Here for a while - a shiny new diary

cazzledazzle_2

Hi everyone!

This is my first post - I've decided to stop lurking and 'come out' so to speak! I freely admit that I've become a little addicted to people's threads in this section, and have found it hugely inspiring, so thank you!

I'm really keen to start overpaying the mortgage, but I'm really not sure if i should start a saving pot first before moving to OP - I'd appreciate everyone's thoughts on this (I think I already know the answer, i just wanted to post something!)

I've done an SOA, and amazingly it says we should have £700ish surplus each month - yey! Not that I've been noticing it mind - We moved in end of 2010 and the place needed some work, so I think any spare cash has been swallowed up by that.

My concern is that at the moment, we have no back up in case financially things go pear shaped. My OH has been out of work twice in the last year, and whilst he's got work at the mo it's unclear how long it'll last. Because he's been out of work in the last year, we were unable to arrange insurance to cover any future job loss (the actual name of that type of insurance escapes me!)

So, here's my SOA. Anyone that's interested, please comment. I already have a plan on trying to cut the food bill down (I was shocked how much we spent in a month - it's not like we eat like royalty or anything either!)

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.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1800
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1040
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 100
Total monthly income.................... 2940

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 768.8
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 161
Electricity............................. 34
Gas..................................... 47
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 57.5
Telephone (land line)................... 0 (inc in sky package)
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 35
Internet Services....................... 0 (inc in sky package)
Groceries etc. ......................... 340 (inc £35/month on special cat food)
Clothing................................ 75
Petrol/diesel........................... 140 (I do a lot of work miles)
Road tax................................ 14
Car Insurance........................... 78.78
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 2.5
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 25
Buildings insurance..................... 22.42
Contents insurance...................... 0 (inc in buildings)
Life assurance ......................... 39.72
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 83
Haircuts................................ 17
Entertainment........................... 75
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 0
gym membership.......................... 32
professional membership................. 27.27 (mandatory for my job)
Total monthly expenses.................. 2207.11


Assets
Cash.................................... 1500
House value (Gross)..................... 185000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 191500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 139999...(768.8)....4.39
Total secured & HP debts...... 139999....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,940
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,207.11
Available for debt repayments........... 732.89
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 732.89

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 191,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -139,999
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 51,501

Accountant_Kerry

cazzledazzle wrote: »

Hi everyone!

This is my first post - I've decided to stop lurking and 'come out' so to speak! I freely admit that I've become a little addicted to people's threads in this section, and have found it hugely inspiring, so thank you!

I'm really keen to start overpaying the mortgage, but I'm really not sure if i should start a saving pot first before moving to OP - I'd appreciate everyone's thoughts on this (I think I already know the answer, i just wanted to post something!)

I've done an SOA, and amazingly it says we should have £700ish surplus each month - yey! Not that I've been noticing it mind - We moved in end of 2010 and the place needed some work, so I think any spare cash has been swallowed up by that.

My concern is that at the moment, we have no back up in case financially things go pear shaped. My OH has been out of work twice in the last year, and whilst he's got work at the mo it's unclear how long it'll last. Because he's been out of work in the last year, we were unable to arrange insurance to cover any future job loss (the actual name of that type of insurance escapes me!)

So, here's my SOA. Anyone that's interested, please comment. I already have a plan on trying to cut the food bill down (I was shocked how much we spent in a month - it's not like we eat like royalty or anything either!)

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.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1800
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1040
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 100
Total monthly income.................... 2940

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 768.8
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 161
Electricity............................. 34
Gas..................................... 47
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 57.5
Telephone (land line)................... 0 (inc in sky package)
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 35
Internet Services....................... 0 (inc in sky package)
Groceries etc. ......................... 340 (inc £35/month on special cat food) This is really high for 2 people, you should be able to do this for £200 a month.
Clothing................................ 75 This is also high, I woudl reduce to £50 at the most
Petrol/diesel........................... 140 (I do a lot of work miles) Can you claim any mileage from work?
Road tax................................ 14
Car Insurance........................... 78.78
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 2.5
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 25
Buildings insurance..................... 22.42
Contents insurance...................... 0 (inc in buildings)
Life assurance ......................... 39.72
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 83 This is high, aim for £50 a month at most
Haircuts................................ 17
Entertainment........................... 75
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 0 add £100 at least here
gym membership.......................... 32
professional membership................. 27.27 (mandatory for my job) Will your work not pay for this?
Total monthly expenses.................. 2207.11


Assets
Cash.................................... 1500
House value (Gross)..................... 185000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 191500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 139999...(768.8)....4.39
Total secured & HP debts...... 139999....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,940
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,207.11
Available for debt repayments........... 732.89
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 732.89

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 191,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -139,999
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 51,501

Not much to add really, I would overpay by £500 a month and save the rest, the key is to have a strict budget, keep a spending diary for a bit to see where your money is really going.

originalmiscellany

Welcome!
Things I'd say to you is when you sit down and work out what overpaying will do will make a huge difference to you...
700 quid a month is a huge amount - just under 10k a year, which if you work out what you're saving in interest should be a huge incentive.

