SOA - any advice greatly recieved

louby40

Any advice will be greatly received.
I've just recently renewed by gas/electric - its fairly cheap at £55 a month and my house insurance I actually paid in full at £85 but put down a montly amount.


I don't know what else to give up.
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet


Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2170
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 415
Total monthly income.................... 2585
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 600
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 133
Electricity............................. 20
Gas..................................... 55
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 33
Telephone (land line)................... 17
Mobile phone............................ 45
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 30
Road tax................................ 12
Car Insurance........................... 26
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 20
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 8
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 8
Contents insurance...................... 8
Life assurance ......................... 17
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 15
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
gym..................................... 18
union fees.............................. 18
Total monthly expenses.................. 1420

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 180000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 8000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 188000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 106000...(600)......2.6
Total secured & HP debts...... 106000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Credi card.....................1000......30........18
Car loan.......................6000......194.......11
Parents........................4000......300.......0
Overdraft......................400.......400.......0
Total unsecured debts..........11400.....924.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,585
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,420
Available for debt repayments........... 1,165
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 924
Amount left after debt repayments....... 241
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 188,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -106,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -11,400
Net Assets.............................. 70,600
Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

louby40

Also, just in the process of moving my current account to First Direct and my credit card to First Direct as its at 0% for 27 months.


I am overdrawn by £400-500 every month - help!

joedenise

If you're overdrawn every month then it looks as though your SOA is where you would like it to be rather than what you are actually spending.

It might be a good idea to keep a spending diary for the next month making a note of absolutely every penny you spend, including newspapers, magazines, coffees, sweets for the kids etc. This will give you a better idea of what you are actually spending.

I notice that you haven't put down any benefits but with 2 children you should be getting at least child benefit which means you should have about an extra £160 (I think).

Something which stands out is mobile phone @ £45. Is there any way you can reduce the package - most people don't use all the minutes, texts and data which is included.

You really ought to include something for an emergency fund so that you don't have to resort to using a credit card.

Others will be along soon with more suggestions.

Denise

figtree9

Have you taken the 25% reduction for council tax (single adult)?

Is the repayment amount with the parent(s) negotiable? I'd be tempted to ask whether or not a £300pm repayment for a few months would be acceptable to them (just so you can clear the overdraft, at least)

And then the obvious question about whether or not you use the gym membership. I've just cancelled mine and have started running outdoors (in the hope it continues well after the nice weather has ended!)

ft

louby40

My 'other income' includes £280 from my ex husband and £137 child benefit. Which totals £415


I don't buy newspapers, coffee, magazines or sweets. My boys have pocket money from grandparents and my elder son has a Saturday job so they buy their own sweets/treats, pay for cinema etc. from that


I do go to the theatre occasionally and have an odd weekend away - so that is where some extras may be going and also totally forgot about Netflix which is £6 a month but we do all use it and we don't have Sky. I haven't been to the cinema for over 18 months.

louby40

I had two months 'off' paying my parents back during Dec/Nov and I really do want to pay it back asap. Once that's cleared I will be £300 a month better off. I've already paid £2000.

I've just changed gyns and it's gone from £28 to £18 and yes I go to my gym 3 times a week, plus walk/run outside too.
I just need to really tighten things up and stop buying the odd bottle of wine and write everything down. It's all the little things I probably aren't accounting for.

elsien

You've said at the start your gas/electric is £55pm but on the soa the total is 75 pm. Which is it?

louby40

It's £55 a month with First Utilty for both

elsien

That gives you another £20 on your soa that you need to work out where it's going then - can you go back and look at the weekends away you're having, and the theatre and try to work out how much you spend when these happen? Just to make the soa a little more accurate.

Fosterdog

Have you just taken out a new credit card or have you done a balance transfer?

That £241 extra a month must be going somewhere if you are always using your overdraft, you don't have a massive amount of debt considering you earnings other than the mortgage which is good.

You really need to cut back as much as you can, you can clear the debt within the year and start to build up a fund as long as you are committed to doing it. Set yourself some goals, if you can go a full week without spending on anything unnecessary then treat yourself to one bottle of wine. Set small goals and give yourself small rewards when you reach them.

As already said, can you get a reduction in council tax? Call your mobile provider and ask to lower the tariff. How much do you use your car? If you only use £30 fuel a month it doesn't sound like you travel very far, could you sell the car and walk more with occasional public transport when needed?

£250 isn't a massive amount for groceries but could be a lot lower considering it's just you and two children (unless they are teenagers eating you out of house and home) head over to the old style board for tips on cutting your food spend.

Clothing, try to cut back for a few months only buy essentials to replace worn out clothes or those that are now too small for growing children. Same with hair cuts, go longer between cuts, if you have boys invest in some clippers for around £20 and cut their hair yourself.

Put any extra money you have into clearing your debt with the highest interest first, then move on to next highest and so on until you are clear.

PurpleFairy26

You also have £400 overdraft and a £400 monthly payment. If y were to pay that all in one go that would give you another £400 to throw at your debts meaning you would have £641 rather than £241. If you don't have that as others have said, do a spending diary and write every penny you spend and then redo your SOA. Good luck, once it has gone, you will have a substantial amount of 'spare' income.

I would put something aside for an emergency fund, even if it's £25 to start with. I know this sounds counter productive when paying down debt, but at least if you do this and then need a new washing machine or something, you'll have at least some money towards it rather than going in to an overdraft again.

Good luck with it. Keep posting.