Updated SOA - advice please!

lobsta100

Hi

Here is my updated SOA. Some points to note:

I drive one car for work (this is vital) and my wife has the other to take kids to nursery/ do shopping .etc. She has said that she is not willing to give up a car. She does know times are hard but this is no something she wants to compromise on for now.

I am paying off one car (Ford - £223/mnth) until June 2013 and the other (Fiat - £192/mnth) until Oct 2015. A possibility is to use remaining savings (c. £1,200) to basically pay off the Ford so that the monthly cashflow is reduced.

The charitable donations/ synagogue membership is not negotiable. We are orthodox Jews and consider it an obligation to give 10% of income to charity, and we already cut some corners on this...

Food spend is probably higher than would usually be as kosher food does tend to cost quite a lot more.

Achievements since last SOA
- Paid off HSBC card (18%) - £4,000 - with savings
- Paid off £1,700 overdraft facility with savings
- Stopped overpaying by £150 each month on mortgage
- Transferred broadband to BT to combine with phone and saved
- So far making concerted effort not to buy snacks at work and to bring from home instead

Any further advice welcome!

Thanks. Here's the SOA:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2366
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 177
Other income............................ 20
Total monthly income.................... 2563
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 442
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 420
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 174
Electricity............................. 32
Gas..................................... 32
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 42
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 16
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 25
Petrol/diesel........................... 220
Road tax................................ 12.5
Car Insurance........................... 100
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 20
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 49
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 11
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 6
Entertainment........................... 45
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Service charge.......................... 150
Cleaner & cleaning products............. 40
Savings (Child Trust Fund).............. 20
Food at work............................ 50
Donations/ Synagogue membership......... 190
Newspapers/ Magazines................... 20
Heathcare cashplan...................... 12
Total monthly expenses.................. 2498.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 1500
House value (Gross)..................... 270000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 17000
Other assets............................ 5000
Total Assets............................ 293500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 211000...(442)......2.5
Secured Debt.................. 12000....(420)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 223000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard Plat...............8000......150.......0
Total unsecured debts..........8000......150.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,563
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,498.5
Available for debt repayments........... 64.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 150
Amount short for making debt repayments. -85.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 293,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -223,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,000
Net Assets.............................. 62,500
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

amorge

Hi, well done on paying off those items since the last SOA. Without trying to sound too harsh have you shown your SOA to your wife, she may realise that the monthly payments on the car and insurance etc are not essential items (even if she has no car for a couple of yrs to help clear the debt)....
My comments are:

Car maintenance, I'm assuming these are both new(ish) cars and this is the annual service costs, if so, is this true for 2 cars
Car insurance is extremely high, when are they up for renewal so you can shop around
Same as above for the contents insurance
What is the service charge?
Cleaner costs are a total luxury, not needed, I work and have 2 kids and do all the cleaning myself
Can the newspapers not go ?

Sorry, that sounds rather harsh but you need to actually work out what are essentials are what aren't and cancel those..

Tixy

Hi
A few possible areas you might make savings below

lobsta100 wrote: »

Achievements since last SOA
- Paid off HSBC card (18%) - £4,000 - with savings
- Paid off £1,700 overdraft facility with savings
- Stopped overpaying by £150 each month on mortgage
- Transferred broadband to BT to combine with phone and saved
- So far making concerted effort not to buy snacks at work and to bring from home instead

These are all great things to have managed so far.


Partners monthly income after tax....... 0 could your wife start working parttime (you mention nursery), or will she be able to soon around school hours etc

Council tax............................. 174 Have you ever done the quick online check to see if you are in the correct band (always worth a try)
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
note what you've said but still think you could manage a small reduction, given and your cleaning materials and food at work are extra to this, especially as you have a monthly shortfall overall. Could you try to reduce by say £40 this month and see if you can manage/notice much difference in terms of the meals you can prepare etc.

Petrol/diesel........................... 220 is this all essential mileage? do you both drive 'fuel efficently', fill up at the cheapest places to get the most from your money?

Car Insurance........................... 100 do you shop around at renewal for these? - is one of you in particular high insurances?

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10 is this realistic for a year for 2 cars with tyres, servicing, MOTs etc?

