This SOA stuff, is it just me that finds what other people spend fascinating?

raq

i do also look , but wish I have the heart to do an soa myself..

Tabatha_Kitten

Its not just about helping people whith areas they can cut back, its also about pointing out the things missing from the budget.

How many times do we see a SOA where there are 2 cars but nothing down for car maintenance ?

I have been keeping records over the past three years and insurance, road tax, breakdown cover, servicing, MOT, tyres, cambelts, brakes etc etc etc for two cars has averaged £2500 per year.

Until I realised this and included it in my budget I really struggled to get straight. One big garage bill and I was back in my overdraft !

I can spend hours looking at other peoples soa's and comparing to my own !

thehappybutterfly

it took me a long time to realise that an SOA has to include everything. When I first did one, I didn't put in amounts for clothes food car insurance petrol - in fact anything that went on the credit card - so it looked like we had our spending under control as there was no deficit. Otherwise, because we were meeting the minimum repayments, we would have carried on thinking that we were in control.

We couldn't cut back anywhere - we never went out, we don't smoke, we had PAYG mobiles etc but it did make us realise that we were at crisis point.

Barbeduk

I love the SOAs because you are forced to be so honest. I didn't have the guts to post mine but when i worked it all out it scared the daylights out of me! Just showed how far my head was in the sand.

datlex

I have found SOA useful for when looking at my own finances.

Lucy1010

Great post OP

Looking at others' SOAs recently is the very reason for my ultimate LBM...

I was having a browse when I thought to do my own... it forced me to record absolutely all of my spending, the interest rates on credit cards etc etc..... the result frightened the life out of me....

Hence here I am... debt busting and rallying support from anyone that is in the same predicament :-)

Deep_In_Debt

I was scared when I posted mine - mainly because I was scared of facing the reality of it and actually seeing how much I owed written down. It was interesting to see where I was spending my money and I appreciated the advice I got from everyone who showed me areas where I could save that I didn't realise.

flyinggiraffe_2

Like the OP I love reading other people's SOAs.

! I think it does help to gauge if something can be gotten cheaper. Like when you see that someone has had their sky package reduced to "x" amount it puts you one foot ahead when trying to negotiate the price down.

I also find it useful to see what stuff might cost. I was clueless on how much utilities would cost purely as where I lived before this was included in the rent, so to see in a few people's SOAs you can try and get a feel for rough prices on things.

I guess I'm just a bit nosey as well!

FireWyrm

I have (for the last 2 years) generated a ruthlessly honest SOA for myself about every 6 months. I consider it to be a vital tool in my continued efforts to be debt free and it gives me a chance to actually look and contemplate every expenditure. I often find that I end up switching something somewhere which inevitably saves some money, something I had meant to do, but didnt for one reason or another get around to it. Physically doing an SOA every six months, even if you dont post it, helps you to focus on where you are, where you want to be and what you are doing to get there.

As for SOAs posted by other people, often I can spot anywhere between £100 to £800 a month in savings that could be made by fairly simple lifestyle changes. Inevitably, the poster doesnt even realise to begin with just what they are wasting and where. More than that, most posters put up an SOA and then sheepishly admit that they 'forgot' to include this or that which inevitably accounts for the shortfall in their budget each month. I've actually seen posters who admit to losing around £300+ a month and having no clue where it's gone. Until it's pointed out, something as simple as a spending diary is often not even thought of.

The bottom line is that until you have some idea of the size of the problem, it is almost impossible to offer any kind of constructive advice. An SOA should be the very first thing that a new poster puts up, almost as part of their first enquiry.

DCFC79

I find it fascinating when I read how much is spent on 1 particular expenditure, sometimes its obscene some of the money spent on stuff.