Got to Change

prepareathome

Well after years of actually being a member of the site but never following any advice I started to actually join in at the beginning of the month and already had my eyes opened over my over spending.

We were in some debt and had been for so long that it had become a normal way of life, we had, had many close shaves with baliffs, but always somehow managed to sort things out so we never lost anything.

BUT we never learnt we continued on repeating the same mistakes over and over.

We were very lucky our actual debts this year were about £17k but we inherited £22k from my darling MIL and paid off everything then replaced bits and bobs that badly needed replacing in the house, but now all the money has gone and although we are debt free at this moment in time come next April we will be in debt again and realising this was my wake up call. I do not want to go into old age ( I am 55 and hubby 57) in debt. So came back to the site and am learning but know I can do much more.



So will post a statement of affairs as I know plenty here will point out what other ways we can cut down.;)

Thanks

prepareathome

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 559.87
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 658
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1217.87

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 313.64
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 130
Electricity............................. 80
Gas..................................... 80
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 33.34
Telephone (land line)................... 18
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 42
Internet Services....................... 6.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 325
Clothing................................ 5
Petrol/diesel........................... 60
Road tax................................ 2.92
Car Insurance........................... 57
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 19.34
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 22
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 1291.74


Assets
Cash.................................... 200
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2700

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

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


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,217.87
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,291.74
Available for debt repayments........... -73.87
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount short for making debt repayments. -73.87

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,700
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 2,700

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

prepareathome

That is our income just now but my income is Incapacity Benefit and just filled in the ESA form and I know its unlikely I will be given it without a fight so income will go down most likely as soon as I have had the medical, when this happens I will do another SOA

One thing I will point out ahead of time is the Sky only came about in the summer when we got the money, we had not had it for years but I thought I had paid Sky for the full year they told me they would take the payments as two 6 month ones but as my dad took ill and then died around then I didn't check and they only took 6 months at that time, I presume they plan to take the second 6 months in Jan, but we do not have it, so we are stuck in the contract till next June so I will have to pay it monthly till then. It was just treat for hubby as he loves his sport but we knew it would only be for the year.

Mobiles are prepay for both of us.

The emergency fund is the Sealed Pot Challenge on here - I have a pot with a counter and it actually has £60.93 in it at the moment I put all change in it but not £1 / £2 coins in it. I have do try to keep £1 coins in a box. So far not quite fully living within wages with putting the £1 coins away so I have to break into it for things I had forgotten to buy, but have just this week managed to put more in than had taken out in previous week.

BT at moment is £61 in credit towards future bills. I paid the £120 for a year line rental in July so that is due again then and also paid £100 in advance to BT to cover calls ( we pay the £5 for all calls and £1 a month for cheap international calls as our oldest son is in Melbourne and I phone him once a month and he calls me as well, with the payment it works out can chat with him for an hour and only costs me less than £1, plus I have friends in usa that only have mobiles and can call them for pennies)

I have joined the grocery challenge and did put a budget of £250 as I had totally no idea of what I spend and gone almost double this month, but I have taken a note of what I was spending and hoping now I have some stocks in I will cut that right down, but after all my life just spending all extra money on food its going to take me a bit of time to spend a set budget only.

Even if no one reads this I am going to put everything here just for my own sake, I feel if publish it, it will keep me focused on trying to save.

So even though SOA shows we live over our income as this moment in time its not true, but in reality we need to be putting the amount I have stated for sky, phone, council tax etc away to have the money when they become due and as yet am not doing that.

The medical and dental expenses are my prepay certificate as that works out far cheaper than paying for each of my meds, so of course need to put money away for when its due again in October ( I only found out about it then, been struggling to pay for prescriptions before then.

prepareathome

Just realised not put anything down for car maintenance, car has been good so far not had much needed doing but she is 5 years old so we know she will need more as time goes by as she is not likely to be replaced in many years. SO I think I should tweek that SOA to get a true amount I need to have.

prepareathome

Well been looking at budget and as I see it sky will go when contract up in July, when BT line rental is due in July will have a look and see if I can get a better deal elsewhere, Entertainment is my audio book club memberships, my knitting mags ( 2 a month) and hubbys' bowls. So I will have to cut out the audio book club memberships and my mags as can get plenty of knitting patterns free on-line. Oh gosh just realised I have put down the yearly entertainment bill as if its for a month going totally dotty. So will do another SOA and replace the one on here

prepareathome

Right have updated SOA and now just have to try and cut down on grocery shopping. We will find out sometime between now and New Year whether hubby is one of those who has to take redundancy and most likely I will know if I am to go onto ESA. So New Year might bring about us having no income at all, that should be interesting. If there is any change of our income I will put up a new SOA.

If I can cut the grocery shopping - aiming to get it down to £100/£150 a month then that will take care of shortfall but will not give me the money to pay in full CT or WR and CT I have worked out at 12 monthly installments but council only let you pay over 10 so will change SOA for that as that will give me a truer idea of budget.

