Help! Number dyslexia!

dancingfairy

Have you tried the SOA calculator at makesenseofcards website? I don't know if you can fill that in and post the results up - I'm sure people will be able to tell you if you've made a mistake - ie put a yearly figure instead of a monthly figure or something, also you don't have to do any adding up (I don't think ) it ads it all up for you and I'm sure that people can explain the answers to you - ie whether it shows you have money left or are actually spending money that you haven't got.
Apologies if this is not possible - I don't know anything about number issues.
If you think you have enough and you are just spending it willy nilly and not sure where it is going then maybe taking a set amount each week out - say 50 pounds and see how long you can make it last. I'm just wondering whether dealing in actual phsyical money will make things easier?
I think the best time to pay the bills is as soon as possible after getting money into the bank (allow a few days for it to clear and for bank holidays etc) then you'll know that after a bit of time that the money left in your account is yours to spend. You'll also end up with less in interest charges if you do it that way.
The SOA link is here;
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html
If you fill it in as best you can, then click on the MSE button, then you will need to edit your post and remove the little bit that says posted with permission of maksenseofcards.com (you need to take this bit out because as a new user you are not allowed to post links yet and if you leave that bit in it will stop you posting the whole message). Have a go at that and see how you get on.
Best of Luck
df

Wellyboots6

Ok, I am giving it a go! Thanks

dancingfairy

You can always redo it if it goes wrong. I've seen several where people have put 1000 pounds a month instead of 10 pounds a month or put a yearly figure in where it should be monthly.
df

Wellyboots6

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1693
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1693
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 579
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 105
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 36
Telephone (land line)................... 16
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 29
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 20
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 16
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 13
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1274

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
capital one....................1000......30........0
natwest........................900.......30........0
family.........................6000......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........7900......60........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,693
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,274
Available for debt repayments........... 419
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 60
Amount left after debt repayments....... 359
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -7,900
Net Assets.............................. -7,900



This is done from a list my partner wrote out for me a while back, all I have done is copy the numbers in to the right-ish bits. It wasn't happy when I did the calculate bit because I have put petrol but not other car expenses. That is because we hadn't got round to working out tax and insurance etc so I have nothing to copy down for that! I don't know if it is much help being so incomplete, it may give you a rough idea though

McKneff

Your gas and electric bills are horrendous for a 1 person household.

Could you ask your landlord if you could get a water meter.

Television licence is about half of what you have there

Are you on a contract phone, could you get it cheaper.

You really need contents insurance.

PedroMatias

You say you own a car, but it's not listed on your assets. Admittedly, it won't help cashflow, but it all adds to the picture!

Vicky496

It sounds like you're talking about Dyscalculia.

There's some information about it on the British Dyslexia Website: http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/about-dyslexia/schools-colleges-and-universities/dyscalculia.html

There is not really an accepted way of testing for it - particularly in adults as the only test on there is for children and varies with their age (and it's not terribly reliable), but it gives some links to information about how to cope if you exhibit the symptoms. A lot of the practical advice is the same for dyslexia, but there are quite a few books available with useful exercises specifically tailored to helping to improve maths skills and they're the sort of thing you might get in a library if you didn't want to fork out for them.

Wellyboots6

Electric bill was just a guess as I have only lived here 6 months and so my first bill was tiny and I havent had one since.
Gas has been very high recently because it is an old house that I live in so is full of drafty doors and damp bits. Also, next doors roofers fell through my bathroom ceiling and so I have an unexpected skylight at the moment! Pretty when you can lie in the bath looking at the stars, but also very cold!

Would a water meter be cheaper? I always avoided one because people had said utilities on meters can be alot more expensive (my gas is on a pre-pay meter and it eats through gas)

I have no idea why my tv licence is so expensive. When I bought it, I asked to pay in installments but at no point did it tell me anywhere what the installments would be until the first payment came out! I assume it will go down at some point?

I am on a contract phone, with 6 months still left on the contract. Is it cheaper to switch over, would they charge me for ending the contract sooner? I also struggle to find a phone on contract that I can use as I cant use touch screen and no phones (other than blackberries) seem to have buttons any more!

I also avoided contents insurance as I have no posessions worth anything at all. When I moved in to this property I furnished it for free from Freecycle and I don't really have many posessions as I moved very suddenly. What are the benefits of contents insurance and roughly how much would it cost me per month?

I do own a car, but I would list it as a debt rather than an asset! I am on first name terms with the RAC man who covers this area!! (I didn't see a bit where I would put RAC cover on there?). I do need a car for work, I couldnt do my job without one, otherwise I would get rid of it as it costs me so much money in repairs every month. I don't have spare cash to get anything more reliable though

I will look up dyscalcula thank you

Thank you again everyone for your comments, very helpful

joedenise

Are you getting the 25% single person discount on your Council Tax as £105 sounds a lot for a single person. I live in a 3-4 bed bungalow and pay £112 a month.

Denise

Millie_Millsters

katy721 wrote: »

Would a water meter be cheaper? I always avoided one because people had said utilities on meters can be alot more expensive (my gas is on a pre-pay meter and it eats through gas)

With a water meter the way you pay stays the same, you don't pay in advance like the gas and electric ones. It's just a means of paying for the water you actually use rather than the set rate.

I read somewhere that if you have less people than bedrooms you'll save money with a meter. I cut my bill in half when mine was installed.