Contents insurance...................... 49 this looks high for B&C even considering the value of the house, try shopping around when its next due to see if you can save.

Service charge.......................... 150 for your property?

Cleaner & cleaning products............. 40 if wife doesn't work could she not manage this in the short term?

Food at work............................ 50 glad you are trying to reduce

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 211000...(442)......2.5
Secured Debt.................. 12000....(420)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 223000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard Plat...............8000......150.......0 how long is this 0% for? is the plan to use the cash towards this when the 0% ends?
Total unsecured debts..........8000......150.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,563
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,498.5
Available for debt repayments........... 64.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 150
Amount short for making debt repayments. -85.5 how are you managing this shortfall at the moment? are you spending on the credit card? do you have an overdraft that is increasing?

rising_from_the_ashes

lobsta100 wrote: »

Hi

Here is my updated SOA. Some points to note:

I drive one car for work (this is vital) and my wife has the other to take kids to nursery/ do shopping .etc. She has said that she is not willing to give up a car. She does know times are hard but this is no something she wants to compromise on for now. Whilst I can understand where she's coming from .... you need to make cuts somewhere to balance the books / sort yourselves out and be able to have a DF future.....

I am paying off one car (Ford - £223/mnth) until June 2013 and the other (Fiat - £192/mnth) until Oct 2015. A possibility is to use remaining savings (c. £1,200) to basically pay off the Ford so that the monthly cashflow is reduced. Which is your wife's car? Getting rid of one would sort your problems out / enable the debts to be repaid quicker

The charitable donations/ synagogue membership is not negotiable. We are orthodox Jews and consider it an obligation to give 10% of income to charity, and we already cut some corners on this... Understand & fair enough

Food spend is probably higher than would usually be as kosher food does tend to cost quite a lot more. Can you bulk buy anywhere? Can you get any things at Lidl / Aldi etc? (sorry not something I know a lot about)

Achievements since last SOA
- Paid off HSBC card (18%) - £4,000 - with savings :j
- Paid off £1,700 overdraft facility with savings :j
- Stopped overpaying by £150 each month on mortgage Think this is a good idea until the debts are cleared
- Transferred broadband to BT to combine with phone and saved:j
- So far making concerted effort not to buy snacks at work and to bring from home instead:j

Any further advice welcome!

Thanks. Here's the SOA:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2366
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 177
Other income............................ 20
Total monthly income.................... 2563
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 442
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 420
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 174 12 months or 10?
Electricity............................. 32
Gas..................................... 32
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 42 This is quite high ... have you / could you get a meter?
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 0 Need to have £12.12 in here - unless you don't have one?
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 16
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 See comments above
Clothing................................ 25
Petrol/diesel........................... 220 Are these all essential journeys?
Road tax................................ 12.5
Car Insurance........................... 100 Again getting shot would help with this
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10 Sorry not enough for 2 cars
Car parking............................. 20
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 49 Incl Buildings? Even so, this is really high - check comparison sites @ renewal time (as a comparison, I pay the equivalent of £15/month total for both)
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 11 What's this? Essential?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 6
Entertainment........................... 45 If the 2nd car has to stay ... then this needs to be reduced to help cut the deficit (sorry)
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 Need to have ideally around £50/month in here to cover household appliances etc
Service charge.......................... 150:eek: Every month? Sorry but that's huge!
Cleaner & cleaning products............. 40 Sorry too high if you're spending £300 on groceries ...
Savings (Child Trust Fund).............. 20
Food at work............................ 50 Sorry need to take lunch with you which will be a lot cheaper - incl in your grocery total
Donations/ Synagogue membership......... 190
Newspapers/ Magazines................... 20 Sorry but not essential when you've a deficit
Heathcare cashplan...................... 12 What does this cover?
Total monthly expenses.................. 2498.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 1500
House value (Gross)..................... 270000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 17000
Other assets............................ 5000
Total Assets............................ 293500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 211000...(442)......2.5
Secured Debt.................. 12000....(420)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 223000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard Plat...............8000......150.......0
Total unsecured debts..........8000......150.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,563
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,498.5
Available for debt repayments........... 64.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 150
Amount short for making debt repayments. -85.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 293,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -223,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,000
Net Assets.............................. 62,500
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

First of all - well done on clearing some of your debts I think I remember your original SOA and you were looking for advice on cuts and if you should use some of the savings to reduce the debts - glad that's worked out well.

