My financial affairs - AKA Why am I always skint?

klfairy

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.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1885
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1613
Benefits................................ 81.2
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3579.2

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 490
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 74
Electricity............................. 105
Gas..................................... 90
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 67.27
Telephone (land line)................... 43
Mobile phone............................ 58
TV Licence.............................. 24.25
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 36.62
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 260
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 85.81
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 10
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 20
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 32
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1515.95

Landline is combined landline/broadband fee.



Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 100000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 102000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 86000....(490)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 86000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
My credit card.................1865......35.67.....12.95
OH credit card 1...............3300......70........0
OH credit card 2...............400.......10........0
OH overdraft...................2200......10........0
Total unsecured debts..........7765......125.67....-

I don't know what the APR is on OH's CCs.


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,579.2
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,515.95
Available for debt repayments........... 2,063.25
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 125.67
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,937.58

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 102,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -86,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,765
Net Assets.............................. 8,235

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

So... why are we ALWAYS skint?

We also have overdrafts:

Mine - £2k. Costs me £1 per day (Halifax) no APR as such.
OH - £2.2k paying £10 a month

We also want to put away £350 a month towards our wedding (already booked).

tallyhoh

Good question, why are you always skint & why an overdraft? I think you need to start keeping a spending diary to find out where the money is going. Nearly £2000 a month is an awful lot to mislay.

By way of comparison we are a family of 3 & live on £850 a month (no mortage) that covers food as well!

Are your water rates really that high? & do you really only pay £50 petrol, is one a company car?

Tixy

You need to put your overdraft on your list of debts.
Are you only paying minimum payments on all your debts? Or is some of your £1937 surplus paying off those debts.
Have you started those £350 savings yet - if so then put them in to the statement of affairs - that will reduce your surplus to £1587.

If you don't have that money spare each month and its not going on debts then something is seriously wrong with your statement of affairs. First start a spending diary where you write down everything you spend (do you really spend nothing on entertainment, haircuts)? and then try to do a back spending diary for last month by getting out all your bank statements and working out how much cash you withdrew, what debit card payments you both make (what you've spent on your credit cards if anything - hopefully not).


Looking at your figures

klfairy wrote: »

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.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1885
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1613
Benefits................................ 81.2
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3579.2

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 490
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 74
Electricity............................. 105 this looks very high, are you paying off arrears? If not try to reduce your usage and shop around for the cheapest deal?
Gas..................................... 90 this also looks quite high.
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 67.27 is this metered on unmeasured?
Telephone (land line)................... 43
Mobile phone............................ 58
TV Licence.............................. 24.25
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 36.62 phone & sky look high - you might be able to get cheaper combined deals
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 260 does this include your toiletries, cleaning products etc? have you included any top up shops as well as main weekly shops (£260 is certainly easily doable but just wondering if some of the missing funds are here?
Clothing................................ 20 is £240 a year all you spend on 3 of you, for clothes, shoes etc?
Petrol/diesel........................... 50 is this correct? it looks low? are 2 cars required?
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 85.81
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20 is this enough for 2 cars, servicing, mot, new tyres etc?
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 10
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 20
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 32
Life assurance ......................... 0 do you not have this?
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 0 probably need to budget for this
Entertainment........................... 0 and this
Holiday................................. 0 and this if you have one/ or are planning a honeymoon.
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1515.95

Landline is combined landline/broadband fee.

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 100000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 102000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 86000....(490)......0 what APR? repayment or interest only?
Total secured & HP debts...... 86000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
My credit card.................1865......35.67.....12.95
OH credit card 1...............3300......70........0
OH credit card 2...............400.......10........0
OH overdraft...................2200......10........0
Total unsecured debts..........7765......125.67....-

I don't know what the APR is on OH's CCs.


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,579.2
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,515.95
Available for debt repayments........... 2,063.25
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 125.67
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,937.58

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 102,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -86,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,765
Net Assets.............................. 8,235

klfairy

Things are a bit up in the air atm. OH is just working again after being made redundant in Feb, and has got a new job starting in January (much better job!!). He's earning a little less than stated above. He drives about ten minutes to work at the moment, and I'm off work, so there's very little driving going on. Our second car is SORN-d and uninsured until needed again (just an old banger).

