Advice needed re expenditure - possibility of BR

gettingready

Hi All,

Have considered going BR while unemployed for the past 6 months but never managed to get the fees together and now I see they have gone up to £700.... sigh...

I have recently got a job offer, this is a temporary job (3-9 months), starting next week - so this is good, better than no job.

I need to put a SOA together, the online calculator does not really make sense to me as my living day to day expenses are somehow different (no car, no petrol costs, no insurance etc etc...)

My salary will be in the region of £1300 per month (after tax and NI) and my normal monthly expenses are as follows:


[FONT=&quot]Rent[/FONT][FONT=&quot] £ 386.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Council Tax[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]£ 125.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Pet Insurance[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]£ 65.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Internet[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]£ 14.50 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]SKY[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]£ 43.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Water[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]£ 26.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]BT[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]£ 20.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]T-Mobile[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]£ 30.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Gas[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]£ 40.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Electric[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]£ 20.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]TV License[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]£ 12.50 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Travelcard[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]£ 124.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Dog Walker[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]£ 200.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Pet food/litter [/FONT][FONT=&quot]£ 100.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Groceries[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]£ 150.00 [/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]Total Outgoings[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]£1,356.00 [/FONT]




My debts are around 30-35k, between 8 different creditors - will have to dig into that as since I have stopped paying them in December (done 2 months token payments but could nto even afford that for the past 4 months) - the debts were sold on to various agencies and the letters have been just piling up, I did not feel able to deal with those and had my head deep in the sand.


I am a single person, my flat is council, I will not get any benefits, I have a large dog (German Shepherd) and 6 cats - so pets related expenses are quite high as you can see (insurance, cat/dog food, cat litter) but considering the number of pets I have... can not bring those down.

There is no allowance for dry cleaning (have to wear suits to work and generally look quite "presentable"), no hairdressing (even once in a while), no perscriptions (taking 3 different tablets every day - blood pressure - so about £22 per month goes there), no dentist, no holidays, clothes, lunch at work - nothing at all.

I am not sure how can I accomodate all and stay within the £1300 that I will be getting per month to be honest?

How can I work out a SOA that will be acceptable to OR?

Can anyone help please?

The only thing that I can possibly cut down on is cancelling the SKY (would be able to do that at the end of June as a year will be up then), everything else is really a necessity (although I understand that people who do not have pets will disagree here).

Can someone advice please?

Thanks a lot.

kepar

I am sorry but I am one of the cynical one's.

To be honest looking at your SOA, you cannot help noticing how much you spend on your pets. Now that is your business but you are in a lot of financial difficulty. They are costing you £365 a month, now if the OR allows this, (some on here will argue that they cannot do without their pets and you should be allowed the expense) my main concern actually is that you go br and have your debts written off but what happens in 9 months time if your job comes to an end. Where are you going to get the money to keep the then..

Its obvious that you have been using credit to keep them, the worry is where will this credit come from in the future.

As to regards other items, OR's don't allow mobiles. Put that at £0 and raise land line to £60. Sky is a no no and the internet is only allowed if it is for work.


There is no allowance for dry cleaning (have to wear suits to work and generally look quite "presentable"), no hairdressing (even once in a while), no perscriptions (taking 3 different tablets every day - blood pressure - so about £22 per month goes there), no dentist, no holidays, clothes, lunch at work - nothing at all.

There is if you use the right form, someone will be along and point you in the right direction. But to be honest where is all that money for those extras coming from? You are well over your income now,

gettingready

Thanks a lot for posting - I do know the form to use for SOA, I just could not really apply it to my REAL circumstances so posted the expenditure as it stands (without using the form) with hope someone will help me out here.

Please appreciate those are my real expenses, I am completely honest in here as I really need help with working out a SOA that will be accepted.

I have not used the credit to keep my pets, my last job was 43k per year, I have been out of work for 6 months and now got a job that pays less than half of what my last job was paying but I was happy to accept that job just to get out of JSA which was a total nightmare.

I understand some people can't accept the fact that others consider their pets are indispensable and feel they have other priorities as I do not have car/content insurance/do not go out as those are not mine priorities... Everyone is different. My pets are my family and although those expenses seem high to people who do not have pets.. they are actually quite low considering it is a large dog and 6 cats.

