Advice on SOA

DancerSupreme

Hi all.


I have been here before and picked up some great tips over that time. Now we in a different position with very little debt and having just bought our first home. We have a very tight budget and wondered if anyone could give me some pointers with the new SOA. If it is streamlined already I can begin looking at other areas to ring in extra money.


Thanks
xx


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 2Both owned
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 740
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1300
Benefits................................ 334
Other income............................ 100
Total monthly income.................... 2474
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 647
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 115 Over 12 months
Electricity............................. 55 Trying to build a credit for winter
Gas..................................... 55 As above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 5.5 Line rental paid up front and this offer ends in 11 months. Includes internet.
Mobile phone............................ 45 Two phones
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 0 Never budget as only buy when needed
Petrol/diesel........................... 180 One tank of fuel per car per month with 10% contingency
Road tax................................ 30
Car Insurance........................... 41.99 One car as other is paid outright
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 Never budget...just been lucky!!
Car parking............................. 65 I work in the city and public transport costs the same as running a car and parking.
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 337.5 Two days a week while I work. Funding begins in Sept.
Other child related expenses............ 47 Sch Dinners and after sch club one day
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 31
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20 Buildings and contents with staff discount
Life assurance ......................... 0 Included in work package for me and partner
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Pet Supplies............................ 80 A dog and a cat
Union Membership........................ 6.9
Dog Walker.............................. 50 One day a week while I work 10 hr day
Bank Fee................................ 10 Me and hubby have reward account paying £5 per month which then pays this fee. We get breakdown, B&C discount etc
CSA..................................... 200
Total monthly expenses.................. 2269.89

Assets
Cash.................................... 900
House value (Gross)..................... 180000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 7000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 187900

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 160000...(647)......3.9 Staff rate and FTB combined
Total secured & HP debts...... 160000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................6400......183.......20.9 Looking to refinance this month to reduce APR
Credit Card....................450.......5.........0 One year left 0%
Total unsecured debts..........6850......188.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,474
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,269.89
Available for debt repayments........... 204.11
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 188
Amount left after debt repayments....... 16.11
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 187,900
Total HP & Secured debt................. -160,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,850
Net Assets.............................. 21,050
Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

LittleMissGiggles123

You have quite a bit missing. You say you don't budget for clothes because you just buy them as needed, but that money would have to come from somewhere & if not budgeted could end up on a credit card or missing another payment.


The same with your car insurance. I know you say one is paid upfront but in order to do this you need to save to pay the next renewal etc.


You've also got to budget for haircuts, presents & entertainment.


Mobile phones could be cut back.


Personally I would scrap the dog walker, especially in these summer months. I know you're working a 10 hour day but could your partner walk the dog instead? That £50 could be your insurance & clothes budget.


Apart from that I don't see much room to move apart from cutting back on the gas & electric. The warmer weather means we've switched our central heating off. If it gets cold we just put a cardigan on.


Are you getting all the benefits you are entitled to? Your salary seems relatively low so I would have thought you'd be entitled to tax credits etc. That would help towards childcare, which really eats into your budget!


Good luck


x

Tixy

Hi

You are only showing a £16 surplus but you haven't included lots of costs that you will need to pay for over a year.

With only a £16 surplus you won't be able to save up enough for clothes, car maintenance, the second car's car insurance etc so they only way you will be able to pay for those based on this SoA is buy using credit.

The same goes for things like presents/haircuts anything spent on entertainment etc.

You really need to redo the SoA will all costs you expect to pay out in a year budgeted for, then you can see what your true shortfall is.

DancerSupreme

Well basically if the money isn't there we don't get it. We have £1000 in savings which covers the car insurance in Aug and any emergencies. We don't go out, I haven't had a haircut in a year and the boys use clippers at home. Presents are usually paid for with vouchers saved from things like shop and scan and surveys. We were uniform for work so we can pretty much make do with clothes.


This is why I wanted to see if we could save anywhere on the budget to create a larger pot of savings. We sometimes I have some left from things like the fuel budget etc which goes into the pot.


xx

DancerSupreme

Hubby works that day so dog walker is needed. I only work three days, one is a Saturday so hubby is home, one day my friends walks the dog and the other day is the dog walker. It wouldn't be fair to leave him in the crate all day. That is the only reason we do it.


I don't get much in tax credits due to our salary. I have checked we get all entitled benefits. Mobiles are high I agree and frustratingly wehave discounts applied. If I downgraded the package we would lose the discount and end up paying more. Upgrade in a year...! humph!


