My SOA, Sock it to me!

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

flyinggiraffe wrote: »

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.

Childcare is expensive lol I think its the same everywhere

Partner stays over one night a week, (he comes over sat morning and goes home Sunday morning) which is allowed (double checked as I was worried I was getting money I shouldn't have) he used to live with me but there wad an incident when I was pregnant and he moved out, we're trying to 'sort' things at the moment but I'm not ready for him to move back in yet (but this is something we are working towards)

Car insurance - 6 points (3 come off soon though!) Which I guess is the extra ? Am full comp which I probably don't need to be.

Have rang bt and lowered phone/net, its £22 now (line rental, calls and net) and they said if I pay line rental up front for a year its cheaper

I think a lot of my 'spare' cash goes on !!!! that I really don't need. Shopping was a big one, but past 2 weeks I've managed to cut it in half.

Ill keep spends diary then do soa at the end of march - thanks everyone x

Allypops

tpl wrote: »

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 be claimed for 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. This is NOT meant to be a personal judgement on anyone...just a (really surprising) observation.

Yes, but look at how much childcare costs compared to earnings. Ouch!

Things like CTC and WTC depend on household income. As the OP is a single parent household, earnings are limited and childcare costs etc high so benefits higher. It will also depend on the level of HB. Whereas once you break a certain household income, you don't get CTC or WTC and now wont get CB either. I think given the cost of childcare, the OP has done well to be motivated to go out to work. There is a discussion board for thoughts on benefits and I think that's probably a better place for discussing opinions on levels of benefits etc, the OP here has asked for advice on her SOA and budgeting.

Mimi, I think you need to have another look at your SOA. There are a lot of things not included. Whilst you don't budget monthly amounts for things like car maintenance (tyres, repairs etc) and christmas/birthdays; all these things cost over the course of the year and for the purposes of the SOA should be averaged our so for Christmas it would be £16.67 (200/12) etc. That might give you a better idea of how things lie.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Re car maintenance etc though.... How would you guess? Last year I replaced a tyre, had a new lock fitted, and it was in the garage. Should I just use that ad a 'dummy' cost?

Re work/benefits. I would actually be better off NOT working (i did look into this) but I don't ser why I shouldn't (I'm physically able to etc) when I was pregnant the council actually told me I would be better if I quit my job! (i did complain to the MP about that!)

Kantankrus_Mare

Again ...........like others. I am not having a go at OP but there is no way this country is going to get back on its feet and continue to pay benefits such as this when a married couple, both working full time and supporting college aged children are bringing in less than OP.

We are lucky if we bring in 2,200 a month and that will drop when family allowance stops this year.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Ok, appears I have upset people. That wasn't my intention.

If you check the boards you will see 3 years ago I was in 45k debt and living off beans on toast and hiding from bailiffs who was threatening me and counting 5p's to go buy some milk. I've been there and that's why I'm worrying now (although to you it probably seems like I have no reason to)

The reason for my soa is simple. I want to sort my money out BEFORE my partner moves back in. I don't want to end up back in debt and want to try and save as much as possible just in case. When my partner eventually does move in, bills will go up, but we won't be entitled to the benefits I am getting now (obviously)

I DON'T have that surplus. I know that next week my bank account drops below £50 and I'm worried. Yes I have savings but like I said, I'm trying my best not to use these.

I will post a more accurate soa soon. Will try and go through bank statements and keep a spends diary in march

Thanks for the replies x

michelle2008

Sorry mimi - the SOA shouldn't distinguish where income comes from - you didn't set our benefits policies!!

We should have focused on your question.

Allypops

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel wrote: »

Re car maintenance etc though.... How would you guess? Last year I replaced a tyre, had a new lock fitted, and it was in the garage. Should I just use that ad a 'dummy' cost?

Re work/benefits. I would actually be better off NOT working (i did look into this) but I don't ser why I shouldn't (I'm physically able to etc) when I was pregnant the council actually told me I would be better if I quit my job! (i did complain to the MP about that!)

I know, it's hard to guess where car maintenance is concerned. Think of MOT, tyres, repairs - it all adds up. We're about to spend £400+ on repairs after spending £700 last autumn so with the MOT it's been the best part of £100 pm but I think this is just a BAD year we actually budget £30 a month.

I also find emergencies is difficult because we all have a broken oven/fridge etc. As your renting , depending on the type of rental, it might be that your landlord would take care of the repairs but if not it might be worth estimating a £30 a month for contingencies/emergencies.

It seems unfair that you would actually be better off if you didn't work at all. You think you'd at least end up even wouldn't you However, you are keeping your career going, you want to work and it should pay off for you in the long run.

A spending diary is a great idea for finding out where those "missing" pennies are going! (my guilty pleasures of take aways, nice choccie and magazines were shocking)!

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Sorry I had a snotty pm so needed a rant lol

I would be BETTER off NOT working - I CHOOSE to work. At least give me some credit for that - I do pay tax after all lol

Rent is for house only so only the boiler, windows etc are covered. I actually bought a new cooker recently (asked on here about it as was using cc)

Car maintaince - I'm really naive about this. I think I will put same as you! :-)

Kantankrus_Mare

Sorry Mimi...........I really hope you didnt take my post as personal because its really not my intention.

Good on you for working. cant always be easy struggling with childcare.

Hope you manage to work your budget out.

tpl

Allypops wrote: »

Yes, but look at how much childcare costs compared to earnings. Ouch!
...yes, but the benefits more than cover that.

Things like CTC and WTC depend on household income. As the OP is a single parent household, earnings are limited and childcare costs etc high so benefits higher. It will also depend on the level of HB. Whereas once you break a certain household income, you don't get CTC or WTC and now wont get CB either.

...you have to earning a pretty high income before that kicks in though (£50,000)? I'm doing my homework now, why not!? : )

I think given the cost of childcare, the OP has done well to be motivated to go out to work.

...Really? Surely that means the benefit system is not fit for purpose!

There is a discussion board for thoughts on benefits and I think that's probably a better place for discussing opinions on levels of benefits etc, the OP here has asked for advice on her SOA and budgeting.

...The SOA posted looked fine to me (I'm no expert tho), so I commented about that, as the OP asked for comments!!! The benefits were a part of that. I do not use, or am aware of, most of the other forums, as I was trying to get out of debt and this is the only one (apart from the utilities one) I have needed to look at. I don't wish to discuss levels of benefits on other forums...it just came up here and was a surprise, as I said I don't know much about them... so I commented. It's just been a real surprise to be honest, and has made me reassess my own life! I'll stop commenting now, and I wish Mimi all the best.