Help! Tightening up the SOA :-)

o-betty-o

Long time lurker, not really posted before so be gentle!! Getting really frustrated, we keep tightening our belts but it seems it's never enough to live off, let alone pay off the overdraft! Fingers crossed you guys have some ideas where we're going wrong! All & any suggestions welcome!

The "pocket money" covers entertainment, clothes, haircuts, for me and OH.

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................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 998
Benefits................................ 379.64
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1377.64

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 423
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 120
Electricity............................. 53
Gas..................................... 53
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 37
Telephone (land line)................... 6.5
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 24.25
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 180
Clothing................................ 15
Petrol/diesel........................... 300
Road tax................................ 28.75
Car Insurance........................... 55.75
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 33
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 5.8
Buildings insurance..................... 7.25
Contents insurance...................... 7.25
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
"Pocket Money".......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 1449.55


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 130000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1100
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 131100


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 100000...(423)......3.3
Total secured & HP debts...... 100000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdraft......................1500......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........1500......0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,377.64
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,449.55
Available for debt repayments........... -71.91
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount short for making debt repayments. -71.91

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 131,100
Total HP & Secured debt................. -100,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,500
Net Assets.............................. 29,600

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

[Deleted User]

o-betty-o 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................ 0Any way to put something here? Even part-time?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 998 Any way to increase? overtime? Second job?
Benefits................................ 379.64 Are you receiving all that you are entitled to?
Other income............................ 0 Could you take in a lodger using the "rent a room" scheme?
Total monthly income.................... 1377.64

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 423
Council tax............................. 120 Is this over 10 or 12 months? Consider asking your council to switch to 12 if you are paying over 10, some will allow, some will not
Electricity............................. 53 Both this, and below seem quite high, turn the thermostat down on the boiler and heating by a degree or two, switch of radiators/or switch them down in rooms that you aren't in/don't use often, use energy saving bulbs, don't leave things on standby - switch them off instead, also check that you are on the cheapest tariffs for your area - often online and duel fuel are cheapest, and if switching is cheaper then check the cashback sites (Quidco, onepoll cashback etc for incentives)
Gas..................................... 53 as above
Water rates............................. 37 Are you on a meter or a set bill? Consider if a meter would be cheaper as you would only pay for what you use
Telephone (land line)................... 6.5
Mobile phone............................ 30 consider switching to a cheaper company/contract package/PAYG - I have saved lots by switching to giffgaff
TV Licence.............................. 24.25 Have you only just starting to pay this? It will reduce to £12.12 when you are up-to-date. Do you know when this will be?
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0 Don't you have this?
Groceries etc. ......................... 180 You could probably save a little here - meal plan, batch cook, shop lidl/aldi, drop brands, cook from scratch, buy in bulk when things are on offer
Clothing................................ 15
Petrol/diesel........................... 300 this is quite high - is there anyway to reduce? plan journeys, use public transport, walk/cycle
Road tax................................ 28.75
Car Insurance........................... 55.75
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 33
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10 If this is for prescriptions, see if a pre-paid certificate would be cheaper
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 5.8
Buildings insurance..................... 7.25
Contents insurance...................... 7.25
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
"Pocket Money".......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 1449.55


Assets
Cash.................................... 0 Do you manage to save anything for your irregular bills/outgoings? eg MOT, birthdays, Xmas etc
House value (Gross)..................... 130000
Car(s).................................. 1100 running two cars on one income is making things very tight, can you sell one, and switch to public transport? not only would you be able to use the money that you get as emergency savings, but you would also save on petrol, insurance, MOT, maintenance, tax etc
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 131100


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 100000...(423)......3.3
Total secured & HP debts...... 100000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdraft......................1500......0.........0 Are you being charged for having the overdraft facility, if not will this always be the case until it is fully repaid?
Total unsecured debts..........1500......0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,377.64
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,449.55
Available for debt repayments........... -71.91 In addition to trying to make this up in your SOA to break even, you will need to make even greater savings in order to be in a position to pay off your overdraft, and if anything should happen like a boiler breakdown or other expensive breakdown or emergency you would need to get into debt to address it as you don't appear to have any savings at all and things are very tight. Is there any way that you can increase your income?
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount short for making debt repayments. -71.91

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 131,100
Total HP & Secured debt................. -100,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,500
Net Assets.............................. 29,600

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

Hi, I have made some comments above, I hope that at least some of them will help

D9

camuk81

You mention pocket money what is this £50 for

EssexHebridean

Your current shortfall isn't *that* great, which is at least one good thing. Some comments without re-posting the whole SOA

Gas & Electric - these are pretty high - as you presumably have central heating then the electric in particular. Check to see if you can get a free electricity monitor from your energy company, set it up, then start frightening yourself with how much things cost to run! Oh, and turn the central heating thermostat down a bit and put a jumper on.

Income - it ought to be possible to add something there - how about taking on an Avon, Kleeneze or Betterware round? (With a bit of effort it's possible to clear £80-100 per month from Avon, I can't vouch for the others.). Add in a delivery round for your local free paper, or something similar, and that's your shortfall taken care of.

Petrol - this is crippling you. How many miles per month is your partner driving for his work commute? What proportion of the fuel spend does that cover? Can you manage with just one car? can you set (and stick to) a strict budget for your fuel (we car share on days we're both in London, and I have a strict £30 per month fuel budget for my personal mileage - that covers me for getting shopping etc, as well as any personal mileage, and means that I am well used to walking everywhere I can!)

You list monthly payments being made against things like car insurance, road tax etc, but don't list any cash under assets - where is the money you're putting aside for these things being saved? If you're counting it as part of your SOA, but not setting it aside, you need to track down where this money is actually going.

wannabee_in_credit

Two things spring out to me
1. Income is low - are you definitely getting all of the benefits you're entitled to?
2. £300 a month in petrol is a huge amount - do you really need this? I do 30 miles every day and spend just over half of that on petrol.