Drawing up an SOA for probable BR

foolishqueen

Hi Folks,

I am most likely going to have go go BR in the next few months once I have saved the fees. Being nearly £61k in debt, with no other way out, I feel it's the only option. But I'm not sure on the best way to come up with an SOA due to the way my partner and I manage our finances.

At present from her earnings and child benefit, she gives me £200 a month. All bills/food/petrol etc come from my account - we don't have joint accounts. This figure represents about 62% of what she earns. The rest of her money is hers to do with as she please. Some of this is for her own hair cuts, mobile phone bills. She also buys most of the kids birthday/Christmas presents (we have 2 young children). So I feel what she contributes is fair.

But this makes it difficult for me to draw up an SOA because all the money is not paid into one pot. Does anyone have any ideas if this set-up is ok? Would the OR consider this a fair contribution?

With the recent policy changes, I imagine I'll end up with an IPA. Does anyone know yet what happens to variations in monthly pay? I do quite a lot of OT (any SOA I do will be based on basic wage as although OT is plentiful, it's not guaranteed) but is this just going to be swallowed up now making it pointless doing it? (That is what I gleamed from the sticky above).

Have to admit to being a bit confused right now, so any advice would be great

Thanks.

kepar

Without knowing your income , I would say that if she only earns £200 a month plus the child benefit, that her contribution is probably more than enough. If you could put a full SOA the you will get some good feedback. Referring to your overtime the OR may average this out over 2-3 months.

As other posters will say, please contact one of the debt charities before deciding on any action.

confused76

hi there and welcome
if it is just you going br, then your SOA should be your total earnings plus your partner's contribution to the household bills. you would include your own personal bills but not your partner's. i hope this makes sense. you could always pop one up here and we could take a look at it http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html once completed click format for mse and copy and paste it here

i wouldn't worry about everything being paid into one pot or not.

i'm not sure about the IPA variations, hopefully someone will be able to answer this for you x

foolishqueen

Thanks for the replies

I've done an SOA and included it below. Happy for any comments/thoughts. I've re-jigged things about a bit because entries didn't match what I had on my own spreadsheet. I also know some bits won't be allowed and some bits are!

As a note, my salary I included has no OT whatsoever. I only do it now to get extra money. If following the policy changes, its all going to be swallowed up, then I'd rather spend the time with my 2 young boys. I know that might sound selfish, and less for my creditors, but family comes first.

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.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1796
Partners monthly income after tax....... 200
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1996

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 675
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 134
Electricity............................. 62
Gas..................................... 62
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 25
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 480
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 18
Car Insurance........................... 57
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 13
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 1978.37


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
A&L............................619.......0.........0
BOS: Loan......................5568......0.........0
BOS: Credit Card...............2174......0.........0
Very...........................785.......0.........0
T-Mobile.......................563.......0.........0
NR.............................34970.....0.........0
MBNA...........................3050......0.........0
Kays...........................1502......0.........0
HSBC...........................3506......0.........0
Halifax........................3405......0.........0
Egg............................434.......0.........0
Barclaycard....................4658......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........61234.....0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,996
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,978.37
Available for debt repayments........... 17.63
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 17.63

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -61,234
Net Assets.............................. -59,734

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

andyf1980

I'm not much good at soa's I'm afraid. I think your comment about the overtime isn't selfish at all. It just shows the foolhardiness of the new rules.:mad:

Two things that jumped out on your soa. Mobiles seemed high - does this include arrears payments? Mobile contracts can be included in br if you want.

Clothing seems low for 2 adults and 2 kids. I think I had £20 a month for myself.

JCS1

foolishqueen wrote: »

Thanks for the replies

I've done an SOA and included it below. Happy for any comments/thoughts. I've re-jigged things about a bit because entries didn't match what I had on my own spreadsheet. I also know some bits won't be allowed and some bits are!

As a note, my salary I included has no OT whatsoever. I only do it now to get extra money. If following the policy changes, its all going to be swallowed up, then I'd rather spend the time with my 2 young boys. I know that might sound selfish, and less for my creditors, but family comes first.

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.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1796
Partners monthly income after tax....... 200
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1996

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 675
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 134
Electricity............................. 62
Gas..................................... 62
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 25
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 480
Clothing................................ 30 Increase by £30 as entertainment not allowed
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 18
Car Insurance........................... 57
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 40 What is this for?
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 13
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 0 £10 per adult, £5 per child
Entertainment........................... 30 Not allowed but add to clothing as low
Holiday................................. 0 You are allowed something here
Emergency fund.......................... 50 Think the new rules allow an emergency fund but think it;s £10 per adult, so add the balance to holiday.
Total monthly expenses.................. 1978.37


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
A&L............................619.......0.........0
BOS: Loan......................5568......0.........0
BOS: Credit Card...............2174......0.........0
Very...........................785.......0.........0
T-Mobile.......................563.......0.........0
NR.............................34970.....0.........0
MBNA...........................3050......0.........0
Kays...........................1502......0.........0
HSBC...........................3506......0.........0
Halifax........................3405......0.........0
Egg............................434.......0.........0
Barclaycard....................4658......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........61234.....0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,996
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,978.37
Available for debt repayments........... 17.63
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 17.63

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -61,234
Net Assets.............................. -59,734

Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

See what a few other people think and then re-do. As Andy said, mobile is high, needs to be £60 ish for mobile and landline combined.

ani_26

kepar wrote: »

Without knowing your income , I would say that if she only earns £200 a month plus the child benefit, that her contribution is probably more than enough. If you could put a full SOA the you will get some good feedback. Referring to your overtime the OR may average this out over 2-3 months.

As other posters will say, please contact one of the debt charities before deciding on any action.

As previously said, its a good idea to contact one of the debt charities before deciding on any action, if you have'nt already.

Nohope x

dojoman

Nohope wrote: »

As previously said, its a good idea to contact one of the debt charities before deciding on any action, if you have'nt already.

Nohope x

Please contact one of the charities below, they will offer free and impartial advice.

https://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
https://www.cccs.co.uk/

foolishqueen

Thanks for the comments guys. I've been in touch with both the CCCS and an independant IP, who both advised BR. So that ultimately is my goal.

I'll post a new SOA based on the comments above in a new thread. One thing that I pointed out was the way we split our finances in that the SOA above is based on my partners contribution to the household bills rather than the total joint income. So for example, the entry for haircuts is £0 because I do it myself. My partner pays for hers and the kids out of the money she has left.

Question is, how do I represent all this in the SOA? Would I just put £10 in for haircuts for example i.e. just me? Trouble is, somethings in the SOA are for all of us e.g. petrol/food, but some entries are just for me!

Cheers.