three credit cards are 0%. Overdrafts and Tesco CC are not.

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
Total monthly income.................... 4,680
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,620
Available for debt repayments........... 1,060
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 128
Amount left after debt repayments....... 932
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 253,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -210,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -13,400
Net Assets.............................. 29,600
Created using the SOA calculator at www . makesenseofcards. com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.[/font]

talana

Welcome to the board!
The first thing people will mention is this:

Amount left after debt repayments....... 932

That's money so far unaccounted for every month. What happens to it? Where does it go? if that was put towards debt repayment you'd get there in no time.

Either a spending diary seems in order, or go through all your receipts for the month (assuming you keep them) and work out where it goes.

andys15

We are quite similar in terms of wage, OH wage and mortgage. Here is my SOA I posted just prior to you. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2684649

Big difference is your child mind costs, andmy contribution to debt. You have a healthy surplus so you need to start attacking those debts. You really should know APRs etc. My best solution was to create a load of accounts and pay into them each month. I pay £60 into my car tax fund account, £50 into electricity etc etc. They are almost like emergency funds, and always have enough to cover the big payments. Sometimes if something crops up, I dip into them and then cover it the month after. Robbing Peter to pay Paul, but in effect I am Peter and Paul, Rather than it being my credit card. You need to attack your Overdraft staright away,and once thats done attack the others. I have learnt from this site that mobile phones etc are a waste of money. We have all ended the £30 odd contracts, and we now have 3 phones for 3 of us totalling £35.

AllieBallie

Fristly well done for posting, I've put a few comments and suggestions in blue for you

Debtfreein2011 wrote: »

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................ 3200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1400
Benefits................................ 80 Child Benefit
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4680
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1267
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 151 10months - change to over 12 months
Electricity............................. 42 Since lightbuilb moment have recently changed gas and electricty supplier. Swicthover currently going through. - well done for changing!
Gas..................................... 70 - well done for changing this too!
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 38 We're on a meter and this is what they say we need to pay (they have recently put it up - any ideas on finding out if this is right? I do not think we use a ridiculous amount of water, so can't see where the bill is coming from). not sure if this is a good amount for a water meter or not as I've never used one before
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 80 My contract is up soon and will be switching. Fiance just changed contracts for an iPhone so can't negotiate out of his for some time.
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60 INcludes line rental, TV, Broadband and calls. Didin't realise how much we were spending on calls on the landline until last week when I actually looked at the bill! Around £15 a month on average which is ridiculous when we both get lots of free minutes in our mobile contracts. - use mobile minutes since you have them, consider changing satellite to a smaller cheaper package or another provider if it works out cheaper - £60 is a lot for internet, phone and tv!
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 350 Am now shopping online since last week! good stuff, you can probably shave a bit off this too - check out the OS boards for meal planning tips and cheap cooking ideas
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 200 Fiance needs to drive to work
Road tax................................ 15
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 160 My commute to London
Childcare/nursery....................... 750 OUch!
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 30 Includes contents.
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 60 could maybe cut this back for just now
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 50 same with this, it could be cut down for now until debts are all gone
Holiday................................. 200 again this money could go on debts for now
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 3620

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 250000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 253000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 210000...(1267).....5.99
Total secured & HP debts...... 210000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdraft......................3000......0.........0
Tesco..........................2500......50........0
Personal OD....................400.......0.........0
MBNA Virgin....................4500......45........0
Santander......................1600......33........0
Personal OD....................1400......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........13400.....128.......-
APRs are not correct but will need to look into this. Two out of the three credit cards are 0%. Overdrafts and Tesco CC are not.

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
Total monthly income.................... 4,680
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,620
Available for debt repayments........... 1,060
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 128
Amount left after debt repayments....... 932 do you really have this left over after all expenses and debts have been paid? if not do a spending diary for every single penny that leave you and OH's purse/wallet - its horrifying/amazing when you see where the money evaporates to!

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 253,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -210,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -13,400
Net Assets.............................. 29,600
Created using the SOA calculator at www . makesenseofcards. com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.[/font]

Maybe once the new gas and electric bills come through you could post another SOA to see how much of an impact it will have on your debt busting

in theory you have an extra £1000 left at the end of the month (the £932 + savings from your SOA) so you could quite easily be completely debt free in just over a year

AllieBallie

yikes, it must have taken me forever to type that as no one had replied before I'd started!

andys15

AllieBallie wrote: »

yikes, it must have taken me forever to type that as no one had replied before I'd started!

Well peruse mine now, as noone has replied to that.....

DGJsaver

Debtfreein2011 wrote: »

Water rates............................. 38 We're on a meter and this is what they say we need to pay (they have recently put it up - any ideas on finding out if this is right? I do not think we use a ridiculous amount of water, so can't see where the bill is coming from).

Call the water company , ask them wehere the meter is , they should be able to tell you , then send them an up to date reading.......be prepared though , you could end up owing them a fair whack , wtaer usage if unchecked really ramps up...

We are a family of 3 and our payments are £42 a month...

Sunnylooloo

Debtfreein2011 wrote: »

Hi All,


Amount left after debt repayments....... 932

Hi and welcome and well done for posting

as everyone has said this is a lot money surplus and do you really have that amount left over each month?

Re: holiday if you have 932 left over each month then if you want to save for a holiday then go for it, but if you don't then I think holidays have to go on hold or look for cheaper options

Brilliant about saving on the gas and electricity. Sorry I don't know about water metres as pay monthly over 9 months.

Good idea about council tax to 12 months

childcare! eek :eek: but what can you do eh!!

well done on the on line shopping and as has been said have a mooch round the board and you will pick up some great money saving tips!!

good luck

L

Sunnylooloo

andys15 wrote: »

Well peruse mine now, as noone has replied to that.....

I'll have a look but I am not great at these!!

Debtfreein2011

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies so far.

We do not have that much left each month but because I have completely not kept track of our spending I have no idea where the money has gone and why we do not have that money left each month. All I can say is that the above SOA is reflective of what we could and should have left each month.

There defintely are no other bills to come out so that extra 932 has been going on the clothes/entertainment line I guess and we know that's got to stop. We also used to spend a lot more on shopping but have recently been trying not to and its amazing how much you can get your supermarket shop down to by being disciplined about not buying extras and also by downshifting!

Thanks again

katsu

can you try going through your bank statements to see where your money has gone?