My SOA - Any pointers welcome :-)

my_lightbulb_moment

Hi,

Been looking at the site for a while but never registered until now. I am slightly worried about my debt and don't want it to grow bigger.

A few things to know before hand, the gas is high as I am on LPG tank and have tried to get cheaper but the tank is under the ground and they have a tank fee to remove as well as ripping up my garden!

The childcare costs will come down in August when my youngest starts school and it will come down to £357 so can add another £300 to the payments and I currently use the voucher scheme through work.

Ready to clear my debt as quickly as possible, have kicked Sky in to touch and have been checking other items like electric. In August our car insurance is up and it looks like I can halve that too.

I travel 50 miles to work hence the high petrol costs.....

So anyway, long first post here is my SOA

Thanks for any help

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.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1504.1
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2026.46
Benefits................................ 134.8
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3665.36

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 758.7
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 183
Electricity............................. 36
Gas..................................... 95
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40.5
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 24.99
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 5
Petrol/diesel........................... 300
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 73
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 655
Other child related expenses............ 15
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 28
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 240
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2861.31


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 250000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 16000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 266000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 115550...(758.7)....5.8
Total secured & HP debts...... 115550....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdraft 1 ...................6000......50........19.9
Overdraft 2....................1900......50........19.2
Credit Card NW.................2200......25........0
Next...........................62........12........25.9
Barclay Card...................2135.35...50........16.9
Credit Card NW Wife............579.96....15........17.9
Total unsecured debts..........12877.31..202.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,665.36
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,861.31
Available for debt repayments........... 804.05
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 202
Amount left after debt repayments....... 602.05

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 266,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -115,550
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,877.31
Net Assets.............................. 137,572.69

Created using the SOA calculator at makesenseofcards.com

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

faceuptoit

Just a few small things:

Your SOA shows you have £600 left every month. Where does this go? Are you paying off more debt with it? I assume each debt repayment is the minimum. You should pay off Next with this surplus and then focus overpaying the highest APRs first - ie those overdrafts.

Also might be worth checking if you and/or your wife can balance transfer onto a 0% credit card.

With 2 children, is £10/month really how much you spend on presents? It looks like you may be underbudgeting in your SOA.

Also, council tax is high - is that for 10 months?

killerpeaty

Hi there,
I'm not expert, but I thought I'd drop http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheaper-fuel this article in in case you haven't seen it before.
Your entertainment pot appears to be huge! Could you cut it down?

Have you looked up snowballing?
good luck!

my_lightbulb_moment

The council tax is high but I am not behind and this is over 10 months, I live in the country and that seems to grant council to up the prices!

I will try and look at gift budget but maybe you're right, maybe under estimated that one.

As for the entertainment, we don't go out very often as a couple so this is doing stuff with kids, days out. It could be cut down a lot if I'm honest what is a more realistic budget?

Thanks so far

faceuptoit

my_lightbulb_moment wrote: »

The council tax is high but I am not behind and this is over 10 months, I live in the country and that seems to grant council to up the prices!

I will try and look at gift budget but maybe you're right, maybe under estimated that one.

As for the entertainment, we don't go out very often as a couple so this is doing stuff with kids, days out. It could be cut down a lot if I'm honest what is a more realistic budget?

Thanks so far

How about the surplus £600 - are you truly being left with that much every month? If so, what do you do with it?

I only ask because my SOA shows me having £872 left every month...When actually I'm spending £130 more than I earn every month :rotfl:I just find it hard to keep track of where my money goes and I think a lot of other people do too, but this is key to paying off debt!

Miss_Havisham

faceuptoit wrote: »

How about the surplus £600 - are you truly being left with that much every month? If so, what do you do with it?

I only ask because my SOA shows me having £872 left every month...When actually I'm spending £130 more than I earn every month :rotfl:I just find it hard to keep track of where my money goes and I think a lot of other people do too, but this is key to paying off debt!

