Can someone have a look at my SOA please?

NorthernLas

Chaz - The reason for doing an SOA is so that people can suggest where you can cut down and where you might have missed things.

Your SOA is different because you rent rooms in your Dad's house. So where people would expect to see bills there aren't any, but then you can't claim LHA. Also you pay council tax.

However, the bottom line is that you are -£100 down without paying any bills, which is not good. Also, if you have an overdraft, it needs to go down on your list.
So how can you make up the £100 - are there any other benefits you can claim like WTC? are both cars yours and OH - would the insurance drop if you got rid of one?
Is there a job you can do at weekends when OH is around?
I too am loathed to reduce your education budget but on your budget £120 is massive - what are you studying?

I would suggest that you speak with CAB, CAP who can help face to face.

chesky369

Thye trouble is that your SOA isn't complete. You either have to separate out your household completely or include your father's income and expenditure also. Otherwise it doesn't make sense from a budgeting point of view.

NorthernLas

There is information on tenancy agreements on spareroom.co.uk - specifically for live in landlords

http://www.spareroom.co.uk/content/info-landlords/advice-landlord/

chazsucks

the cars are mine and my dads my partner doesnt drive my dad has his own insurance etc

chesky the only things my dad spends money on that i know of is gas electricity etc it's seperate from what me and my OH pay

my OH works in retail and they do his rota every week, he can't have the same days off every week he gets 2 random days and only knows a week in advance for sure what days they will be which makes it a bit hard for me to get a job

i tried doing night work last year but i was so exhausted in the day looking after my son and studying etc it really wasnt healthy

i put my son to bed at 7 and i study then until i go to bed, other than dinner.

i didn't used to have a childminder but i fell really far behind on my course, it was meant to finish next month but now its been extended till june, its access to higher education

sorry im not being very helpful am i

HappyMJ

chesky369 wrote: »

Thye trouble is that your SOA isn't complete. You either have to separate out your household completely or include your father's income and expenditure also. Otherwise it doesn't make sense from a budgeting point of view.

It makes sense to me they are paying £500 per month to rent 2 rooms in a large house which includes electricity, gas, water, tv licence and car insurance and even some childcare. It is a good deal but the council simply won't pay LHA to someone who is renting from a family member.

NorthernLas: It's not a tenancy agreement it's an informal agreement with Dad to stop him having to sell up and move elsewhere.

Thinking about it. You said your dad could not handle a child for more than an hour. Is he capable of looking after himself? Are you his carer? Could you claim carer's allowance?

chazsucks

we also went on some benefit calculator and it said we would be entitled to working tax credits (not much but still) so we applied and they said my OH earnt too much

i was advised when i went to the job center to try and discuss this and get some help to split up with my partner as i'd get more benefits being a single mum i was shocked!

we will be able to get tax credits soon we used to claim them but didn't renew but i spoke to a lady from the tax credits office said my claim has now been sent again and we should get them soon xx

thanks for the link northern

chazsucks

HappyMJ wrote: »

It makes sense to me they are paying £500 per month to rent 2 rooms in a large house which includes electricity, gas, water, tv licence and car insurance and even some childcare. It is a good deal but the council simply won't pay LHA to someone who is renting from a family member.

NorthernLas: It's not a tenancy agreement it's an informal agreement with Dad to stop him having to sell up and move elsewhere.

Thinking about it. You said your dad could not handle a child for more than an hour. Is he capable of looking after himself? Are you his carer? Could you claim carer's allowance?

my dad has had bladder cancer for a long time and they ran out of options and he had his bladder removed in the summer, around the same time we moved into his house. as i don't work i help out around the house cleaning tidying etc but i don't actually do any caring for him, i don't dress his wounds or anything like that xx

i know his operation probably isnt a big deal but hes old and his operation depresses him that he'll never be the same again and he also suffers from other things like HBP and bronchitus etc so it all adds up and he is pretty weak

Hannah_10

Your car insurance is through the roof. £120 a month? Really? Mine's £27.72 and my car had an assets value of £650 (webuyan*ycar offered me £2 for it, that's because they make thier money by not being realistic, in the real world I could sell it for £650 in the paper anyday). For a car to be really valued at £0 then I can't imagine how rough it'd have to be so why on Earth are they charging you for a brand new Mercedez Benz??? I can only imagine someone's only just got off a ban or some other reason to be considered an astronomical risk??? You don't need two cars, with you not working then you could easily drop a car and you give him lifts to work. With a petrol bill of £40 a month between 2 cars he's can't be working far away anyhow. If it's you that the insurers hate not him, then you manage without a car instead you can catch a lot of busses for £40 a week and supermarkets are still open when he gets home! That insurance bill alone accounts for the whole of what you're over your means by and another fifth on top of that.

The childminder at £100 a month is pretty much identical to the amount you're living above your means by too. I suggest asking friends or family to do a child swap. You watch thier children at your house on Tuesday mornings, they watch yours at thier house on Weds morning kinda thing. Ask around, you might be suprised how many of your friends or relatives would go for it, nearly all mums would tell you a morning off here and there saved thier sanity! If you don't have many friends a Mum and Toddler group could turn out to be well worth the £2 a week subs.

You can get LHA/HB if you are renting from family as long as you are not living with them as part of the household. If your local authority are being difficult about this seek advice through the citizens advice bureau (click this http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/getadvice.htm).

Try your college for a hardship payment, even distance colleges have hardship schemes. They might be able to lower your fees or pay for books or even (rarely but sometimes) pay some childcare. If you could get five sixths off the education bills you'd be back within your means.

Living over your means is serious. It means you're spiralling into a crisis, instead of what we want to se, which is you making a firm recovery. Even though your debts are really small the living over your means part is a dire situation which has to be turned around. Next year it'll all be different as you will be a full time student, so you might need to do another SOA then, but until then we have 11 months where you're sinking deeper into the mire and that's no life for any of you.

The other side of a SOA to expenditure is income. There aren't many things you can do to earn a few quid with a little baby in tow, but there are some. Some even look good on your CV when it comes to getting nursing/midwifery jobs. Of course there's Avon (we're only looking for £100 a month here to get you guys breaking even) but there are also child or mum&baby specific things. I'm thinking maybe Usbourne books, or there is a real-nappy one my sister used to do. I can't think of the name of it now. You might have a craft skill you could make a few quid out of selling (£5 pitch rent for a car boot stall is typical). Perhaps you're an active lady (or a lady looking to get fitter) and you could start doing some dog walking, no reason you can't walk a dog with a sling on or with your pushchair. Of course there are online paid surveys too, which I tried and hated, but the option exists. There is an up your income board all about this if you look at the main board index.

If we can squeeze you £100 a month you are no longer sinking, we need £163 to be doing Ok, lets say £200 a month to be paying Nan back too. £200 a month is £50 a week (or £46.03 depending what kind of month you meant). Can you set yourself a challenge of either cutting £50 a week out of your expenses or earning it? It's such a small difference between sink or swim, I really think you could do it.

NorthernLas

Who are you studying with?
Is there any student hardship funding available?
How long will you be paying £122

Lucylocket01

What about a job delivering local free papers or leaflets etc during the day. That way you could take you little boy with in the pram.
Does your partner work in the evening?