My SOA, Sock it to me!

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Okie Dokies! Here goes nothing. Have put some notes along side my SOA for referece

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1 2 adults at weekend as partner/Boyfriend whatever you want to call him visits so have to feed him (He does bring food occasionally!)
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 728.38
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1409.5 WTC/CTC/HB - HB is due to change as it is £8 per 4 weeks atm (Got a bonus in Jan which screwed benefit up, waiting on them to reassess it)
Other income............................ 313.81Maintenance from ex and £100 from partner
Total monthly income.................... 2451.69

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 314.6
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 68.57
Electricity............................. 40 Estimated. I have put £20 in this week and will see how far it goes, i think i spend around £5-£10 a week.
Gas..................................... 40 Same as above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 22.65
Telephone (land line)................... 30.2 Inc Broadband - in contract
Mobile phone............................ 50 Locked in contract
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 22 Sky, lowest package (most channels tbf as i threatened to leave)
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 155 again estimated. last 2 weekly shops have been under £30. I'm checking cost on moneysupermarket, then looking for deals instore. What ever "change" i have I am putting in a savings account
Clothing................................ 0 As and when. This month I've spent £5 on tights for DD1
Petrol/diesel........................... 130 Trying to stop using car on daft journeys.
Road tax................................ 0 I don't budget monthly for this so have omitted it from S.O.A (It's £170 per year)
Car Insurance........................... 44.8
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 Again, I don't budget (dads a mechanic so get this done cheap! He pays for it and i pay him when i can)
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 701.75 For both children
Other child related expenses............ 48 £8 Swimming lessons for DD1 and £10 per week school dinners
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 14.16
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 Only really buy my childrens birthdays/xmas, Don't budget monthly (Xmas i spent around £200 each)
Haircuts................................ 0 A friend does them every once in a while
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1693.85


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
CC.............................1200......13........0 0% until Dec 2013
Total unsecured debts..........1200......13........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,451.69
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,693.85
Available for debt repayments........... 757.84
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 13
Amount left after debt repayments....... 744.84 This is incorrect, depending on what i buy during month (For example, My MOT is Friday so thats £45. I've replaced car tyres which was £50) I KNOW i should budget for these, I will soon, Am just trying to lower cost first. I find i work better doing things a little at a time rather than try and do it all at once because i know i will fail.

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,200
Net Assets.............................. -1,200

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

I have changed CC payments to £133.33 a week, will be paid off in 9 weeks.
Shopping - am meal planning, taking left overs into work, Seeing what my shopping "should" cost, if i manage to get it less then i put what ever "change" i have into my savings account (For example, today shopping should have been £31.77. I got everything i needed for £24.79 so put the £6.98 'Change' in my savings)

DD has a school dinner because by the time she gets in from school/childcare (6pm) she hasn't got time for a cooked dinner. Childcare give her "tea" (Sandwiches etc) so i give her "supper" (Cereal) when she gets in. I dont really want her having sandwiches.

I know there are things I havent put in my SOA which really should be there. But I know if i try and do everything at once i will screw up. I work better doing the little things that add up to the big things

Carlos77

It amazes me how much benefits you can actually get. Not meaning to have a pop at you personally, its good that you work as a single parent, and juggle childcare and all that.

What i mean is, if someone can be in your position, and have an excess of more than your entire wage left after paying bills and expenses, then there is little wonder the country is broke!

I dont mean any disrespect to you, but if your case is in any way common, then something seriously needs doing about the benefit system.

shonzyd

i dont mean to judge either and i know it doesnt answer your question but yes i agree, how is it possible that your benefit entitlement amounts to nearly double your take home pay on top?

I am a single parent of one, albeit i work full time and my salary is a fair bit higher, i get CTC and CB however it still works out your taking home alot more than me. interesting!!!

anyway back to topic, you need to budget in for everything. no point excluding adhoc expenses...i.e car tax, work out the total for year and divide by 12 for your monthly expense. I cant really get a true picture of how you are spending beyond your means given the SOA you have posted.

Regards

tpl

I'm not sure what the problem is with your SoA?! You have substantial monthly and disposable income, low priority bills (rent/council tax), and minimal debt! And two kids you love.
I am also amazed at the amount of benefits that can be claimed - I would have had children a long time ago if I'd known - I thought I couldn't afford them!!
Lucky you!
ps. I'm not envious or anything ; )

michelle2008

Like others I am amazed by how much you get in benefits. Nothing at all to do with you personally - but how are there children living in poverty when benefits are available at that level?

Your SOA looks fine and you should have a comfortable lifestyle with that level of surplus.

Have just calculated you would need a salary of £38,000 to get that level of income if you had no benefits! Again no offense but wow!!

josiebabie

Your SOA is inaccurate, you need to go through your bank statements and work out what you spend on the things you 'don't budget monthly for'. Ie presents, you've written you spend £200 each at Christmas. Divide this by 12 and put the total in the box (not forgetting to add birthdays as well).

Until you have an accurate SOA no one can comment constructively.

tpl

Being on this forum has really opened my eyes to the benefit system (and I haven't been on the forum regularly for v. long!)...I didn't know much about it at all before. I'm stunned by the posts I read about how much can be claimed by families, in particular. I'm coming from a place of working full-time and/or studying, and thinking I couldn't afford to have children (so biased), but clearly that is not the case! I obviously didn't do my homework. My full time salary is equivalent to these benefits! This is NOT meant to be a personal judgement on anyone...just a (really surprising) observation.

tpl

michelle2008 wrote: »

Have just calculated you would need a salary of £38,000 to get that level of income if you had no benefits! Again no offense but wow!!

really?...wow!

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Ill update soa, didn't include things I don't budget for because I didn't think it would be accurate that way too lol

I think I need to do a spend diary. Will start one 1st march. Think that would be best because I don't have loads and loads of spare cash, regardless what soa says lol

Benefits - I know its not personal, and I agree its probably why the country is in tatters BUT that said, If I never recieved help with my childcare it wouldnt be possible for me to work. I'm lucky that I have a decent paid job at part time hours. When I first went back to work it was full time and I sobbed every day because I missed the kids. I'm not one that doesn't want to work though (does that even make sense?)

at the moment I work 3 days a week, 16 hours. My eldest daughter uses child care before and after school and during the school holidays. Youngest child is in childcare 3 full days, I get WTC and Childtax credit of approx 281 per week. Child benefit is 33.20 a week and HB is every week.

flyinggiraffe_2

Hiya,

With that surplus you would be free of the credit card in 2 months. So I guess if you are on here perhaps you don't have that much left at the end of the month?

Or the stuff you haven't accounted for is a high amount and distorted the figures in the SOA which is why people always prefer when everything is included.

If that is the problem keep a diary of everything you spend, I can easily spend 50-60 quid a week more than I think from "just" having a costa Coffee or getting a few bits on the way home from work.

I see you mention trying to get things cheaper - I'd say the only thing that looks out to me is child care but I don't have children so have NO idea what that costs! The amount you pay may well be reasonable and I'm sure others with mini people will know better.

CAR insurance is high -have you shopped around for best deal here?

Also something else I just spotted - council tax I'm guessing you pay single person rate? Have you checked how often your partner can stay before you legally should be paying the normal rate?

And another - you have a car, yet not listed it as an asset at the bottom of your SOA.