My Updated SOA - Still struggling

Butterfliesarepretty

Hi I still been trying to manage, this month is a tough one, my car tax for six months has gone up from £104 to £112. I cant change my car to make it cheaper as its 17 yr old Mx5 and its a 1.6.
I dont go out, last weekend was my first night out since november and I spent £25, came back with £15 which has gone in piggy bank for emergencies.
Found out you can get a budget card from post office to put money on so will get one of those. I dont make phone calls much, my mobile, broadband and home phone is all through o2 which is far cheaper. mobile is £10 month unlimited texts and 50 mins calls.
I have a daughter who I pay through the csa for which is the £130.90 a month.
I dont have sky, dont need it. Have absolutely nothing to sell and I work 8-6 four days a week and get a day off each week. Did overtime one sunday but it was so stressful I vowed never to do it again.
My mortgage I have extended on the largest account to 40 years to save money. Its with Nationwide and has been since 2002.
I dont pay into a pension because I cant afford it, I have got two frozen pension accounts with British Telecom and Steria Uk Ltd (previous employers).
I am applying for jobs all the time to earn a lot lot more but cant see how I can improve my income as I work long hours anyway. I also have a overdraft of £550 with santander which I always have to use to get by. Just now bought my car tax and I will have around £30 left till the 15th october then its my credit card.
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................ 1000.17
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1000.17
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 192.8
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 72
Electricity............................. 24
Gas..................................... 24
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 13.39
Telephone (land line)................... 13.99
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 7.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 60
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 60
Road tax................................ 19
Car Insurance........................... 33.53
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 20
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 130.9
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 8
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 7.61
Life assurance ......................... 7.7
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 2
Haircuts................................ 6
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 774.54

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 90000
Shares and bonds........................ 100
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 92100

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 42000....(192.8)....2.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 42000.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Tesco Club Card................1907.85...58........16.9
Overdraft......................555.......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........2462.85...58........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,000.17
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 774.54
Available for debt repayments........... 225.63
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 58
Amount left after debt repayments....... 167.63
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 92,100
Total HP & Secured debt................. -42,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,462.85
Net Assets.............................. 47,637.15
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

HappyMJ

I'm lost...What's the problem? £25 monthly on groceries is not right. Check the figures and edit your post. Keep a spending diary.

podperson

Ok firstly you are showing a surplus on your soa but this is obviously not the case so where is the money going? As HappyMJ has mentioned £25 a month for groceries is extremely low so would imagine a bit is going there. Keep a spending diary so you can see what is happening to the extra.
Also on your income you should be getting some benefits. Have you tried applying for tax credits and council tax benefit for a start?

Butterfliesarepretty

Sorry I forgot about the monthly amounts for petrol and food.
Its usually £15 a week to travel to work and back. But when I travel to chester to pick up my daughter its around £20 goes in the car once a month.
Sometimes I have no money to pick her up. And her dad is not very forthcoming in understanding people who earn lower wages.
I always take my own lunch to work and own drinks.

Butterfliesarepretty

podperson wrote: »

Ok firstly you are showing a surplus on your soa but this is obviously not the case so where is the money going? As HappyMJ has mentioned £25 a month for groceries is extremely low so would imagine a bit is going there. Keep a spending diary so you can see what is happening to the extra.
Also on your income you should be getting some benefits. Have you tried applying for tax credits and council tax benefit for a start?

I wont get council tax benefit, the only time I got that was when I took vol redundancy in april 2008 and I continued paying it so as to be in front when I got a job. I also received £400 tax back March 2009 from inland revenue. I earn £14,600 a year and there is no way that I will receive any benefits as I live alone and I have assets (my house).

dancingfairy

Aaccording to your SOA you have 177 a month spare so you are obviously missing something from your SOA or have underestimated somewhere - a spending diary should help you identify this.
The rest of it looks pretty tight to be honest so identifying this 'spare' money is probably your best bet.
df

pennypusher

Have you tried to get a 0% credit card, that might help you. I think as others have said you need to keep a spending diary to show where the rest is going. Have you tried applying for Working Tax Credit I'm not sure if you would qualify for that or not. Check out the benefits board and see if you are entitled to anything.

Butterfliesarepretty

pennypusher wrote: »

Have you tried to get a 0% credit card, that might help you. I think as others have said you need to keep a spending diary to show where the rest is going. Have you tried applying for Working Tax Credit I'm not sure if you would qualify for that or not. Check out the benefits board and see if you are entitled to anything.

Yes tried that. My credit report shows two missing payments from my overdraft (when I went over it three times and got charged) and so everything else showing as settled. Had loans in the past that were paid off no problem so my credit score is not good enough. the tesco card was 0% but when I tried to transfer it - three credit card companies refused me.

£177 spare money is correct what I am saying is that does not last me four weeks till pay day. eg had £190 today and just written a cheque for car tax. so it will be gone in five days. So this week been off wed thur then working fri sat off sunday off monday. So next weekend in oct I hope to have enough money for petrol to see my daughter.

HappyMJ

I don't think you're understanding the SOA. The car tax you have in your SOA it's £205 per year so you should be saving £17 per month in another account so it isn't a suprise when it's due. So part of your money is going elsewhere. Next month the car tax won't be due but you should put £17 aside for next years. It can be saved either by paying a debt off or putting it in a savings account with your bank. If it was such a struggle why didn't you pay the £112.75 for a 6 month tax disc and put £19 per month aside for the next one?

themull1

you can buy £10.00 car tax stamps from the post office i think, to use towards the car tax when it is due.

Butterfliesarepretty

HappyMJ wrote: »

I don't think you're understanding the SOA. The car tax you have in your SOA it's £205 per year so you should be saving £17 per month in another account so it isn't a suprise when it's due. So part of your money is going elsewhere. Next month the car tax won't be due but you should put £17 aside for next years. It can be saved either by paying a debt off or putting it in a savings account with your bank. If it was such a struggle why didn't you pay the £112.75 for a 6 month tax disc and put £19 per month aside for the next one?

i didnt put any money aside for the tax, i had to put it in the soa to show what it would have worked out monthly.

I have just paid today by cheque my car tax for 6 months cause I cant afford it.