Where can I change my lifestyle?

masonsmum

Hi folks, we had a look at our internet banking last night and were shocked to see we were rather "skint" we realise we have been over spending recently and I am just looking for some help and advice on what we could do to reduce our monthly spending as we should have money "left over" at the end of the month with the income we bring in.

I tried the SOA however dont know the interest rates (Im at work at the moment) so I couldnt get it to calculate?

Monthly Household Income: £2,426.00
Benefits £290.00
Maintenance £100.00
Total Monthly Income £2,816.00

Mortgage: £429.00 (house is worth £85K have a mortgage of £70K)
Hire Purchase DFS Suite £89.00
Hire Purchase Black Horse Car £159.00
Council Tax £106 (10 months)
Scottish Power Gas & Elec £128.00
Sky Telephone, Broadband & TV £50.00
Groceries £250.00
Petrol £120.00
Car Insurance £18.00
Home Insurance £27.00
Life Insurance £42.00
Total Outgoings £1,418.00

Obviously there are other things we spend our money on, clothes, haircuts etc, but shouldnt be left with nothing at the end of the month, so I am looking for some tips on changing our lifestyle.

Im considering calling Sky and taking the TV out, for all the TV we watch we would be as well with a Freeview Box? Also I have contacted the CSA regarding my ex husbands payments, he gives me £100 a calendar month and on an income of £30,000 per annum I believe he should give me more?
Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

Naomim

Hi,
The SOA should work without the interest rates, even if you just put 0% for now and update when you know them.

Your Gas & Leccy look high, are you paying off arrears at all?

My first suggestion would be to start with a spending diary to find out where your spare cash goes to.

Hope this helps

Naomi x

mildred1978

masonsmum wrote: »

Hi folks, we had a look at our internet banking last night and were shocked to see we were rather "skint" we realise we have been over spending recently and I am just looking for some help and advice on what we could do to reduce our monthly spending as we should have money "left over" at the end of the month with the income we bring in.

I tried the SOA however dont know the interest rates (Im at work at the moment) so I couldnt get it to calculate?

Monthly Household Income: £2,426.00
Benefits £290.00
Maintenance £100.00
Total Monthly Income £2,816.00

Mortgage: £429.00 (house is worth £85K have a mortgage of £70K)
Hire Purchase DFS Suite £89.00
Hire Purchase Black Horse Car £159.00
Council Tax £106 (10 months)
Scottish Power Gas & Elec £128.00
Sky Telephone, Broadband & TV £50.00
Groceries £250.00
Petrol £120.00
Car Insurance £18.00
Home Insurance £27.00
Life Insurance £42.00
Total Outgoings £1,418.00

Obviously there are other things we spend our money on, clothes, haircuts etc, but shouldnt be left with nothing at the end of the month, so I am looking for some tips on changing our lifestyle.

Im considering calling Sky and taking the TV out, for all the TV we watch we would be as well with a Freeview Box? Also I have contacted the CSA regarding my ex husbands payments, he gives me £100 a calendar month and on an income of £30,000 per annum I believe he should give me more?
Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

Will need a proper SOA to advise fully - there's only half the story here.

But maintenance for 1 child on 30k per year should be more like £300 per month (reduces for any regular overnight stays).

masonsmum

Gas and Leccy is not paying off any arrears, guy knocked on the door Sep last year and asked who supplied blah blah and offered us a deal at £70 per month DD to transfer to Scottish Power so we did and within 3 months (highest usage months) we received a letter to say DD was going up to £110 and now we have been advised they are putting it up to £128??

