Here is my SOA... Please help

choppy34

Hello,

having lived in debt for all of my adult life i have come to the decision that enough is enough..

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................ 221 My income is low as im retraining and on an apprentaship salary despite working 24 hours per week
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1600
Benefits................................ 700 Tax credits and child ben
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2521
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 461
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 90
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 56
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 45
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 67
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 23
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 280
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 80
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 300
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1839

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 100000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 102000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 85000....(461)......5.6
Total secured & HP debts...... 85000.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
barclaycard (me)...............3600......100.......0
barclaycard (hubby)............7700......166.......0
hsbc cc........................1600......48........17.9
halifax loan...................10000.....166.......8
Total unsecured debts..........22900.....480.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,521
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,839
Available for debt repayments........... 682
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 480
Amount left after debt repayments....... 202
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 102,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -85,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -22,900
Net Assets.............................. -5,900
Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.


any advise appreciated - it says we have an excess at the end of the month but we really dont!! hopefully by the end of the week i will have a 2nd job in a bar which will bring in an extra £35 per week and as its in the evening no extra childcare is required - just need to make sure the tax credits are not affected. Next september my daughter starts school so my childcare costs will be halved at least but so will the tax credit.

My husbands salary can increase due to a bonus system for example this month he got paid £1900 but a wage that high is rare it generally is £1600

Our phones are in contract until june so once they are up will defo go onto payg

Any help???

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi Choppy, well done for getting it all down as that's often the hardest / scariest part. Few thoughts from me below

choppy34 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.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 221 My income is low as im retraining and on an apprentaship salary despite working 24 hours per week Have you checked your benefits entitlement to see if you can get more whilst retraining?
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1600
Benefits................................ 700 Tax credits and child ben
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2521
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 461
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 90
Electricity............................. 50 Check comparison sites to ensure you're on the best deal - don't leave things on in rooms not being used etc
Gas..................................... 56 As above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 45 Seems high - can you get a meter?
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 67 Ouch! Try phoning & seeing if you can downgrade - worth a try
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 23 Sorry but not essential - switch to Freesat
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 280 On the high side, try the Grocery Challenge on the Old Style board - great bunch of people & loads of tips & recipes
Clothing................................ 40 Try to cut in 1/2 - sell outgrown kids stuff to fund new needs
Petrol/diesel........................... 200 All essential journeys?
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 80
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10 Not enough for 2 cars! I budget £30 just for 1 (and it's fairly new so no unexpected costs)
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 300
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0 Need figure in here for dentist etc
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 20 On the high side when added to contents - check comparison sites
Contents insurance...................... 10 As above
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 0 Never? Think this may be where some of the surplus disappears to - activities with kids etc?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 Need figure in here to cover household appliance replacements etc - don't want to have to get more into debt if something breaks down
Total monthly expenses.................. 1839

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 100000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 102000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 85000....(461)......5.6
Total secured & HP debts...... 85000.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
barclaycard (me)...............3600......100.......0
barclaycard (hubby)............7700......166.......0
hsbc cc........................1600......48........17.9
halifax loan...................10000.....166.......8
Total unsecured debts..........22900.....480.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,521
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,839
Available for debt repayments........... 682
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 480
Amount left after debt repayments....... 202
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 102,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -85,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -22,900
Net Assets.............................. -5,900
Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Fingers crossed for the 2nd job

The good news is that you do have a surplus - but if you never see this then it suggests the SOA isn't quite accurate.

Little bits here & there (trips to the corner shop / sm etc) quickly add up so try keeping a spending diary for a couple of months and writing everything down - it's a real eye opener as to where the £ssss disappear to!

Best of luck

girlatplay

I agree with all that Rising said.

Do you absolutely NEED two cars?

Definitely do spending diary.

Is DH on side with all of this? Half the battle.

choppy34

Thank you so much for replying

My husbands is a mechanic so our vehicle repair costs really are minimal. We both have Ford cars which is who he works for so labour cost are non existent and parts are cheapish.

Our petrol/diesel costs are so high and are a real bug bear. Husband works some 40 miles away and drives a van. We have thought about selling the van for a small run around but all his tools etc are in the van and I'm honestly not sure if a car would work - maybe something to think about.
I only put in a very small amount of fuel in my car. I walk to school and town it's the van that's the problem.

The clOthing amount I've set is high my kids wear their clothes til they are no longer wearable!!!

Do you think a dmp is an option? Hubby is dead against this and us certain we can crack this on our own. We started this week with meal plans and eBay etc

choppy34

Definitely going to go onto the old style board would love to cut the shopping bill as well!

The tax creds etc are all up to date as well so I am getting all that I'm entitled to. Also once I qualify in approx 12 months my wage should go up! Fingers crossed.

I love the idea of a spending diary - will start TODAYxx

googler

The satellite and/or cable has to go. Nobody NEEDS a Sky package when there's free TV throughout the land.

choppy34

googler wrote: »

The satellite and/or cable has to go. Nobody NEEDS a Sky package when there's free TV throughout the land.

Agree with you! It was 67 per month so called them and the contract is up feb so have reduced as much as I can until I cam cancel

googler

choppy34 wrote: »

Agree with you! It was 67 per month so called them and the contract is up feb so have reduced as much as I can until I cam cancel

Why not phone them up and tell your circumstances have changed since that call, you plain can't afford it now, and you'll be cancelling the direct debit with your bank?

Don't ASK them to leave, tell them you're leaving.

girlatplay

Check out the PAD (Payment a Day) thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4045923

This really helped me pay off the last of my debt.

The Old Style board is good for reducing grocery costs and has loads of other info too.

Is your car worth anything? If you don't really need it could you sell it? Would give you instant cash towards debt.

Oh, and meal plan! Plan your meals for the week (or month) and then only get what you need. Write a shopping list before you go grocery shopping and stick to it. Batch cook meals and freeze them.

I know very little about DMP's so I won't pretend to be any kind of expert. I do think that they affect your credit rating though so if you could both try to sort this yourselves first, that is worth a go.

bargainbetty

While you are doing the clear out for ebay, do an inventory of all the contents of your store cupboards. Have a look at the types of things you buy as a matter of routine, and see if you actually use as much as you think. I still have no clue why as a single person living alone I had seven bottles of bleach, six of shampoo and 36 toilet rolls, but it did make me look at what I bought on automatic pilot.

If you do an inventory, you will learn not just how important a shopping list is, but how important a 'don't buy it, you've got tons' list is too!

Call the phone providers too - you might be able to reduce those, even during the contract.

Good luck

googler

bargainbetty wrote: »

I still have no clue why as a single person living alone I had seven bottles of bleach, six of shampoo and 36 toilet rolls, but it did make me look at what I bought on automatic pilot.

If you do an inventory, you will learn not just how important a shopping list is, but how important a 'don't buy it, you've got tons' list is too!

We buy them in bulk from the cash-n-carry, as significantly cheaper that way. The washing-up liquid is in boxes of six bottles, and we buy one box every 18 months or so - essentially, a lot of household supplies might not necessarily equate to buying stuff on autopilot; it could well be a money-saving strategy, but not if you buy them one at a time.....