Referred from benifits & work section.

andrewb4709

Hi.

I have been referred to here from the above section, i made an original post on this thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3262710 , where i was told to do a SOA and post here.

My OP says why i posted, but just in short, my oh suffers from severe anxity and can often get severe panic attacks when out in town centre, long journeys or in strange places, for this reason she tried to claim IB which is now employment allowence, and has been refused because she has not paid enough NI stamps. On a month to month basis we are struggling as we have a big council tax debt outstanding which i am paying back until october this year. We op to see if there is anything else that my oh could claim or just for some advice really.

My SOA is below, any help greatly recieved. Thanks in advance.x

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1500
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 180
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1680

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 500
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 220
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 60
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 26
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 280
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 17
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 15
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 45
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
(Unnamed monthly expense)............... 0
smoking................................. 100
bank account charge..................... 12.95
work - lunch etc........................ 100
Gym..................................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 1720.95


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 900
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 900

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,680
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,720.95
Available for debt repayments........... -40.95
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount short for making debt repayments. -40.95

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 900
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 900

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

suleskerry

At first glance, I see there is a child in the household, but no child benefit or child tax credit.

Are you working? Do you qualify for Working Tax Credit? If you are not working, you can put in a joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance and the amount will reflect your partner and dependent children.

ETA: she needs to appeal the ESA decision. See the CAB on that. And has she applied for DLA yet?

andrewb4709

suleskerry wrote: »

At first glance, I see there is a child in the household, but no child benefit or child tax credit.

Are you working? Do you qualify for Working Tax Credit? If you are not working, you can put in a joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance and the amount will reflect your partner and dependent children.

ETA: she needs to appeal the ESA decision. See the CAB on that. And has she applied for DLA yet?

My bad sorry, i put ctc and cb under benefits, she has no other income at all.

I work full time and bring home £375 per week, dont qualify for wtc from info given to us by HMRC tc section.

Note sure what ETA means lol, why appeal ESA decision, not sure if oh is elligble for DLA?

thank you.

browneyedbazzi

I'm going to state the obvious: £100 a month for smoking is an expense you'd be wise to do away with.

Also, £280 for groceries for 3 people is an awful lot. You should be able to half that if you shop smartly - you'll find lots of tips on what to cook etc on the Old School board. You might also want to consider packed lunches rather than spending £100 a month on work lunches!

suleskerry

Okay, apply on paper for Working Tax Credits or ring them because if you're bringing home that little and you have a non-working partner and dependent child, you might indeed qualify.

The smoking, okay, I'm not going to touch on that too much because my husband smokes rolling baccy but we never drink or go out or get takeaways and he spends about 50 quid/month on that. Have you switched to rollies? Amber Leaf is the cheapest, IME.

Yes, you can apply for DLA for mental health problems!

Where are you shopping? I understand, in a rural area, it might not be possible to cut this. Are you in a rural area with only few shops that are not Tesco/ASDA?

Do you belong to freegle, or have equipment like a slow cooker that is cheaper to run than switching on the oven or the hob?

Sorry, 'ETA' is 'edited to add'.

andrewb4709

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

I'm going to state the obvious: £100 a month for smoking is an expense you'd be wise to do away with.

Also, £280 for groceries for 3 people is an awful lot. You should be able to half that if you shop smartly - you'll find lots of tips on what to cook etc on the Old School board. You might also want to consider packed lunches rather than spending £100 a month on work lunches!

toattly agree, i give up last week, oh trying as we speak, total waste of money.

£280 is what we spend at most, we never spend over £70 per week, but can range from £35 to £70 through out month, will have a look on the old school board, thanks, watch the pennys and the pounds look after themselves lol.

Oh just doing me a packed lunch as we speak lol, reason for spending usually comes in overtime, i work in utilitie sector so sometimes have food when i can grab it due to irreguler hours.

thanks,

beanielou

Your OH can claim DLA on account of her mental health problems.
The number to ring to get a form is 08457 123456.
She will need her N.I. no.
Make sure someone who knows what they are doing fills in the form as it is a complex form.

Oneday77

Just a few pointers.
£60 on mobiles, try sim free deals. Even if tied to a contract you can normally downgrade a level after 6-9 months.
£45 a month for haircuts?
For eating out of hours, try keeping some super noodles or a pot noodle handy. Lets be honest any food you grab as a snack will rarely be healthy.

You do need to budget for emergncies mind you, but cut the groceries and you will be within budget with room to spare.

beanielou

Oh & could you change to a bank account that doesent have such a high monthly charge,

andrewb4709

suleskerry wrote: »

Okay, apply on paper for Working Tax Credits or ring them because if you're bringing home that little and you have a non-working partner and dependent child, you might indeed qualify.

Going to aplly tomorrow.

The smoking, okay, I'm not going to touch on that too much because my husband smokes rolling baccy but we never drink or go out or get takeaways and he spends about 50 quid/month on that. Have you switched to rollies? Amber Leaf is the cheapest, IME.

I give up last week, oh trying to quit too, fingers crossed lol.

Yes, you can apply for DLA for mental health problems!

Is this a seperate claim from ESA, JC told oh she not entitled to this.?

Where are you shopping? I understand, in a rural area, it might not be possible to cut this. Are you in a rural area with only few shops that are not Tesco/ASDA?

Got a tesco, asda, sainsburys, lidl, aldi, farmfood, we tend to split between asda,lidl,aldi and farmfoods.

Do you belong to freegle, or have equipment like a slow cooker that is cheaper to run than switching on the oven or the hob?

freegle?? have never heard of this, we have no slow cooker, so will lok for a nice cheap one lol.

Sorry, 'ETA' is 'edited to add'.

thank you for helping us. x

andrewb4709

Oneday77 wrote: »

Just a few pointers.
£60 on mobiles, try sim free deals. Even if tied to a contract you can normally downgrade a level after 6-9 months.
£45 a month for haircuts?
For eating out of hours, try keeping some super noodles or a pot noodle handy. Lets be honest any food you grab as a snack will rarely be healthy.

You do need to budget for emergncies mind you, but cut the groceries and you will be within budget with room to spare.

You dont get a figure like mine from eating salds lol, if we didnt have a big ct debt we would be within our money, with just a few small cutbacks lol, thank you.