You are so right, I bet many of us on here have the same problem ! I think the notebook exercise is useful - jot down everything you buy over a month or so - newspapers, cup of coffee, chocolate at the petrol station etc and you'll soon see where your "left over" money is going. I scared myself when I did it but it really did help.

mum2one

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.................... 2

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1504.1
Partners monthly income after tax....... 2026.46
Benefits................................ 134.8
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3665.36

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 758.7
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 183
Electricity............................. 36
Gas..................................... 95
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40.5
Telephone (land line)................... 0 - is that included with the internet?
Mobile phone............................ 40 - could try giff gaff, get good deals - could easily knock £10 per month off the bills
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 24.99 - you can definately get that cheaper, I pay £7.20 with AOL and get all my local and national calls included in that fee, plus unlimited internt usegae - keep my line rental with BT
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 5
Petrol/diesel........................... 300
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 73 - at renewal shop around, I've just done my fathers car ins and saved him £110 on his renewal price plus £35 cashback
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10 - for 2 cars thats way too low
Car parking............................. 0 - I would allow something for car parking
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 655
Other child related expenses............ 15
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 28
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0 - you've got a mortgage but no buildings or contents or have you included that in with the mortgage
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0 - ditto re mortgage
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10 - 2 children thats only £120 per year - think this is way under expect it to be around £50 per month at least
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 240 - quite high
Holiday................................. 0 - expect something here even if its for days out
Emergency fund.......................... 0 - should have something for emergency fund
Total monthly expenses.................. 2861.31


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 250000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 16000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 266000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 115550...(758.7)....5.8
Total secured & HP debts...... 115550....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Overdraft 1 ...................6000......50........19.9 - is that just the charges per month
Overdraft 2....................1900......50........19.2 (ditto)
Credit Card NW.................2200......25........0
Next...........................62........12........25.9
Barclay Card...................2135.35...50........16.9
Credit Card NW Wife............579.96....15........17.9
Total unsecured debts..........12877.31..202.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,665.36
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,861.31
Available for debt repayments........... 804.05
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 202
Amount left after debt repayments....... 602.05

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 266,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -115,550
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,877.31
Net Assets.............................. 137,572.69

Created using the SOA calculator at makesenseofcards.com

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/QUOTE]

I've popped a few suggestions on, there seems to be some gaps where there should be expenditure.

One idea would be keep a spending diary for a month and write everything in it, that way your see where the money is going.

The other thing your presents are really low, I do the bday and xmas presents for out household, in theory some people have 3 sets of presents, (1 off my parents, 1 off me, 1 off DD), and my budget for them comes in at £900 a year, thats without buying parents, DD or my presents, xx

paulmapp8306

Pretty much agree with mum2one.

Id also be using the surplus to pay off the debts. You could clear the next card and the wifes Natwest cc in one month, which frees up another £27/month - then start on the overdrafts.

paulmapp8306

As for birthdays/Xmas, I have two kids who get £100 each for Christmas, plus £50 for birthdays prezzies and £50 for parties (their young). Me and the wife dont buy for each other - her dad, my mum and my sister & her 2 kids get £20 each for Xmas. Grand total of £500/year. However, me and the wife get £100 each for BDays (from her dad and my mum - £50 from each) and £150 each for Xmas - a total of £500/year which goes into the prezzie pot. Net spends on Prezzies - £0 I know we dont get anything - but we can handle that and everyone else gets a little something and the kids arnt missing out.

theoretica

As has been pointed out there are some places you could spend less, but other places where you are probably spending more. If you can balance it out so you truly have £600 to overpay your debts that will be great. Have you looked through back bank and card statements to see what you have really been spending?

You should be able to pay the Next card off straight away- it is the highest interest and low balance.

rising_from_the_ashes

paulmapp8306 wrote: »

As for birthdays/Xmas, I have two kids who get £100 each for Christmas, plus £50 for birthdays prezzies and £50 for parties (their young). Me and the wife dont buy for each other - her dad, my mum and my sister & her 2 kids get £20 each for Xmas. Grand total of £500/year.

That's a much more realistic budget - IMHO kids have waayyyy too much spent on them and it can cause huge problems if there's a particularly difficult year when things are very tight and you literally can't afford to buy big presents if that's all they've ever had.

And - it's really not necessary - think back to your childhood ..... how many presents do you remember over the years?

Mine was a bike I got for my 7th birthday (had wanted one for yonks!:)) - can I remember any of the others? errrrrr no - probably as my parents didn't have lots of money spare so they tended to be shoes or clothes for school etc.

Now, that might seem sad to some - but has it done me any long term damage? Honestly, NO!:)