*sigh* this may take a while

ohdearhowdidthathappen

mark88man said:

good planning

your SOA looks very similar to mine.  So some things I found helpful

* Presents - never really skimped on family presents, but definitely cut back on distant relatives and friends.  especially if you feel you always come of worse in the exchange.  You an OH are very comfortable but doesn't mean you have to lead from the front

* House insurance - looks a but pricey.  so unless you had some claims or have some specific challenges you should be able to do better.  I pay £300 a year this year down from £500 (renewal £700)

* With cars I don't know really, it does just feel like good money after bad to me, but I know many colleagues are happy to pay.  I suggest just try and make sure your OH doesn't go too wild at the next one "ie I absolutely want you to have a new car, but does it have to have all the extras - or could you go for a cheaper model, but get the sporty version (ie get an Astra not the insignia but bling it up).  You may just need to let this one go and your need for 7 seats may also limit your choices.

* I know you have a way to go on your mortgage, but I can't help feeling aggressive overpayment isn't quite the right answer.  I did up my standard payment when I remortgaged but that's as far as I'm going, when I get the final debts off my plate I will be looking for savings and S&S ISAs (although also as I am much older I have the option of pension contributions, which are more tax efficient).  This is the concept of mortgage neutral - seems more flexible (which may make ISA more of a thing as I am aiming to be done with it in 5 years and that is a tricky investment horizon)

Thanks Mark, 

- when we were debt busting, we cut present buying down to just us 7 and our parents, I'm keeping it to that as nothing's been mentioned.  Before that, we just did others' children anyway and I think people were secretly pleased to stop as we had more kids than them (although I did spend the equivalent on their kids anyway)
- it is pricey, because of where we live, we can't get normal insurance and have to go through a broker, this is as good as it gets unfortunately.
- cars - definitely a 'to be revisited'.  The PCP ends in 18 months, so I'll be looking into hopefully acceptable alternatives over that time, hope to tempt OH from repeating the same deal again
- we've been discussing this a lot, trying to get the balance of OPing the mortgage and still having a good standard of living while doing so.  £500pm OP sounds a lot!  We're wondering about making the mortgage a percentage of our salary instead eg a third. 
Our current payment is 27% of our monthly income, if we upped it to 33% it would be £2021, so we'd overpay by £371 (or £370 as that £1 would annoy me).  If we did that our mortgage would be £250K after 5 years, which is a more comfortable level for us.  We'd have to decide whether to put a third of his bonus (if he gets one) in there too... that would take a lot of will power
- we're looking into savings options for our FFEF, if you find any good ones, I'd appreciate some tips.  I'm clueless (as have never really saved before!!)

Thanks again

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Drawingaline said:

Sounds like a firm decision. And you can focus on what's important to you now. And no doubt someone will pick up that six hour shift and it will help their budget going forward 😁

Thanks DAL   Yeah, it is a firm one this time.  I'll be sad to leave though.  I just need to remind myself I'll get more weekend time with the children (18 hours a month, I worked it out ) with no loss of income if I just pick up one Saturday shift at hospital instead.  It's a no brainer financially as well as time-wise...
I've only got a 2 week notice period, so I'll finish end of August as the hospital rotas are done 2 months in advance.  I've put myself down for a shift on the 5th September to give myself a deadline I can't move!
I think they'll have trouble filling the shift internally as it's pretty early.  I like the idea it might help with someone else's budget though

Moneywhizz

Maybe your daughter would like to replace you at the supermarket, lol. Sounds like it is a good decision. Your Soa looks good and quite manageable. You know the areas that you could cut back if you needed to, but you do need to get the balance between investing everything in the future, and actually living a comfortable life in the present. I think you are doing that well. 

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Moneywhizz said:

Maybe your daughter would like to replace you at the supermarket, lol. Sounds like it is a good decision. Your Soa looks good and quite manageable. You know the areas that you could cut back if you needed to, but you do need to get the balance between investing everything in the future, and actually living a comfortable life in the present. I think you are doing that well. 

Thank you for your kind comments   
My daughter?  Getting up at 6am on a Saturday?  That'd be the day It's funny, when she was a toddler, I couldn't get her to stay in bed past 6am! 
I wonder if that's why I'm such a grouch these days, they've played tag team for the last 16 years waking me up at 6-7am.  It's caught up with me, haha 

crunchy_time

ohdearhowdidthathappen said:

Inspired by Crunchy, I've done an up to date statement of affairs.  We've been living to this for a few months now, so it's hopefully realistic. The £700+ left over per month is what we'll be saving into FFEF and towards house renovations.  I neatened up some accounts with some savings eg we'd bought some furniture recently on paypal credit which would have been interest free for 4 months, but I've paid it off early.  So this is today's overall picture of savings/debt/mortgage.