Right now I have changed CT to over 10 months and so our deficit has gone up and I have not included me smoking or hubbys' coffees or breakfasts if papers are late and so he is stuck around work before they come and so doesn't get home till hours later - ok they pay him for any time he is stuck there at work on time but papers not there, so I guess that will cover it.

I am trying hard to stop smoking but being stuck in bed 80 - 95% each day makes it hard to do so, but that is just an excuse, I must stop.

merlot123

prepareathome wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 559.87
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 658
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1217.87

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 313.64
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 130
Electricity............................. 80
Gas..................................... 80
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 33.34 is this metered?
Telephone (land line)................... 18
Mobile phone............................ 20 can this be reduced a wee bit?
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 42 You can't afford this.
Internet Services....................... 6.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 325 - you could certainly knock at least a £100 per month of this
Clothing................................ 5
Petrol/diesel........................... 60
Road tax................................ 2.92
Car Insurance........................... 57
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 15
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 19.34
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 22 this seems high for contents only
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 No gifts?
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 1291.74


Assets
Cash.................................... 200
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2700

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

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


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,217.87
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,291.74
Available for debt repayments........... -73.87
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount short for making debt repayments. -73.87

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,700
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 2,700

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

Good morning.

I have added a couple of comments in.

The car is costing a lot per month, do you really need it? Grocery shopping can be done online etc.

Do you smoke whilst in bed?

merlot123

prepareathome

Hi Good Morning, yes car is essential as i cannot walk much so no car i do not go out - in reality my DLA is kept to pay for car, so really shouldn't include car or DLA in SOA but wanted to put down everything. Also hubby needs it to get to work, he has to be in at 5am and no buses and to far to walk and no one lives anywhere near who he can car share with, actually before I received DLA 5 years ago and we didn't have a car hubbys' taxi fare/bus fare came even then to more that what the petrol and ins comes to now. Car is not a mobility one, we own it now, thankfully all paid for, as hubby uses it to go to work. If i didn't go out when I could to do shopping I would never leave the house and can tell you when I go through a bad phase and do not get out for a month or so i get rather badly depressed, sometimes I just have to get hubby to take me for a run not going anywhere in particular if not up to going to shops just to get out. I do like to go shopping when I can, makes me feel I am part of the human race as everything else in my life is done on-line and its nice to see other human beings not just chat to them on-line as I do now as that is where all my friends are, lost most of my old friends as cannot do things with them, only two still come and visit when I am up to it. Before we got the car we would get a taxi and I would go to shops - cannot really pay a taxi to take you for a drive and going to shops I would end up spending even more than I do now. Hubbys hobby also used to cost in taxis as he could get buses in evenings but as he had to take about 3 that added up and on sundays if he was playing away he would have to take a taxi to whom ever he was travelling live as if they were going down south he would have to leave around 5am as no buses again. His hobby is the thing that keeps him going, without that he would be depressed. When we first got car we used to be able to get a tank full of petrol for £36, now its £42 and insurance was so much cheaper but jumped this year, last year was only £32

Yes I smoke in bed, with being in it some much. I of course don't on bad days when lying down but when as now can sit up propped up I smoke. In fact only room I smoke in, hubby and I now have different rooms as me being up and down during night was stopping him getting sleep.

Thanks

prepareathome

I have redone my SOA minus my DLA and all car related items so I can see exactly what I am working with, as although DLA covers it, it does tend to get spent as it comes in instead of being put aside

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 559.87
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 403
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 962.87

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 313.64
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 130
Electricity............................. 80
Gas..................................... 80
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 33.34
Telephone (land line)................... 18
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 42
Internet Services....................... 6.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 325
Clothing................................ 5
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 19.34
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 1134.82


Assets
Cash.................................... 200
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2700

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

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


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 962.87
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,134.82
Available for debt repayments........... -171.95
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount short for making debt repayments. -171.95

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,700
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 2,700

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

prepareathome

Well today is first day when i start to work within my budget as pay day - after paying the rent we are left with £134 so have to put money away for the future bills which up till now I haven't done and I have written out a shopping list which I must stick to, its £25 for food no more and that is going to be one of the hardest things.

prepareathome

Well I did it, shopping is in and in budget which is good. Not so good had a chat with benefits advisor about what we can claim if I don't get ESA. LA has cut right back on who can claim HB and CTB to basically those on income around income support/JSA level so that would mean we would have £11k to live on only but then by time rent and council tax is taken off ( and rent going up to £73 in April and even if CT stays at £1.3k ) we would be left with £5.9k a year to live on which is less than we would get if hubby was unemployed and claiming for himself and me. So we would have to either struggle on with less income than even someone who is unemployed does yet hubby would be working or join the army of unemployed, not some thing he wants to do obviously, but we might face no other choice.