Single mum - sink or swim!
Comments
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Hello MFWs,
Have to admit I panicked myself with this, I totted up the December-July figs from my spending diary and realised that I've gone a bit off the rails :mad: Spending more than what's coming in is never great and I think this has been enabled by having the Spanish bank account instead of having savings in a separate pot. I also genuinely didn't realise how much I was spending! What an idiot, it's embarrassing :mad:
I posted this on the Debt Free forum for a reality check, got loads of advice and, obviously a glutton for punishment, thought I should post here too
I've added comments in red for my things to do/explanations/advice I've been given but if you think I've missed anything please let me know.
Eek - maybe no OPs until I've got everything a bit more under control,
xxx
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1518.98
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 89.70 (No TC's inc as currently repaying overpayment plus will no longer be entitled next year)
Other income............................ 0 (no child support I will contact Child Maintenance)
Total monthly income.................... 1608.68
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 322.13
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 79
Electricity............................. 20
Gas..................................... 80 have now move to cheaper provider
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30.84
Telephone (land line)................... 0 (included in internet)
Mobile phone............................ 12.50
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 34.99 contract is up in Dec, will look at other providers
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 I'm doing grocery challenge and will keep on this to try and cut down
Alcohol ……………..32 Will do dry November
Clothing................................ 187 Spent loads on clothes as comfort spending after my break up last year. Lots of things not worn and in my ebay pile! No more clothes for me this year
Petrol/diesel........................... 26 Will see if bus to work is cheaper than car, and if I could do without it
Road tax................................ 13
Car Insurance........................... 42
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 7
Car parking............................. 12
Other travel............................ 54 Expensive but don't live near family and often take train to see them
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 22
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 17 (buildings and cont)
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 32.73 will look for a better policy, I'm not tied in to a contract
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40 Sounds like a lot but included my son's birthday party, I only buy for four other family members and they have a £10 budget each, no birthday gifts for anyone except my son which I feel awful about
Haircuts................................ 3
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Misc.................................... 110 A mixed bag of one offs – I should have included n the orig post - Sat Nav 59.99, Make Up 31.22, Stamps/postage 25.56, Laundrette 63.2, Ice scraper 2, Xmas Decs 8.85, Charity 10, Diary 4.99, Bike 101.89, Suitcase 57.98, Hen Do 362.02, Wedding Clothes 107.9, Moth Repellent 49.12
House Renovations/Decorating…..400 All essential repairs unfortunately, and more to come but I am going to budget differently for these going forward, the £5k savings below is my house repair savings pot, I'll pay for repairs out of this and feed into it each month
Total monthly expenses.................. 2236.31 :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
Assets
Cash.................................... 15,000 includes £10k EF
House value (Gross)..................... 125000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 141000
Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 77089...(322.13)......2.79
Total secured & HP debts...... 77089 slightly out of date, is a bit lower now
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Total unsecured debts.................-
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1608.68
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2236.31
Amount short -627.63
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 141000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -77089
Total Unsecured debt.................... 0
Net Assets.............................. 639110 -
I think your SOA looks reasonable and is pretty similar to mine. I need to cut down as well, but WE WILL GET THERE. Its tough on your own, but being aware of limitations with income I find helps.HOME
Original mortgage free date Nov 2037
Mortgage free August 2018
Additional properties
Mortgage 1 £108,000
Mortgage 2 £45,000
Teacher pension - DB scheme
LGPS pension - DB scheme0 -
Great SOA really nice there
cutting down on a few would help but we only live once don't we
Your overall assets are really good well done :]Mortgage--- [STRIKE]£67700 March 15[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£65221 April 15[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£64983 July 15[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£64780 sept 15[/STRIKE] Remortgage [STRIKE]£67295 oct 15[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£66599 Nov 15[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]£65878.73 Dec 15[/STRIKE][STRIKE] £64834 1st Jan 16[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]Feb 16 £64,511.89[/STRIKE][STRIKE] March 16 £64,056.40[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]April 16 £62550[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]May 16 £62,396.20[/STRIKE] Feb 17 £60.800
Emergency fund 23k0 -
Welcome to the board Sellotape, it's lovely to see another MFW taking on the challenge. Doing a SOA can be a real eye opener can't it? But now you know where you're overspending you can start to look at how to cut back. Just remember to tackle one thing at a time and you'll be fine.
Good luck with your journey, I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines.
MGx:jMortgage free 08.08.19 :j
2018: £19410.25 / £9,300 2017: £7646.64 / £11,000 2016: 4557.98 / £11,000 2015: £10,230.37 / £11,000 2014 =£6703.26 / £11,000 2013 = £4288.51 / £8000 2012 = £1600/£5000 2011 = £2579/£3000
MF date was Nov 2041 - mortgage neutral 23.07.18
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Thanks for the well wishes!
A new month always feels like a new start to me - love it, it's really motivating, does anyone else find this?
I've been quiet working out my new budget on a spreadsheet - now will try and stick to it for November. Am hoping I've got the right balance between frugal and still space for enjoying life so it's not a miserable path to mortgage freedom for my son, will have a budget re-assess at the end of the month but feeling like I'm nearly there
Had two nice surprises this weekend - found a £12 rebate from my old electricity company that I've not cashed yet plus had a tax rebate of £40.60! Will bob both of these to the mortgage when I overpay mid month.
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selloptape wrote: »I posted this on the Debt Free forum for a reality check, got loads of advice and, obviously a glutton for punishment, thought I should post here too
Seriously, we've all been there, the important thing is to aware of it and take steps to rectify it, which you've done :T. Like LiL said, you have good assets to build on. Do you keep track of your bank account on a spreadsheet? My S123 account is now really just a savings account, but when I used it as a current account & savings account I had two sets of figures on my spreadsheet so I knew how much cash was available.
Will be interesting to see how your new budget goes - though may not be too helpful for the first month - the 'new, shiny' novelty of it may carry you through but if it's too frugal it may not be sustainable. Plus someone said we're having one of those Christmas things coming up but I'm sure we had one of those last year - can't be due another already, surely :eek:.A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effortMortgage Balance = £0"Do what others won't early in life so you can do what others can't later in life"0 -
Thanks gallygirl I do use S123 and think that might be part of the problem as everything is sitting in one pot. I thought it was going down each month due to house repairs but actually a lot of it was me overspending. Only realised this when I looked at my spending diary :eek:
I'll definitely split this out in my spreadsheet, hopefully will help me stay on track
I heard a rumour that Christmas was coming again too! Can't be right, I'm sure we only just had one of those0 -
Very brave to post your SOA. You are self aware and thats important.
Chin up, keep going. You are doing a great job xxx0 -
Thanks shs I felt a bit nervous posting it but think it will be a great motivator to look back on x0
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selloptape wrote: »Thanks shs I felt a bit nervous posting it but think it will be a great motivator to look back on x
Definitely a good motivator, I think that your expenses on it are all pretty normal, they're similar to mine
I'm using a photo of me on hol this summer as a motivator to keep with the diet, keeping the SOA as a pinned post could work in a similar way.HOME
Original mortgage free date Nov 2037
Mortgage free August 2018
Additional properties
Mortgage 1 £108,000
Mortgage 2 £45,000
Teacher pension - DB scheme
LGPS pension - DB scheme0
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