My embarrassing SOA...

MrsExhausted

... is as follows



Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,395.00

Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit & DLA). . . . . . . . . . . 349.92


Monthly Expense Details

In Your Home

Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.08
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.67
Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104.17
Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.00
Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.00
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 850.00
Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00

Motoring & Public Transport

Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00
Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.75
Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.50
Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.00


Debt Repayments

Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225.00

Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496.00


Family

School Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
Childcare/Play Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,495.00

Entertainment



Clothes, Health & Beauty


Beauty Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00
Work Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.50
New Children's Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.50
New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.50

Education & Courses

Your Courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.67



Odds & Sods

Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00



Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,744.92


Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,864.33


Debts are as follows:

Loan1 - £8800 at 8.9%
Loan 2- £9000 at 11.3%
Credit card 1 - £6000 at 20.9%
Credit Card 2 - £1500 at 16.9%
Overdraft - £4500 at 10.9%


Hello, I'n new here. I have two school age children and one is disabled so we have limited options for childcare. Dh earns about £25000 gross and pays for groceries,insurance, his car expenses, internet and debts so he just about breaks even as well. I work 35 miles away and have to use one car while dh uses the other for the school run, hospital appointments, shopping etc.

I'm hoping someone can help me cast a critical eye on these figures and tell me what I should be doing differently as the child benefits will soon disappear and goodness knows where we will stand with ds1's DLA very soon.

MrsSmith93

Is there a mistake on the SOA, as it says £25.00 per month on food and household shopping for four people?

WillF_2

MrsSmith93 wrote: »

Is there a mistake on the SOA, as it says £25.00 per month on food and household shopping for four people?

Someone didn't read the OP... :-)

MrsSmith93

WillF wrote: »

Someone didn't read the OP... :-)

My mistake, apologies.

Want_to_be_free

Hi , I am not an expert but someone who is in a very similar situation to you. When I started my diary, people told me that I should change my energy suppliers, cut off certain entertainment for my child, look into my mobile and find cheaper tariff etc, but the best advice was for me to see someone from debt management charity or PayPlan. In the end after checking with CAB etc, I decided to talk to PayPlan. Now I have enough cash to survive and pay my debts via PayPlan. I am not saying you should go to PayPlan but maybe just consider this option. It was hard for me to accept the reality but since my acceptance, I am less exhausted and can sleep better.

And please don't be embarrassed, we are all in the same boat... The good thing is we are aware of the situation and trying to change things... Please keep carry on posting, it is somehow not easy sometimes. But people are here so nice , well so far they were anyway, they genuinely try to help.

Take care x

MrsExhausted

sadly, DMP is not an option as I would have to resign from my job if I 'enter into any agreements with my creditors'.

katsu

I suggest you add in his income and all your expenses as you are living as a household and it will help us help you. You are also not showing money for annual spends like Christmas - how are you planning on covering that?

MrsExhausted wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,395.00

Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit & DLA). . . . . . . . . . . 349.92


Monthly Expense Details

In Your Home

Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00 look at deals to reduce this like sim only or payg, people like tesco mobile etc
TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.08
Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00 [COLOR="rgb(0, 100, 0)"]check that you are on the best deal - use a comparison site, check bills are accurate not estimated, look at energy saving tips to reduce usage etc[/COLOR]
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.67
Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104.17
Overdraft Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.00 [COLOR="rgb(0, 100, 0)"]every month? Look to see if you can get a better deal - work out how this compares to the interest rates on your cards etc.[/COLOR]
Bank Account Fee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.00 [COLOR="rgb(0, 100, 0)"]this and the overdraft cost seem an awful lot. If this is for a package including insurance etc, I bet you don't need it.[/COLOR]
Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 850.00
Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00[COLOR="rgb(0, 100, 0)"]Cover this in the grocery budget by cutting back[/COLOR]

Motoring & Public Transport

Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00
Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.75
Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.50
Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.00


Debt Repayments

Credit Card Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225.00 [COLOR="rgb(0, 100, 0)"]minimums only or more?[/COLOR]

Personal Loan Repayments. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496.00


Family

School Trips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
Childcare/Play Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,495.00