Rigth now my cats are not insured as I had to cancel their insurance when I lost my job so I only pay 31 for dog insurance but as soon as I am back at work I will have to insure the cats too. Vet bills are very high and it is very unwise not to have them insured really.. false economy really.

BUT - this is not really about my pets as such...

Yes, it is a temporary job - I will deal with any issues when they arise when the job ends or hopefully find another (better paid one) in the meantime.

But right now I need advice as to what put on the SOA to accomodate all my expenses and to be acceptable by OR.

I do not know what else could I put on SOA in terms of the things I have mentioned that I did not put but which may be allowable?

I realise I already a bit over - cancelling the SKY will bring me to zero really as income=expenditure and there is not much else I can do about cutting down on things there but perhaps I can put some of pets expenses as something else? If I add lunches at work as an expense but take lunch from home for example? I really do not know that is why I am asking for some advice from people who perhaps were/are in similar position and managed to get through this?



Thanks a lot.

kepar

What I implied in my last comment was that you are over your income now, putting all the other expenses in will send you well over. You can put your pet expenses as something else fine, but you haven't got enough income to maintain this lifestyle.

gettingready

Thanks again - if I cancel the SKY.. my income = my expenditure and the balance is pretty much zero which is scary but at least not on minus...

What I am really trying to do is claim some expenses that I CAN do without (like lucnh at work) but really use this for the expenses that I already have (my animals) so oit looks easier on the eye on the SOA...

I rather go without myself than....

Thanks a lot again.

gettingready

Oh, I think I could also add my mobile contract to BR (still got a year to run this one) so that would be a bit of a cut - and just get a PAYG one....?

Landline I am not bothered, if I can find an internet provider that does not need a BT line (have O2 internet right now). Internet I need...

elliesmemory1

I really do understand how you feel about your pets, I would not be without mine they are my family, BUT you have to understand that you will have to cut down on their expences.
The or allowed me 30 for insurance and 20 for pet food. I was allowed 200 for groceries for me.
It is possible to get lower priced reasonable quality pet food.
I doubt very much that you would be allowed 200 for a dog walker.
I didnt put down internet or mobile phone on sao but added in to landline.
I dont have sky, have a freeview box, use charity shops and basic value supermarket brands.
I dont see how you will manage unless you can cut down on your pet costs Sorry

gettingready

Thanks a lot for posting - £200 for groceries for a single person?

If that is the case, this would be good as I can live on much less than that myself so would have a little room here.

£30 for insurance and £20 for food - for what pets? How many? If you do not mind me asking?

I got 7 all togetehr, 1 dog and 6 cats.

Dog walker - this is already heavily discounted as normal price is about £12 per hour min (London) and mine will be taking my dog for half a day from 7.30 am till 1pm for £200 per month. My dog suffers from separation anxiety and barks/howls when left alone (when she sees me leaving) so the dog walker will be taking her before I leave and bringing her back after lunch, having her stay at dog walker's house with her dogs. For less than a price of a daily one hour walk... I will be leaving home at 7:30 and getting back around 7pm, can not leave the dog alone for so many hours.

Charity shops are my favourite, value brand food for me is fine too, not scared of that.

I can keep landline on Soa but really cut it and swich to internet that does not neet a BT line - bit saved (hidden?) here too...

Thanks again for posting.

gatostar

kepar wrote: »

There is no allowance for dry cleaning (have to wear suits to work and generally look quite "presentable"), no hairdressing (even once in a while), no perscriptions (taking 3 different tablets every day - blood pressure - so about £22 per month goes there), no dentist, no holidays, clothes, lunch at work - nothing at all.,

Are you sure,that these expenditures are not allowed,since this allowances are even mentioned in the OR´s Technical Manual,i.e.these expenses might be allowed under certain circumstances....???

kepar

gatostar wrote: »

Are you sure,that these expenditures are not allowed,since this allowances are even mentioned in the OR´s Technical Manual,i.e.these expenses might be allowed under certain circumstances....???

You misread my post, I was quoting what the OP put in the original post. I know they are allowed, but cannot find link to SOA form.

gettingready

Sorry, I meant that I did nto make any allowance for that in my little expense summary.

I know those are allowable, no idea how much for what for a single person though...

Thanks for posting