Newbie - Just trying to make sense of it all.

wear280902

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................ 1236.95
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1344.18
Benefits................................ 134.8
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2715.93

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 309.5
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 110.69999999999999
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 122
Electricity............................. 65
Gas..................................... 45
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 34.34
Telephone (land line)................... 13.1
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 12.18
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 7
Internet Services....................... 25
Groceries etc. ......................... 440
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 16
Car Insurance........................... 182.39
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 35
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 64
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 49.83
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 63.17
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 28
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1852.21


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 120000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 125000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 52807.6..(309.5)....0
Secured Debt.................. 14537.6..(110.7)....0
Total secured & HP debts...... 67345.2...-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
HSBC CC........................7537.91...188.4.....22.9
MBNA CC........................5814......161.41 ...16.4
Loan...........................12264.6...347.......0
Total unsecured debts..........25616.51..535.4.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,715.93
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,852.21
Available for debt repayments........... 863.72
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 535.4
Amount left after debt repayments....... 328.32

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 125,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -67,345.2
Total Unsecured debt.................... -25,616.51
Net Assets.............................. 32,038.29

I have an OD £500 interest free but pay £25 a month as premier customer
Husbands OD £500 - need to find out interest rate.

We both have seperate bank accounts due to the debts and I also need to add a Sainsbury's Loan I need to find out about from Hubby which has 3yrs left. I have tried to be honest and will try and add these extra details on this week. Plus the insurance payments he pays for the mortgage. As I know at the moment their clearly sin't £328 spare each month and we aredefinately spending more than goes in hence the loan.

TooMany4Legs

*Bump*

I think your post must have been missed by people as there's usually loads of replies!

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along to comment and help, but what is often suggested is that you keep a spending diary to record everything you spend money on. I found for example that the £2.50 I spent on a sandwich at work, plus the £0.65 spent on a kitkat was really adding up (even though on a per day basis it was next to nothing) - over a week that's 5 x £3.15..... £15.75.... so per month it's a whopping £67 ish :eek: that I wasn't accounting for.

Good Luck!

anh1904

Your SOA shows you have a surplus after paying everything - do you really, or is the reality that you have nothing left each month? If the latter, you need to start a spending diary. £328 per month is a lot to fritter away, but we all do it if we are not keeping track.

Your car insurance comes out to over £2000 a year - is that right?
You could make savings on a combined TV, Internet and phone deal compared to your figures if you are not stuck in contract.
Your mobiles could be lowered.
£440 per month on groceries is higher than it needs to be - meal planning and bulk prep and freezing, together with a trip to the old-style boards and you could make a serious dent in that too.

Some life choices to be made, with your existing surplus, added to whatever savings you can make, you ought to be in a very good position to start repaying thousands per year.

It may be worth trying some 0% transfer deals too, as then everything you pay is coming off the outstanding balance.

Lara44

Hello Peeps

This poster has posted in the Families board, and really needs some help. Any chance you could all turn your eagles eyes on this with some friendly and helpful advice?

Here's a link to the other thread.

Tixy

Hi wear

Sorry you didn't get many replies.

wear280902 wrote: »

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................ 1236.95
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1344.18
Benefits................................ 134.8 have you double checked you are getting all you are entitled to? if not then its worth a quick online check just in case
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2715.93

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 309.5
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 110.69999999999999
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 122
Electricity............................. 65
Gas..................................... 45 how recently have you shopped around for your gas & elec? looked for a cheaper tariff or cheaper supplier? Your elec particularly looks high - are you paying off arrears on this?
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 34.34
Telephone (land line)................... 13.1
Mobile phone............................ 50 are you both in contracts on this? may be worth asking if you can drop down a tariff.
TV Licence.............................. 12.18
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 7
Internet Services....................... 25
Groceries etc. ......................... 440 this looks high, you should be able to make some cut backs here - maybe try to reduce by £60 this month and then a further £60 next month. There are families your size on here who manage on £250 a month. Maybe try the drop a brand challenge and try meal planning for the whole week before you actually go to the shops and then restrict what you buy just to that list.
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 16
Car Insurance........................... 182.39 wow is that right? does one of you have a very high insurance car? or a lot of points or something? do you shop around at renewal time?
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 35
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 64
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 49.83 this looks high for B&C insurance, try shopping around at renewal, at a guess you should be able to halve at least based on your house value.
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 63.17 have you shopped around for this? considered what cover you get from your jobs to see what extra cover you need?
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 28
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1852.21


