My SOA

stephi103

Just wanted to see if anyone could see anything we can do. DP has bonus from work that could come in on a monthly basis if he meets targets, these can range from £100-£1000pm

I have one 2yr son and in the process of starting up a business from home.

Income

Wages £1322
Child benifit and child tac credits £153.00

TOTAL-£1475

Outgoings

Morgage £507
Home insurance £33 per month
Council Tax £94
Water rates £25
Gas and elec £66
Home phone £18
Internet £15
Mobiles £20
Life assurance £55
Pet insurance £15
Food shopping £200
Pet food £20
Car service/MOT £10
Car insurance £26
Car Tax £10
Petrol £70
Xmas £10(into a high savings account)
Kids activites £18
Nappies £20
Tv licence £11.50

Debts....
nationwide 14.9% £4759.06 min payment £120
BOS £1544.89 13.9% offer runs until Jan 07 Min payment £30
Egg £2,052.41 16.9% monthly payment of £45 offer until Nov 06
Laptop £599 pay nothing until April 07

TOTAL WITH MIN PAYMENTS-£1430ish

So spare....£45 which will go on extras if need any/Dentists/precriptions/birthday presents/clothes

Thinking of putting laptop on nationwide CC if we haven't saved the money up

Thinking of putting the EGG balance on Nationwide as we have enough limit

roswell

If you have a good credit rating why not apply for a marks and spencers 3.9% life of balance card and see what you can move to that ?

fatbelly

roswell wrote:

If you have a good credit rating why not apply for a marks and spencers 3.9% life of balance card and see what you can move to that ?

I hear they're generous with credit limits so that might work well for you

Just checked your tax credits and they seem OK.

Try the insurances board next time you need to renew your insurances

sanfrancisco

stephi103 wrote:

Income

Wages £1322
Child benifit and child tac credits £153.00

TOTAL-£1475

Outgoings

Morgage £507 Change to interest only
Home insurance £33 per month Have you checked confused.com for cheapest
Council Tax £94
Water rates £25
Gas and elec £66 Change to cheapest
Home phone £18 This seems quite cheap. Do you use 1899 etc
Internet £15
Mobiles £20 change to PAYG. Just for emergencies
Life assurance £55 Stop this
Pet insurance £15 You could drop the pet?
Food shopping £200 This could be reduced
Pet food £20 Again, sell the pet/send it to relatives
Car service/MOT £10 Do you need a car? With only one of you working could you cycle/bus or even move nearer to work so you can walk. Remember be open minded
Car insurance £26 Again above
Car Tax £10 Again
Petrol £70 Again
Xmas £10(into a high savings account)
Kids activites £18 Baby is only two, these could be dropped
Nappies £20 Are you using own brand
Tv licence £11.50 Get rid of TV

Debts....
nationwide 14.9% £4759.06 min payment £120
BOS £1544.89 13.9% offer runs until Jan 07 Min payment £30
Egg £2,052.41 16.9% monthly payment of £45 offer until Nov 06
Laptop £599 pay nothing until April 07

TOTAL WITH MIN PAYMENTS-£1430ish

I have highlighted in red all the things that could be changed. DOing all of the things I have said will be extreme money saving, but many of us have been there. If you have had your lightbulb moment then you should be open minded about them all. Of course some may not be appropriate to you.

OK some ideas...

I think it is probably a bad time to start a business. Could you get evening work or weekend in Supermarket. Good pay and discounts too. When does hubby work?

You need to think of the simple MSE rule. Maximise income, minimise outgoings. I hope I Have given you food for thought. Your debts are not massive and if you really apply yourself you can sort this out. If you continue trundling along and never grabbing them by the neck, you could have them for years. Good Luck. Keep posting.

david_hellier

Hi,

According to my calcs you have £66.81 per week to spend on food, clothes, baby, pets etc. Write this amount in a little book on a Monday and keep track of what you spend. This will avoid further overspend. Stop using CCs any more and try and cut out any car costs if you can. Your life ins is on the high side considering the size of your mortgage. I've included £30 per month for the laptop. Stop overspending first, then look at cutting costs.

Good luck, the figures are as follows:

income weekly monthly
self 1322.00
partner
cb +tc 153.00






total 0.00 1475.00 divided by 4.33
£340.39

£340.39 total weekly income

spend weekly monthly
rent/mortgage 507.00
council tax 94.00
elec 33.00
gas 33.00
water 25.00
secured loans
TV licence 11.50
fines
home ins 33.00
phone 18.00
internet 15.00
mobiles 20.00
life 55.00
car 10.00
car ins 26.00
car tax 10.00
petrol 70.00
nw 120.00
bos 30.00
egg 45.00
laptop 30.00









total 0.00 1185.50 divided by 4.33
£273.58

£273.58 total weekly spend

Start= income - spend = £66.81 per week

liuhut

Rather than stopping the Life assurance, might be best to shop around. I pay £14 a month for £180,000 worth of cover

roswell

are there any insurance policies attached to the mortgage ? eg critical illness these can be got cheaper from 3rd party companies and are more likely to pay out.

Wonder_Girl

sanfrancisco wrote:

Pet insurance £15 You could drop the pet?
Pet food £20 Again, sell the pet/send it to relatives

I don't even have words for this suggestion :eek:

sanfrancisco

Wonder_Girl wrote:

I don't even have words for this suggestion :eek:

Just an idea...I was just trying to highlight that it is important to be open minded. That's all.

Smashing

While we're being open minded, just how much do you love the kids?

all_hours

Smashing wrote:

While we're being open minded, just how much do you love the kids?

:rotfl:

If you don't live in a smokeless zone give up the electricity, gas, and phone. You can use a bonfire to cook on and keep warm and smoke signals to communicate.