Sorry some of my comments may seem harsh but they are meant with the best of intentions.

Your groceries, cleaning & work lunches are costing a large £390 / month - many families of 4 manage on £220 / month (incl toiletries & nappies etc) and even with dietry requirements you need to try to reduce this as much as possible especially if the 2nd car has to stay .......

At the end of the day ... you need to balance the books so there still has to be some more cuts (groceries etc as above seems really the only place) but without any emergency fund in place I'd personally be concerned as to what's going to happen when there is one of those "little emergencies" that crop up for us all. Unfortunately, the only other obvious place to make cuts .... is the 2nd car - how far is it to school? Is it walkable?

HTH

miggy

Hi, if you have a uniform or semi-uniform for work it may be possible to reclaim some of those cleaning costs: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/uniform-tax-rebate

I think from a post on your earlier thread that the children are quite young. If your wife prefers to stay with them rather than go out to work (I did this despite the hardship so I understand if that's what she wants to do) would it be worth her looking into childminding?

Are there vegetarian options you could include in your meals to bring the price down? There are some excellent ideas on the Old Style board.

I notice your wife drives the kids to nursery but you don't have a nursery fee, so I'm guessing this is through the synagogue and if so - could she car share at least some times? Maybe she drives one week and a friend drives the next?

From the figures I'm guessing you pay for a couple of prescriptions a month or alternative. Do make sure you buy the cheapest version acceptable of things like painkillers as some are vastly hiked up in price just because they have a brand name. The chemist would advise. Also have you checked you're getting all the benefits you're due? There is a site (sorry I can't remember what it's called) that lets you check this.

rising_from_the_ashes

miggy wrote: »

Also have you checked you're getting all the benefits you're due? There is a site (sorry I can't remember what it's called) that lets you check this.

This one's quite good http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DoItOnlineByCategory/DG_172666

thriftychap_2

It looks as though your wife:
a) does not work
b) send the children to nursery while she is not at work
c) does not want to make the required cut backs
d) Spends money when shopping and enjoying all this 'leisure time' - oooooh its a hard life!!!!

Can she get a job? if not bye bye car. Sometimes people need to take the bull by the horns and be a little more autocratic for the greater good - maybe this is your time?

Apologies if this comes across as harsh or if i have missed some previous relevant information.

SeduLOUs

You have to get rid of one of the cars. Can't she drive you to work and pick you up and still have the car for her needs during the day? I'd love to have a second car, but for now getting to work on the 7.30am bus in the pouring rain is my only affordable option.

Can't she work part time?

TTC40

I read & contributed to the original thread. You are obviously determined to improve your finances & have taken some good steps.

However (this may seem harsh, but I'm not the only one to say) that your wife seems to be OK with you making the changes/ sacrifices.

Your next challenge is to get the Barclaycard paid off. Show her the SOA & ask for her ideas for how to increase income or reduce outgoings. The car & the cleaner are obvious targets.

Also, have you put steps in place so that you don't go back into using the overdraft & that you don't put stuff on credit cards.

MFWannabe

lobsta100 wrote: »

Hi

Here is my updated SOA. Some points to note:

I drive one car for work (this is vital) and my wife has the other to take kids to nursery/ do shopping .etc. She has said that she is not willing to give up a car. She does know times are hard but this is no something she wants to compromise on for now.

I am paying off one car (Ford - £223/mnth) until June 2013 and the other (Fiat - £192/mnth) until Oct 2015. A possibility is to use remaining savings (c. £1,200) to basically pay off the Ford so that the monthly cashflow is reduced.

The charitable donations/ synagogue membership is not negotiable. We are orthodox Jews and consider it an obligation to give 10% of income to charity, and we already cut some corners on this...

Food spend is probably higher than would usually be as kosher food does tend to cost quite a lot more.

