My SOA

rising_from_the_ashes

Ohhhh don't go down that route - hindsight is always a wonderful thing ...... if I think of all the things I wish I'd done differently (money wise), I'd probably be rich now & not a pauper lol!

It's funny as I was decluttering upstairs the other day & found 2 carrier bags stuffed with old bills (from the bad days when I didn't open mail/file anything) and looking at some of them it was ridiculous the amount of money I used to spend on "silly" (non-essential) things!

I've got nothing to show for most of it and spent many, many years paying it all back - silly eh!

malkyh

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Ohhhh don't go down that route - hindsight is always a wonderful thing ...... if I think of all the things I wish I'd done differently (money wise), I'd probably be rich now & not a pauper lol!

It's funny as I was decluttering upstairs the other day & found 2 carrier bags stuffed with old bills (from the bad days when I didn't open mail/file anything) and looking at some of them it was ridiculous the amount of money I used to spend on "silly" (non-essential) things!

I've got nothing to show for most of it and spent many, many years paying it all back - silly eh!

I just remember staring at my bank account in 2009. I'd never had so much money in it. With my three months garden leave pay lumped in I had close to 18k. After I had paid off everything, and paid for the wedding, there wasn't much left but I was so happy that I had no loans, credit cards or overdraft, and my balance was still in the black.

Then it started vanishing again, and three years later I am worse than I was back then. :mad:

Loubell83

malkyh wrote: »

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1684
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0 (my wife doesnt work as she looks afte the children)
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 200
Total monthly income.................... 1884
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 384
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 118 - is this over 10 or 12 months? You could extend to 12 for extra cash month to month
Electricity............................. 44
Gas..................................... 55
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0 (included in 60 internet services)
Mobile phone............................ 65 (two contracts, one for me at £35 and one for my wife at (30) although both end in November and will be ditched for cheqper contracts.
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 60
Internet Services....................... 0 (included in 60 above)
Groceries etc. ......................... 0 (My wife buys the shopping with child tax credit money)
Clothing................................ 0 (I get clothes at christmas and birthdays, I dont buy my own)
Petrol/diesel........................... 300
Road tax................................ 2.5 (£30 a year)
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0 (My wife covers these
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 (Free)
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 15
Buildings insurance..................... 7
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 10
Other insurance......................... 46 - what is this? Could you shop around?
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 5
Haircuts................................ 0 (My wife cuts what I have left)
Entertainment........................... 80 - could this be cut by using vouchers/free days out with kids?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Child savings contributions............. 20
Horse livery etc........................ 150 (we have 4 horses and getting rid is not an option)
Total monthly expenses.................. 1433.5

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 110000
Shares and bonds........................ 200
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 113200

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 75000....(384)......4.99
Total secured & HP debts...... 75000.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................6900......170.......9.9
Credit card 1..................3000......70........0
Credit card 2..................400.......5.........17.9
Total unsecured debts..........10300.....245.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,884
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,433.5
Available for debt repayments........... 450.5
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 245
Amount left after debt repayments....... 205.5 Do you really have this left over? If not keep a spending diary to see where your money is going - you might surprise yourself!
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 113,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -75,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -10,300
Net Assets.............................. 27,900

Hi all,

Above is my up to date SOA. Can anyone help me analyse this and suggest some savings as I am always skint with a growing credit card bill.

Thanks,

A few comments on the above but it seems to me that you are doing quite well with budgeting!

I agree about the Virgin, It is my one luxury so I keep it. Me and my partner are big TV watchers so we use it all the time. We also have lovefilm at £8 a month for movies, we have date nights in with a DVD and a cheaply cooked dinner as opposed to going out which means our entertainment budget is virtually zero. Is this something you could do to save money - or is the entertainment for the kids?

Good Luck

malkyh

Loubell83 wrote: »

A few comments on the above but it seems to me that you are doing quite well with budgeting!

