SOA for me

pollyanna24

Oh boy, I know you guys are good at this stuff, but have resisted doing a SOA for so long as I don't have huge debt and do plan to have it gone by next April. However, mortgage is high (I know this belongs on another board), so wondered if there was any scope to cut down further.

Incomings
Me - 1,577.60
BF - 1,667.60
Board from lodger - 120

Monthly bills
Mortgage (185K, 35yrs, 2yr fixed) 885.86
Spending for bf 400.00
Spend for moi 400.00
Groceries for three people and a cat 210.00
Overpayment on mortgage 184.14
Petrol 150.00
Council tax 132.00
Mobile phones 80.00
Water 53.72
Travel card 52.65
Gas/electricity 20.00
Sky 37.00
Life (Norwich Union) 20.07
BF's motorbike insurance 14.70
BT 11.00
Cat insurance 11.04
Insurance for fridge 4.79
2666.97

Quarterly bills
TV Licence (Nov 2006, Feb 2007) 34.12 - 11.37

Bi-annual bills
Contact lenses (not sure) 150.00 - 25.00
Dentist (May 2007) 42.00 - 7.00


Annual bills
Services on car and bikes 480.00 - 40.00
Birthdays/Christmas (£30 each on 8 people) 480.00 - 40.00
Car insurance (Sep 2007) 350.00 - 29.17
Buildings/contents insurance (Apr 2007) 226.00 - 18.83
BF's bike insurance (Jul 2007) 180.00 - 15.00
Car tax (March 2007) 192.50 - 16.04
My bike insurance (Jul 2007) 150.00 - 12.50
My bike tax (Jul 2007) 15.00 - 1.25
BF's bike tax (Aug 2007) 15.00 - 1.25
217.42

Figures for non monthly bills are on the right divided down to what they would cost each month and then I put the total into a separate bills account so that when they do have to be paid, the money is there ready.

Comments on what is already there. Petrol is atrocious and sometimes costs more than this. It is a sports car and believe me when I say we have tried selling it, but no one seems to want one. Boyfriend needs it to get to work.

Water is high because when we moved in, we didn't receive a bill for months and then suddenly was hit with the bill after 6 months.

We are already in arrears with gas and electric so really should put this payment up.

Willsnarf1983

whats your joint income?


if ur debt is managebale why not just cut urs and ur partners spending from 800 per month which btw is loads to 600 a month, you'll hardly notice it...maintain a good style of loving and cut ur mortgage down by 200 a month


Will

pollyanna24

Sorry, I edited my post to stick in our income.

We've only just merged our income, so bf is a bit miffed at the moment that he only has £400 out of his £1,667.60 as it is.

He wants to put this up to £500, but as I pointed out this morning, this is for him to p**s up the wall and so really he doesn't need anymore. This is for personal stuff like haircuts, going out, blah blah.

I know at the moment we seem to have a quite a bit of spare income which I have been trying to put on the mortgage, but I think the main problem will be how we will cope in a year or so when it really will be time for us to have kids and therefore my wages will be hugely reduced.

Willsnarf1983

then why not ignore the mortgage for now, pay what ur normally pay and save that extra 200 into the 'family pot'?

what i am saying is 300 amonth (75 a we on luxuries (sp)) is massive anyway, and u prob won't miss it.

Why not get ur partner to give u a rough budget on where that 400 goes?

Will

pollyanna24

I suppose I could try. We did the whole merged wages thing on a two month trial and am a bit scared that he'll just bolt and demand all his wages back if I rock the boat. Not too sure what he spends it on, and think that maybe he should have some privacy (I don't tell him what I spend mine on, I usually save most of it, but don't want to put this towards housey stuff cos why should I when he blows all his? - I know that sounds bad. I think I'm trying to save mine to supplement my income when on maternity leave).

Willsnarf1983

i can see where your coming from but surely its not a great idea if u both go into life hiding things from each other. If your OH isn't up for sharing thou then your stuck i'm afraid....untill he gets that lightbulb moment theres nothing u can do

looking at it this way...he is only spending 25% of his wages on himself and the other 75% as a partnership/house thing so its not all bad from his side

Will

pollyanna24

I suppose that's a good way of looking at it. Thanks for your comments. I think if he had less than £400 for his beer and gadgets, they would end up on his credit card (btw the debt in my sig is all his from credit cards and buying a motorbike which I am helping to pay off I guess with the merged wages).