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 120000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 5000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 125000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 52807.6..(309.5)....0
Secured Debt.................. 14537.6..(110.7)....0 is this lending secured on the house? or something else?
Total secured & HP debts...... 67345.2...-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
HSBC CC........................7537.91...188.4.....22.9
MBNA CC........................5814......161.41 ...16.4
Loan...........................12264.6...347.......0
Total unsecured debts..........25616.51..535.4.....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,715.93
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,852.21
Available for debt repayments........... 863.72
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 535.4
Amount left after debt repayments....... 328.32 how much is the missing loan monthly? plus the £25 bank charge? does this then leave a shortfall or still leave money outstanding?

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 125,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -67,345.2
Total Unsecured debt.................... -25,616.51
Net Assets.............................. 32,038.29

I have an OD £500 interest free but pay £25 a month as premier customer are you up to the limit all the time? how much would they charge for the OD if you were not a premier account?
Husbands OD £500 - need to find out interest rate.

We both have seperate bank accounts due to the debts and I also need to add a Sainsbury's Loan I need to find out about from Hubby which has 3yrs left. I have tried to be honest and will try and add these extra details on this week. Plus the insurance payments he pays for the mortgage. As I know at the moment their clearly sin't £328 spare each month and we aredefinately spending more than goes in hence the loan.

The easiest place to make immediate savings would seem to be groceries, and there is loads of advice on this on the old style money saving section of the forum and especially the grocery challenge thread each month.

Then in time it looks like you should be able to shop around for things like utilities & insurances and hopefully make some savings.

If you can free money up then target the debt with the highest APR first.

Any things you could sell to raise some more money? What were the loans spent on? anything that could be sold? Any way either of you could increase your incomes? overtime perhaps?

LondonGirl252

Hi Wear,

Well done for posting and asking for help, thats a big step. There will be plenty of people along with great advice v soon I'm sure.

I really recommend a spending diary, you'll be amazed how much you can save on cutting back on easy things. Groceries jumps out at me for a good place for you to start cutting down, by bulk cooking and stocking up my freezer I've saved £££'s and also always have a balanced home cooked meal ready to pop in the microwave for those night you can't be bothered to cook.

I'm sure others will be along soon with some more tips but in the meantime browse through the boards here and you'll get some great ideas for cutting back, try joining a challenge - I think there's a groceries challenge on here..

Good luck!

wear280902

The car insurance is mostly hubbies - he has only been driving 5 years and it is for a large van for work . He has had 3 incidents in that time and has been 3rd party type insurance....so we have been paying the price heavily £1700 for the year was the cheapest last year and no-one else would touch him for less than this tried comparison sites. He had accident in first year misjudged a bend in the road it was icy and the vehicle on the other side was a large tanker so could not move over to allow for his misjudgement. Then he had his van broken into and his tools stolen the following year....then the following year he jumped the traffic lights and instead of doing the course offered he took the points ( still a bone of contention between us) .
My Car insurance is £47.20 a month thats because I pay dearly for paying a monthly premium rather than a lump sum and also a small premium for having Hubby as a named driver. Plus my mum bought me a larger family car. I also keep forgetting to claim for work and need to understand the system as it would be a little back each month for fuel. But this means my insurance has to have the extra little bit for Business use.

I am not without my faults and this is reflected in the Grocery Bills. I never go into the town or clothes shops or buy clothes online always get from family members and pass on clothes to people at school who do the same for me. SO when I am feeling low I buy treats for the kids in the Supermarket or a special meal or food. This often means a lot of waste in a week as I buy more food than is needed popping to the supermarket about 5 out of the 7 days a week. I am rubbish at meal planning when my emotions get the better over me and this is my overspend area :-(

Phone is a difficult one I only have landline as I am on a helpline that is voluntary and then I use my mobile to call people back and yes I have an iphone so not exactly money saving as it costs me £35 a month but I never ever go over this.

Sainsbury's loan or missing loan was for £8,000 and has 2 years left. The payment is £110 a month.

Yes we spend up to our OD limits every month .

We just always seem to live to the last penny. SO definitely time to change.