The obvious categories to trim are cars, entertainment and presents, but to be honest, if we can stick to this budget I don't mind being a bit spendy in these areas. 

-Presents are for all 7 of us (and close family) for Christmas and Birthdays. 
-Cars, I've discussed in previous posts and I can't get OH to budge on these. 
-Entertainment sounds a lot, but is pretty conservative when divided by 7.

My income could be increased if I worked more hours and I might do when the children get older.  For now, I feel this is enough hours.

Open to suggestions on where else to trim though
[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 2

Number of children in household......... 5

Number of cars owned.................... 2[b] one on PCP, one lease (see below)

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 1725 (3 days a week, plus 1 saturday a month)

Partners monthly income after tax....... 4400 (plus annual bonus, between £12-15k after deductions, but not guaranteed so not included in income figures - especially this year!!)

Benefits................................ 0

Other income............................ 0[b]

Total monthly income.................... 6125[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 1650

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 210 (OH car)

Rent.................................... 0

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 236 (10 months)

Electricity............................. 80

Gas..................................... 80

Oil..................................... 0

Water rates............................. 50

Telephone (land line)................... 65 (inc. broadband and 5 mobile SIMS)

Mobile phone............................ 0

TV Licence.............................. 13

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 12 (Netflix/prime)

Internet Services....................... 0

Groceries etc. ......................... 650

Clothing................................ 200 

Petrol/diesel........................... 150

Road tax................................ 38

Car Insurance........................... 45

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20 (mostly covered by lease agreement, PCP car only 18 months old)

Car parking............................. 0

Other travel............................ 0

Childcare/nursery....................... 200

Other child related expenses............ 70 (pocket money, swimming lessons, cubs etc)

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 22 (contact lenses x 2 people)

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0

Buildings insurance..................... 46 (and contents)

Contents insurance...................... 0

Life assurance ......................... 32.5

Other insurance......................... 33 (Professional registration and Indemnity Insurance)

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 250 

Haircuts................................ 30

Entertainment........................... 200 

Holiday................................. 200

Emergency fund.......................... 0 (£1000 saved)

Mortgage overpayment.................... 500 (starting Aug 1st, we may reduce this to £350 if needed)

Car lease............................... 235

Gym..................................... 35 (covers all 7 of us, unlimited swimming, court hire, classes etc)

Lottery................................. 12.5 

National Trust.......................... 10.5

Music................................... 16[b] (streaming service - multi room, saves many arguments and no CD buying)

Total monthly expenses.................. 5391.5[/b]

[b]

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 2000 (EF, premium bonds and other small pots)

House value (Gross)..................... 700000 (maybe more, this is quick sale price)

Shares and bonds........................ 0

Car(s).................................. 20000 (PCP car, so probably only £5K 'asset')

Other assets............................ 0[b]

Total Assets............................ 722000[/b]

[b]

Secured & HP Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Mortgage...................... 340000...(1650).....1.8

Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 15000....(210)......2.9[b]

Total secured & HP debts...... 355000....-.........-   [/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR[b]

Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-  [/b]

[b]

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]

Total monthly income.................... 6,125

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 5,391.5

Available for debt repayments........... 733.5

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0[b]

Amount left after debt repayments....... 733.5[/b]

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]

Total assets (things you own)........... 722,000

Total HP & Secured debt................. -355,000

Total Unsecured debt.................... -0[b]

Net Assets.............................. 367,000[/b]

[i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.stoozing.com. 

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]

Oooh I love an SOA!! Glad I inspired you to do yours!! Looking good. It’s great to do it from time to time to see where you can make savings.

savingholmes

The SOA looks good. What are your plans for the £700 you have left? How much to EF and how much to fun etc?

enthusiasticsaver

The insurance looks high. Do you check comparison sites? Presumably you pay it annually? 

ohdearhowdidthathappen

savingholmes said:

The SOA looks good. What are your plans for the £700 you have left? How much to EF and how much to fun etc?

We're not 100%... potentially 50/50

ohdearhowdidthathappen

enthusiasticsaver said:

The insurance looks high. Do you check comparison sites? Presumably you pay it annually? 

House insurance?  Our house requires specialist insurance, so we're limited and can't use comparison sites. We research annually and find the best deal available.  Have paid in full this year

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Very slow week this week, I've got exams coming up, so I've taken the week off to study.  Can think of better things to do with my annual leave, but needs must!
Money wise, doing well.  Current account looking right for this time of the month and CC just has food on it.  We get paid next Thursday, so looking forward to doing the money shuffle