New here - my attempt at an SOA

alidadas

Re car loan - you probably wouldn't make enough off the car to pay off the loan so its prob not worth selling it - especially if you definately need 2 cars and would need to buy another.

david_hellier

Hi there, welcome and congrats on starting a spending diary.

According to my calcs you have £165.93 per week to spend on food, pets and anything else. You should write this amount in your diary on a Monday and keep track of what you spend/withdraw. This will prevent immediate overspend. I have also included £100 od payoff, so ignore your bank balance. With your debts you are not in a position to give to charity, so stop. Stop using CCs for any more purchases. If you have any in your diary left at the end of the week use it to payoff your most expensive debt (Sainsbury's CC). Follow the others' advice on cutting back. If you do, the weekly amount will rise and you will improve your life.

Good luck, the figures are as follows:

income weekly monthly
self 2230.00
partner 2275.00







total 0.00 4505.00 divide by 4.33
£1,039.62

£1,039.62 total weekly income

spend weekly monthly
rent/mortgage 2043.00
council tax 169.00
elec 31.50
gas 31.50
water 23.00
secured loans 0.00
TV licence 11.00
fines 0.00
phone bb 45.00
mob 50.00
car ins 42.00
car ins 2 30.00
car tax 29.00
car maint 40.00
illness cover 150.00
union 26.00
dentist 11.00
lenses 12.00
internet fees 23.00
petrol 150.00
prof fees 15.00
parking 60.00
sains cc 127.00
mint cc 69.00
cap 1 257.00
od payoff 100.00
car loan 162.00
dfs 79.00


total 0.00 3786.00 divide by 4.33
£873.69

£873.69 total weekly spend

Start= income - spend = £165.93 per week

mizmir

alidadas wrote:

Do you need to be home for lunch?? This would be adding to your petrol costs!

You can get a nice flask from Asda for about £4 - we bought one for H to take to work - just need to make him use it!!!

One of us needs to be at home to see to the dogs at lunch time - sometimes we work at home in the morning and then go in - 2-3 days a week I come home. True about petrol but cheaper than a dog walker - no neighbours able to do it.

Think I have a flask. Will see if I can dig it out! Does that count as £4 saved?

zoologygeek

Hiya mixmir...well done on the SOA
re. contact lens...I go to specsavers & mine are £10 a month & I get them through the post...I know its only a £2 difference but every little helps!!;)

mizmir

Wow - thank you for doing that. Will definitely do that.

david_hellier wrote:

Hi there, welcome and congrats on starting a spending diary.

According to my calcs you have £165.93 per week to spend on food, pets and anything else. You should write this amount in your diary on a Monday and keep track of what you spend/withdraw. This will prevent immediate overspend. I have also included £100 od payoff, so ignore your bank balance. With your debts you are not in a position to give to charity, so stop. Stop using CCs for any more purchases. If you have any in your diary left at the end of the week use it to payoff your most expensive debt (Sainsbury's CC). Follow the others' advice on cutting back. If you do, the weekly amount will rise and you will improve your life.

Good luck, the figures are as follows:

income weekly monthly
self 2230.00
partner 2275.00







total 0.00 4505.00 divide by 4.33
£1,039.62

£1,039.62 total weekly income

spend weekly monthly
rent/mortgage 2043.00
council tax 169.00
elec 31.50
gas 31.50
water 23.00
secured loans 0.00
TV licence 11.00
fines 0.00
phone bb 45.00
mob 50.00
car ins 42.00
car ins 2 30.00
car tax 29.00
car maint 40.00
illness cover 150.00
union 26.00
dentist 11.00
lenses 12.00
internet fees 23.00
petrol 150.00
prof fees 15.00
parking 60.00
sains cc 127.00
mint cc 69.00
cap 1 257.00
od payoff 100.00
car loan 162.00
dfs 79.00


total 0.00 3786.00 divide by 4.33
£873.69

£873.69 total weekly spend

Start= income - spend = £165.93 per week

mizmir

zoologygeek wrote:

Hiya mixmir...well done on the SOA
re. contact lens...I go to specsavers & mine are £10 a month & I get them through the post...I know its only a £2 difference but every little helps!!;)

Thanks - just checked their website and unfortunately they don't do my lenses (have an odd prescription!). But I found somewhere on Quidco that do so should get a bit of cash back for them.

alidadas

Well if you've got a flask all the better.

Plus if you're the sort who needs a chocolate fix during the day, buy some of the supermarkets own brand with your shopping and take it with you - When I was working I used to go home every lunch time, but my daily snacks soon mounted up!!

Also, if you're popping to the shops to just get milk, be really strong and make sure thats all you get. My H went to Tesco on his way home at lunch and came in with 2 shopping bags full of stuff!!! Whereas if he'd left it to me Iw ould have literally only got the milk!

You've told us what your current balances are on the cards - but what are the limits on them? You might be able to do a partial transfer from the cards with higher interest to the cards with lower interest, meaning less at the high rate.

Also, go round the house and collect any small change you can find - we somehow manage to get coppers and silver everywhere - then put it in a pot so next time you need small things at the shop you can take the change rather than go via the cash point for a tenner - as no doubt once that note becomes coins they disappear much faster - I know mine does!!!

I'm in the middle of getting my house ready for Christmas and you'd be surprised at how much loose change I've found all over which have randomly fallen out of my H's pocket!

dancingfairy

Well you've got plenty to get you started. Can't think of any imeadiate savings but that little lot should keep you going. I'm sure with keeping a spending diary you can see where all that extra money is going. Good Luck.

Johnhowell

mizmir wrote:

Hi
Professional memberships 15

If these are required for work then your employer should reimburse you, my company will reimburse for one professional body subscription a year.

If your company does not reimburse you then all of these professional subscriptions can be deducted from from your tax liability.

Regards,
John

sammyjammy

Could you sign up to any survey sites for a bit of odd cash, YOUGOV is very good, they pay out when you get to £50 and if you introduce firends and family you get the equivalent of their payouts to for 3 months, I've had 2x£50 in the last three mnoths thanks to referrals so it all adds up, if you want me to refer you then just PM me, otherwise you can find them at https://www.yougov.co.uk

Sam

Good luck with the spending diary