OK So where do I start?

Jack_Bannerman

Hi

First Post.

We shouldn't be in trouble according to the State. The SOA backs this up but it's based on the most recent 2 months bank statements - I will go back a year and revise it further. It includes our annual "holiday" - a trip home with hot and cold running grandparents for a week but it doesn't include all the replacements of white goods that have gone phut with increasing frequency, someone shooting the cat etc. I distributed the cash withdrawals to cover each catagory in proportion

So the food, clothing, petrol etc is probably fair.

We don't drink, smoke, gamble or go out much. We live close to work and have a pretty untoward existance which would seem to be right for financial success but the money keeps evaporating. It's been like this for years and we are getting nowhere.

We have 3 daughters - one is doing a foundation degree ( that's her rent below) and the others will be in need of an education top up in the next few years.

So how do these numbers look to you wonderful people? Can you see anything that is immediately wrong?

I will be looking at the posts for tips on controlling the essential/non-essential/oh bugg3r expenditure but if you have any recommendations please append them here.

Monthly Budget SummaryAmount(£)
Total monthly income 4,166.66
Monthly expenses (incl. HP & secured loans) 3,604.44
Available for debt repayments 562.22
UNsecured debt repayments 13
Amount left after debt repayments 549.22

Personal Balance Sheet SummaryAmount(£)
Total Assets (things you own) 182,000
Total Secured & HP Debt -103,098.4
Total Unsecured Debt -5,000
Net Assets 73,901.6

Household Information

Number of adults in household 2
Number of children in household 3
Number of cars owned 2

Income, Expense, Debt & Asset Details

IncomeAmount(£)
Monthly income after tax 3368.55
Partners monthly income 748.11
Benefits 50
Other income 0
Total monthly income 4166.66

ExpensesAmount(£)
Mortgage 436.9
Secured/HP loan payments 300
Rent 300
Management charge (leasehold property) 0
Council tax 136
Electricity 80
Gas 52
Oil 0
Water Rates 62.89
Telephone (land line) 28.5
Mobile phone 0
TV Licence 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV 0
Internet services 17.99
Groceries etc. 815.95
Clothing 236.35
Petrol/diesel 180
Road tax 26
Car Insurance 33
Car maintenance (including MOT) 50
Car Parking 0
Other travel 0
Childcare/nursery 0
Other child related expenses 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentists, opticians etc.) 0
Pet Insurance/Vet bills 25
Buildings Insurance 32.25
Contents Insurance 0
Life Assurance 82.08
Other Insurance 223.44
Presents (birthday, christmas etc.) 0
Haircuts 40
Entertainment 163.72
Holiday (included in general cost) 0
Emergency Fund 220

Total monthly expenses 3604.44

Secured & HP Debt DescriptionDebt(£)Monthly(£)APR(%)
Mortgage 87098.4(436.9) 4.5
Secured Debt 16000(300)7.9
Secured & HP Debt totals 103098.4- -

Unsecured Debt DescriptionDebt(£)Monthly(£)APR(%)
Overdraft 5000 13 14
Unsecured Debt totals 5000 13 -

Asset DescriptionValue (£)
Cash 0
House Value (Gross) 180000
Shares and bonds 0
Car(s) 2000
Other assets (e.g. endowments, jewellery etc) 0
Total Assets 182000

sofababe

Can you post again using the MSE format on the calculator?

Jack_Bannerman

I'll try. I thought that is what I did but it came out mangled and I've straightened it a bit by hand. My internet/PC is acting up but I'll have another go. Thanks for the very fast response.

Gahh! That didn't work. I have the SOA formatted output up and I cut and paste the contents it ends up mangled - any tips on this please?

sueeve

It's the groceries and clothing that leap out at me, even with 3 daughters

annibee

Hi, Petrol seems a bit high if like you say you live so close to work? Is it long trips in the car or something?

I only ask because once a month I drive my son to see his dad which means a 180miles round trip twice (take and pick up) I use my car for work and although I dont work that far away i do drive as part of my job so I clock up a lot of mileage. my petrol a month is £120 at most and I drive 1.6.

So maybe you could save on petrol? is there any trips you do that you could perhaps do via public transport or walking which may save?

Hope this Helps

Good luck with everything

annibee

And your life assurance is incredibly high also.....

MFWannabe

Jack_Bannerman wrote: »

Hi

First Post.

We shouldn't be in trouble according to the State. The SOA backs this up but it's based on the most recent 2 months bank statements - I will go back a year and revise it further. It includes our annual "holiday" - a trip home with hot and cold running grandparents for a week but it doesn't include all the replacements of white goods that have gone phut with increasing frequency, someone shooting the cat etc. I distributed the cash withdrawals to cover each catagory in proportion

So the food, clothing, petrol etc is probably fair.

We don't drink, smoke, gamble or go out much. We live close to work and have a pretty untoward existance which would seem to be right for financial success but the money keeps evaporating. It's been like this for years and we are getting nowhere.

We have 3 daughters - one is doing a foundation degree ( that's her rent below) and the others will be in need of an education top up in the next few years.

So how do these numbers look to you wonderful people? Can you see anything that is immediately wrong?

