Please Scrutinise my SOA

michael1983l

Ok it might be worth noting that I have 2 kids which I have 2 days a week. So I have included a little bit extra in the household budget for them

Income

Salary......... £2000 (I have no other benefits or income)

Total...........£2000


Outgoings


Rent............£442
Buildings/Contents Insurance ....£15
Council Tax......£52.50
Gas.........£50
Electricity.....£20
Water.....£45
TV License....£13
Child Maintenance.....£450


Total Essential Outgoing..... £1087.50

Phone

Home Phone (Includes Broadband) .... £25
Mobile Phone..... £30

Total Phone ........ £55


Travel

(I have company Car but I have to pay fuel)

Fuel.......... £120
Parking......... £150 (I work 15 shifts a month and parking is £15 a day, around 5 days I manage to get free parking on road but there is little and it depends what time my shift starts)


Total Travel ..... £270


Housekeeping

Food and Milk....... £280
Cleaning and Toiletries.... £10
Sweets (for kids)......£10
Laundry.......£10
Clothing.........£22
Nappies and Baby Items......£20


Total Housekeeping......... £352


Other Spending

Prescriptions... £7.50
House Maintenance.... £30
Meals at work ...... £75 (£5 a day, I work 12 hour shifts and need a hot meal once during the day)
Pocket Money and School Trips.... £20
Hobbies, Leisure or Sport...... £44
Gifts (Birthdays, Xmas)......£25


Total Other Spending ..... 201.50


Total Outgoing...... £1966


Money left for creditors..... £34


I'm not going to list my creditors because there is lots. My question is, is the above budget going to likely be accepted by a judge if presented to him and if not where might it have to be adjusted?

Thanks

McKneff

Water, do you have a meter, if not, enquire about one.

michael1983l

McKneff wrote: »

Water, do you have a meter, if not, enquire about one.

I am not sure yet, I move into a new property on Monday and do not know if it has a meter or not so have worked it out off flat rates.

It might be worth noting that I want to go Bankrupt, so it is not really in my interest to squeeze my budget. So my goal is to utilise as much money as I can towards legitimate spending that is allowed.

wendz86

£280 is a big food budget even if you have your kids 2 days a week. Especially as you are also spending £75 for food at work.

michael1983l

wendz86 wrote: »

£280 is a big food budget even if you have your kids 2 days a week. Especially as you are also spending £75 for food at work.

Ok so what do you think is more realistic, that is only £64 a week. I have to take food to work as well but I think one of my 3 meals at work it is fair to have hot.

got-it-spend-it

I think £352 housekeeping plus £75 on meals at work is pretty steep to be honest. I have two children and two adults at home and keep it to under £300 (actually sticking to £200 this month) including nappies.

Tabatha_Kitten

£15 per day parking. Ouch !
Obviously I dont know the area where you work but is there somewhere you could park and get a bus the last few stops.
Or maybe meeting up with someone on the same shift and sharing the parking ?
Otherwise I think I would have a drive round the area on my day off and try to find street parking 15 - 20 mins walk away.

michael1983l

I work shifts, night shifts and early shifts, so public transport is not an option and isn't that cheap anyway. Unfortunately it is a developed area and there is little free parking anywhere close.

But again, I realise if I really wanted to I could squeeze lots of parts of this budget but that is not in my interests. I am looking to get away with as much budget as I can. I know many people might not agree with that, but it is the reality of life I am afraid and at least I am honest about it.

ReadingTim

michael1983l wrote: »

But again, I realise if I really wanted to I could squeeze lots of parts of this budget but that is not in my interests. I am looking to get away with as much budget as I can. I know many people might not agree with that, but it is the reality of life I am afraid and at least I am honest about it.

So why are you asking for help if you don't want to hear people's answers or do anything about it?

michael1983l

ReadingTim wrote: »

So why are you asking for help if you don't want to hear people's answers or do anything about it?

I am asking a different question to the questions being answered. I am not asking how to reduce my budget, I could eat noodles for £20 a month if I wanted to do that.

What I am asking for is peoples experience on how much I could get away with including in my budget. They are completely different questions. Thus far what has been asnwered is how to reduce certain spending and I am fine to do that if it is likely a judge would think it is too high, but I don't want to reduce anything unless it would be likely a judge would want me to reduce it.

I have never been before a judge, others have so I am drawing on their experience.

Thank you for your comments though.

thecassman86

michael1983l wrote: »

But again, I realise if I really wanted to I could squeeze lots of parts of this budget but that is not in my interests. I am looking to get away with as much budget as I can. I know many people might not agree with that, but it is the reality of life I am afraid and at least I am honest about it.

You've titled the thread "Scrutinise my SOA"... If you don't want people to do that then what is it you need?

If you're inquiring about what a judge would expect of you if you went bankrupt then i would expect that the decision isn't yours anyway... You're suggesting you want to go bankrupt so you can clear your debts but still spend money in a relaxed way and i don't think it works like that.

I've not been in that position so my advice might be wrong but i would expect a judge to look at everything you spend. £2k income is pretty good for a start...!