I agree about the Virgin, It is my one luxury so I keep it. Me and my partner are big TV watchers so we use it all the time. We also have lovefilm at £8 a month for movies, we have date nights in with a DVD and a cheaply cooked dinner as opposed to going out which means our entertainment budget is virtually zero. Is this something you could do to save money - or is the entertainment for the kids?

Good Luck

Hi there, thanks for your time.

Council tax is over 10 months. I actually like it this way, as come the free months I put the £236 towards CC bills.

The other insurance is third party liability for the horses which due to their age, we can't reduce this . It's also the SSE boiler cover I have on my heating system which I do not want to cancel.

£80 entertainment per month is our once a week chinese which we have and also a bottle of wine and a few beers for a Friday night.

Rainbow_Bridge

tallyhoh wrote: »

:eek:I thought I did well but how on earth does your wife manage on £40 a week?? just buying food out of that would be a struggle:eek:

I have to second this, your wife deserves an MSE gold star for managing that lot on £40.00. :T

It's great you have a frugal wife.

It looks like you have addressed all the obvious areas on your SOA. Could you get your wife to join MSE and perhaps get involved in a £10.00 a day challenge. There are other SAHM's that make quite a bit on that thread, and she might get some ideas, for making a few extra pounds that will ease your budget.

malkyh

Rainbow_Bridge wrote: »

I have to second this, your wife deserves an MSE gold star for managing that lot on £40.00. :T

It's great you have a frugal wife.

It looks like you have addressed all the obvious areas on your SOA. Could you get your wife to join MSE and perhaps get involved in a £10.00 a day challenge. There are other SAHM's that make quite a bit on that thread, and she might get some ideas, for making a few extra pounds that will ease your budget.

If I think about it it's actually a bit more than £40, as she also receives child benefit weekly. That is spent on kids clothes, nappies, etc etc

My wife is a star. My soulmate. Couldn't live without her.

I'll certainly mention her joining (although can't let her read the statement above, treat her mean and all that lol)

Cyril

Hi ,

I think you will notice a big difference when you get rid of your phone contracts.I was also on a contract but hardly ever used the phone so swapped for a SIM only and the bill went from £40 a month to £8

Also I have horses and I see there aren't any costs for shoes / trims / wormers etc etc. Horses keep us poor my friend .

As an aside and I haven't read the whole thread but as your wife is horsey is there any scope to offer her services for freelance yard duties to fit around the kids ?

Good luck, we're all juggling out here and you aren't alone.

malkyh

Cyril wrote: »

Hi ,

I think you will notice a big difference when you get rid of your phone contracts.I was also on a contract but hardly ever used the phone so swapped for a SIM only and the bill went from £40 a month to £8

Also I have horses and I see there aren't any costs for shoes / trims / wormers etc etc. Horses keep us poor my friend .

As an aside and I haven't read the whole thread but as your wife is horsey is there any scope to offer her services for freelance yard duties to fit around the kids ?

Good luck, we're all juggling out here and you aren't alone.

Hi there,

I tried to use the £150 pm as an average for the horses. The actual cost for the livery is £110, so the additional £40 pm is to cover the other costs such as hay, shoes, wormers, farriers etc. In winter this does increase as the hay and straw bills go up but we get some financial assistance from family to help during the winter.

My wife is interested in riding lessons, but she really needs to get a qualification to be able to charge money for this. It is something she has on her wish list (as well as opening a wedding dress shop)

ceh209

I'm surprised no-one's said, your SOA shows a surplus but you said you have no money and are increasing credit cards each month. This means you must be spending more than you've put on your SOA!

Have you tried keeping a spending diary to see where the extra goes?

malkyh

ceh209 wrote: »

I'm surprised no-one's said, your SOA shows a surplus but you said you have no money and are increasing credit cards each month. This means you must be spending more than you've put on your SOA!

Have you tried keeping a spending diary to see where the extra goes?

I will do this as I have no idea where the money is going.