My girlfriend's SOA

MattSS

With her consent here is my girlfriend's SOA for your scrutiny please!

She has £2800 of outstanding debt on a 0% deal ending in October and we are hoping to get as much paid off before then as possible.
She lodges so doesn't have a lot of the usual outgoings but being a teacher has the summer off now.

I'm working my moneysaving mgic on her best I can but we need your help! Hit her with it!!!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1360
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1360

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 170
Rent.................................... 315
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 160
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 8
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 14
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 60
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 982


Assets
Cash.................................... 1000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 11500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 12500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 11500....(170)......4
Total secured & HP debts...... 11500.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Virgin CC......................2800......28........0
Total unsecured debts..........2800......28........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,360
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 982
Available for debt repayments........... 378
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 28
Amount left after debt repayments....... 350

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 12,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -11,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,800
Net Assets.............................. -1,800

Number_Cruncher

Sell the car and get a cheaper one, or get a summer job?

elsiepac

Hi there

It looks good overall, nothing jumping out except for holiday, but again not extortionate amounts.

From what you've posted, it looks like she can pay £350 extra each month - however does she actually have this left over every month?!

Things I noticed on the SOA:

MattSS wrote: »

With her consent here is my girlfriend's SOA for your scrutiny please!

She has £2800 of outstanding debt on a 0% deal ending in October and we are hoping to get as much paid off before then as possible.
She lodges so doesn't have a lot of the usual outgoings but being a teacher has the summer off now.

I'm working my moneysaving mgic on her best I can but we need your help! Hit her with it!!!

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1360
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1360

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 170 any way this can be reduced?
Rent.................................... 315 seems a lot just for lodging?
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 35 high - is she in contract? IF not switch to PAYG. If she IS, she can reduce tariff without affecting contract term - generally needs to have had contract for 6 months but not always the case - e.g. text/internet bolt on not using can come off, things like that. I can help further on this if needed.
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 160 high - assume she travels a long way for work? Can she cut down at all?
Road tax................................ 0 why none? does she have one of the new cars that exempts her?
Car Insurance........................... 30 could possibly come down, depends what is included
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 5 is this realistic? £60 in a year to cover MOT, tyres and service?
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 she never has a prescription? Is exempt?
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 20 shop around depending on the pet could get cheaper
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 8
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 15
Haircuts................................ 14
Entertainment........................... 30 is this ACTUALLY what she spends for a whole month?
Holiday................................. 60 mentioned this above - possibly halve?
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 982


Assets
Cash.................................... 1000
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 11500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 12500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 11500....(170)......4
Total secured & HP debts...... 11500.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Virgin CC......................2800......28........0
Total unsecured debts..........2800......28........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,360
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 982
Available for debt repayments........... 378
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 28
Amount left after debt repayments....... 350 does she actually have this left over each month?!

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 12,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -11,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,800
Net Assets.............................. -1,800

FireWyrm

Ok, well, you have a very healthy £350 per month after everything else to put towards it. Can she slide the debt onto another 0% card while you hit it with that each month?

bottleofred

Hi Matt,

Totally agree with elsiepac and firewyrms posts. If she doesn't have the £350 left at the end of the month, then she needs to start keeping a spending diary. You can get small notebooks from the Co-op or any other shop of course for around £1 and your girlfriend should put absolutely everything she spends into it, as you'd be surprised how quickly money can be spent.

CH27

A spending diary is a good idea.
She could clear that credit card in less than 12 months.

MattSS

Thanks to everyone that's got back. I've had her read your comments and we agree a spending diary might be useful as she's not sure where that £350 is!! She'll get a notebook and I'll be encouraging her to use it. I think it's fair to say she had a semi-LBM back before we met. She's stopped building her debt and been switching between 0% deals but never really worked the debt back down, I'm pushing her for that now and there's no resistance which is good!

I've just introduced her to topcashback and she loves it! She's trawling through trying to find good free cashback deals as we speak!

To explain a few of the figures.

The car's a brand new Fiat 500 twinair so it's not going anywhere for the time being. That said it is tax exempt, has low running costs (she gets the same mileage from her 35 litre tank as she used to from a 60 litre diesel!!) and as such we're estimating low upkeep costs.

She works in Surrey and £315 for a nice new 3 bed house unoccupied in the week is better than the £400 she was paying for a grotty flat previously so I think we're happy with that!

She commutes back home to the midlands most weekends so that's what drives the petrol expenses up - although obviously this will actually be reduced while she's back for the summer.

The £20 'pet insurance' is actually £20 she pays to her parents for food and upkeep of the dogs while she's away with £8 'other insurance' being pet ins. I guess we mixed that up little.

I'll try and take a look at her phone bill with her.

It seems she's not doing a lot wrong though but the gap in what the SOA is saying and what she's actually seeing is something to be investigated. I'll try and encourage her to get on here: a spending diary and the NSD challenge would go a long way I think

elsiepac

Hi Matt

Thanks for clarifing some of the comments. Car makes more sense, so the figures look more reasonable.

I would suggest that the £350 is going on incidentals and possibly extra food or grocery items. Make up. Toiletries. Cleaning products. Did she remember to include all this in the SOA? As I struggle to see where they would fit in based on those figures.

I would suggest halving the holiday budget for now, or maybe reduce to £50, at least that's a tenner, and I would also suggest upping the entertainment budget and possibly the grocery budget if she wasn't including the things relevant to her that I've mentioned above. Then, every time she wants a magazine, a bottle of wine, a chocolate bar that wasn't budgeted for in that weeks grocery budget, she must take it from the entertainment budget.
My suggestion is as follows: when she gets paid, I would remove £250 (I'm allowing an extra £100 in her budget as we know it's not 100% accurate due to the fact she does not have this surplus every month) in cash from the account. Tell her to give it to you - somewhere she can have it if needed but away from every day areas so she's not tempted. Then try to go through the month based on a revised version of the above SOA (whether you use my suggestions is up to you) and I'll re-iterate, keep a spending diary. If it gets near the end of the month and she's asking for some of that £250 back then you know that something isn't working. Again, you should be able to identify where the problem lay using the spending diary and go from there.

Good luck!

LC x

malcolmffc

Could she keep in touch with friends and family over Skype some weekends using a webcam? Obviously not give up going home completely, but maybe go down to once a fortnight? That way you'll halve most of your petrol costs.

BeautyandtheBeast_3

how about getting the train to the midlands rather than driving - would that be cheaper?
She could do tutoring on the side to get some extra cash depending on what she subject she teaches. What does she teach and is she an NQT?

Phelpsie001

I'd say use the £1,000 savings now to pay off a large chunk of the debt, and then throw everything at it!!