Some pointers?

swingy

Hi everyone, hoping you could give us some pointers? We're a couple, 32 and 30 respectively, and have had a lot of expenses recently. SOA is below but I'll give you the backstory now.

My partner bought the flat that we live in in a city in the SE last March - I didn't go in on it at the time as I was worried about taking such a big step in our relationship but that's now all changed and we're very happy and want to get married next year.

After we bought the flat, we then found that it needed more or less total refurbishment - replastering, new windows, the works. The refurbishing cost quite a lot, say 17k all in for boiler, gas, electric, new kitchen, floors, double glazing, furniture etc - luckily partner is incredibly handy and has done much of it himself over the past 18 months, with me mucking in too.
We still have to do the bathroom, but it's functional for now.

Unfortunately after complaining to the maintenance company a lot about the large patch of damp which kept coming through on our living room wall, they have inspected and found a lot of the plaster was blown on the exterior, and we then got a bill for 4,000 for repairs from them which wiped out all the savings we had.

So... we have recently got an almost second hand car on PCP as the elderly Clio we had kept breaking and costing us 400 a pop, not counting the stress of partner not being able to get to work. We're really pleased with the new car as we got it for about half list price and were able to scrape together 2,800 for a deposit at very low interest, meaning payments are 122 a month which is very reasonable considering it's big enough for when we have kids - hopefully next year, after we get married.

Thing is, now our savings are now gone and we have lots of debt from the house to pay off - money to grandparents for loan, double glazing, kitchen - plus the bathroom to do, a wedding on the horizon, and at-least one batch of six months maternity leave (I don't really want to take any more, personal preference).

I know our major failings - we're crap at budgeting and as we both work full time have got in the habit of takeaways - checked the demotivator and we spend 1050 a year on them! We also spend too much on food and wine, and going out to eat - no surprise we're both a bit tubby.

I've been doing matched betting, which is something I've probably made about a grand doing over the past 6 months with not too much effort - I just need to put in more time.

My plan to clear our debts and start saving again is as follows:
- Make a proper budget for food, entertainment etc, and stick to it.
- Shop in Lidl and Aldi only - no sneaky trips to Waitrose!
- Spend 1-2 hours doing matched betting a day.
- Scour gumtree for nearly new bathroom suites.

Does anyone have any pointers/any advice for us?

font=courier new]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1858.43
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1833.33
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3691.76

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 664.6
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 122
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 55
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 25
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 18.5
Mobile phone............................ 55
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 14.99
Groceries etc. ......................... 250
Clothing................................ 25
Petrol/diesel........................... 65
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 10
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 6
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 15
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 5.73
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 17
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 60
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1788.82


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 220000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 10000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 230000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 150000...(664.6)....4.7
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 6700.....(122)......5
Total secured & HP debts...... 156700....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card tara...............1606......0.........0
credit card ben................1000......10........0
windows........................1283......101.......9
grandparents...................2050......150.......0
kitchen........................1000......62........12
Total unsecured debts..........6939......323.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,691.76
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,788.82
Available for debt repayments........... 1,902.94
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 323
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,579.94

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 230,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -156,700
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,939
Net Assets.............................. 66,361

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

littlegreenparrot

A few suggestions:
Can you get a better deal on your mobile phone contracts? Mine is £10 a month, but admittedly I hardly use it.
Have you checked that all the insurances are on the best deal?

I'm sure you could cut the grocery bill through proper meal planning, and probably the entertainment budget - that would allow you to pay more off against the credit cards/other debts.

When wedding planning keep in mind that it doesn't have to cost very much - although the average in this country is apparently more than £20,000 which is madness to me. I'll be honest - if I were in your position I'd wait another year or two before thinking about children, just to straighten up again, but obviously that's a very personal decision.

swingy

Thanks littlegreenparrot. I'm fine with waiting until next year to start trying for a baby, but I turned 32 in July, and so am aware that if I want 2, which ideally I would, I don't have all the time in the world - and that's if we're lucky and if it all goes with no hitches. But on the plus side, say if it happened in June 2017 then it wouldn't be till March 2018 till we had the actual baby.

We definitely need to sort out the meal planning, we're rubbish at that, and our entertainment could come right down. Was thinking about suggesting to partner that we do a challenge of no meals bought out until Christmas, and see how that goes.

Wedding wise, I think we'll be able to do it fairly cheaply. I've found a venue that sleeps 25 self catering that we could get for 2k (will have quite a few family members coming from overseas who we'll need to put up), and then hire marquees and caterers for a really nice buffet. Booze cruise to France for the alcohol, 250 dress from China, moissanite engagement ring and hopefully we should be able to do it for 5-7k. Fingers crossed!

nkkingston

Most of the stats about giving birth later are based on Medieval France, so you have to take them with a pinch of salt. If you could healthily give birth at 20, you are likely to still be able to do so at 40 (but at that point, it's hubby's age that starts causing health issues for the babe).

Do you actually have £1500 left at the end of each month? Have a check, because if there's a bit of aspirational budgeting going on there you could catch yourself out. Make sure the present fund is actually being put aside for Christmas, and so on. And you haven't got a wedding fund on there - the last thing you want to do is dig yourself out from under the debt only to run it all up again on credit cards.

Offbeatbride.com is good for budget tips for weddings, though it's an American website, so some of the corners can't be cut over here.

Muttipops

Hi, wow, a lot going on in your life!
And a lovely wedding to look foward to.
I see you suggest 5-7k for that, but do work out a full budget and stick to it. Flowers are hideously expensive, shoes, cars, all the little bits that add to the bill,don't forget to factor them in.
A piece of advice, people love a wedding so give them a chance to be generous and let them pay for anything they volunteer to, like their own acommodation; I for one would be horrified to think that the newlyweds would be going into debt just to pay for my acommodation. I know one would like to pay for the lot, but generosity can go too far.
Between the wedding and the babies, save, save and save in any way you can, because any pound you don't have to lend is more than worth a bit of belt tightening and as all of us know, life has a habit of throwing the unexpected at you, like the car blows up, you are expecting twins, redundancy, you never know, so some savings won't go amiss to weather the bad times as well as the good.
I am somewhat envious of you with it all to come in life, good luck.

MallyGirl

swingy wrote: »

font=courier new]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1858.43
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1833.33
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3691.76

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 664.6
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 122
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 55
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 25
Gas..................................... 25
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 18.5
Mobile phone............................ 55
TV Licence.............................. 10 This is 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 14.99
Groceries etc. ......................... 250 A bit high for just 2 of you
Clothing................................ 25
Petrol/diesel........................... 65
Road tax................................ 0 none?
Car Insurance........................... 35
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 10
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 6
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 15
Buildings insurance..................... 0 included in mgmt. fee?
Contents insurance...................... 5.73
Life assurance ......................... 0 will need when you have kids
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50 is this going in a separate account so you really have it saved for the event?
Haircuts................................ 17
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 60
Emergency fund.......................... 0 You need one of these
Total monthly expenses.................. 1788.82


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 220000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 10000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 230000


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 150000...(664.6)....4.7
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 6700.....(122)......5
Total secured & HP debts...... 156700....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
credit card tara...............1606......0.........0 not paying anything?
credit card ben................1000......10........0
windows........................1283......101.......9
grandparents...................2050......150.......0
kitchen........................1000......62........12 increase this payment and get rid - it is your most expensive debt
Total unsecured debts..........6939......323.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,691.76
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,788.82
Available for debt repayments........... 1,902.94
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 323
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,579.94 Do you actually have this left each month - or anything close?

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 230,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -156,700
Total Unsecured debt.................... -6,939
Net Assets.............................. 66,361

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