Its time to sort out this mess!

EssexHebridean

mick1234 wrote: »

Hi, the £300 is child care and the £100 is for anything else in the month like trips, clothes, haircuts, swimming lessons.

Todays update - I have worked out that my coffee habit is expensive, I have a Waitrose on my commute to work so I got the Waitrose card ( no I do not shop here ) but with the card, you a get free coffee if you buy something so I was getting a bottle of water 67p and getting a free coffee sometimes I do spend more as well bits for dinner over the week that's is nearly £5 - £10 that's £20 to £40 a month on what I thought was a good deal!

Think about how you can use that one to your advantage then. Maybe note an item that you need from your weekly shop that Waitrose don't charge more for, and get that as your purchased item. Otherwise, if it's leading to you purchasing stuff you don;t need, ditch the daily caffeine kick!

mick1234_2

@EssexHebridean so I wasnt sure how to reply as it would not let me quoute everything - replys in red.

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.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1997.23
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0 50/50 co-parenting - should this not mean 50% of the child benefit, too? - for now it's not worth the earache
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1997.23

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 401
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 104 single person discount applied? If you haven't already done so look to get this paid over 12 months rather than the standard 10,
too, as that helps with cashflow.
Electricity............................. 61 Is this actually gas and electric? If not if you're using electricity for everything I assume you're on Economy 7 and storage heaters? Make sure you fully understand how to get the most from it as that figure is on the high side. - yes this is for both
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40 Think about whether switching to a meter might save you money - and if this is metered think about how you can use less! - I will look at this
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 12 Good work!
TV Licence.............................. 12.37
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 32
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200 On the high side for effectively one and a half people - but you've already said that not planning well is a downfall haven't you. One to work on! - working on this
Clothing................................ 0 Never? not even pants and socks?! haha honestly maybe new every 6 months
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 0 Zero rated car? I need to check this I have just got a new car
Car Insurance........................... 43 Have you checked this is the best price you can get for the cover you need? I will check this on the new car
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0 There is no way that a car worth £1200 isn't going to cost you anything in maintenance. You need to start budgeting for stuff like this! - I know this needs sorting
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 300
Other child related expenses............ 100
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 23.53 this is contents and building
Contents insurance...................... 0 Is this included in the insurance figure above?
Life assurance ......................... 47.4 Have you checked this is the best price you can get for the cover you need? - yes I did a lot on this and when I got a new mortage the advisor worked a lot with me it also covers me for critical illness
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20 Is this enough? You've a child to buy for, plus any opther family, and any friends? Then there's wrapping paper, cards...? - this I need to start
Haircuts................................ 25 Every month? This seems very high
Entertainment........................... 20 And conversely this seems very low - that covers Spotify and Netflix - I do snowboard a bit so I will put that on aswell I dont really go out spending becasue I have nothing left

have a think about what you do for entertainment during the month whether it's at home or going out, and make sure this is realistic.
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0 You're a homeowner - you MUST get something going here. Think about building a £1000 pot to start with. - I know i need to do this
Total monthly expenses.................. 1541.3


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 130000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 131200


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
Mortgage...................... 106000...(401)......2.17
Total secured & HP debts...... 106000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
BC.............................9800......167...... .8 This is the one to throw everything at first off
Halifax........................1405.89...36.42.... .0 Make sure you know the finish dates for the 0% cards
RBS............................1400......50.81.... .0
Tesco..........................3500......28....... .0
NUBA...........................3439.61...33.18.... .0
Total unsecured debts..........19545.5...315.41....-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,997.23
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,541.3
Available for debt repayments........... 455.93
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 315.41
Amount left after debt repayments....... 140.52 Do you actually have this amount left?

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 131,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -106,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -19,545.5
Net Assets.............................. 5,654.5

thanks for that some really good points for me to look at - the emergency fund I know is important but raising £1000 is the difficult part at the minute it all feels like a massive mountain I just need to start chipping away at the debt but also putting things in place to stop credit cards being used again, I want to cut them all up but I know that have no food or fuel by the end of the month and use that as a safety net.

redofromstart

EssexHebridean wrote: »

ditch the daily caffeine kick!

:eek:

I always had an insulated coffee cup for the car commute which I filled before I left home.

enthusiasticsaver

Stopping using the cards is the first thing you need to put in place or all your efforts will be wasted. Your budget needs to be adjusted to allow you to build an emergency fund. £500 can do as a start. Can you get the cable tv reduced or cancelled? Groceries could be lower as mainly just you. The car maintenance figure also needs something in there and as EH says £20 per month is low for entertainment although I guess the child related expenses could go in there. You can get your hair done a lot cheaper than £25 per month. I think my DH pays £5 every 2 months at our local barber.

UncannyScot

Forgot to say when I was on earlier, there is a good example of a budget planner spreadsheet available from MSE near top of the forum page...
Look for Quick Links... The Budget Planner
Also, within Excel there is a free template available entitled Family Budget Planner... it is initially set up for the USA but can be tweaked to suit the UK. This is what I used initially and I have tweaked it to suit me... and it's linked into my OneNote Journal too

EssexHebridean

putting things in place to stop credit cards being used again, I want to cut them all up but I know that have no food or fuel by the end of the month and use that as a safety net

This jumped out at me - with the figures you've listed in your SOA, you can now see that actually, you DO have enough money to go around, can't you. Can you start by taking your cards out of your wallet and tucking them into the back of a drawer at home? That reduces the temptation to "just put it on the card".

Another challenge for you - meal planning and getting that grocery spend down. Think first off about the sorts of meals you like to eat - and remember that cooking stuff from scratch is cheaper than getting someone else to do the work for you! Then consider where you shop - Aldi & Lidl will work out a lot cheaper than Waitrose and Sainsburys. From there personally I;d make my next stop to list the stuff I had in already - so cupboards, fridge & freezer, and then see what meals you can make using those things. Focus particularly on things that need using up - food waste is the enemy! See how little you can spend over the next few weeks by using the things you already have in stock as that will give you a nice boost to start you off.

mick1234_2

I have just been doing the budget planner for the last hour and the SOA is incorrect! I have missed off some key things and doing this has highlighted them, I'm still in balance but by £33!


The things I have missed.


Car insurance has gone up currently 43 they want 85 for my new car! I will shop around on this and call them tomorrow


Hobbies - £45 I forgot all about this but I take part in a marital art its the only thing I do really for myself my stress reliever


Bank account fee - I always forget this its £17 but I get the breakdown cover, mobile phone insurance ( which I have used once ) and a £500 emergency call out.


Overdraft cost - £6 ( £500 overdraft I have had this for longer than I can remember )


And car tax - £20 a month


It has just shown me I need to be fully engaged with where my money is going!


Main goals to begin.


1. Shopping - this is my first job as this seems to be my biggest one I can save on.


2. I have just done a water meter estimate and it is saying instead of £480 a year it will be £150 so I need one of those.


3. I will check the Gas and Electric guide on this site I am a member and my last provider was because of its recommendations but that was last year.


4. No more coffees, I will just get one a work


5. Haircuts I will find a cheaper place

UncannyScot wrote: »

Forgot to say when I was on earlier, there is a good example of a budget planner spreadsheet available from MSE near top of the forum page...
Look for Quick Links... The Budget Planner
Also, within Excel there is a free template available entitled Family Budget Planner... it is initially set up for the USA but can be tweaked to suit the UK. This is what I used initially and I have tweaked it to suit me... and it's linked into my OneNote Journal too

enthusiasticsaver

£85 a month is ridiculous for car insurance. That is more than the value of the car.

enthusiasticsaver

I think you could probably get car breakdown a lot cheaper than £17 a month and you need to tackle the overdraft as most banks are starting to up their charges on this. Packaged bank accounts are usually a waste of money.

mick1234_2

I know I am looking into it this morning, and I will also look at the breakdown cover - thank you

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

£85 a month is ridiculous for car insurance. That is more than the value of the car.