Electricity and Gas I just pay £122 a month for dual fuel from Scottish Power so split amounts to roughly what they are. I have a feeling this should go down as we have had a very mild winter.

I think if I am honest and look at my receipts in my purse.....I spend more money than outlined above in the supermarket and am very guilty of wasting food ( which makes me more upset when we do not have the money to do this and my nan missed meals to put food on the table of her 6 kids). I have seen my family members battle with obesity and health related issues to their weight ( my mum has finally lost the weight after having a gastric band). I am only a size 12/14 but oh so conscious of not wanting to do the same so do buy into diets/gimmicks and am an emotional eater and also feeder of family and kids who I am always told look too thin ( neither have ever received comments from school and my daughter has only had 3 days off ill in the past 8 years ) . So this is the thing I need to address the most to make the changes in the way I feel in order to stop the spending.

wear280902

Life insurance - yes I have shopped around I have had a kidney problem as a child and as it is not well known most insurers who do not want to look further into this just add an extra premium. I saw a consultant through both pregnancies which were both very healthy. Consultant did even write a letter to say this fact that I have no kidney related issues anymore last attack was at 21 but this was stress related ( best friend was killed in car crash by my boyfriend on a day out I was supposed to be on). Plus when they cane round with the scales I am overweight I am 5ft 4 and 12 stone so not vastly overweight but they added the two points and loaded premium.

I am sure I could still chase this as youngest one is now 6 so long time since I have needed to see a specialise and obviously if I worked on my weight a bit they could not add the 2 points together in their computer systems.

wear280902

Just looking through my receipts and statements alone for last few weeks confirming my GROSS overspend and where I need the HELP :eek::eek::eek:
20 Jan Asda £9.88
20 Jan Tesco £9.65
18 Jan Lidl £20.27
16 Jan Morrisons £14.50
12th Jan Asda £27.53
10th Jan Tesco £25.23
6th Jan Asda £9.77
05th Jan Asda £16.66
05 Jan Asda £4.95

Plus in this time DD has had school dinners £11 a week and hubby spend another £10 per week on his lunches. Plus when I look at his statement I reckon their is another £60 to add to the above list.

I am reading the forums as much as I can and I can cook but clearly don't know how to shop. I go into Asda to pick up the reduced items but clearly am not making good use of these :-(

merlot123

wear280902 wrote: »

Just looking through my receipts and statements alone for last few weeks confirming my GROSS overspend and where I need the HELP :eek::eek::eek:
20 Jan Asda £9.88
20 Jan Tesco £9.65
18 Jan Lidl £20.27
16 Jan Morrisons £14.50
12th Jan Asda £27.53
10th Jan Tesco £25.23
6th Jan Asda £9.77
05th Jan Asda £16.66
05 Jan Asda £4.95

Plus in this time DD has had school dinners £11 a week and hubby spend another £10 per week on his lunches. Plus when I look at his statement I reckon their is another £60 to add to the above list.

I am reading the forums as much as I can and I can cook but clearly don't know how to shop. I go into Asda to pick up the reduced items but clearly am not making good use of these :-(

If I popped into the supermarket for the reduced items, I always ending spending money on other things.

It's only a bargain if you actually need it and you will use it, other than that don't pop in for the bargains, I have stopped popping in and with meal planning have saved a small fortune.

Hubby and children - can they take a packed lunch?

merlot123

sp1987

wear280902 wrote: »

Just looking through my receipts and statements alone for last few weeks confirming my GROSS overspend and where I need the HELP :eek::eek::eek:
20 Jan Asda £9.88
20 Jan Tesco £9.65
18 Jan Lidl £20.27
16 Jan Morrisons £14.50
12th Jan Asda £27.53
10th Jan Tesco £25.23
6th Jan Asda £9.77
05th Jan Asda £16.66
05 Jan Asda £4.95

Plus in this time DD has had school dinners £11 a week and hubby spend another £10 per week on his lunches. Plus when I look at his statement I reckon their is another £60 to add to the above list.

I am reading the forums as much as I can and I can cook but clearly don't know how to shop. I go into Asda to pick up the reduced items but clearly am not making good use of these :-(

Can you shop online? You seem to be wandering around in supermarkets quite a lot (I'm guilty for this too!):rotfl:

You can probably have an entirely new hobby with all the time you'll save not standing at the checkout :rotfl: