Single mum - sink or swim!

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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.............................. 63911
  • 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 scheme
  • Luckyinlife
    Luckyinlife Posts: 1,613 Forumite
    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 23k
  • 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

  • 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 :D

    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.

    x
  • gallygirl
    gallygirl Posts: 17,228
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Mortgage-free Glee!
    Forumite
    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 :)
    Stop spending or you'll be living in the gutter :D.

    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 effort
    :) Mortgage Balance = £0 :)
    "Do what others won't early in life so you can do what others can't later in life"
  • 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 those :D
  • Very brave to post your SOA. You are self aware and thats important.

    Chin up, keep going. You are doing a great job xxx
  • Thanks shs I felt a bit nervous posting it but think it will be a great motivator to look back on x
  • 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 :o

    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 scheme
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