Can anyone help?x - SOA included

paulmapp8306

i dont htink the Electric is too high. TBH I see that commetn a LOT, but Im monitoring my useage daily, and Im averaging £3/day - so around £90/month. Thats turning things off not on standby etc. We do run a dishwasher, tumble dryer (relaly needed here in NI) and our cooker is electric though. Maybe if you use Gas to cook on (rather than just water/heating) your useage is high - but if you use electric to cook then its about right.

the BIG one for me is groceries. £600 is HUGE. I dont have 4 kids - BUT feeding 4 rather than the 2 I do have shouldnt cost that much more - unless there all eating different things at different times. If they are you need to stop that, and eat together.

I used to spend £600/month, but after meal planning, changing to no name brands, and cutting back on luxuries Im down to £300 most months - including all cleaning products, toiletries and the like. Im pretty sure you could get yours down to £400/month even with 4 kids.

You need to look at cutting the mobile contract when you can, and making it PAYG. You can also do better than £40 for phone & internet combined. Shop around, as there are deals for half that.

I assume you rother half looks after buildings and contents insurance? though you have included his income in the SOA so ? If you havent you need it. £30/month would easily cover both - and you could probably get cheaper (though check the cover).

Even without those savings though - you have as a family £500/month spare for debts, and with nearly £700/month going out - a DMP (debt management plan) with Payplan or CCCS (consumer credit councelling service) is both available and manageable.

Get that sorted using the figues quoted above (take £100 off the groceries, and split it between building/contents insurance and an emergency fund). Then when you have the plan - start cutting you groceries further.

One big MUST though - is speak to your OH. You will NOT manage without his help, and need him on-board. If you feel you CANT do that, you need a seperate SOA for just you - with only what your responsible for on it so we can see your personal situation rather than the families. Be warned though - CCCS/Debtplan may not accept your childrens costs on such an SOA. Your either a FAMILY with FAMILY income/outgoings OR your an individual with only sole dependants aloud on your SOA.

mildred1978

A lot of the figures look like a weekly fig x4. That's not the right sum for monthly amounts. £300 per week (husband's income) is actually £1300 per calendar month.

No point doing this if you're underestimating everything.

Multiply by 52 and divide by 12 for correct monthly amounts.

paulmapp8306

HappyMJ wrote: »

A family of your size would get £1667.50 per month in benefits plus rent/mortgage and council tax in your case that's another £425.00. .

Question on that - for my own information. They wouldnt get anything towards the mortgage would they? Ive been told you get no housing benefit if you own - only if you rent.

Secondly, theres the OH income, which will reduce the benefits - or is that just an equivilant figure if noone was working for bancrupcy figures.

FWIW, Ive been told If ne and the wife arnt working, Id get £135 Child benefit (2 kids) and £440 Child Tax Credits - and that all. I do have a pension income of £840/month which will go someway to offset things, but nothing else. Thats a total of £1425/month income. Nowhere near the £2000+ your quoting for the OP - and despite having 2 extra kids, I can see how that ads up to £600/month extra benefits.

DCFC79

mumsnopennies wrote: »

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200
Benefits................................ 1145
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2345

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 325
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 80
Gas..................................... 60
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 45
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 600 Not sure if this is normal for a family of 6 ( 4 of which are kids )
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 140
Road tax................................ 30
Car Insurance........................... 80
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 80
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 20
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 16
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 Too high
Haircuts................................ 20 definitely get a friend/neighbour to cut the kids hair. You used to buy the clippers for about £20.
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1818


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 80000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 81500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 22000....(325)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 22000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
tesco loan.....................12000.....264.......0
barclay card...................7000......189.......0
mbna...........................2000......60........0
mothercare.....................450.......8.........0
next store card................1000......100.......0
tesco card.....................1000......30........0
debenhams......................1600......40........0
Total unsecured debts..........25050.....691.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,345
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,818
Available for debt repayments........... 527
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 691
Amount short for making debt repayments. -164

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 81,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -22,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -25,050
Net Assets.............................. 34,450

Where do you go for groceries ? Have you got any of the following near you :

aldi
lidl
homebargains
B&M stores

Maybe look out for coupons for stuff you buy (mse or hot uk deals can be useful)
Look out for items that are reduced eg chilled items/fresh fruit and veg, some chilled items you can freeze eg milk if you can get your hands on any.
Maybe try buying the basic foods or supermarket own brand( you could make a note of prices of a usual shop using mysupermarket and then compare in 1 of the shops mentioned above )

paulmapp8306

Oh - in fact looking atit - the OP has a mortgage so not renting, her OH gets £1200/£1300/ month (so more than Id get) AND she gets £1145 benefits - which is £550 more than Ive been told Ill get.

so - can someone tell me where/what those benefits are? TBH Im really worried, as my job comes to an end next year, and were moving to a new ares (forced - well the area isnt but were not settling in Belfast), and will have a mortgage - dont quite know how Id manage on £1500/month, but over £2k would be manageable.

