SOA attached, advice needed. submitting Friday.. Thanks in advance

Worried3648

Hi all,
So I have finally received my workplace pension statement and have finished my application form ready to submit..
Please can I have some advice on my SOA I went through these with step change a while ago and they said food is a little high, we do generally spend more than most of these amounts, without living extravagantly. Obviously there is no guidance published with max allowances, Did I miss anything I can add to this? Thanks in advance

SOA:
1 Adult 2 children household
IN:
Wage: £732.09
Benefits (Include working tax credits,Child tax credits,Child benefit,housing benefit) £381.35
Child maintenance £350.00

OUT:
Rent: £320.00
Bldgs and contents insurance £12.00
TV licence: £13.29
Council tax: £90.00
Gas and Elec: £110.00
Water: £36.00
Pet insurance £52.00 (2 pets pre existing conditions) 
Opticians: £9.00
vet bills: £15.50 (yearly booster and health check)
Food: £360.00 (feel this a is a little low, we have gluten and dairy intolerance, step change said this amount is too high and we definately spend more)
Toiletries: £40.00
Alcohol: £10.00
Transport and travel: 
veh ins: £52.67
mot and main: £40.00
fuel and tolls £180.00
tax: £12.50
C/care: £220.00
School uniform £350.00 
After school clubs and trips: £20.00 (again I feel this is low)
pocket money £40.00
clothing and footwear: £70.00
Hair dressing: £35.00
phone,internet,tv: £48.00
hobbies,leisure,sport £70.00
newspaper,magazines,stationary £15.00
gifts: £30.00
emergencies £30.00
holidays: £30.00


Thanks

fatbelly

You've got more room to increase the food spend. You are well within the trigger figs. Stepchange worry me sometimes.

Leave the school trips etc as it is

What figure did you think was realistic to put for food?

Are the kids under 16?

Worried3648

Thanks fat belly fatbelly said:

You've got more room to increase the food spend. You are well within the trigger figs.

Leave the school trips etc as it is

What figure did you think was realistic to put for food?

Thank you £400.00 was more realistic for us. Do you think everything else looks ok? anything else I should add or maybe increase. my daughter does ballet at a high level our ''hobbies'' are more but wasnt sure if that was allowed.

fatbelly

Lose the alcohol in the food spend so £410.

Still well within the 'spending guidelines'

Looks OK to me.

I haven't added them up. How much surplus?

theoretica

School uniform is £4200 a year?  Has an annual figure crept in there?

The thing that worries me is those figures look to add up to more than your income without any debt.

Worried3648

theoretica said:

School uniform is £4200 a year?  Has an annual figure crept in there?

The thing that worries me is those figures look to add up to more than your income without any debt.

Yes sorry that's £350 a yr

Worried3648

fatbelly said:

Lose the alcohol in the food spend so £410.

Still well within the 'spending guidelines'

Looks OK to me.

I haven't added them up. How much surplus?

Hobbies are more like £90.00 a month.

surplus:£511.53 a month. Where it asks in the application how much cash you have, the answer is £0. do I need to withdraw some when I get paid on Friday for the cost of living while my accounts are frozen?

Thanks for all your help

theoretica

Worried3648 said:

fatbelly said:

Lose the alcohol in the food spend so £410.

Still well within the 'spending guidelines'

Looks OK to me.

I haven't added them up. How much surplus?

Hobbies are more like £90.00 a month.

surplus:£511.53 a month. Where it asks in the application how much cash you have, the answer is £0. do I need to withdraw some when I get paid on Friday for the cost of living while my accounts are frozen?

Thanks for all your help

Income about £1463 a month, Outgoings about £1990 - that isn't a surplus, that is a shortfall unless you have some large income not noted or other annual costs down as monthly?  On the face of that SOA being within spending guidelines and not extravagant isn't going to be enough - I would expect stepchange to want to work with you to develop a budget where you break even and are not getting further into debt.

Worried3648

theoretica said:

Worried3648 said:

fatbelly said:

Lose the alcohol in the food spend so £410.

Still well within the 'spending guidelines'

Looks OK to me.

I haven't added them up. How much surplus?

Hobbies are more like £90.00 a month.

surplus:£511.53 a month. Where it asks in the application how much cash you have, the answer is £0. do I need to withdraw some when I get paid on Friday for the cost of living while my accounts are frozen?

Thanks for all your help

Income about £1463 a month, Outgoings about £1990 - that isn't a surplus, that is a shortfall unless you have some large income not noted or other annual costs down as monthly?  On the face of that SOA being within spending guidelines and not extravagant isn't going to be enough - I would expect stepchange to want to work with you to develop a budget where you break even and are not getting further into debt.

Sorry I'm getting confused. £511 is what I will have left after living costs which I assume will be paid into an IPA when set up. I did not find step change helpful after I said I didn't want to enter into an IVA with them, the guy on the phone was very dismissive. I would like to submit this week so I can feel a bit less stressed.

theoretica

Worried3648 said:

theoretica said:

Worried3648 said:

fatbelly said:

Lose the alcohol in the food spend so £410.

Still well within the 'spending guidelines'

Looks OK to me.

I haven't added them up. How much surplus?

Hobbies are more like £90.00 a month.

surplus:£511.53 a month. Where it asks in the application how much cash you have, the answer is £0. do I need to withdraw some when I get paid on Friday for the cost of living while my accounts are frozen?

Thanks for all your help

Income about £1463 a month, Outgoings about £1990 - that isn't a surplus, that is a shortfall unless you have some large income not noted or other annual costs down as monthly?  On the face of that SOA being within spending guidelines and not extravagant isn't going to be enough - I would expect stepchange to want to work with you to develop a budget where you break even and are not getting further into debt.

Sorry I'm getting confused. £511 is what I will have left after living costs which I assume will be paid into an IPA when set up. I did not find step change helpful after I said I didn't want to enter into an IVA with them, the guy on the phone was very dismissive. I would like to submit this week so I can feel a bit less stressed.

I am confused too! Possibly a typo or two somewhere, because that SOA shows you don't have enough coming in each month to cover your living costs, let alone £511 left each month.  Is your wage £732 not £1732 for instance? 

fatbelly

You've forced me to do the sums

Income 1463.44

Exp 1067.79 + 933.17 = 2000.96
(uniform at 30, food at 410)

Looks like there's £1000 missing somewhere