Been Reviewing My Soa - Anyone Help?

SHEARERBOBS

Hi guys

Joined up to payplan and have been reviewing my SOA (my own version, as payplan's seems a bit untrue as i don't really spend £400 on food!). Was just wondering if anyone can suggest any savings anywhere or anything obvious Ive missed out?

SHEARERBOBS

now i'll post it - that might help
MORTGAGE 349
COUNCIL TAX 80
CAR INSURANCE 60
CAR HP 134
HO LOAN 168
PAYPLAN 208
TV LICENCE 11
TRUST FUND 5
NURSERY 550
TAX 50
DOGS 16
GAS
ELECTRIC 50
REPAY PRO 23
HOUSE INS 28
MOBILE 35
NTL 65
OH MOB 45
XMAS 40
CAR TAX 15
PETROL 40
CLOTHING 20
FOOD 300
TOTAL 2292

OH WAGE 1420
MY WAGE 775
TAX CREDITS 635
CHILD BEN 70
2900


LEFT 608 PER MONTH
140 PER WEEK AVERAGE

Ex-Spendaholic

Your NTL and mobile costs seem high. Can you negotiate a better deal with NT Hell? I have phone, TV and BB for £30.

Also have you looked for better deals on your car and house insurance?

SHEARERBOBS

Ha! NT Hell i like it....that includes my phone bill and i'm trying to talk OH in to cutting down to basic package. I will have a look at insurance thanks!

Ex-Spendaholic

Are you a member of quidco? Have a look at the insurance offers on there. I currently pay £328 a year for house insurance. When I renew it will Be £178 with Directline and I'll get £80 cashback. The car insurance I'll be saving £130 on the renewal cost and getting £65 cashback. There are better deals with the likes of Barclays but a number of the companies don't offer insurance here in NI.

I don't use our home phone at all. We have 400 free minutes on our mobiles so never use the landline meaning the bill is the standard £30.

dancingfairy

Just a couple of questions what's HO LOAN? What are you paying Payplan for? are they paying this towards you debts for you? Gas you don't have a figure for? What's repay pro? Mobiles seem quite expensive - can you cut these down at all?

tryhard_2

SHEARERBOBS wrote:

TRUST FUND 5 is this CTF?
NURSERY 550 you can get vouchers for this from your employer - busy bee vouchers
TAX 50
DOGS 16
GAS
ELECTRIC 50
REPAY PRO 23
HOUSE INS 28
MOBILE 35 your mobile is 80 pm between you and OH. can you cut this down/ fo PAYG?
NTL 65 see if you can cut back on this
OH MOB 45
XMAS 40
CAR TAX 15
PETROL 40
CLOTHING 20
FOOD 300 how many people is this for? have you checked out the old style board of this forum for tips to reduce grocery bills
TOTAL 2292

hi and good luck!

lonely_2

Hi again,

How's Payplan been with you? I've already sent my form in - just waiting nervously by the phone for all the creditors to start hassling me!

Just a tip - have you been given your justabank login details yet? You may want to play with your figures a bit so they are more palatable to your creditors. For instance, I would take out £40 for Xmas and add it on to your clothing budget (which can be up to £20 PER PERSON) - as you can see below the creditors don't really allow a contingency budget for xmas but they do allow a more generous clothing budget for a family.

Here is the budget guide that Payplan recommends (although like most things this is not set in stone):
Mortgage Variable
Rent Variable
Second charge on property Variable
Payment to arrears on second charge Variable
Private pension Limited
Building and contents insurance Variable
Life Insurance and endowment policies Variable
Electricity, gas, oil, and solid fuels Maximum of £40
Telephone (including mobiles) Maximum of £40
Vehicle tax and MOT £18
Vehicle maintenance Maximum of £30
Vehicle insurance Variable
Petrol Must be justified
Public transport, trains and school buses etc Must be justified
Vehicle breakdown cover: eg AA, RAC Maximum £8
Court Fines: eg speeding etc Variable
Lottery tickets Not allowed
Pets Maximum £25
Household insurance plans: eg gas fire, boilers etc Not allowed
Council Tax ** Variable
Water Rates ** Variable
Maintenance/CSA payments Variable
Housekeeping £180
£320 for a couple
Hairdressing £8 per person
Medical, dental, spectacles etc Maximum £15 if more must be justified
Clothes and shoes £20 per person
Newspapers and magazines Not allowed
House maintenance Not allowed
School, college and university fees Must be justified
Regular subs: eg Union fees Variable
Laundry expenses Must be justified
HP/Rental: eg car, washing machine Variable, must be justified
Social life Not allowed
Smoking Not allowed
Hobbies, clubs and societies Not allowed
Children's pocket money Not allowed
TV Licence £10.08
Satellite TV Not allowed
Child care Variable
Nappies and baby milk Maximum £25
School meals Included in housekeeping
Other expenditure Variable

Good luck!!

aah

aaargh that Payplan budget looks horrendous...

Good luck to you and thanks for the recommendations

pmr

TheAble

SHEARERBOBS wrote:

now i'll post it - that might help
MORTGAGE 349
COUNCIL TAX 80
CAR INSURANCE 60 This seems high, is it just one car? Go through quidco.com to get lots of cash back.
CAR HP 134 Can you move this to a cheaper loan? moneyfacts.co.uk lists cheapest. Beware of exit penalties though
HO LOAN 168 Can you explain this?
PAYPLAN 208
TV LICENCE 11
TRUST FUND 5 May be best to scrub this for now
NURSERY 550 Use childcare vouchers as they reduce your income tax bill
TAX 50 What is this for? Are you self employed?
DOGS 16 Can this be reduced? Using really budget dog food? Check quidco again for insurance cashback
GAS
ELECTRIC 50 This seems high. Quidco again, uswitch.com to make sure you are on cheapest package.
REPAY PRO 23 What is this?
HOUSE INS 28 Quidco again
MOBILE 35This is high. Try PAYG, quidco.com again for cashback
NTL 65 This is high, may be best to ditch it.
OH MOB 45 As per earlier mobile comments
XMAS 40
CAR TAX 15
PETROL 40
CLOTHING 20 Can you manage on what you have for now?
FOOD 300 Try to halve this
TOTAL 2292

OH WAGE 1420
MY WAGE 775
TAX CREDITS 635
CHILD BEN 70
2900


LEFT 608 PER MONTH
140 PER WEEK AVERAGE

Good luck!
TheAble

cazziej

Hello Shearerbobs

Just curious as to the age of your child, as you seem to receive a lot in Tax Credits, despite having (to me!!) quite a high income. I presume you have 1 child you can claim Child Benefit for.

My take home pay is around £1000 per month and my husband is on IB of £347 per month. We receive £38 per month in Tax Credits.

I have tried "entitled to", with different results at different times. I am wondering if I am missing out on claiming something?

Any help appreciated.

Best wishes

cazziej