SOA after we move

chelseablue

Early next year all being well we are moving from a flat to a house and the mortgage payment will almost double.


I have posted our new SOA below and would welcome any feeback if there is anything I can cut down on:


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1888
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1751
Benefits................................ 82
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3721
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 721
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 170
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 42
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 90
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 46
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 250
Road tax................................ 32
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 760
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 100
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2783

Assets
Cash.................................... 10000
House value (Gross)..................... 400000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 413000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 230000...(721)......1.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 230000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,721
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,783
Available for debt repayments........... 938
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 938
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 413,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -230,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 183,000

System

I think you are pretty much covered for the increase, however there are savings you can make. I'm trying to limit my little out goings now by not signing up for the obvious consumer 'necessities' (Sky TV, hugh phone contract). These add up over time.

Petrol and diesel are quite large. Could you trade your cars in for high MPG diesels? My partner and I have very thirsty cars (which we budget for) and don't spend this much. Will you be moving closer to work to allow for public transport?

There's not much there for emergency when you move and nursery costs are big. Is it possible that one of you could go part time and have some quality time with the child AND more or less have the same income due to the limited need for childcare?

chelseablue wrote: »

Early next year all being well we are moving from a flat to a house and the mortgage payment will almost double.


I have posted our new SOA below and would welcome any feeback if there is anything I can cut down on:


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1888
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1751
Benefits................................ 82 - why do you get this? Your combined income is huge !!
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3721
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 721
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 170
Electricity............................. 50 possibility of reducing this - dual fuel?
Gas..................................... 50 - as above
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 42
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 90 - way too big - you must have th iPhone 6. Reduce as soon as possible
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 46 - you could do without this. Freeview with a Netflix top up for £6 a month?
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 - could be reduced
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 250
Road tax................................ 32
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 40
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 760
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 10 - these seem quite small, check you've got the right cover.
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 100
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2783

Assets
Cash.................................... 10000
House value (Gross)..................... 400000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 3000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 413000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 230000...(721)......1.5
Total secured & HP debts...... 230000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,721
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,783
Available for debt repayments........... 938
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 938
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 413,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -230,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 183,000

EssexHebridean

First off - Andydownes123 - don't take this the wrong way but I don't think it's appropriate to question a poster's income, on here. Just my opinion but the feeling of them being "taken to task" like that over benefits they are in receipt of makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

Chelseablue Great planning for your expected increase in payments there - nice to see someone actually planning this ahead to ensure they can afford what they're planning.

While your childcare IS high (Is there any assistance you can get with childcare costs? I have no idea how that works these days!) I can understand that it may be necessary. A friend of mine with two small ones combines a couple of days each week "working from home" with childcare for the remaining three days and that works well for them but only you know if this would fit your situation.

Mobile bills are the obvious "stand out" that could reduce substantially assuming you're not tied to contracts. Groceries could also come down a fair bit - and certainly with relative ease you could knock £50 off that.

You *might* be able to reduce those utilities bills too - but I'm assuming you're guessing as you're not going to know how things will work in the new house yet. Certainly once you get an idea of use those might well be able to come down a fraction though, at least.

You've included nothing for entertainments currently - if your entertainment is mostly at home then that makes a lot of sense of the satellite TV etc.

On the basis that you're pretty sorted, will you be planing to overpay your mortgage? I can speak personally to confirm that it really DOES work and has a massive effect - and the sooner you start, the sooner you see that impact, too. If your mortgage deal won't allow regular overpayments (we've hit the OP limit on ours now) then what we've chosen to do is to stash the monthly amount we can save into an ISA and then pay against the mortgage as and when we can. This also handily doubles as our emergency fund, too!

Good luck with the move! :beer:

chelseablue

Thank you both


The £82 benefits is for Child Benefit which anyone with a child is entitled too. I think one of you has to earn £50k before your not entitled.


Our mobiles are both in contract at the moment. Mine is up in September when I will be changing to SIM only for about £10 a month.
My partner just took his out 2 months ago so still has almost 2 years to go (Grrrr!)


The Gas and Electric I'm only guessing at the moment. Well actually I put what my parents pay and they live in a similar size property. Will shop around when we move in.


Groceries includes nappies, wipes and cleaning stuff and I already shop in Lidl but you're right I reckon I can get it down to £200


We pay Sky £46 a month for the TV, internet and phone.
I'd get rid of Sky tomorrow but my partner loves football and his argument was if we got Sky he wouldn't have to go to the pub and watch games


Your spot on about the Petrol, both our cars are petrol and after we move my partner wants to get a different car so will definitely be getting a diesel
Hoping the tax will only be £30 a year too!


After we've decorated the house and purchased furniture I'm going to start the over paying on the mortgage with a vengeance!
We are able to overpay 10% of the balance per year

Where_is_the_money

'We pay Sky £46 a month for the TV, internet and phone.
I'd get rid of Sky tomorrow but my partner loves football and his argument was if we got Sky he wouldn't have to go to the pub and watch games '

Have you looked at watching the games via a stream? If you have a decent internet connection the games can be watched without any buffering. All games available even those not shown on tv (ie 3pm kickoffs on a Saturday).

ShakeItOff

Hi Chelseablue

Aside from those mentioned above, my comments would be:

Petrol/diesel........................... 250 Is there a chance to car share at all? I'm not sure logistically whether this is viable with little people?
Road tax................................ 32 This seems quite high per month
Car Insurance........................... 70 This also seems high.

