Help with SOA - want to clear debt and start saving!

lovemywestie

Hi
Been lurking here for a very long time and have followed lots of advice that has been posted, meaning that over recent years I have become much more responsible with money. However, I have got to the point now where I want to clear my debts and start saving, with the aim of building up a deposit to buy a house (before I'm 40, hopefully, almost 35 at the moment, I would only be looking to buy a house for around 100k so looking to get 10K to 12K savings). I have worked since the age of 16 (through sixth form, uni etc.) but have very little to show for it, as you will see from my SOA!

I'd appreciate ANY advice in terms of tweaking the budget to deal with the debt, the credit card in particular has got to go...the SOA looks like I have spare cash at the end of the month but I'm going off my new wages (just started a new full time job, my last job was on a .8 contract so I'm expecting to be a bit better off from September's pay). I should say that I support my partner in that I pay the household bills, but he pays for his own stuff (toiletries, clothes, mobile, entertainment) so doesn't depend on me for any of that.


Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details

Monthly income after tax................ 1925.61
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1925.61

Monthly Expense Details

Rent.................................... 400
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 0 (included in cable TV)
Mobile phone............................ 37.99
TV Licence.............................. 24.24
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 75
Internet Services....................... 0 (included in cable TV)
Groceries etc. ......................... 270
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 20
Road tax................................ 11
Car Insurance........................... 65
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 27
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 (I know I must get this, keep forgetting to sort out)
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 0 (go away with the in-laws who pretty much pay for everything)
Emergency fund.......................... 0 (I want to build this up quickly!)

Total monthly expenses.................. 1275.23


Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2500

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credit card....................3100......70........20 (this is a guess, I suspect it's higher)
Loan from family...............1500......100.......0
Loan from partner..............450.......50........0
Sofa...........................180...... .12........0

Total unsecured debts..........5230......232.......

Monthly Budget Summary

Total monthly income.................... 1,925.61
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,275.23
Available for debt repayments........... 650.38
Monthly Unsecured debt repayments....... 232
Amount left after debt repayments....... 418.38

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,230
Net Assets.............................. -2,730


TIA

ShirePiskie

Hi - I'll say what I'm sure will be said again. do you REALLY have £418 left every month?

If so, you could be debt free in a year without changing a thing on your SOA.

As for cutting and releasing more money, if you want to be debt free sooner - you could reduce your groceries down to £150 (me, my husband and his daughter manage on this) and get rid of satellite/ cable (sky?) - that frees up £195 and added to the £418 makes you debt free in 9 months!

Good luck!!!

Grumpelstiltskin

Hang on Your partner pays for his own clothes toiletries etc.


What about the food he eats, electricity he uses, I could go on.


How much does he earn? Have you worked out what his fair share of all the household expenses would be?

andyfromotley

Two tv licences?

Car insurance seems pretty high £780 per year?

No kids and £600 per year on presents?? Who are you buying em for?

Get yourself on the eligibility checker and try to move your credit card debt onto a 0% card, this will make a significant difference.

You are doing well, low (ish) debts and spare cash. You could knock this one off pretty quickly with a big effort and a tight 7 -10 months. Go for it!

lovemywestie

Thanks for all your advice.

ShirePiskie - You are completely right, I meant to say I desperately need a diary to see where it all goes. Although my income has been lower up until now so my disposable hasn't been anywhere near that, plus I have been paying uni fees (thankfully paid off now) so that has left me with v. little left over. New job, new start! Don't think we can cut down on the grocery spend - have already reduced it from £300 and am coping on that - it does include all household needs and expensive pet food, which dog needs to maintain his health. Will try to meal plan to bring it down though. As for the Sky- it's our only luxury really, don't drink or smoke but I will bear it in mind.

Grumpel - my partner can't work for reasons I won't get into and when I say he pays for mobile etc, his mobile costs £12 per month and he rarely buys new clothes etc. He is the master of making a lot out of a little and has made his savings stretch a long way since he stopped working. As for food, electricity etc (in other words, you seem to imply he's not paying his way) I think it would cost me about the same if I lived alone, possibly more as we rent our house off one of his family members at a v. reasonable rent and to rent somewhere decent on my own would cost a lot more. Also, if the roles were reversed (man as the breadwinner) and we had kids, no-one would turn a blind eye to one partner supporting the other, so why does it matter that I pay the bills? I've been with him 10+ years and he has worked for the maj of time so it's not an issue with me at all. Luckily I love my job and I've got good earning potential so I'm happy with the situation, would rather have it this way than have a bit more cash and a sick partner.

Andy - thanks for your input. I pay my brothers TV licence for him, as he struggles being a single man on zero hours contract, i wish I could do more for him, so it's a token of support. £600 is for birthdays and Xmas, across partner, brother, sister, 3 nieces/nephews, aunt, inlaws and bro in law, so I don't think it's that bad, plus in-laws are very generous to us so I couldn't not buy them a little something. Car insurance is a real pain, only 3 years NCB, paying in instalments and living in a dicey area probably contributes to this. I've got poor credit so moving to a 0% CC is not an option.

It all looks good on paper, £400+ each month to potentially put towards debts, I think a diary is the way forward....

owlet

No car parking?
No medical/prescriptions/dentist?
No haircuts?

If that's accurate then fair enough but I think you should be allocating something in these.

Presents don't have to be expensive. I do the whole family at Christmas for £120 buying nice things in the sales. I didn't even spend anywhere near that when my daughter was little.

Birthdays are definitely under a tenner per person.

tallyhoh

£270 is an awful lot for 2 people. go over to the old style money saving forum, its a real eye opener

Grumpelstiltskin

I think the OP has a long long way to go before she comes to her senses.


Paying her brother's TV licence, he doesn't need a TV, if he can't afford a licence then he shouldn't use a TV.


Same as the huge amount on presents, not at all necessary.


OK we don't know why her partner doesn't work but she is subsidising him.

andyfromotley

try Ynab, its fantastic for focusing on your spending.

I dont agree that £600 on presents is ok. just say to these people, were skint\paying off debt so whilst things are tight you won't be getting presents. They're adults not children!! This spending on presents represents over 10% of your debt!

Good luck. you can definitely shift this.

Trazy

Can your partner get any out of work benefits? He has worked and paid his taxes etc so he should find out.

Please excuse this post if you have already tried this route