Opinions please

Daxx

Hi,

Planning on moving out with my boyfriend early this year and renting a place together although just trying to make sure that we can definately afford it. (i worry a lot) And so was just wondering if people can give me an opinion on a proposed SOA below and how realistic it is.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1230.00
Partners monthly income after tax....... 998.00
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2228.00

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 550
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 80
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 90
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 180
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 38
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 11
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 100
Emergency fund.......................... 100
Westfield Health........................ 25
Mobile Insurance........................ 10
Bank Account............................ 12.50

Total monthly expenses.................. 1546.50


Assets
Cash.................................... 4000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 8000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 12000
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Car loan.......................11568.....241.62......
Halifax loan...................4000......96.00.....
Total unsecured debts..........15568.....337.62.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2228
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1546.50
Available for debt repayments........... 0.00
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 337.62
Amount left after debt repayments....... 343.88

Ultimately we would then split the remaining £300 between us and spend that on whatever we choose (clothes, meals out, nights out) as I have already accounted for a holiday/spending fund. And an emergency fund which will hopefully add become a deposit on a house in the future.

Also the £4000 that we have is to be used for initial purchases, rental fees and ultimately to start us with a cushion behind us incase anything goes wrong.

Just to add as well that my other half gets paid 4 weekly so he will have an additional payday once a year which will not be used for bills.

Any opinions will be greatly received.

BitterAndTwisted

With an eleven grand car-loan I wouldn't be going anywhere before that's paid off. How old are you both and how secure is your employment?

It's all very well having an SOA which accounts for financing all this at the beginning with the help of a hypothetical four grand loan but I'd be interested to hear how you both get along putting away into savings the equivalent of your estimated monthly outgoings for six months as an absolute minimum....

F_T_Buyer

First of all, I think the breakdown is a damn good start. I wish everyone was a good as planning as you are. B&T has a point about the car loan, but you will need to look into this whether it is worth reducing this with your cash savings.

For the SOA, I would say £100 a month holiday, is not really an expense - it is a luxury. They are some items I would question, but I don't know your personal circumstances so would be unfair E.g. £90 pm on mobiles? They are other things you could reduce when you shop around, e.g. broadband, phone insurance.

On the whole I would say it's fine, although I would like to keep a couple of grand as a reserve so only spend £2k max on initial purchases (maybe less).

Daxx

We are 24 and 25. I have worked for a large national company which is currently expanding and have done for 4 years. He works for another large national company again which is currently growing and has done for 2 years so jobs are as secure as any can be in the present climate.
We have been together 2 years and have decided renting is a better option for us initially incase we decide we cannot stand living together.
I tried to put in figures that were the worst possible cases to give a more accurate idea of where we would stand.
Also the loan isn’t a hypothetical one. Its one that is currently being paid off, whilst the £4000 cash is what we have saved. So if we see nothing we like then we can easily clear this and save the £4000 again.
Also for the last 4 months we have put aside £1000 a month to savings, paid board/rent of £200 as well as paying car/loan etc. So in theory over the past 4 months paying out nearly £1700 a month. Not including petrol/food costs.
It would also mean that although we are planning to start looking now, every month where we still remain where we are,we will save another £1000.

BitterAndTwisted

OK, then that's great BUT it makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever to have over 15 grand's-worth of debts around your necks costing x in interest when you've got £4k of savings earning much less.

Use the savings to pay down that debt asap

Errata

Just something for you to think about: you're paying £135 a month on comms and £180 a month on food. That seems to be a bit out of kilter.

casper_g

On that basis, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to afford the rent, it's about 25% of your income which is quite reasonable.

£100 monthly for utilities and £40 for water sound quite conservative -- in a 2-bed terraced house we pay closer to £50 a month gas and electric and £20 water. I assume the £80 council tax is based on the council tax band of the property you're looking at?

Overall, if you've lived for a few months with higher outgoings than you're proposing and found it to be OK then you should be fine. Try to keep a buffer of a few thousand in savings though for "the unexpected".

casper_g

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

OK, then that's great BUT it makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever to have over 15 grand's-worth of debts around your necks costing x in interest when you've got £4k of savings earning much less.

Use the savings to pay down that debt asap

There are some circumstances in which the OP's position could make sense. If you pay 4K off the loan, then the car needs replacing and (for whatever reason) you can't get credit then you're stuck aren't you?

Daxx

I totally appreciate that the mobile phone bills are expensive (easy to pay when you live at home) however we are both tied into 24month contracts with a year to run. We both totally understand that we dont need these so will reduce as soon as possible. Think my estimate at internet prices was quite conservative too...again thinking worst case so should hopefully have more room for manoveure.

And yes the council tax band is worst case for the area/property type we are looking at. Looking at moving a lot closer to work (we work on the same business park) so to reduce fuel costs etc.

Also have a fair bit of furniture from a house share previously so dont need to spend that much in theory.

I would always like to have at least a grand in the bank just for emergencies or if anything happens.

justme111

It looks good .

flora48

I think you have thought long and hard, impressive. I do think you need to budget for some clothes, not too many of course.LOL Also haircuts and some medical/dental/prescription charges.
Good luck.