Soa.. 15 January 2020 at 8:33PM edited 30 November -1 at 12:00AM in Debt-Free Wannabe 19 replies 1.7K views

jadewest94

Hello, looking for a bit of advice please..Is there anything I could change? I’m getting a pay rise from February onwards so will be getting £1300. Open to suggestions!

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1200

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 100 (I pay £100 to my mother each month)
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0 (waiting to hear back from the council as I’ll be paying this from February, enquires for a single person discount)
Electricity............................. 40 (gas and electric varies, I have a smart meter)
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 39 (I’m getting a meter installed on the 20th)
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 40 (runs out next year)
TV Licence.............................. 0 (mother pays this so will be paying from February)
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 30
Groceries etc. ......................... 80
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 120 (my work place is moving within a few months so likely to be halved)
Road tax................................ 22
Car Insurance........................... 84 (renews in May, so will be cheaper)
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... £11
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 32
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 7
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 715


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Vanquis .......................688.......45........39.9
Marbles........................1200......50........34.9
Total unsecured debts..........1888......95........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,200
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 715
Available for debt repayments........... 485
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 95
Amount left after debt repayments....... 390 (not sure where this money is going.. will have to start paying a closer eye in my spending habits)

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,888
Net Assets.............................. -688

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

ceb1995

jadewest94 wrote: »

Hello, looking for a bit of advice please..Is there anything I could change? I’m getting a pay rise from February onwards so will be getting £1300. Open to suggestions!

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1200
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1200

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 100 (I pay £100 to my mother each month)
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 0 (waiting to hear back from the council as I’ll be paying this from February, enquires for a single person discount)
Electricity............................. 40 (gas and electric varies, I have a smart meter)
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 39 (I’m getting a meter installed on the 20th)
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 40 (runs out next year)
TV Licence.............................. 0 (mother pays this so will be paying from February)
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 30
Groceries etc. ......................... 80
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 120 (my work place is moving within a few months so likely to be halved)
Road tax................................ 22
Car Insurance........................... 84 (renews in May, so will be cheaper)
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... £11
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 32
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 7
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 715


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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Vanquis .......................688.......45........39.9
Marbles........................1200......50........34.9
Total unsecured debts..........1888......95........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,200
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 715
Available for debt repayments........... 485
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 95
Amount left after debt repayments....... 390 (not sure where this money is going.. will have to start paying a closer eye in my spending habits)

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -1,888
Net Assets.............................. -688

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

your soa seems reasonable, but £7 for entertainment isn't much at all and having a small emergency fund so you don't end up using the credit cards again would be a good idea but with some effort you could clear your debt in 3/4 months

jadewest94

ceb1995 wrote: »

your soa seems reasonable, but £7 for entertainment isn't much at all and having a small emergency fund so you don't end up using the credit cards again would be a good idea but with some effort you could clear your debt in 3/4 months

The £7 is for Netflix as I don’t have sky and freeview tv is boring :rotfl: I will definitely look into having an emergency fund. I’m trying to track all my money from payday (31st) onwards! I batch cook all my work lunch and freeze some if needs be! Hopefully I will be debt free within a couple of months :beer:

Willing2Learn

Hi,

My thoughts on your SOA:

• Groceries for £80 is exceptionally cheap! Is that really all you spend per month?
• Clothing at only £10/month isn't very much...
• Do you spend nothing on haircuts during the year?
• Is £7 for entertainment/month really realistic?
• You need to be putting something away each month toward your Emergency Fund

Summing up, you are saying that your spending across various monthly budget categories are really low. Is that a realistic SOA? What is missed out?

fatbelly

Your soa needs to be accurate. You have pets and have made an allowance for vet bills but nothing separate for pet food, and your £80 per month for groceries etc hardly covers your own food. That £390 is going somewhere so you need to find out where.

The credit cards need to be knocked on the head as soon as possible. Have you checked your eligibility for 0% balance transfer cards?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards/
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/eligibility/credit-cards/search/?ex=16860445325&goal=CC_BALTRANSFERV2

As a single person a water meter is a good idea and I think you know that your mobile phone spend and car insurance are both high. There is guidance on this site for both topics.

Check if you really need a tv licence.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/tv-licence/

jadewest94

Willing2Learn wrote: »

Hi,

My thoughts on your SOA:

• Groceries for £80 is exceptionally cheap! Is that really all you spend per month? (I will be doing my food shop at the end of the month so will keep a receipt and double check)
• Clothing at only £10/month isn't very much... (I very rarely buy myself clothes, never really checked how much)
• Do you spend nothing on haircuts during the year? (No, I cut my own hair)
• Is £7 for entertainment/month really realistic? (Netflix is all I pay for, will double check if anything is missing maybe I could be missing something)
• You need to be putting something away each month toward your Emergency Fund (I will start doing this from payday onwards)

Summing up, you are saying that your spending across various monthly budget categories are really low. Is that a realistic SOA? What is missed out?

I will double check my outgoings, I’m either pretty much in work or at home. I don’t really go out but I am going to start swimming 4 times a week, I probably am missing something from my list but I can’t think off the top of my head. Will triple check! Thanks for the feedback

jadewest94

fatbelly wrote: »

Your soa needs to be accurate. You have pets and have made an allowance for vet bills but nothing separate for pet food, and your £80 per month for groceries etc hardly covers your own food. That £390 is going somewhere so you need to find out where.

The credit cards need to be knocked on the head as soon as possible. Have you checked your eligibility for 0% balance transfer cards?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer-credit-cards/
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/eligibility/credit-cards/search/?ex=16860445325&goal=CC_BALTRANSFERV2

I’ll be doing a food shop at the end of the month so will be keeping a receipt to see how much I actually spend. My goal from payday onwards is to keep receipts from everything I spend. I just finished paying satsuma so 2 more to go! I have checked and unfortunately I can’t get accept for a 0% transfer card.

Thanks for the feedback

theoretica

jadewest94 wrote: »

Hello, looking for a bit of advice please..Is there anything I could change?

Yes - as you realise, you need to change this.

jadewest94 wrote: »

Amount left after debt repayments....... 390 (not sure where this money is going.. will have to start paying a closer eye in my spending habits)

Look at your past card and account statements to see where it has been going.

jadewest94

theoretica wrote: »

[/B]
Yes - as you realise, you need to change this.


Look at your past card and account statements to see where it has been going.

Thank you for the feedback, I will have a look at bank statements and highlight everything that’s not a DD or petrol.

fatbelly

jadewest94 wrote: »

I’ll be doing a food shop at the end of the month so will be keeping a receipt to see how much I actually spend. My goal from payday onwards is to keep receipts from everything I spend. I just finished paying satsuma so 2 more to go! I have checked and unfortunately I can’t get accept for a 0% transfer card.

Thanks for the feedback

Although your soa looks healthy there are some warning lights flashing here:

you are not sure where your surplus is in practice
your debts are at high interest
you are scoring low on an eligibility checker (really? even for capital one?)
council tax is about to kick in

jadewest94

fatbelly wrote: »

Although your soa looks healthy there are some warning lights flashing here:

you are not sure where your surplus is in practice
your debts are at high interest
you are scoring low on an eligibility checker (really? even for capital one?)
council tax is about to kick in

I never really track where my money is going, which I really should! Hence why from payday onwards I’ll keep a receipt of everything. I will double check for the capital one card, even if I do get a transfer I doubt it will be enough for the whole sum of my debt, so would it be worth me transferring?

Just did a check with the eligibility checker and it says 0% chance on getting the card.