Review of SOA

JulieGeorgiana

Hi, I may not be a debt free wannabe anymore, but with 2 (very nearly 3) children I no longer work I am trying to keep our spending down as we are on a limited budget and the house needs work which costs lots of money, and we are constantly saving for these things!

So as it's been 18 months since I reviewed my SOA I would love it if you guys could take a look and rip apart and give any advice...

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2020
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 428
Total monthly income.................... 2448
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 627.5
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 125
Electricity............................. 70
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 22.5
Mobile phone............................ 31
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 7.5
Groceries etc. ......................... 240
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 140
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 37
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 21
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 40
Buildings insurance..................... 25
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 52.62
Other insurance......................... 19.81
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 75
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 20
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Mortgage Overpayment.................... 152.5
School Bus Fees......................... 47.5
Baby Milk Powder........................ 25
Nappies/Wipes........................... 40
Savings - School Clothes................ 10
Childrens Savings....................... 30
After School Clubs...................... 10
School Dinner........................... 6
GOSH.................................... 3
Church.................................. 4
Window Washer........................... 4
DS Pocket Money......................... 10
DD Pocket Money......................... 2
Total monthly expenses.................. 2137.05

Tixy

Hi

I don't think there is much ripping apart to be done of your SoA!

It all looks fairly sensible, you are overpaying on your mortgage, saving up for items and still show as having around £300 surplus.

Do you actually have the £300 surplus each month? and is this being saved/used towards the house repair costs?

Have you checked your gas & elec tariffs recently. Your elec looks a little high so may be worth double checking if you are on the best tariff/cheapest supplier, and perhaps seeing if you can reduce your usage at all - e.g. reminding the family to switch off lights etc not in use.

Have you shopped around for the life insurance / other insurance recently to check if it is still competitive (and check its the amount of cover you need).

JulieGeorgiana

Thank you for your answers...

No we don't, we have £150ish left most months due to 'ad hoc' expenses which can't seem to be 'budgeted' as it's just stuff.

DH and I have looked at this for the last year, about £50 a month has been none essential

A lot is overspending on food while I've been pregnant. I'm taking that on 'Old Style' at the moment. The rest is being saved and we just managed to upgrade and fix the electrics after a year of saving.

My tariffs are good for our usage and were locked in, I'll look around again next year. BUT I admit that our Electric usage is 50% higher then the national average (while gas is half, as is water) and I have no idea why our usage is so high TBH

We have 3 life insurance policies. Apx £15 for me, £10 for DH and £25 critical illness for DH as he's the only wage earner. I got them 2 years ago, how often should I review?

thriftylass

The only thing I can see missing is benefits like child benefit that should up your income a bit unless that is included in other income?

JulieGeorgiana

Yes, I put child benefit and the child support from my ex in the 'other' box! Whoops!

Looks like I'm going to have to go look into how to cut my electric bill now...

Tixy

Id say ideally review life insurance every year, but certainly worth doing every couple of years as policies are changing all the time.

Regarding electricity - is any of your heating elec? as that could explain the high usage, or do you have an imersion heater for water that is on for a long time? Have you considered a smart meter for checking out your electricity use to see where it is going?

JulieGeorgiana

I'll be reviewing our policies then

We have an oil filled radiator, but we don't use it in this house. It might get used when baby is here, but the rooms rarely drop below 16/17 since we had cavity wall and loft installation. We have a combi boiler, so assuming we don't have an immersion heater.

I'm thinking I may need a smart meter to tell me where it's all going...