We're on a water meter, and it's lower than the rates would be.

I started a spending diary just a couple of days ago. I have a feeling that it's lots of little things that we don't think about that drain our finances.

Hmm just realised I've missed my OH's loan payment off the SOA. That's £219/month for another 5 years.

angelavdavis

Hi,

I would look at your bank statements and start filling in some of the zeros on this SOA.

So, you NEVER spend money on haircuts, prescriptions, holidays, entertainment, building insurance, life assurance? I would be really surprised if that were really the case. You need to start keeping a spending diary for a couple of months to realy open your eyes to what you are really spending on.

As tallyhoh says, you list two cars, yet the car tax is very low for two cars, as is the MOT/garage costs.

The gas and electricity also looks high, I would shop around for this if this is accurate. I have a 7 bedroomed house and we pay £189 per month, you are paying £195 per month according to the SOA.

klfairy

We haven't started putting the £350 aside yet. We've been concentrating on sorting things out after OH was on JSA. First Direct closed his current account without telling him and we had to shuffle everything around to sort things out.

Tbh my OH isn't at all good with money. He got about £6k in redundancy money in the Spring and despite me asking him where he was up to with money he didn't tell me what was going on and instead ran up the £2.2k overdraft. He then forgot to sign on for JSA one day in the summer, meaning we missed out on over a hundred pounds. Until recently he didn't have access to money unless it was through me. I felt like a right cow, but it was the only way at the time. I'm keeping very close track of what's going in and out. He's fine with me sorting things out financially, but I notice he's still not good at opening his post. At least I can tell what he's spending now.

I think I need to go back to the SOA again. I haven't accounted for £10 a week on tobacco (OH's) as well as the other little bits and bobs.

klfairy

One car is off the road, so no expenses for it at all.

klfairy

Revised SOA below.

Currently no life assurance. I can't get any (kidney failure) and OH's policy lapsed while he was out of work. I have asked him to sort it out.

I have no idea what the interest is on the mortgage. I can't find the paperwork atm. It's recently come off the fixed rate period and iirc we looked around at the time but couldn't find a better deal.

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.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1885
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1613
Benefits................................ 81.2
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3579.2

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 490
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 31
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 74
Electricity............................. 105
Gas..................................... 90
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 67.27
Telephone (land line)................... 43
Mobile phone............................ 58
TV Licence.............................. 24.25
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 36.62
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 400
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 170
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 10
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 20
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 30
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 32
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2136.14


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 100000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 102000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 86000....(490)......0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 0........(31).......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 86000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
My credit card.................1865......35.67.....12.95
OH credit card 1...............3300......70........0
OH credit card 2...............400.......10........0
OH overdraft...................2200......10........0
Total unsecured debts..........7765......125.67....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,579.2
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,136.14
Available for debt repayments........... 1,443.06
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 125.67
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,317.39

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 102,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -86,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,765
Net Assets.............................. 8,235

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

Tixy

Well thats starting to look better.

I guess the difficultly comes from that OH is only just back in work so you don't yet know if you've got an extra £1000 to put towards your debts. Hopefully you will have and you'll be able to get rid of them pretty quickly. Make sure you get OH to find out what his APRs are - that way you'll know which order to tackle your debts. Hopefully by next payday you'll be able to afford to pay off one debt in full at least.

It looks like OHs loan is still missing from the SoA?

Is the £40 entertainment his cigs?
Other things that people often forget about (and a spending diary will show) are things like magazines, lottery tickets, newspapers, grabbing a coffee on the way to work, buying lunches at work, sweets/toys for the children, entertainment such as soft play or swimming for kids, or dvds rentals, or going out for a meal or a few drinks etc.

klfairy

Oh my word. I've just dug out my OH's credit card bills. His Capital One card charges 34% APR and he's even drawn out cash on it!

Tixy

klfairy wrote: »

Oh my word. I've just dug out my OH's credit card bills. His Capital One card charges 34% APR and he's even drawn out cash on it!

I hope its the £400 one? Pay it off asap, only pay minimums on everything else (and certainly don't start savings until its paid).
Then hit him round the head with the statement And tell him to cut the card up.