SOA - Comments please!

Flask_of_tea_in_the_car

Hi

This is a rough SOA - I say rough as we are about to move house and into one that has no Gas so no idea what electricity bills will be like.
We are a family of 6 including a baby (so nappies and wipes needed).
We live in the countryside so rely on car for everything.
We have never saved properly before so I have no idea what is sensible/acceptable for holidays etc...
We have also only just closed a business and Husband has got a job so used 'entitled to' for income amounts... presuming they will be accurate for benefits!

Thanks for feedback:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1391
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1526
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2917

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 700
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 150
Electricity............................. 120
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 50
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 30
Groceries etc. ......................... 725
Clothing................................ 50
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 25
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 35
Car parking............................. 15
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 50
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40
Haircuts................................ 40
Entertainment........................... 40
Holiday................................. 100
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 2605


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,917
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,605
Available for debt repayments........... 312
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 312

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 0

tigerfeet2006

Is the car maimtenance really £350 a month or was that a typo :eek: I am going to assume so and go with £35 a month so that will change your surplus.

BRB

Flask_of_tea_in_the_car

Ha yes - was thinking 350 per year!
Will edit..

Have adjusted a couple of other boxes too...

Would be good to know if I can claim more for the kids as we have 4 and the older 3 do sports clubs and swimming lessons as well as school trips etc...

tigerfeet2006

Flask_of_tea_in_the_car wrote: »

Hi

This is a rough SOA - I say rough as we are about to move house and into one that has no Gas so no idea what electricity bills will be like.
We are a family of 6 including a baby (so nappies and wipes needed).
We live in the countryside so rely on car for everything.
We have never saved properly before so I have no idea what is sensible/acceptable for holidays etc...
We have also only just closed a business and Husband has got a job so used 'entitled to' for income amounts... presuming they will be accurate for benefits!

Thanks for feedback:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1391
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1526
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2917

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 700
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 150
Electricity............................. 120
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 50
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 0 Do you not have a licence?
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 30
Groceries etc. ......................... 725
Clothing................................ 50 £150
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 25
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 350 £35
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 50 Put £5 per child per week for activities (£90 I think) plus £2 per day for school dinners for the children in primary and £3 for secondary.
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0 any pets?
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 20
Life assurance ......................... 40 The OR may have an interest in this
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40 most ORs won't allow
Haircuts................................ 40
Entertainment........................... 40 most ORs won't allow
Holiday................................. 100
Emergency fund.......................... 50 £10 per person in the household (£60)
Total monthly expenses.................. 2905


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,917
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,905
Available for debt repayments........... 12
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 12

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 0

Some things to think about and play with. Put it back through the calculater and post again.

Another thing to think about is some breakdown cover.

HappyMJ

Check again...£350 a month car maintenance. What is it a Porsche?

You've missed TV licence. Whether you spend money on it or not I'd still enter the figure of £12/£13 per month and spend the money on audio-visual Entertainment instead.

You could put a little more aside for Holidays. Generally accepted figure is £20 per person per month.

You say you live in the countryside. Does the property only have electricity? If you buy in wood or coal for a solid fuel fire you can enter a figure for that.

You should have an idea of what the electricity bills will be as you would have asked the landlord or previous occupier. The landlord would have given you an EPC which will show you what the property needs in kWh per square metres and it tells you the property size in square metres. Multiply the 2 together and you've got your estimated annual usage in kWh then multiply that by your unit rate on your bill and divide by 365. Add in the daily standing charge then multiply the figure by 31. It could be much closer to £200 per month.

Flask_of_tea_in_the_car

Check again...£350 a month car maintenance. What is it a Porsche?

You've missed TV licence. Whether you spend money on it or not I'd still enter the figure of £12/£13 per month and spend the money on audio-visual Entertainment instead.

You could put a little more aside for Holidays. Generally accepted figure is £20 per person per month.

You say you live in the countryside. Does the property only have electricity? If you buy in wood or coal for a solid fuel fire you can enter a figure for that.