I will be looking at the posts for tips on controlling the essential/non-essential/oh bugg3r expenditure but if you have any recommendations please append them here.

Monthly Budget SummaryAmount(£)
Total monthly income 4,166.66
Monthly expenses (incl. HP & secured loans) 3,604.44
Available for debt repayments 562.22
UNsecured debt repayments 13
Amount left after debt repayments 549.22

Personal Balance Sheet SummaryAmount(£)
Total Assets (things you own) 182,000
Total Secured & HP Debt -103,098.4
Total Unsecured Debt -5,000
Net Assets 73,901.6

Household Information

Number of adults in household 2
Number of children in household 3
Number of cars owned 2

Income, Expense, Debt & Asset Details

IncomeAmount(£)
Monthly income after tax 3368.55
Partners monthly income 748.11
Benefits 50
Other income 0
Total monthly income 4166.66

ExpensesAmount(£)
Mortgage 436.9
Secured/HP loan payments 300
Rent 300
Management charge (leasehold property) 0
Council tax 136
Electricity 80
Gas 52
Oil 0
Water Rates 62.89
Telephone (land line) 28.5 - check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper
Mobile phone 0
TV Licence 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV 0
Internet services 17.99 - Check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper
Groceries etc. 815.95 - This is a HUGE amount!! You should be able to easily halve this amount
Clothing 236.35 - this is alos HUGE; you should be able to halve this
Petrol/diesel 180
Road tax 26
Car Insurance 33
Car maintenance (including MOT) 50
Car Parking 0
Other travel 0
Childcare/nursery 0
Other child related expenses 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentists, opticians etc.) 0 - do you all not have any of these? dentists, opticians etc?
Pet Insurance/Vet bills 25
Buildings Insurance 32.25 - Check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper
Life Assurance 82.08 - this seems high, again check comparison sites
Other Insurance 223.44 - what is this for? This is another big amount!!
Presents (birthday, christmas etc.) 0 - You need to put something in here, i'm sure you buy presents with 3 daughters
Haircuts 40
Entertainment 163.72 - try to bring this down to £100
Holiday (included in general cost) 0
Emergency Fund 220 - do you really manage to save this every month as you say you have no cash assets below

Total monthly expenses 3604.44

Secured & HP Debt DescriptionDebt(£)Monthly(£)APR(%)
Mortgage 87098.4(436.9) 4.5
Secured Debt 16000(300)7.9
Secured & HP Debt totals 103098.4- -

Unsecured Debt DescriptionDebt(£)Monthly(£)APR(%)
Overdraft 5000 13 14
Unsecured Debt totals 5000 13 -

Asset DescriptionValue (£)
Cash 0
House Value (Gross) 180000
Shares and bonds 0
Car(s) 2000
Other assets (e.g. endowments, jewellery etc) 0
Total Assets 182000

Hi
I've added some comments above; you have some really BIG outgoings in there. Try to seriously cut those down and you should be able to save some money. Do you really need 2 cars as you say you live close to work?

Jack_Bannerman

sueeve wrote: »

It's the groceries and clothing that leap out at me, even with 3 daughters

The numbers for groceries made my eyes water a bit too. We do our bulk shop at Lidl at around £80 pw but there's always the extra bits.

The clothing ain't me - I wear just enough to not get arrested. 3 growing teenage daughters... mind you the laundry seems endless.

Is there a scale somewhere which suggests reasonable costs. If I can impose those somehow it will help a lot.

sofababe

Thats better, it made me dizzy before!:rotfl:

Even with 2 adults and 2 daughters at home full time your utilities look high. Electric is very high as is water.

As said above the grocery bill is humongous:eek:

There is plenty of room for improvement here and I think with co-operation from the rest of the household you should be able to cut back quite a bit. I've just had my electricity DD dropped from £48 to £41 a month just by switching off at the plug, not leaving tv and pc on standby all day, and switching off lights in empty rooms (energy saving bulbs of course).

Ref the clothing- could you give your daughters an allowance each month for their clothes? This will help you and also help them understand the value of money and budgeting. Once they've spent it, its gone till next month. Learning to deal with money is such an important life lesson it really should be part of the curriculum at secondary school.

artybear

Hi for the groceries try using this site http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/ it feeds a family of four for £100 a month. Even with extra treats and fav foods added in you can keep well below your current spending.

HTH

Jack_Bannerman

Woooh you guys are fast.

Some of the catagories weren't clear. 223.44 is for a private pension which I probably won't live to collect. The 83 is for several endowment polocies - a year to go but there is a shortfall. Can I still claim even though I really knew they were a bad idea - every one was getting them.

2 cars - bit of story. Got the second so eldest daughter could learn to drive and boost her confidence a bit. Might be able to get down to one. Petrol: I don't think the milage is high but main one is a Scenic. If we can get on an even keel then I'll look at replacing it.

Dentis is about £15 - he didn't come up in the 2 months I looked at.

If I can get some confidence I think giving each a set amount each month might reduce expenditure.

Thank you thank you for your very quick responses. I have some grounds for hope. I will go back and gather and average a years data.

I see I'll have to look at the grocery pages for some tips pronto!