yet another SOA newbie (and YNAB wannabe)

lexia

I'm trying hard to pay off all my credit card debt by Christmas 2016 - and looking for help, as I don't know how/where I can cut more. I've already decided not to take any holidays this year so no savings on that. The plan is to pay at least £500 monthly towards credit card debt, plus all work bonuses (which are not included in the SOA).

Note that regular bills are all actual amounts, rounded up. Food and other spending are estimates... I have yet to start recording all spending. I have an YNAB license key from a friend, he's not using it anymore.

Thanks for any suggestions you might offer.

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.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3100

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1000
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 70 (svc charge, ground rent, bldg insurance)
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 27
Gas..................................... 38
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone & Internet ................... 30 (land line, Internet, and int'l calling)
Mobile phone............................ 28 (contract ends Jan 2017)
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0 (Freeview + Amazon Prime Video - paid until EOY)
Internet Services....................... 0 (included with Phone)
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Clothing................................ 100 (clothing, shoes, uniform)
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Oyster card............................. 125
Childcare/nursery....................... 260
Other child related expenses............ 100 (school lunches, extracurricular clubs)
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10 ( prescription glasses + medicine)
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0 (included in service charge)
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0 (work perk)
Mortgage insurance ..................... 35
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 (kids parties, presents for family, etc)
Haircuts................................ 50 (haircuts, cosmetics)
Entertainment........................... 100 (theatre, concert tickets and eating out)
Holiday................................. 0 (no holiday in 2016)
Emergency fund.......................... 25
Unexpected ............................. 50
Work lunches............................ 100 (I know... this one needs to go... )

Total monthly expenses.................. 2600


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 360000 (luckily...)
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 360000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 199500...(1000).....2.6%
Total secured & HP debts...... 199500....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Tesco & MBNA ..................9200......92........0 (ouch)
Total unsecured debts..........9200......92........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,100
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,600
Available for debt repayments........... 500
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 92
Amount left after debt repayments....... 408

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 360,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -199,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,200
Net Assets.............................. 151,300

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

vlad

Are you not getting child benefit?

pennies_from_Heaven

vlad wrote: »

Are you not getting child benefit?

I would think earnings are above the threshold for child benefit.

Pixie5740

Do you really have £408 left each month?

I would put "unexpected" and "emergency" together. Although most unexpected expenses can be anticipated. For example, appliances don't last forever.

Once you get up and running with YNAB and start recording everything you spend it will be a real eyeopener. It certainly was for me.

EssexHebridean

First off, welcome and well done!

Comments on the SOA in red...

lexia 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.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3100

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1000
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 70 (svc charge, ground rent, bldg insurance)
Council tax............................. 100 you're getting single person discount for this I assume?
Electricity............................. 27
Gas..................................... 38
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone & Internet ................... 30 (land line, Internet, and int'l calling)
Mobile phone............................ 28 (contract ends Jan 2017)
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0 (Freeview + Amazon Prime Video - paid until EOY)
Internet Services....................... 0 (included with Phone)
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 High for 2 people - you could certaijnly knock £50 of it if you wanted some extra to chuck at the debts
Clothing................................ 100 (clothing, shoes, uniform) Can't honestly say you need to be spending this monthly - can you have 6 months of buying bare essentials only - and look at eBay etc for kids clothes. The school may have second hand options on uniforms, else I'm told Asda do some brilliant budget uniform stuff
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Oyster card............................. 125 Are you close enough to a zone boundary that a short walk cuts this any?
Childcare/nursery....................... 260
Other child related expenses............ 100 (school lunches, extracurricular clubs) Can packed lunches cut this at all? To be honest I'm guessing not though.
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10 ( prescription glasses + medicine)
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0 (included in service charge)
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0 (work perk)
Mortgage insurance ..................... 35
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 (kids parties, presents for family, etc) Every month?
Haircuts................................ 50 (haircuts, cosmetics) Again, if you really want extra to throw at getting rid of the debt then you can cut this a LOT.
Entertainment........................... 100 (theatre, concert tickets and eating out)
Holiday................................. 0 (no holiday in 2016)
Emergency fund.......................... 25 Set up a separate savings account for your emergency fund money to go in, and set up an automated transfer to that so you're not tempted to skip it. Agree with whoever said combine this and "unexpected" too
Unexpected ............................. 50
Work lunches............................ 100 (I know... this one needs to go... ) You said it!

Total monthly expenses.................. 2600


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 360000 (luckily...)
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 360000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 199500...(1000).....2.6% Brilliant rate - well done!
Total secured & HP debts...... 199500....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Tesco & MBNA ..................9200......92........0 (ouch) When does the 0% finish? Apologies if you've already said.
Total unsecured debts..........9200......92........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,100
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,600
Available for debt repayments........... 500
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 92
Amount left after debt repayments....... 408

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 360,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -199,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,200
Net Assets.............................. 151,300

It's not a bad picture, to be honest. Your income is high, and having recognised the issue with the debt you're in a great position to sort it, learn the lessons, and move on. One point - bearing in mind your SOA shows a £400 a month surplus, you need to have a long hard look about how the debt accumulated in the first place.