You should have an idea of what the electricity bills will be as you would have asked the landlord or previous occupier. The landlord would have given you an EPC which will show you what the property needs in kWh per square metres and it tells you the property size in square metres. Multiply the 2 together and you've got your estimated annual usage in kWh then multiply that by your unit rate on your bill and divide by 365. Add in the daily standing charge then multiply the figure by 31. It could be much closer to £200 per month.

1. Yes thanks have changed 350 to 35

2. Dont have TV/watch live TV - will they check? If not will def claim for it and use for Netflix

3. Great re Holidays

4. Forgot wood! Thank you

5. Thanks re Electricity - we are renting privately and the landlord is only just putting in new oil/elec heaters as the NSH have been in there 40 years! They havent done an EPC yet.

6. No pets but we do want to get one... Is it OK to budget for one we dont have just yet?

7. Kids have packed lunches... should I budget separately?

8. Thank You!!!

TJ07

To me £50 a month clothing for a family of 6 seems very low indeed, especially in winter months and I also assume you'll need to cover some school uniforms?

I personally claimed £50 for myself which covered a personal allowance of £30 a month clothing and £20 a month towards a suit for work every year.

I would re-assess the clothing budget if I were you.

Cobalt77

Flask_of_tea_in_the_car wrote: »

2. Dont have TV/watch live TV - will they check? If not will def claim for it and use for Netflix
Nope. It's a flat allowance, and they don't check. Some people can also get away with claiming for a BASIC Sky TV package (£12 - £15 ish) if they are in a poor signal area.

6. No pets but we do want to get one... Is it OK to budget for one we dont have just yet?
The OR doesn't check, nor do they care unless the figure is particularly high. As a guide, an average cat will typically cost around £30 a month for pouches, cat biscuits and cat litter (my Examiner was fine with that). You could probably justify another £5 a month to cover vet bills/ annual check-up/vaccinations. Obviously, it would be very wise to know how much pet food costs in the supermarket so you can put a realistic figure in.

7. Kids have packed lunches... should I budget separately?
Should be included in your weekly supermarket food bill really.

Answers in red crayon above.

And, for the benefit of our extreme right-wing forum "visitors" who hate the idea of anyone BR being on anything other than bread & water, I should mention that they feel it would be fraudulent for you to claim anything except the absolute bare minimum amounts on your SoA.

So, even though the OR won't check whether you have a TV license, Sky TV or a Pet, it would be really rather naughty of you to claim any of these allowances if you aren't paying for them. So pretty please with sugar and cherries on top(*) please don't be naughty, or it will upset our extreme right-wing forum "friends".

* Do NOT be tempted to claim for sugar and cherries on your SoA. Only rich people are allowed those, not us degenerates

Flask_of_tea_in_the_car

Thank you for a great reply Cobalt77 - I am painfully honest (to my disadvantage I am sure) but I do not want to be silly and miss something we can claim for as even though there is a holiday fund and emergency fund this will have to also pay for B'Day and Christmas presents for the children, big car repair bills and any other unexpected expenditures.

I think having your credit rating destroyed, having your name and address on the internet and having a lifetime of crap mortgage rates is quite a punishment... I do not feel guilty about wanting to provide the kids with a few small treats or keeping their Swimming class going...

I totally hold my hands up to having not always got it right but I also spent YEARS paying interest and never missing a payment - I have paid most of my debts off 3 fold in this time.
And we are quick to forget the banks went belly up a few years back.

I have worked VERY hard, paid a LOT Of interest and am now calling it a day for the sake of my health and sanity - I am excited about a fresh start and about living within my means - if anyone has a problem with that they can go take their problem elsewhere

Strachan

Hi
I'm pleased that you know it was not Cobalt 77's point of view he/she were alerting you to.


I agree with your sentiments


I'd put a higher amount in for clothing bearing in mind uniforms over the year and also something for school meals if any of your children are likely to have them over the course of the year.


My SOA was at a deficit


Good luck