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Sparkerly's SOA

Sparkerly
Posts: 144 Forumite
My income - £115
Partners salary - £4501
Benefits - £0
Total - £4616
Monthly Outgoings:
Mortgage/Rent - £1730.73
Rates (equivalent to council tax) - £42
Gas - £117
Electric - £78
TV License - £12.37
Sky £63.83
Phone - £55
Food - £450
Car Insurance - £16.25
Petrol - £20
Life Insurance - £323.27
House insurance - £29.82
Water rates - £29.36
School fees - £725.50
Gym/swim membership - £129.50
Zoo membership - £10 (reluctant to give this up as its a nice day out and we only have to go a few times a year for it to save money)
School lunches - £100
Going out/takeaways - £150
Blackhorse loan - £322.50 – term 60 months, 38 to go (£12,255)
Gas HP - £59 – term 60 months, 48 to go – APR 0% (£2832)
Elec HP - £58.66 – term 12 months, 7 to go – APR 0% (£410.62)
Total: £4522.79
HSBC OD - £5,000 APR 11.9%
First Direct OD - £1,000 APR 14.85%
HSBC CC - £4868 – APR 11.9%
HSBC CC (OH) - £7374 – APR 11.9%
Couple of things I would like to point out as looking at these figures I am horrified the position we are in given the income we get.
My income is in the form of an annuity that I inherited and does vary monthly, but I am looking for a job.
Because of my husbands income we are not entitled to any benefits – we live in the Channel Islands where the benefits system is very different.
We do not have a choice when it comes to gas and electricity suppliers so other than not using it we can’t reduce these bills.
Life assurance costs are high, but they cover the mortgage, family and also income protection for my husband. He has just change employers and will get this as a benefit when he has been there 6 months so this cost will reduce.
Finally, the groceries bill is probably high, but this is for 2 adults, 2 teenagers and 2 cats. We do have the low cost supermarkets that are available on the mainland and food costs are considerably higher. For example, we can only buy locally produced milk and 1 litre costs over £1, bread is also over £1 a loaf. I have been looking at the Old Style threads so hope to reduce this soon.
When you put it all down its easy to see where it does go, but shouldn't - ie takeaways, but any ideas will be gratefully received as I really don't want to sell my home:(
Partners salary - £4501
Benefits - £0
Total - £4616
Monthly Outgoings:
Mortgage/Rent - £1730.73
Rates (equivalent to council tax) - £42
Gas - £117
Electric - £78
TV License - £12.37
Sky £63.83
Phone - £55
Food - £450
Car Insurance - £16.25
Petrol - £20
Life Insurance - £323.27
House insurance - £29.82
Water rates - £29.36
School fees - £725.50
Gym/swim membership - £129.50
Zoo membership - £10 (reluctant to give this up as its a nice day out and we only have to go a few times a year for it to save money)
School lunches - £100
Going out/takeaways - £150

Blackhorse loan - £322.50 – term 60 months, 38 to go (£12,255)
Gas HP - £59 – term 60 months, 48 to go – APR 0% (£2832)
Elec HP - £58.66 – term 12 months, 7 to go – APR 0% (£410.62)
Total: £4522.79
HSBC OD - £5,000 APR 11.9%
First Direct OD - £1,000 APR 14.85%
HSBC CC - £4868 – APR 11.9%
HSBC CC (OH) - £7374 – APR 11.9%
Couple of things I would like to point out as looking at these figures I am horrified the position we are in given the income we get.
My income is in the form of an annuity that I inherited and does vary monthly, but I am looking for a job.
Because of my husbands income we are not entitled to any benefits – we live in the Channel Islands where the benefits system is very different.
We do not have a choice when it comes to gas and electricity suppliers so other than not using it we can’t reduce these bills.
Life assurance costs are high, but they cover the mortgage, family and also income protection for my husband. He has just change employers and will get this as a benefit when he has been there 6 months so this cost will reduce.
Finally, the groceries bill is probably high, but this is for 2 adults, 2 teenagers and 2 cats. We do have the low cost supermarkets that are available on the mainland and food costs are considerably higher. For example, we can only buy locally produced milk and 1 litre costs over £1, bread is also over £1 a loaf. I have been looking at the Old Style threads so hope to reduce this soon.