(Sorry for the hijack)

freshstart11

mumsnopennies wrote: »

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 4
Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200
Benefits................................ 1145
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2345

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 325
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 80 any arrears? can you swap company
Gas..................................... 60 as above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40 if on meter ask about a watersure/care scheme for large family
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 45
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 600 c. Ive managed 5 people on 200 a month, with special dietary requirements this can be reduced, prob make up the deficit alone!
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 140
Road tax................................ 30
Car Insurance........................... 80 shop around
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 80
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 20
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 really none? I would reduce something else and get something in here
Life assurance ......................... 16
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1818


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 80000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 81500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 22000....(325)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 22000.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
tesco loan.....................12000.....264.......0
barclay card...................7000......189.......0
mbna...........................2000......60........0
mothercare.....................450.......8.........0
next store card................1000......100.......0
tesco card.....................1000......30........0
debenhams......................1600......40........0
Total unsecured debts..........25050.....691.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,345
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,818
Available for debt repayments........... 527
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 691
Amount short for making debt repayments. -164

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 81,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -22,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -25,050
Net Assets.............................. 34,450

I personally think if you shop around and also cut the grocery by £200 odd you will be fine! A DMP would be perfect - no need to go bankrupt xx

HappyMJ

paulmapp8306 wrote: »

Question on that - for my own information. They wouldnt get anything towards the mortgage would they? Ive been told you get no housing benefit if you own - only if you rent.

Secondly, theres the OH income, which will reduce the benefits - or is that just an equivilant figure if noone was working for bancrupcy figures.

FWIW, Ive been told If ne and the wife arnt working, Id get £135 Child benefit (2 kids) and £440 Child Tax Credits - and that all. I do have a pension income of £840/month which will go someway to offset things, but nothing else. Thats a total of £1425/month income. Nowhere near the £2000+ your quoting for the OP - and despite having 2 extra kids, I can see how that ads up to £600/month extra benefits.

Correct. They would get the interest paid on the mortgage instead or would have PPI to cover the payments. They can be cancelled out. It's just an equivalent figure. You aren't expected to pay anything towards debts on benefits so can use the figures that someone on benefits would get and make them fit your own circumstances. As the OH is contributing something then the sum of what she gets and what he contributes equals what they would get on benefits then those figures can be used.

Benefits would be £111.45 JSA couples rate weekly, £20.30 Child benefit for the first and £13.40 for the next 3 weekly. Multiply by 52 then divide by 12. (£745 per month) Tax credits are £545 plus £2,690 per child per year. (£942 per month). My rubbish calculation earlier was less. It's actually £1687 per month. Then add the mortgage and council tax. £2112.

mildred1978

HappyMJ wrote: »

Correct. They would get the interest paid on the mortgage instead or would have PPI to cover the payments. They can be cancelled out. It's just an equivalent figure. You aren't expected to pay anything towards debts on benefits so can use the figures that someone on benefits would get and make them fit your own circumstances. As the OH is contributing something then the sum of what she gets and what he contributes equals what they would get on benefits then those figures can be used.

.

why doesn't someone do anything about this? It's a complete farce!!!

mumsnopennies

I know that Im going have to come clean with my husband but Id prefare to do so once I have a plan of action .
Nope we don't have buildings or contents insurance.
I agree that our shopping bill is high and the new me is going to get an handle on that. It does include nappies and wipes and formula milk tho which alone is 80 pounds a month x
I agree with the haircut situation tho and will make a change there x
The figures in my SOA for mobile phones and all car costs are for both me and my husband. Ive accepted that I may have to let my car go and save a chunk of running costs there but should I only do that after a decision has been made about which path to take ?
I didn't think the electricity was high but I will research it. We do have a tumble dryer but no dishwasher or anything exessive - sons x box maybe?
I rang my loan company to get the latest figure that I owe and its 10800, I would never have been able to do that a month ago x
Im really scared of anything happening to our home so a repayment plan really does sound like a better option right now

rising_from_the_ashes

mumsnopennies wrote: »

Nope we don't have buildings or contents insurance.

Please get this in place asap

mumsnopennies wrote: »

I agree that our shopping bill is high and the new me is going to get an handle on that. It does include nappies and wipes and formula milk tho which alone is 80 pounds a month x

Try Aldi - their nappies are apparently excellent (better than branded, let alone sm own) and very well priced.

Hopefully with some tweaking and gradual cut backs over a few months you should be able to save around £250 off this

mumsnopennies wrote: »

I didn't think the electricity was high but I will research it. We do have a tumble dryer but no dishwasher or anything exessive - sons x box maybe?

How often do you use the TD as they literally eat elec?

£80 is high IMHO (AFAIK prices in NI which it was compared to are a lot higher than mainland UK). When you add in the gas, £140 seems a lot to be going through each month (I pay £64 total for both, obviously you will be more as you have more people, but it shouldn't be that much more). Check you've not got radiators / lights on in rooms when they're not being used etc.

mumsnopennies wrote: »

I rang my loan company to get the latest figure that I owe and its 10800, I would never have been able to do that a month ago x

Well done:T that's a huge first step