Central heating has been off for ages. Kids have cuddly teddies that you can warm up and we have squillions on blankets.

Tixy

So have you not been using the credit card or an overdraft at all for the last few months or more?

It looks like your finances will improve a fair bit in September - will all of the £337 be funded?

Your elec costs look high even taking in to account you are try to build up a credit for winter. Is your annual usage predicted to be £660 for the year (based on the last annual statement your elec company sent to you). Have you looked at the amount of gas & elec you actually use and then looked around to see if you are on the cheapest deal/cheapest supplier for your usage?

Are the £80 pet supplies principally food?

Monkeyballs

Hi DS,

Yup... Tight budget there but good on you for not having much debt

The only things I could suggest are;

1. Do you really need 2 cars (assuming you do but have to ask).
2. Can you get a cheaper mobile contract? Maybe Sim only for £10 pcm or better?
3. Can kids take pack up instead of having shool lunch?
4. You don't spend much on food for a family of four anyway but can you tighten the screw any more there? Maybe using a cashback site like Quidco?
5. Dog walking, any way you could "walk pool" so on the days you walk your dog you take a friends as well and then on the days you're paying for they return the favour? Or maybe bribe with coffee and cake

Hope there is something of help here?

MB

DancerSupreme

No we haven't used a credit card or overdraft. This is our new SOA as we were in rented. Our bills were in our rent. My brother died and left us some money so we could pay off the cars and buy a house. He wanted the money to keep a roof over his niece and nephews head.


Only half of the childcare will be funded in September but it also means I will lose majority of my tax credits and my childcare costs will be reduced. Although I think school dinners become free for KS1 & 2 in Sept so that will save £40 a month.


Gas and elec is based on averages. I originally had £140 in my mind per month but energy company said £110. I have just switch to someone who will save about £10 a month. We have no averages as we have been here a month. Cannot compare to last house as it was bigger and had single pane wood frame wndows.....the wind would blow through but land lady never fixed. It wasn't through letting agent.


Pet supplies is predominately food and some cat litter once in a blue moon. This is not always spent but a slight over budget to include chew toys and dog is still young and it saves him chewing my shoes, the sofa or the kids toys.


Things have been horrendous the last few months. A week after my brother died our landlady (whom I was friends with and knew what had happened) said they were probably selling up so we knew buying was safer than getting stuck in another rental. She said we would always get first refusal on the house (said that for years) and then when it came to it with us having an AIP etc she went radio silent so we bought ahouse in much better condition that provided more financial security. Hope this makes sense. And also provides some explanation as to why the changes have happened.


x

DancerSupreme

Monkeyballs wrote: »

Hi DS,
1. Do you really need 2 cars (assuming you do but have to ask). Unfortunately yes but I don't use mine everyday so I save where possible on fuel and then when hubby's runs out he uses the rest of mine lol.
2. Can you get a cheaper mobile contract? Maybe Sim only for £10 pcm or better? Tied in for another year but may call and explain change in circumstances.
3. Can kids take pack up instead of having shool lunch? My son eats loads! It is cheaper believe it or not to give him dinner as it then keeps my cost down at home as he only needs a light tea. Daughter has leftovers from our meals. Kids aren't fussy.
4. You don't spend much on food for a family of four anyway but can you tighten the screw any more there? Maybe using a cashback site like Quidco? Struggling with this budget already. Currently exploring options for buying some items in bulk to cut costs even more.
5. Dog walking, any way you could "walk pool" so on the days you walk your dog you take a friends as well and then on the days you're paying for they return the favour? Or maybe bribe with coffee and cake I already do this on the other day I work. This is the one day I am completely stuck. That's not to say things may change soon. Hubby used to take pup to work but his boss got a sad on about it...how dare he take a lunch break lol.

Comments above in red xx

DancerSupreme

Come Aug the car insurance renews and that should be a bit cheaper. We always shop around. Plus changes in funding come September.


On paper my budget never seems to work but we always manage and do not go into the red.

Standingtall

HI Dancersupreme

Things are tight on your budget and although people may shout me down for this, I think the dog walker HAS to go - at least for now. I have a Yorkie bought at a time when there was a at least one family member at home with him. However circumstances changed and it is not possible and he is now often left for 12 hours plus (well, at least twice a week). Now I know this is not ideal but neither do I see it as cruel. Terrible things happen to animals in this world but apart from those hours our dog is loved, treated well and treasured as part of our family.

Occasionally he has a small 'accident' but most of the time he is fine when left. We ensure he has extra foodie treats available to entertain him.

Please consider saving that money.

Regards
ST