Entertainment



Clothes, Health & Beauty


Beauty Treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00 [COLOR="rgb(0, 100, 0)"]try a local beauty college[/COLOR]
Work Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.50
New Children's Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.50
New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.50 [COLOR="rgb(0, 100, 0)"]these seem suspiciously similar. [/COLOR]

Education & Courses

Your Courses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.67 [COLOR="rgb(0, 100, 0)"]what is this?[/COLOR]



Odds & Sods

Meals at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00 time to take packed lunches and have only the odd meal at work



Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,744.92


Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,864.33


Debts are as follows:

Loan1 - £8800 at 8.9% [COLOR="rgb(0, 100, 0)"]how much left/when does the loan finish?[/COLOR]
Loan 2- £9000 at 11.3%
Credit card 1 - £6000 at 20.9%
Credit Card 2 - £1500 at 16.9%
Overdraft - £4500 at 10.9%

MFWannabe

You really need to do an soa for both of you; including all income and expenditure and all debts. Use the soa on www.makesenseofcards.com
This is the easiest one to understand

MrsExhausted

thank you for the link. here it is

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3395
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1475
Benefits................................ 323
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 5193

Monthly Expense Details

Rent.................................... 850
Council tax............................. 110
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 30
Water rates............................. 62
Mobile phone............................ 55
TV Licence.............................. 12.5
Internet Services(sky package)....................... 70
Groceries etc. ......................... 350
Clothing................................ 60
Petrol/diesel........................... 270
Road tax................................ 60
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 150
Car parking............................. 35
Other travel............................ 35
Childcare/nursery....................... 1495
Other child related expenses............ 20
Contents insurance...................... 37
Life assurance ......................... 52
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 55
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
professional fees & subscriptions....... 25
Meals at Work........................... 70
Account fees............................ 30
Total monthly expenses.................. 4083.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 4000
Car(s).................................. 6000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 10000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
dh loan........................15780.....372.......7.9
loan1..........................8818......238.......8.9
dh od..........................7000......55........10.3
loan 2.........................8846......258.......11.3
credit card 2..................2648......75........20.9
credit card 1..................6695......150.......21.7
dh cc2.........................2780......70........22.6
dh cc 1........................2645......100.......12.8
b od...........................7700......55........9.9
Total unsecured debts..........62912.....1373......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 5,193
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 4,083.5
Available for debt repayments........... 1,109.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,373
Amount short for making debt repayments. -263.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 10,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -62,912
Net Assets.............................. -52,912

MFWannabe

MrsExhausted wrote: »

thank you for the link. here it is

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3395
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1475
Benefits................................ 323
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 5193

Monthly Expense Details

Rent.................................... 850 - Could you rent somewhere cheaper, or if you've been renting this place for a long time it may be worth asking landlord for a reduction
Council tax............................. 110
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 30
Water rates............................. 62 - this is high; are you paying some arrears?
Mobile phone............................ 55 - you need to get rid of these and go payg or go to lowest tariff
TV Licence.............................. 12.5
Internet Services(sky package)....................... 70 - You need to cut this to lowest tv package; this is a huge amount to pay that you can't afford
Groceries etc. ......................... 350 - You could cut this by £100
Clothing................................ 60 - You need to halve this for now; wear what you already have while you pay debts
Petrol/diesel........................... 270
Road tax................................ 60 - Is this right? this is £720 per year! What sort of cars are they?
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 150 - this is extremely high; even for 2 cars
Car parking............................. 35
Other travel............................ 35
Childcare/nursery....................... 1495 - can you get a reduction through work? I'm not sure how this works but someone on here with more knowledge should be able to tell you
Other child related expenses............ 20
Contents insurance...................... 37 - This is very high! check comparison sites
Life assurance ......................... 52 - This is high; check comparison sites
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30 - you need to reduce this to £10 per month. Just buy for your children for now
Haircuts................................ 55 - This is high; is this right?
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
professional fees & subscriptions....... 25
Meals at Work........................... 70 - you need to stop this; take packed lunches
Account fees............................ 30 - What are these? If they are bank account fees change to accounts with no fees
Total monthly expenses.................. 4083.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 4000 - consider selling these and paying off some debt
Car(s).................................. 6000 - consider selling these and getting cheap runarounds for now; would free up 4k to pay off debts
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 10000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
dh loan........................15780.....372.......7.9
loan1..........................8818......238.......8.9
dh od..........................7000......55........10.3
loan 2.........................8846......258.......11.3
credit card 2..................2648......75........20.9
credit card 1..................6695......150.......21.7
dh cc2.........................2780......70........22.6
dh cc 1........................2645......100.......12.8
b od...........................7700......55........9.9
Total unsecured debts..........62912.....1373......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 5,193
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 4,083.5
Available for debt repayments........... 1,109.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,373
Amount short for making debt repayments. -263.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 10,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -62,912
Net Assets.............................. -52,912

