SOA Help please?

ForeverHomeDreamer

Hi,

Can anyone tell me if this would be the correct place to post an SOA? I'm not actually in debt, but I use my overdraft every month without fail and have some bad spending habits. I feel like this is a friendly forum with people who will be able to cast a critical eye/help me work through things sensibly, but I understand if DFW is not the appropriate place to post this.

Kind Regards

FHD

GettingOrganised

This is the perfect place to post your SOA. An overdraft is still a type of debt and it would be very sensible to nip any overspending now, before you get further into debt.

StrugglingYouth

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

Here you go.

ForeverHomeDreamer

So, this is my SOA.

I should explain a couple of things;

My circumstances mean that my accommodation and all medical/dental expenses are covered by my employer or taken out of my wages prior to my being paid.

I have no TV, I sometimes use iplayer but rarely, and have no phone line.

I'm beyond embarrassed to admit that I have no idea what I spend on food, entertainment, presents or clothes. I often buy things at the supermarket that aren't food, (I recently bought most of my Christmas presents there and will often buy birthday cards and other non food things.)

I get my hair done about once every three months, so I've tried to average that out. I buy salon quality shampoo in bulk to make it cheaper.

I'll freely admit I'm not great at planning. I like the idea of meal planning, but turning it into a reality never quite works out in the supermarket. Unfortunately I lack the space to batch cook and freeze things - although that's the dream when I get my Forever Home :j

Things like birthdays I tend to realise late and then panic-buy overly generous gifts to make up for the fact that I haven't bought something thoughtful.

I NEVER have money left at the end of the month, this has been the case regardless of my income over the years.

In the last two years I've tried to ensure I save some money each month so I can pay annual insurance, professional fees and holidays in full upfront.

I rarely put things on a credit card unless it's to use the s75 protection.

Again, I'm embarrassed as I know people here will think I'm incredibly stupid with my finances, and also quite well off in comparison to some. I know I could change some things, like buying much cheaper shampoo for example, but it's more that I want to stop wasting my 'invisible money' - the stuff I spend of mine (and, more importantly, the bank's!) that is disappearing into the ether when it could be working harder for me.

Thank you to anyone still reading and I'm bracing myself for any comments...:o
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1827.61
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1827.61

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0
Electricity............................. 0
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 15
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 15
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 40
Road tax................................ 1.67
Car Insurance........................... 29.8
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 33.3
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 28.33
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 200
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Credit Card Auto Direct Debit........... 5
Professional Fees....................... 20
House Savings........................... 150
Total monthly expenses.................. 538.1


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 4500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 4500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,827.61
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 538.1
Available for debt repayments........... 1,289.51
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,289.51

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 4,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 4,500

Created using the SOA calculator at Stoozing
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using Firefox browser.

Skinnylatte

Your SOA looks fine to me, apart from the missing things, but you seriously need to start keeping a spending diary and find out where that £1289 per month goes

Pixie5740

I second the spending diary. It should help you work out what this big financial black hole where your money disappears to is.

retepetsir

You should have a load of money left over each month if that income isn't required for things like rent. As suggested above, a spending diary is urgently required as your SOA must be way off!

You ideally need to allocated some money to emergency savings too.

Pepperoni

Look up YNAB (you need a budget) and try that for budgeting and your spending diary. Its truly eye opening!

greensalad

Try Money Dashboard. It goes through all your bank statements and "guesses" what areas you're spending on (usually based on the debit name. E.g purchases from Sainsburys go under "Supermarkets").

It's a good way to get a quick snapshot. It won't pick up everything so you'll have to manually label some transactions.

In terms of not having enough left each month, why not instead work out a budget you're comfortable with for your requirements. Say £250 a month to spend on clothes, social, haircuts, toiletries etc or whatever you're happy spending.

Open a second current account different from the one you get paid into (the one with the OD I presume).

Set up a standing order to transfer £250 from the account you get your wages paid into, moving £250 into your new current account.

Now, only take the new current account card out with you. Consider that your spending money. It's all you have for your socialising, haircuits, toiletries. Use that card for all spending and make it last to the end of the month.

Your old account will slowly refill back up to zero as you'll be repaying your overdraft. You won't even "see" the money in there or have daily access to it because you'll be living off your £250 new current account.

I don't know, but this approach has helped me immensely.

(Also, make sure you do still keep transactions going on your old account. They won't like it if you suddenly stop using it, so keep things like car insurance payments and any household bills being paid from the old account.)

asparagus1968

Hiya, welcome


wow, that's a lot of "lost" money!


Questions for you:
why are you paying £5 a month to a credit card you have no debt on?
Ought you not look into getting a little contents insurance?


If I were you:
start a spending diary-on paper or phone I find most convenient. Log EVERY spend on it for a couple of months at least.


Try a cash only system for a while- I'd take out £100 on the same day every week, leave cards at home. Budget what you buy, it has to last the week.


Set up some saving pots for annual outgoings.


Definitely improve your shopping/ menu planning skills! there are loads of threads on here that will help, have a look over on the "old style" board for menu plans/ meal ideas.


keep posting! good luck

[Deleted User]

Only £20 a year for Road Tax?

£2,400 is a lot for holidays, for just one person.