Some advice about SOA please

daisy1985

Hi all,

I am a long time lurker but first time poster

I am not sure if this is the right place to be posting as its not really debt but its the only place I see SOA's posted.

Basically our circumstances have recently changed, due to have a new baby and want to try and cut back on our budget. We do have 1 credit card each but these are used for shopping/petrol and are paid in full at the end of the month so havent included these. I would be grateful if you good people would have a look at my soa and see i there is anything obvious that I could cut back on??

[tt]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.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1050
Benefits................................ 86.77
Other income............................ 355
Total monthly income.................... 2691.77

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 695
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 37
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 25
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 19.5
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 12.55
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 23
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 303
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 180
Road tax................................ 10
Car Insurance........................... 45.34
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 5
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 19.22
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100
Haircuts................................ 35
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 100
Emergency fund.......................... 350
Total monthly expenses.................. 2269.61


Assets
Cash.................................... 1000
House value (Gross)..................... 40000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1
Other assets............................ 4000
Total Assets............................ 45000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

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



Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,691.77
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,269.61
Available for debt repayments........... 422.16
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 422.16

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 45,001
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 45,001

de1amo

Just a query--you rent yet you post the value of a property? do you rent or own?

daisy1985

I didnt know if to include that and see it looks confusing!

I inherited a property so the 40k is the value of my share, circumstances are stopping the property from being sold but I get a rental income from this property that I have included.

Thanks

redsaxon

£350 per month emergency fund,£100 per month for gifts(im sure your friends/family will understand if you cant buy them lavish gifts)£23 cable TV (maybe switch to freeview?) £100 per month holiday fund (do you need a £1200 holiday?) £75 per week on food (maybe change to lidl/aldi etc) £30 mobile (maybe change to pay as you go and keep the calls short) £35 for haircuts(is this not something you could do yourself or find cheaper)

mrsb83_2

The presents, groceries, holiday and entertainment funds could be reduced.

But if you have no debt what are you reasons for wanting to cut your outgoings? Do you have specific savings goals? Choosing a figure that you want to put aside each month might be a better way of achieving this rather than simply trying to cut back.

daisy1985

The 350 emegency fund is just a standing order that goes into a joint savings account and used for one offs, savings we did have have recently been used up to clear what debts we did have and purchase new car so this can def be reduced if needed.

I am definatley not one to buy lavish gifts and do have a large family which last year we bought just token gifts for children, nothing for adults and stuck to our own families £100 prob is too much so will reduce this.

Holiday is for 4 of us (new baby due soon...what was i thinking) and is all inc, more than half paid so would lose a fair amount if we cancelled.

Mobiles are 2 sim only contracts with bbm add on, both were through quidco and earned 160 cash back so think they are quite a good deal, due for renewal in nov so hopefully can bring these down then.

The sky is in contract although that is for everything.. movies/sports) and freeview reception is really bad, we had switched to freeview and cancelled sky alltogether but got sucked back in with good deal.

Haircuts I will discuss with the family, I thought 35 was quite cheap?

I really want to reduce my shopping bill and now I have a year off work think I will find this easier to meal plan etc? Is it cheaper to shop at just aldi/lidl or shop around? We use Tesco at the min just for convenience but have no reason to not change.

Thanks for the reply I think I am quite money saving in alot of areas but I have def overlooked others!

daisy1985

mrsb83 wrote: »

The presents, groceries, holiday and entertainment funds could be reduced.

But if you have no debt what are you reasons for wanting to cut your outgoings? Do you have specific savings goals? Choosing a figure that you want to put aside each month might be a better way of achieving this rather than simply trying to cut back.

we save £350 at the minute but would like to increase this, We are in fortunate position I realise that but i want to be able to save more each month without feeling too hard done to if that makes sense? In the past 4 years the hubby has been made redundant 4 times and had prob about 8 months out of work and his pay has reduced year on year so its just to feel a bit more secure if the worse does happen. Plus I think its always good to have other peoples perspective.

wanna-be-mortgage-free_2

Hi Daisy

It might be better to go over to the old style board and the coupon/discount thread. That way you can maybe plan meals with cheaper ingredients or get vouchers for money off to reduce your shopping bills.

Maybe phone your utility supplier or if you have sky or virgin give them a call to make sure you're on the best/cheapest deals.

If you only want to shave off a few pound from your outgoings then little changes make a big difference. I'd definately keep the holiday though, could do with one myself