Achievements since last SOA
- Paid off HSBC card (18%) - £4,000 - with savings
- Paid off £1,700 overdraft facility with savings
- Stopped overpaying by £150 each month on mortgage
- Transferred broadband to BT to combine with phone and saved
- So far making concerted effort not to buy snacks at work and to bring from home instead

Any further advice welcome!

Thanks. Here's the SOA:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2366
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 177
Other income............................ 20
Total monthly income.................... 2563
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 442
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 420
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 174 - this seems very high. Does it include arrears? Could you pay over 12 months instead of 10?
Electricity............................. 32
Gas..................................... 32
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 42
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 25
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 16
Groceries etc. ......................... 300 - Could cut this by approx £50
Clothing................................ 25
Petrol/diesel........................... 220
Road tax................................ 12.5 - Is this correct for 2 cars?
Car Insurance........................... 100 - This is very high; check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10 - Is this correct for 2 cars?
Car parking............................. 20
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 49 - This seems high; check comparison sites to see if you can get cheaper
Life assurance ......................... 0 - You really should have some of this if you have children
Other insurance......................... 11 - What is this?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 6
Entertainment........................... 45 - Need to cut this for now
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Service charge.......................... 150 - This seems very high!!
Cleaner & cleaning products............. 40 - Is this for a cleaner? Your wife is at home all day so why do you need a cleaner?!
Savings (Child Trust Fund).............. 20 - Could you stop this for now while paying debts
Food at work............................ 50 - You need to cut this completely; you cannot afford this. Always make sure you take food into work so you don't get tempted
Donations/ Synagogue membership......... 190
Newspapers/ Magazines................... 20 - This needs to be completely cut out
Heathcare cashplan...................... 12
Total monthly expenses.................. 2498.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 1500
House value (Gross)..................... 270000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 17000
Other assets............................ 5000 - What is this?
Total Assets............................ 293500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 211000...(442)......2.5
Secured Debt.................. 12000....(420)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 223000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard Plat...............8000......150.......0
Total unsecured debts..........8000......150.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,563
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,498.5
Available for debt repayments........... 64.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 150
Amount short for making debt repayments. -85.5
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 293,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -223,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,000
Net Assets.............................. 62,500
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Hi
I've made some comments above where you could make some cutbacks. You certainly need to break even and this is definitely acheivable with the cutbacks.
Have you shown the soa to your wife so she fully understands your current situation? If you are both determined to get out of debt then you certainly need to have a rethink reference keeping 2 cars. Can your wife drop you at work then she has the car all day? You don't need a car for food shopping; would be cheaper to get it delivered than it costs to run an extra car.
You say the children go to nursery but there's no figure entered for nursery costs?
Think about paying off your car with your savings as that would free up £200 per month. But you need to rein in your spending as well so that you can save this again; especially for when the 0% card ends.

JulieGeorgiana

If your wife does not work then you really don't need a cleaning service. Many woman stay at home by choice (myself included) and look after 2/3 children and clean the house, cook all the meals, budget and run the household. She can do those things while the children are at nursary.

How far is the nursery? My DS school is 1.25 miles away, I am selling my car and planning on walking 5 miles a day (which I was doing before i got sick with the pregnancy and put on bedrest) I would say 1.5 - 2 miles is okay to walk, saves on petrol and helps with the waistline.

I know it may seem harsh, but you are in debt and you have to cut back. A change of mindset and lifestyle needs to be adopted if you want to live within your means.

Also, £50 for lunches...?!?!? I have a special diet for health reasons (not kosher but it does cost more) and I am about to have a budget of £220 for 2 adults, 1 child, 1 baby, 2 cats, 2 rabbits... including all my cleaning stuff, toilettries, beauty products... and nappies! This includes Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. My DH get's 20p here and there for a coffee... we added it up and worked out this costs us £5 a year! I make cakes and snacks to make lunch boxes much more enjoyable for my boys!

Newspapers/Magazines - If you are paying for the internet... read them online... the gossip and the news is the same!

Entertainment - Very high! You have debts you cannot afford this!

Emergency - Need this

Birthdays/Christmas - £10 a month??? You really think you can buy everything you need for everyone on £120 a year? If so, well done. If not then how are you going to pay for it when it comes up more?