Hi
I've made some comments above. There is scope for some cutbacks.
Look into selling the cars and getting cheap runarounds for now
Check to see if either yours or DH work has a childcare scheme

Nixxx

MrsExhausted wrote: »

thank you for the link. here it is

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3395
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1475
Benefits................................ 323
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 5193

Monthly Expense Details

Rent.................................... 850
Council tax............................. 110
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 30
Water rates............................. 62 - are you in arreas? this is very high
Mobile phone............................ 55 - How many phones is it for? Tescos do a deal for unlimited mins and calls for £30 if that will help
TV Licence.............................. 12.5
Internet Services(sky package)....................... 70
Groceries etc. ......................... 350 - Try and cut this by £100 visit the old style board for some handy tips
Clothing................................ 60 - Get rid for now. If you need something urgently, try ebay for a cheaper alternative
Petrol/diesel........................... 270 - Is car sharing an option with someone?
Road tax................................ 60 - This is very expensive, unless its an expensive gas guzzler.
Car Insurance........................... 70 - This is very high, can you shop around? is it because of the type of car?
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 150 - Why is this so expensive. So far you are spending £550 per month on a car. You could probably get two cars on a lease with maintenance for a lot cheaper
Car parking............................. 35 - sorry £585 a month to run 2 cars, thats £7020 a year :eek:
Other travel............................ 35 - What is this considering you have two cars?
Childcare/nursery....................... 1495 - are you getting childcare vouchers to help with this?
Other child related expenses............ 20
Contents insurance...................... 37 - Have a look at a comparison website and see if you can get this for cheaper. Perhaps go through a cashback website for more saving.
Life assurance ......................... 52 - same as above
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 55 - per month? can you get a friend to do it, or perhaps stretch to every two months? Try the model colleges where you can get a haircut for free or very cheaply.
Entertainment........................... 20 - Not bad :T
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
professional fees & subscriptions....... 25 - can you stop?
Meals at Work........................... 70 - you need to reduce this drastically, join the work lunches challenge. Perhaps aim for packed lunches 2 days a week to start with, but really you need to get rid.
Account fees............................ 30 - What are these for? What benefits do you get? do you actually use the benefits? usually its free travel insurance etc but you have nothing in your holiday fund so double check if the benefits they give you are actually useful to you.
Total monthly expenses.................. 4083.5


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 4000 - you need to sell this to clear you debt.
Car(s).................................. 6000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 10000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
dh loan........................15780.....372.......7.9
loan1..........................8818......238.......8.9
dh od..........................7000......55........10.3
loan 2.........................8846......258.......11.3
credit card 2..................2648......75........20.9
credit card 1..................6695......150.......21.7
dh cc2.........................2780......70........22.6 - aim to get rid of this first, unless you are keeping finances separate for some reason
dh cc 1........................2645......100.......12.8
b od...........................7700......55........9.9
Total unsecured debts..........62912.....1373......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 5,193
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 4,083.5
Available for debt repayments........... 1,109.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,373
Amount short for making debt repayments. -263.5

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 10,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -62,912
Net Assets.............................. -52,912

Some points to look at above.

Perhaps start a spending diary as it might help you identify how and why you have come to be in this situation (assuming you don't know already).

Could you have a go at ebay and sell some stuff? You'll be amazed as to how easy it is to make a few bob from things you don't like/use.

Your cars are costing you £7020 a year yet you say they are only worth £6k. Perhaps you could get a smaller and more economic car for some significant savings?