If it were me, I'd make some drastic cuts for a while - throw £100 a month into the emergency fund account and then lob everything else at the debts - with your level of income & expenditure you'll get everything cleared pretty fast. I'd also cut up the credit cards right now - with your level of slack in your budget plus the savings you can make there isn't really any benefit to keeping them even for emergencies, and if there is a temptation to use them, then that may well not prove helpful.

dcouponzzzz

May sound extreme, but how attached are you to your house? seriously though 360k is high for 1 adult and 1 child, if you could find somewhere suitable for 150k there's 1k a month to throw at your debts. You'll need to look at this kind of decision with your brain rather than your heart.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Just to add on top of all the brill suggestions you have had already:


Prescription glasses and medicine - Do you have a pharmacy first scheme near you? Kids get free treatment for minor ailments


Also - Glasses. Use Martin MSE blog. There are often vouchers for free eye tests and for cheap glasses


Entertainment - £100 - you could cut this down also


Phone - I paid my line rental upfront and my bills now £5.50 a month. Worth looking into if you can

PasturesNew

Work lunches at £100/month are £5/day. What are you currently eating, you can make this change quickly by replicating that in a DIY way.... but we'd need to know what you're currently eating to be able to suggest how you can DIY, so you notice the least change in your life.

PasturesNew

My quick overview/thoughts:

lexia wrote: »

Groceries etc. ......................... 250 - you could cut that down by £100/month

Clothing................................ 100 (clothing, shoes, uniform) - you probably have enough already, limit it to £20 and cut that down by £80/month

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 (kids parties, presents for family, etc) - that's a lot. Cut back.

Haircuts................................ 50 (haircuts, cosmetics) - that's a lot. You could halve that by using the makeup you've got and leaving your hair longer to be cut

Entertainment........................... 100 (theatre, concert tickets and eating out) - that's a lot. You could just stop, saving £100

Work lunches............................ 100 (I know... this one needs to go... ) - you should be able to easily get that down to £20/month (£1/day)

So that's a saving of about £380/month!

thriftylass

lexia 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.................... 0

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3100
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0 should say £82 Child benefit
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3100

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1000
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 70 (svc charge, ground rent, bldg insurance)
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 27
Gas..................................... 38
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone & Internet ................... 30 (land line, Internet, and int'l calling)
Mobile phone............................ 28 (contract ends Jan 2017)
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0 (Freeview + Amazon Prime Video - paid until EOY)
Internet Services....................... 0 (included with Phone)
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 even if it includes household and cleaning, try to reduce by £50
Clothing................................ 100 (clothing, shoes, uniform) you can go without for a while, for essential try Tesco etc or ebay for bigger things if really NEEDED, reduce by 80
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Oyster card............................. 125
Childcare/nursery....................... 260
Other child related expenses............ 100 (school lunches, extracurricular clubs)
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10 ( prescription glasses + medicine)
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0 (included in service charge)
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 0 (work perk)
Mortgage insurance ..................... 35
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 kids parties, presents for family, etc) I think this is ok, christmas and little gifts here and there for friends and family seriously add up over the year, better have it and don't need it,
Haircuts................................ 50 (haircuts, cosmetics) does you haircut allow you to go every 2 month, do they have a trainee at lower cost, could half this
Entertainment........................... 100 theatre, concert tickets and eating out) keep some spending money, but you can't really afford concerts and theatre, it's only a few months. Reduce to 50?
Holiday................................. 0 (no holiday in 2016)
Emergency fund.......................... 25 scrap
Unexpected ............................. 50 keep
Work lunches............................ 100 (I know... this one needs to go... ) Slowly get used to making sandwiches or take leftovers etc could easily half this

Total monthly expenses.................. 2600


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 360000 (luckily...)
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 360000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 199500...(1000).....2.6%
Total secured & HP debts...... 199500....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Tesco & MBNA ..................9200......92........0 (ouch)
Total unsecured debts..........9200......92........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,100
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,600
Available for debt repayments........... 500
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 92
Amount left after debt repayments....... 408

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 360,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -199,500
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,200
Net Assets.............................. 151,300

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

What did the 9 grand pay for, can you sell it? Are you in danger of spending again for similar things?

With will power but still being sensible you might get another ca £300 together for extra debt payments.

Good luck, believe in yourself and you can do it.

getmore4less

The obvious one here is you are having work lunches and kids school lunches and a highish grocery bill.

If work and school are providing a proper meal then your evening meals can be much reduced, if it just expensive lunches then that money is better spent in with the groceries and your meal planning.

Between the three, £100 should be easy and probably some months you could get closer to £200.

Personaly I would store the emergency funds paying of the CC(savings if better rate), you are planning on a £500 CC payment every month, there is the first £400 emergency payment if you need one just overpay less that month with some cutbacks you will probably have closer to £600 to play with in case of unexpected.
(1% min payment seems low)

If the cards drop out of 0% in the year/before getting paid off, I would look at a backup card, probably a 0% spend one and migrate some of the debt onto that using normal spends as long as it has 18month+ on it you should be debt clear before that runs out.