Obviously I have no idea what type of car you drive, so they may well be exactly right, but worth checking!

I hope the move goes well!

EssexHebridean

ShakeItOff wrote: »

Hi Chelseablue

Aside from those mentioned above, my comments would be:

Petrol/diesel........................... 250 Is there a chance to car share at all? I'm not sure logistically whether this is viable with little people?
Road tax................................ 32 This seems quite high per month
Car Insurance........................... 70 This also seems high.

Obviously I have no idea what type of car you drive, so they may well be exactly right, but worth checking!

I hope the move goes well!

Remember there's two cars in the household - and if older cars then the tax is likely to be higher...

We set aside £155 per month for our two cars - that money covers everything aside from fuel, so servicing, tax, MoT, insurance, tyres and the rest. Our two both sit in the £30 a year bracket too BUT both are diesels so in spite of a fair number of miles (around 25k miles a year between the two) fuel costs aren't too horrendous for us. Warning - a diesel WILL cost you more to get serviced, and if you have one petrol, one diesel, you'll need to be sticklers about being careful when fuelling up. The days of diesels having nice long service intervals are gone now too - both of ours are on 12k intervals. The only other thing I can think which MIGHT prove relevant is that diesels require regular motorway blasts to keep them healthy - so if the driving your OH is doing is mostly sub-50mph, then a diesel isn't for him. If you're loking for something which would fit the two of you anhd the little one, has 5 doors, and is decent for the money AND returns stonking MPG, then a second hand Citroen C3 is worth a look. MrEH is on his second one - the first one finally died at 180,000 miles...!

enthusiasticsaver

I actually think your soa looks ok and it seems as if you have things covered. Well done. Some of the things you pay for are obviously not necessary like satellite tv and high mobile cost but as you seem to be able to afford them that is up to you. The biggest costs to you do seem to be travel and childcare so my question would be as someone else queried would it be more financially beneficial for one of you to go part time if possible? That may also cut down on car and petrol costs. I would also query the clothing costs being a little low as you have a young child. Do you not have a landline and internet services? You may find it cheaper to do as we do and have a combined tv/broadband/phone package and reduce mobile phones to sim only. Other than that you seem to be on track. I would overpay your mortgage if you can afford to.

chelseablue

ShakeItOff wrote: »

Hi Chelseablue

Aside from those mentioned above, my comments would be:

Petrol/diesel........................... 250 Is there a chance to car share at all? I'm not sure logistically whether this is viable with little people?
Road tax................................ 32 This seems quite high per month
Car Insurance........................... 70 This also seems high.

Obviously I have no idea what type of car you drive, so they may well be exactly right, but worth checking!

I hope the move goes well!

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Remember there's two cars in the household - and if older cars then the tax is likely to be higher...

We set aside £155 per month for our two cars - that money covers everything aside from fuel, so servicing, tax, MoT, insurance, tyres and the rest. Our two both sit in the £30 a year bracket too BUT both are diesels so in spite of a fair number of miles (around 25k miles a year between the two) fuel costs aren't too horrendous for us. Warning - a diesel WILL cost you more to get serviced, and if you have one petrol, one diesel, you'll need to be sticklers about being careful when fuelling up. The days of diesels having nice long service intervals are gone now too - both of ours are on 12k intervals. The only other thing I can think which MIGHT prove relevant is that diesels require regular motorway blasts to keep them healthy - so if the driving your OH is doing is mostly sub-50mph, then a diesel isn't for him. If you're loking for something which would fit the two of you anhd the little one, has 5 doors, and is decent for the money AND returns stonking MPG, then a second hand Citroen C3 is worth a look. MrEH is on his second one - the first one finally died at 180,000 miles...!

Yes its a 2 car household, my tax is £17 a month, his is £15.


Re the car insurance my partner only passed his test in March 2014 so next year when he's got 2 years no claims (fingers crossed!) the insurance should come down again.


His car is nearly 15 years old so I don't mind about him getting a newer car when we move (cant expect him to drive around in an old banger forever, unfortunately!)


Debating whether to get a diesel or not, he would be driving about 20 miles a day to and from work, if he went there and back on the motorway probably 30 miles a day

chelseablue

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

I actually think your soa looks ok and it seems as if you have things covered. Well done. Some of the things you pay for are obviously not necessary like satellite tv and high mobile cost but as you seem to be able to afford them that is up to you. The biggest costs to you do seem to be travel and childcare so my question would be as someone else queried would it be more financially beneficial for one of you to go part time if possible? That may also cut down on car and petrol costs. I would also query the clothing costs being a little low as you have a young child. Do you not have a landline and internet services? You may find it cheaper to do as we do and have a combined tv/broadband/phone package and reduce mobile phones to sim only. Other than that you seem to be on track. I would overpay your mortgage if you can afford to.

I did ask about part time but my request was considered but declined.


The £46 to Sky includes TV, internet and phone line.


For the clothes I make them last as long as possible, I don't think I've bought him anything new since the summer (terrible mother I am haha)


My mum bought him quite a few winter clothes, him being her only grandchild has its perks!

tigerfeet2006

You don't seem to have any emergency fund money. I would be putting some aside each month so you have a nest egg for unforeseens.