Ex husband only has access to DS 1 night every 3rd weekend, sometimes less?

masonsmum

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.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2426
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 290
Other income............................ 100
Total monthly income.................... 2816

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 429
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 239
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 106
Electricity............................. 58
Gas..................................... 70
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 50
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 13
Contents insurance...................... 14
Life assurance ......................... 42
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1423


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 85000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 9000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 94000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 70000....(429)......0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 2000.....(89).......0<
Hire Purchase..................7000.....(150)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 79000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Virgin Credit Card.............1100......50........0
Total unsecured debts..........1100......50........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,816
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,423
Available for debt repayments........... 1,393
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 50
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,343

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 94,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -79,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,100
Net Assets.............................. 13,900

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

mildred1978

masonsmum wrote: »

Gas and Leccy is not paying off any arrears, guy knocked on the door Sep last year and asked who supplied blah blah and offered us a deal at £70 per month DD to transfer to Scottish Power so we did and within 3 months (highest usage months) we received a letter to say DD was going up to £110 and now we have been advised they are putting it up to £128??

:doh:

Not clever to sign up on the doorstep!!

Can you get out of it and use one of the comparison sites for a better deal?

And maintenance should be at least £285 per month. Why are you only getting £100?

masonsmum

mildred1978 wrote: »

:doh:

Not clever to sign up on the doorstep!!

Can you get out of it and use one of the comparison sites for a better deal?

And maintenance should be at least £285 per month. Why are you only getting £100?

Because my ex is a bullying control freak who threatens me with joint custody threats and says he will stop my sons bday xmas etc if I go for anymore money - been posting regarding this on another thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3955235

FireWyrm

masonsmum 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.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2426
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 290
Other income............................ 100
Total monthly income.................... 2816 This is equivalent to a £50K a year salary. Obviously, you seem to be doing ok in that department.

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 429
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 239
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 106
Electricity............................. 58 Yes, definately high. Either cut your consumption or see about changing suppliers
Gas..................................... 70 Ditto
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 50 Hmm...necessary? I have a brand new Android phone and 500mb of internet, free minutes, texts etc for under £20 a month.
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 30
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 I could do something about this but honestly, you have more than enough money to play with so unless it's pressing, I wouldnt worry about this overspend.
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 0 You have a car, isnt it insured?
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 13
Contents insurance...................... 14
Life assurance ......................... 42
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1423 Right, this is the number that you should be paying attention to. Something is terribly wrong with your budget.


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 85000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 9000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 94000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 70000....(429)......0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 2000.....(89).......0<
Hire Purchase..................7000.....(150)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 79000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Virgin Credit Card.............1100......50........0 hardly worth fretting over, but if you can find your missing money, I advise you pay this immediately and in full.
Total unsecured debts..........1100......50........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,816
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,423
Available for debt repayments........... 1,393
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 50
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,343

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 94,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -79,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,100
Net Assets.............................. 13,900

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

Right...You have an income of £2800 a month and outgoings of £1400. That means somewhere, somehow you are missing £1400 a MONTH! That's £16800 a YEAR. So, your SOA is massively innacurate. My first port of call would be the 'app' store and pick up a money minder of some sort. You need a spending diary in a big way and you need to find out where the heck that money is going. My guess is that it's going in 'groceries', petrol and other 'little' things that all add up. Your outgoings are pretty modest and you're in a good place compared to some out there, so take this as a wakup call. I would also get statements from my bank for the last 3 months and analyse them. You need to categorise every payment, whether to DD's, Loans, Food, Groceries, Petrol, etc...you get the idea. That'll tell you where you are losing the money. Come back and post an accurate SOA in a month after you have kept a spending diary, and we'll have more suggestions.

mildred1978

masonsmum wrote: »

Because my ex is a bullying control freak who threatens me with joint custody threats and says he will stop my sons bday xmas etc if I go for anymore money - been posting regarding this on another thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3955235

Unless he's spending £2400 a year on presents (and if he is, !!!!!!?!) then he's taking the pee!

tallyhoh

Try keeping a spending diary for a while, see where the moneys going.

Niv

You have and use online banking. Try going through the last three months of online statments and seeing what that brings up. Unless you use alot of cash you will probably find most of the 'missing' money. It is worth looking at when you take cash out also, for instance i tend to take £20 on a saturday a little before the football kicks off and i go to the pub :-)

Oh yea, as a after thought, if you can, download your bank statments to csv (excel friendly) and you can highlight the different 'types' of spend for instance red is regular bills, green is food shopping etc.

Niv