SOA - worried - please help before the SHTF?

selloptape

Hi Everyone,

Today I added up the totals in my spending diary (Jan - July) to do an SOA. I was confident there would be money to spare that I could use to OP my mortgage and feeling really excited and positive about what I'd find. I was shocked, panicked and gutted to find that I'm actually spending over £600 a month more than I'm earning :eek:

I'm in a lucky position right now - my only debt is the mortgage and I've got a healthy EF of 10k, the other 5k is savings to pay for work on the house. However - the house needs a lot more than 5k worth of work and at the rate I'm spending this will soon be frittered away and I'll be eating into the EF, or borrowing money to complete work on the house.

I can see now that I've not adjusted my budget since splitting from my partner last year (although we didn't live together he paid for all our days out, nights out, hols, most groceries, and my bills were cheaper as I spent most nights there) plus I've probably been spending to block out how I've been feeling

Please can you I ask you all for some advice to help me put the brakes on before I end up in a mess?

Thank you x



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 :mad: )
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
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
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Alcohol ……………..32
Clothing................................ 187
Petrol/diesel........................... 26
Road tax................................ 13
Car Insurance........................... 42
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 7
Car parking............................. 12
Other travel............................ 54
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
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40
Haircuts................................ 3
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Misc.................................... 110
House Renovations/Decorating…..400
Total monthly expenses.................. 2236.31


Assets
Cash.................................... 15,000
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

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

tealady

Hi
What is misc please
Alcohol, its a luxury not a necessity so it needs to be cut down or cut out
Gas seems very high, do you use gas for cooking, perhaps you could batch cook or use a slow cooker.

DandelionPatrol

£587/month is accounted for by house renovations and clothing, which is most of your £627 shortfall.

Stop renovations until you have saved the money for each project and cut right back on clothing. That deals with the larger part, then it is a case of smaller cuts to trim it to balance, plus get the child support sorted.

ViolaLass

selloptape wrote: »

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 :mad: ) Have you gone through the CMA?
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 seems high
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 seems high
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 This is high, could cut at least £50
Alcohol ……………..32 ditch
Clothing................................ 187 £2244 a year!!
Petrol/diesel........................... 26
Road tax................................ 13
Car Insurance........................... 42
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 7
Car parking............................. 12
Other travel............................ 54 what's this for?
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
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40 That's £500 a year. Who is it for? Cut?
Haircuts................................ 3
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Misc.................................... 110 what's this for?
House Renovations/Decorating…..400 Are you counting this as coming out of the £5k or out of income?
Total monthly expenses.................. 2236.31


Assets
Cash.................................... 15,000
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

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

Comments in your post.

crazy_cat_lady

Hi
If you only spend £26 a month on petrol is it worth having a car? Particularly as you have more than this in 'other travel'. I know a car is a very personal thing, and I wouldn't be without mine, but I don't use any other travel apart from walking and I commute 30 miles a day.
Also, I pay £65 a month dual fuel, so it could be worth looking into other suppliers.

selloptape

Hi tealady thanks for your comments. Sorry - Misc is quite high and should have done a breakdown, hopefully this formats correctly:

TOTAL SPEND AV MTHLY SPEND
Sat Nav 59.99 7.50
Make Up 31.22 3.9025
Stamps/postage 25.56 3.195
Laundrette 63.2 7.9
Ice scraper 2 0.25
Xmas Decs 8.85 1.10625
Charity 10 1.25
Diary 4.99 0.62375
Bike 101.89 12.73625
Suitcase 57.98 7.2475
Hen Do 362.02 45.2525
Wedding Clothes 107.9 13.4875
Moth Repellent 49.12 6.14

totals 884.72 110.59

So there were high costs in there that were sort of one offs - bike, sat nav, hen do and wedding clothes (for a family wedding, boughtt my son a suit, not going to take him to any friends weddings or go on their hen do's going forward as can't afford). Didn't want to put these in with holiday/transport as it would skew those averages.

The gas is very high here - it's just for heating but it's an old house, not well insulated, blinds instead of curtains, gaps in front and back doors, laminate floors throughout.... These are on my long list of things to fix

Point taken about alcohol, my son wants me to do a dry November so will do this

selloptape

Thank you DandelionPatrol you've made me realise that I need to review my priority list of renovation jobs to add a cost to each of them.

Agree - clothes spending is too high, am sure this is comfort spending after my break up, will just need to not buy any clothes for myself this year and then review.

Thank you all for your feedback, will read the other replies when I get back from work.

asparagus1968

selloptape wrote: »

council tax.........................79 IS THIS OVER 12 0R 10 MONTHS?
Gas..................................... 80 CHECK COMPARISON SITES, OR USE RUGS, FLEECE ON BACK OFCURTAINS, DOOR CURTAINS,DRAUGHTEXCLUDERS ETC
Internet Services....................... 34.99 LOOK AROUND-THIS COULD BE A TENNER CHEAPER (EG I HAVE LANDLINE &UNLIMITED BROADBAND WITH TT FOR APPROX £23 A MONTH)
Alcohol ……………..32 THIS NEEDS TO BE BUDGETTED WITHIN GROCERY MONEY
Clothing................................ 187 YOU MUST HAVE ENOUGH TO KEEPO YOU GOING FOR A WHILE NOW:)
Petrol/diesel........................... 26
Road tax................................ 13
Car Insurance........................... 42
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 7
Car parking............................. 12
Other travel............................ 54
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 LOOK AROUND, THIS SEEMS HIGH, UNLESS YOU HAVE HEALTH ISSUES OF COURSE.
Misc.................................... 110 THESE ONE OFF ARE DONE WITH NOW, DIVIDE THE AMOUNT BY 12 FOR NEW MONTHLY BUDGET
House Renovations/Decorating…..400 IS THIS WHAT YOU ARE ADDING TO THE 5K MONTH?

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 77089...(322.13)......2.79
Total secured & HP debts...... 77089



Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1608.68
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2236.31
Amount short -627.63

Looks like you have wiggle room. this soa was done looking back, you need to do a new one looking forward, jiggling it until you don't have a shortfall. good luck

rockm87

There are lots of things you can do to minimize how much you put the heating on , loads of tips online. For free or cheap!

I currently only have the heating on for a couple of hours i the morning anf a couple at night.

I have two hot water bottles to warm the bed before I get in (will be getting a electric blanket from a friend soon).

We close shut doors to keep heat in certain rooms, we dont heat unused rooms such as hallways or empty rooms. We turn the radiotors off!

We use put on a jumper, a blanket and even put on a candle or two which will give off a little heat in a room.

LittleDutchgirl

Another vote for nice thick curtains, preferably two sets with a fleece blanket in-between. I have single glazed sash windows and this makes a huge difference. Curtains need not cost a lot. You can get some absolutely gorgeous ones in charity shops. Look for ones with really thick linings. They might be a bit dated but they will make a difference.
I don't have one but one of my friends swears by an electric blanket.
Good luck
LDg

tallyhoh

So you really spend that much on clothes, I thought it was a typo :eek::eek:

Gather all your old clothes together & free list them on ebay, use the proceeds to buy more off ebay when you really need to