When you put it all down its easy to see where it does go, but shouldn't - ie takeaways, but any ideas will be gratefully received as I really don't want to sell my home:(
June £25 a day 850.94/750 :beer:
July £15 a day 220/465
LBM - 26/5/11 - Debt £33,739.62 :eek: Now -£32,893.20
Nifty Thrifty weightloss July 0/10lbs 0/£1,500
July £15 a day 220/465
LBM - 26/5/11 - Debt £33,739.62 :eek: Now -£32,893.20
Nifty Thrifty weightloss July 0/10lbs 0/£1,500
0
Comments
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Just a couple of comments:
You need to become more energy aware - switch off items you aren't using, turn off the heating, cut down on hot water usage and use of tumble dryer etc
Cancel gym membership, zoo ticket, and Sky.
Make packed lunches for school.
Cut back on the going out/takeaway budget.
I'm pretty sure you could save at least £500/month off this budget fairly easily0 -
Hi and welcome:)
It would help greatly if you could fill out the SOA on www.makesenseofcards.com and post it here..... there seem to be quite a lot of things missing from your budget(eg clothes) Until you get a picture of everything you really pay out, it is really hard to see what is happening
But I gotta ask.... HOW MUCH for life insurance!:eek::eek::eek::eek: That's a typo right??0 -
Hi, well done for taking the plungeMy income - £115
Partners salary - £4501
Benefits - £0
Total - £4616
Monthly Outgoings:
Mortgage/Rent - £1730.73 fixed rate? what apr? how much owed? value of house? repayment or interest only?
Rates (equivalent to council tax) - £42
Gas - £117 appreciate you cannot switch but have you tried to reduce usage? lots of tips of the utility websites for reducing/checking you don't have things on standby, immersion heaters on all day, turn down a few degrees etc (besides I've heard its warm and sunny all the time there!)
Electric - £78 as above
TV License - £12.37
Sky £63.83 downgrade the package?
Phone - £55 mobiles or landline?
Food - £450 even with more expensive prices should be able to bring this down, especially if not working and you have time to shop around/prep meals etc. Here famlies your size can manage on say £250, aim to cut to £350 to start with.
Car Insurance - £16.25
Petrol - £20
Road Tax
Maintenance (Servicing, MOT tyres etc)
Life Insurance - £323.27 WOW! Even considering what you say it covers this is horrendous. Have you shopped around recently?
House insurance - £29.82
Water rates - £29.36
School fees - £725.50 others will comment on this, I assume you don't want to stop it, if thats the case you need to find other cutbacks
Gym/swim membership - £129.50 can you reduce this
Zoo membership - £10 (reluctant to give this up as its a nice day out and we only have to go a few times a year for it to save money)
School lunches - £100 is this paid for school meals? could they take packed lunches instead -should be much cheaper
Going out/takeaways - £150need to cut a lot to maybe once or twice a month max
Haircuts
Presents
Pocket Money/Kids expenses
Clothes
Medical (prescriptions/eye tests/dentist etc)
Vet bills/ cat insurance?
Holidays (if you take them)
Blackhorse loan - £322.50 – term 60 months, 38 to go (£12,255)
Gas HP - £59 – term 60 months, 48 to go – APR 0% (£2832)
Elec HP - £58.66 – term 12 months, 7 to go – APR 0% (£410.62)
Total: £4522.79
Minimum payments on all these?
HSBC OD - £5,000 APR 11.9%
First Direct OD - £1,000 APR 14.85%
HSBC CC - £4868 – APR 11.9%
HSBC CC (OH) - £7374 – APR 11.9%
How are you managing at the moment? you have a shortfall based on those debts you haven't put the minimums down for and haven't included all your expenses. Are you getting further into debt each month? are you reusing your cards for what you pay off them?
You need to make some serious choices about what is most important to you and make cutbacks elsewhere.
Do you have any savings at all? any other assets that could be sold? would you consider downsizing your house?
Good luck and I'm sure you can make some changes.A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who giveor "It costs nowt to be nice"0 -
I try to be energy aware and am forever switching things off, still trying to train the rest of the family - as for the tumble dryer if it gets used once a month its lucky. Didin't think about the hot water, so I will dig out the instruction manual to change the timer.
You're right on the gym membership, me and OH have been debating this for ages but neither wanted to make a decision on it.
