SOA Advice

Robicles2

Hi Guys,

Where can you see savings here. and how would you best recommend I find them?

Thanks,

Rob

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.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1196
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1196

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 425
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 104
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 22
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 110
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1031


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Halifax........................239.......0.........0
Wonga..........................1074......1074......0
Wage Day Advance...............350.......350.......0
Natwest........................1499......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........3162......1424......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,196
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,031
Available for debt repayments........... 165
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,424
Amount short for making debt repayments. -1,259

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -3,162
Net Assets.............................. -3,162

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

Tixy

Hi

Do you claim the single occupier discount on your council tax?
Do you not pay tv licence?
Could you cancel or reduce your satellite tv package (sometimes if you ring up and threaten to cancel they will give you a half price offer for 6months or similar).
Groceries is probably the biggest area you could reduce. Its possible to get this down to around £100, though you may need to make some changes to the sort of meals you cook. If you have a look on the oldstyle section of the forum you should pick up lots of tips. Try meal planning before you go to the shops, try the drop a brand challenge and try cooking more meals from scratch and cutting out prepared foods & ready meals if you eat them.
Is other travel costs the cheapest way of travelling - eg is it cheaper to buy a monthly travelcard or season ticket if you don't already?

Anyway you could increase your income? do overtime or a second job to fit around your current one?

JasX

Groceried is VERY high for a single person, should be able to at least halve that bu learning how to cook (see old style section of the forum).

Are you definitely in a position to clear both payday loans this month.... taking one of those and not being CERTAIN you can repay rather than rollover turns them from being just an extortionate rip-off into something that'll sink you (as opposed to the minor blemish on your credit record whatever you took them to pay in the first place would have been).

On the whole not a horror story yet but could rapidly take a turn for the worst if not addressed..

Any chance of being able to increase your income in the near future while this gets sorted? extra job? extra hours? pay rise? promotion at work etc etc?

MFSaver

Council tax............................. 104

Single Occupier Discount as mentioned before. If you have not claimed this, you should be able to ask the council to backdate this to when your single person occupancy started (Proof should not be too difficult if you are the only tenant on your tenancy agreement). If you get money back, put it aside to cover your debts before the non-zero interest kicks in.

Mobile phone............................ 30

Are you out of contract? Will pay as you go or a cheaper monthly tariff suit your needs?

TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30

Cable TV is a luxury if you have debts. However I am guessing that you do not have cable TV and this is what you pay for line rental and broadband, since you pay nothing for a TV licence. You can get far cheaper uncapped broadband/line rental.

Groceries etc. ......................... 200

This is high. You can easily knock off 50-100 quid without sacrificing food quality. Are you eating out a lot? As mentioned before, learn to cook and bring homemade lunches. Learn to shop efficiently as well (either by going to markets or taking advantage of regular BOGOF/discount deals).

Other travel............................ 110

This seems very high. Are you taking advantage of season tickets? Bus versus train?

Haircuts................................ 20

This seems okay if you have a certain hairstyle that requires monthly maintenance, but if you are like me who only needs a dry cut, this should not be costing you 20 quid a month.

Entertainment........................... 50

Reasonable amount, but would it be possible to cut back on this, even by a small amount? At least until you pay back your debt.


It might be tricky for a while, but your total debt is not too large. Once you clear those debts, you might find that you are already used to a thriftier lifestyle and can look forward to seeing your savings build up.

I do recommend that you start saving for an instantly accessible emergency fund. In general, people recommend 3 to 6 months’ living expenses. You might take a while to achieve this amount, especially since you have debts, but it is an important step to take.