The SOA is interesting, but I'm no expert so I don't want to pass comment but I know how hard it is to lose theoretical money, getting the £700 a month and actually banking it.

Look forward to seeing you take positive steps in the near future.

originalmiscellany

And cazzledazzle what job are you in? Am I allowed to enquire?

katsu

cazzle - get your last few months of bank statements and see if you can work out where the £700 has been going. You might find it is not all house, but that you spend more on food, going out, clothes, or just odd coffee/sarnie/snack at petrol station pit-stops.

If your employer won't refund the prof membership, see if you can off-set/reclaim it from HMRC against your income tax.

Other than that, welcome to posting on MFW

lincoln-potter

Welcome to MFW,

Set your stall out and keep with it and the mortgage will soon be eaten into!

regards
LP

cazzledazzle_2

Oh wow, people commented!!! Thankyou!

Kerry - thanks for reading through my SOA - I know my grocery bill is mahoosive! It does include cleaning products, toiletries for me, and the rather expensive cat food, but still, I know I can get it down, and I think that's my first aim.
Fuel costs - I can (and do) claim back mileage through work, and that's been included in my wages on the SOA. My wages do vary a bit month to month, depending on how many miles I do, but £1800 is average.I guess I should have lowered the amount on fuel to account for this??
Clothes - blame the OH for that figure - he spent £35 on a diesal t-shirt the other day! Me, I'm a Primark kindda girl! I'll work on him!
Pressies - maybe we're generous? We do tend to spend quite a bit on each other at birthdays/xmas, so I'll work on getting this down.
professional membership - mmmm, work technically should pay, but it's hit and miss, so I've accounted for it anyway!

OM - thanks for the comment. And yes, you can ask!! I'm an occupational therapist.

Katsu - thanks. I've looked through my statements, and your right, my pesky card seems to just jump right out of my purse and buy little treats every now and then!

Lincoln - I'm determined if nothing else! We shall see.

So, I've decided that I'm staying put with this thread!

Here's the plan:
- keep a spending diary so I can actually see what I do spend money on. I'll post it here and maybe that will help to shame me into being more careful!

- Be uber careful with the shopping bill.

- withdraw a set amount each week, and not use my visa so much (I'm hoping money will seem more 'real' to me if i have hard cash instead of plastic)

- wait for my log in details for the mortgage, so I can confirm the amount owed and set up a signature!

Here's to a new diary!!

cazzledazzle_2

Woah, a £400 OP each month will knock £47K in interest off, and we'd pay in 14 years instead of 25. Incentive enough. I AM DETERMINED!!!

Having said that............today I spent £15 on some digital scales (I'm on WW, and needed them!!!)
And £104 got spent on the cats annual jabs:eek: Hopefully they'll behave themselves and that'll be it until 2012.
No more spends for today.......

cha97michelle

How many cats do you have? That annual vaccination bill seemed quite huge. I paid £56 last November for 2 cats.

Other than that, i think you are in the right place. Pin those pesky pennies down and you will soon make great inroads into your mortgage. It will be the insurance against job loss as you can then reduce payments if necessary or ask for a payment holiday. Or, if all goes well, be MF in 14 years.

wantabetterlife

Hi Cazzledazzle, goodluck with hammering down the mortgage and i look forward to reading your updates. BTW you do the same job as me ...this board is full of teachers, the OT's have a bit of catching up to do. Goodluck XO

Tabatha_Kitten

cha97michelle wrote: »

How many cats do you have? That annual vaccination bill seemed quite huge. I paid £56 last November for 2 cats.

Other than that, i think you are in the right place. Pin those pesky pennies down and you will soon make great inroads into your mortgage. It will be the insurance against job loss as you can then reduce payments if necessary or ask for a payment holiday. Or, if all goes well, be MF in 14 years.

Mine are £35 each. I have 3... and the dog...he costs more

Welcome Cazzledazzle.

One thing I did when I first started this journey was to go through my bank statements and write down all the "annual bills" like cat boosters, car tax, mot, wood for the log store, dentist etc etc. Absolutly everything goes on there. I then divide the total by 12 and pay into a seperate bank account ready for when its needed. Its a work in progress too as a couple of things have gone up, like road tax, and also Im adding things I missed first time - like flea treatment - which costs more than the boosters !
It means I can allocate to my savings and to my over payment pot safe in the knowledge that these things are covered to the best of my ability.