Any ideas on how to persuade OH to cancel Sky? It's the one major disagreement that we always have when it comes to money :mad:
I really struggle to make the kids take a packed lunch as it causes so many arguments about what they want in them and its easier to give in.
Think takeaways are gonna have to be a once a month treat from now on.June £25 a day 850.94/750 :beer:
July £15 a day 220/465
LBM - 26/5/11 - Debt £33,739.62 :eek: Now -£32,893.20
Nifty Thrifty weightloss July 0/10lbs 0/£1,5000 -
Hi and welcome:)
It would help greatly if you could fill out the SOA on and post it here..... there seem to be quite a lot of things missing from your budget(eg clothes) Until you get a picture of everything you really pay out, it is really hard to see what is happening
But I gotta ask.... HOW MUCH for life insurance!:eek::eek::eek::eek: That's a typo right??
Wish the life assurance was a typo, but no it really is that much. For my sins I used to be a financial adviser dealing with mortgage life assurance so I took my own advice and made sure that we have a lot of cover. Putting it down in writing how much we spend has made me realise that I need to look at exactly what cover we have and do we really need it. I gave up my job as I didn't like the pressure I was under to ensure customers took out every possible cover when I knew they couldn't necessairly afford or need it.
I'll have a look at that other SOA although if not everything is included now I'm in even more trouble than I thoughtJune £25 a day 850.94/750 :beer:
July £15 a day 220/465
LBM - 26/5/11 - Debt £33,739.62 :eek: Now -£32,893.20
Nifty Thrifty weightloss July 0/10lbs 0/£1,5000 -
The OP's problem - as with so many households - is housing costs are way too high.
About a quarter of monthly salary - or a week's money if you are paid weekly - for mortgage payments is manageable.
To service the £1,730 mortgage, the OP needs an income of £7,000 a month, not the measly £4,600 she has coming in.0 -
You need to get the rest of the family on board with this as the lifestyle you've got used to will have to change. With such a high wage your husband will be wondering why he can't watch what he wants on Sky but he needs to have his own light bulb moment about how you're spending. Over half of your income is going on just your mortgage and school fees, so everyone needs to understand that this leaves you with less money left over for very many luxuries, even if you were debt fre.e0
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Hi, well done for taking the plunge
How are you managing at the moment? you have a shortfall based on those debts you haven't put the minimums down for and haven't included all your expenses. Are you getting further into debt each month? are you reusing your cards for what you pay off them?
You need to make some serious choices about what is most important to you and make cutbacks elsewhere.
Do you have any savings at all? any other assets that could be sold? would you consider downsizing your house?
Good luck and I'm sure you can make some changes.
Seeing the things you've added in that I didn't even think about is really scary. Things are a lot worse than I thought.
One thing I am adamant on is that I will not change my kids schooling - they are both doing really well and with one in the middle of GCSE's and one about to start I will not disrupt there education.
We have a fixed rate and tracker rates and are repayment mortgages.
Gas and electric points are noted and yes we usually are sunny although not today!
Hard choices must be made and this is the first step to it.June £25 a day 850.94/750 :beer:
July £15 a day 220/465
LBM - 26/5/11 - Debt £33,739.62 :eek: Now -£32,893.20
Nifty Thrifty weightloss July 0/10lbs 0/£1,5000 -
If you can't cancel Sky, you can at least try and get a reduction. I have myself just this morning. Called them up and toldthem I wanted to Cancel, I pay £52 for a pretty much all the channels, and they have agreeed to halve it to £26 for next 6 months.0
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NeverAgain wrote: »The OP's problem - as with so many households - is housing costs are way too high.
About a quarter of monthly salary - or a week's money if you are paid weekly - for mortgage payments is manageable.
To service the £1,730 mortgage, the OP needs an income of £7,000 a month, not the measly £4,600 she has coming in.
TBF though 4500-1800 is still 2.7k a month which is vastly more than most people.
There are some easy savings here as suggested above, as for Sky, if he is a Sky Sports lover then reduce the package as a compromise, or for a short respite phone them up pretending to cancel saying its to expensive and more likely than not they will offer you 6 months at half price (if you have gone past your 12 month original contract).
If in the unlikely event they say no then hang upThe Googlewhacker referance is to Dave Gorman and not to my opinion of the search engine!
If I give you advice it is only a view and always always take professional advice before acting!!!
4 people on the ignore list....Bliss!0
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